Muhammad al-Mahdi was born in 869 AD, in Samarra, which is located on the Tigris River in central Iraq. “This Imam in hiding was said to have been born circumcised, and Ibn al-Amri reports on the authority of the Imam’s aunt that his mother gave birth to him without bleeding “as is the way of the mothers of the Imams (Arjomand, Said A. "The Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shi'ism: A Sociohistorical Perspective." pg. 2).” His mother’s name was Narjis Khatun, the daughter of Joshua. Joshua was the son of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, which makes Narjis the granddaughter of a Roman Emperor (Tayyebi, Nahid. "Mother of Awaiting."). She reportedly had a special dream one night that she would convert to Islam and marry the eleventh Imam. Sometime after her dream there was a huge battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Empire, and Narjis quietly slipped into a disguise as a servant girl to go with the army to war. The Byzantines and the Abbasids were at war from 851 to 863, many battles were fought and it is unclear exactly when she secretly slipped away. The Byzantines lost the battle and she was taken as a slave along with the other servant girls. She was purchased by Imam al-Askari and became his wife just as the dream had told her.
Al-Mahdi’s childhood is one of secrecy, and not much is known about him. His father, Imam al-Askarikept his birth a secret from the Abbasid caliphs for fear that they would kill him. Imam al-Askari had been persecuted his whole life and had spent most of his life under house arrest in Samarra (Shabbar, S.M.R. "Story of the Holy Ka'aba and its People." pg. 14). In 874, Imam Askari was poisoned and he died. He left behind one son who was five years old, according to Twelver Shi’i. Imam al-Askari was a great scholar and teacher and loved by many. His funeral was attended by many including the Caliph al-Mu’Tamid. Imam al-Askari had a very unique funeral as S.M.R. Shabbar writes
“When they all lined up and were ready to commence prayers, Imam al-Askari’s brother Ja’far stood in front of the people to lead the prayer. Before he could commence the prayer, a five year old boy came out of the house and went near his uncle. He shook his mantle and told him, “set aside uncle, only an Imam can lead the funeral prayer of an Imam.” His uncle Ja’far stepped aside and this five year old boy lead the prayers. Immediatley after the end of the prayer he went inside his house and was not seen by his pursuers, lead by the Caliph Mu’tamid himself (Shabbar, S.M.R. "Story of the Holy Ka'aba and its People." pg. 14).”
This is the moment that Twelvers refer to as the “lesser occultation.”
Al-Mahdi’s disappearance shook the Shi’i community to the core. For those who believed in the lineage of the Imams, cracks would start to appear as the story of what many believed really happened that day became arguably different. Many believed that Ja’far was the next Imam, since Imam al-Askari had no children that anyone knew of. “Others asserted that the twelfth Imam had not yet been born, but would be born in the last days just before the Day of Judgement. Others asserted that it was Imam al-Aksari who had gone into occultation (Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. pg. 162).” The Shi’i that believed al-Askari was still alive was because according to them a childless Imam cannot die, therefore he is the one that is in hiding. There were others who had alternate beliefs to these and the Shi’i community split into at least twelve different sects. After al-Mahdi had disappeared a man by the name of Uthman al-Amri, who was very close with al- Mahdi, his father, and grandfather appeared. He had already claimed to be in contact with the tenth and the eleventh Imam who some believed were also in occultation. He was attached to a network of followers who were known as Wikala. “The main purpose of the Wikala was to collect the khums, the zakat, and other kinds of alms for the Imam from his followers (Hussain, Jassim M. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam. pg. 4.1 ).” Since he already had established himself as the leader of the Wikala, and was in contact with the tenth and eleventh Imams, there was no reason to believe that taking charge of collecting for the twelfth Imam was out of the ordinary.
Eventually there were four agents put in charge of being intermediates to the Twelfth Imam. Al-Amri called on his son Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Uthman to be his successor. “For forty-five years these two laid claim to the position of being the agents of the hidden Imam (Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. pg. 163).” When al-Amri died Abu’l-Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh an-Nawbakhti became the third agent to help ibn Uthman communicate with al-Mahdi for the Twelver Shi’i. The fourth and final agent was Abu’l-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samarri. A week before his death he received a letter from al-Mahdi saying:
“May Allah give good rewards to your bretheren concerning you, for indeed you shall die after six days. So prepare your affairs, and do not appoint anyone to take your place after your death. For the second occultation has now occurred, and there can be no appearance until, after a long time when Allah gives His permission, hearts become hardened and the world becomes filled with injustice. And someone shall come to my partisans (Shi`a) claiming that he has seen me; but beware of anyone claiming to have seen me before the rise of al-Sufyani and the outcry from the sky, for he shall be a slanderous liar (Hussain, Jassim M. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam. pg. 7.1).”
Al-Mahdi had predicted all four of the deaths of his previous agents, and from here he has decided that there will be no more connection between him and his followers. This marks another transition in Twelver doctrine known as the “Greater Occultation.”
