IMAM MEHDI (a): THE END TIMES CALIPH
As a Sunni Muslim growing up, I knew nothing of Imam Mehdi. He was never talked about, despite being raised in a religious, pious family and surrounding. This, though, is not the fault of my parents or teachers – Sunni Muslims generally just do not talk about Imam Mehdi. The first time I had heard his name was when I had learned more about Shi’ah Islam, and through that journey for knowledge, I had learned the three major opinions of Imam Mehdi.
#1. Skepticism
About 86% of the world’s Muslims fall into the mainstream Sunni sect. From personal experience as a former Sunni Muslim, I had realized that most of my brothers and sisters had either known nothing about the Mehdi, or they were not sure of his existence. Till today, my family has no formal belief regarding his existence. Many scholars and sheiks of the sect have even refused to talk about him.
#2. An End-Times Muslim reviver
The Sunni, Sufi, and other Muslims who do believe in some form of an Imam Mehdi find their beliefs in hadith books such as Tirmidhi and Sunan Abu Dawud. The overall message portrayed in these books is that the Mehdi is simply a Muslim who will be born in the end times, and will rule among the Muslims at the time of the Anti-Christ and the return of the Messiah Jesus (a).
#3. The 12th Imam
The opinion held by the Twelver Shi’ah is that Imam Mehdi (a) was born in 869 CE, and was the son of the 11th Imam, Hassan al-Askari (a). Shortly after the death of his father, the Mehdi had gone into occultation – where he was hidden from public view – but he had kept in contact with four deputies, who had relayed his messages. A few days before the final deputy had died, the Imam had gone into his major occultation, where he is in contact with no human being, until God pleases.
In my transition of beliefs, I had gone through all three of these beliefs: first starting off with disbelief in the Mehdi, followed by a partial belief, a full belief in the Mehdi as simply a reviver, and finally as the 12th Imam.
EVIDENCES OF IMAM AL-MEHDI (A)
I would first like to clear up who the Mehdi is. He is NOT the Messiah. The Messiah is Jesus (a) and only Jesus. The Mehdi is simply a figure who will unite Muslims in the end times, fight against the Anti-Christ, and finally establish a peaceful Islamic rule with the Messiah Jesus (a) in the end times. A utopia.
The Mehdi is also the Muslim Caliph today, in a period where Muslims have no leadership, no government, and no guidance. He has been hidden away until we as an Ummah are ready for his return, and when God had decided his reappearance.
IT IS A POPULAR MISCONCEPTION in which some say the Mehdi was not mentioned in the Sahih
(Bukhari and Muslim). I will narrate hadiths from Sahih books first.
Sahih Bukhari V4 Tradition #658
“What would be your situation if the Son of Marry (i.e. Jesus) descends upon you and your Imam is among you?” – Prophet Muhammed
What needs to be noted is that this translation is not found in the English translation of the hadith. What you do find instead of the words “your Imam is among you” are the words “he will judge people by the law of the Qur’an and not the law of the Gospel”. This is simply a mistranslation, because the Arabic text of this hadith clearly says “Wa Imamakum minkum?” which means “And your Imam is with you”. Don’t take my word for it, check the source yourself, and you will see what I am speaking the truth.
As a side note, anyone who studies comparative religion, the Bible and the Qur’an, would know that the Injeel and Gospel does not have a Law. Jesus (a) followed the Law of the Torah and did not bring down a new Law like Moses (a) or Muhammed fo
So, what this hadith indicates is that when Jesus (a) returns, he return when our Imam (literally means “leader”) is among us. This means the Muslims will have a leader at the end times. But this hadith isn’t sufficient to prove that such a leader will be a Caliph, and that this person is Imam Mehdi so let us take a look at more hadiths.
Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Imara, Hadith 4477
“The Caliphate will not end until there have been 12 Caliphs among them… All of them will be from Quraysh.” – Prophet Muhammed
This hadith and many others like it in the Sahih books confirm a Caliphate of 12 successive Caliphs. There have, of course, been dozens of what Sunni Muslims call “Caliphs” from different branches of the Islamic rule, including the 4 Rashidun (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali), Hassan ibn Ali, 14 Umayyad Caliphs, and 37 Abbaside Caliphs. That’s a total of 52 if you don’t want to include the 10 Imams of Ahlul-Bayt who
have not ruled. So how is it that the Prophet Muhammed prophesied 12 successors after him, when in fact there were 52? Which Caliphs would you miscount? What authority will you go by and what methods will you use?
The only real solution to this conundrum is to accept the 12 consistent successors in the family of the Prophet. After all, the Prophet Muhammeda did appoint Imam Ali (a) as the Master of the believers in his farewell pilgrimage, and many Sunni Muslim sources confirm that Imam Mehdi will be from the family of the Prophet and will rule as a Caliph in the end times.
But the evidence I have provided really is not enough to prove the Mehdi undoubtedly. What we have covered so far is that there has only really been 12 Caliphs, and that there will be an Imam in the end times. How could we prove that this Imam will actually rule over the Ummah like the prophecies state? What if the Caliphate is gone for good?
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 