The “Greater Occultation” was very difficult for many of the Shi’i. “The multiplication of extremist
claimants to the "gatehood" of the hidden imam, and the absence of communication between the imam's holy seat and the Shi'i community for a second time, deepened the sense of trial in this period of perplexity, and many Imami Shi'is left the fold, threatening Imami Shi'ism with extinction (Arjomand, Said A. "The Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shi'ism: A Sociohistorical Perspective." pg. 509 ).” Similar to Christianity the Shi’i now must wait for this occultation to be over with, and their redeemer to return. Al-Mahdi is destined to return before the final Day of Judgement. He will return and have an epic battle with the forces of evil and the enemies of the Shi’i will be annihilated.
Al-Mahdi’s childhood is one of secrecy, and not much is known about him. His father, Imam al-Askarikept his birth a secret from the Abbasid caliphs for fear that they would kill him. Imam al-Askari had been persecuted his whole life and had spent most of his life under house arrest in Samarra (Shabbar, S.M.R. "Story of the Holy Ka'aba and its People." pg. 14). In 874, Imam Askari was poisoned and he died. He left behind one son who was five years old, according to Twelver Shi’i. Imam al-Askari was a great scholar and teacher and loved by many. His funeral was attended by many including the Caliph al-Mu’Tamid. Imam al-Askari had a very unique funeral as S.M.R. Shabbar writes
“When they all lined up and were ready to commence prayers, Imam al-Askari’s brother Ja’far stood in front of the people to lead the prayer. Before he could commence the prayer, a five year old boy came out of the house and went near his uncle. He shook his mantle and told him, “set aside uncle, only an Imam can lead the funeral prayer of an Imam.” His uncle Ja’far stepped aside and this five year old boy lead the prayers. Immediatley after the end of the prayer he went inside his house and was not seen by his pursuers, lead by the Caliph Mu’tamid himself (Shabbar, S.M.R. "Story of the Holy Ka'aba and its People." pg. 14).”
This is the moment that Twelvers refer to as the “lesser occultation.”
Al-Mahdi’s disappearance shook the Shi’i community to the core. For those who believed in the lineage of the Imams, cracks would start to appear as the story of what many believed really happened that day became arguably different. Many believed that Ja’far was the next Imam, since Imam al-Askari had no children that anyone knew of. “Others asserted that the twelfth Imam had not yet been born, but would be born in the last days just before the Day of Judgement. Others asserted that it was Imam al-Aksari who had gone into occultation (Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. pg. 162).” The Shi’i that believed al-Askari was still alive was because according to them a childless Imam cannot die, therefore he is the one that is in hiding. There were others who had alternate beliefs to these and the Shi’i community split into at least twelve different sects. After al-Mahdi had disappeared a man by the name of Uthman al-Amri, who was very close with al- Mahdi, his father, and grandfather appeared. He had already claimed to be in contact with the tenth and the eleventh Imam who some believed were also in occultation. He was attached to a network of followers who were known as Wikala. “The main purpose of the Wikala was to collect the khums, the zakat, and other kinds of alms for the Imam from his followers (Hussain, Jassim M. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam. pg. 4.1 ).” Since he already had established himself as the leader of the Wikala, and was in contact with the tenth and eleventh Imams, there was no reason to believe that taking charge of collecting for the twelfth Imam was out of the ordinary.
Eventually there were four agents put in charge of being intermediates to the Twelfth Imam. Al-Amri called on his son Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Uthman to be his successor. “For forty-five years these two laid claim to the position of being the agents of the hidden Imam (Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. pg. 163).” When al-Amri died Abu’l-Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh an-Nawbakhti became the third agent to help ibn Uthman communicate with al-Mahdi for the Twelver Shi’i. The fourth and final agent was Abu’l-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samarri. A week before his death he received a letter from al-Mahdi saying:
“May Allah give good rewards to your bretheren concerning you, for indeed you shall die after six days. So prepare your affairs, and do not appoint anyone to take your place after your death. For the second occultation has now occurred, and there can be no appearance until, after a long time when Allah gives His permission, hearts become hardened and the world becomes filled with injustice. And someone shall come to my partisans (Shi`a) claiming that he has seen me; but beware of anyone claiming to have seen me before the rise of al-Sufyani and the outcry from the sky, for he shall be a slanderous liar (Hussain, Jassim M. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam. pg. 7.1).”
Al-Mahdi had predicted all four of the deaths of his previous agents, and from here he has decided that there will be no more connection between him and his followers. This marks another transition in Twelver doctrine known as the “Greater Occultation.”
The “Greater Occultation” was very difficult for many of the Shi’i. “The multiplication of extremist
claimants to the "gatehood" of the hidden imam, and the absence of communication between the imam's holy seat and the Shi'i community for a second time, deepened the sense of trial in this period of perplexity, and many Imami Shi'is left the fold, threatening Imami Shi'ism with extinction (Arjomand, Said A. "The Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shi'ism: A Sociohistorical Perspective." pg. 509 ).” Similar to Christianity the Shi’i now must wait for this occultation to be over with, and their redeemer to return. Al-Mahdi is destined to return before the final Day of Judgement. He will return and have an epic battle with the forces of evil and the enemies of the Shi’i will be annihilated.
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