Introduction Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h) is the Imam of believers from all social strata, but, naturally, many people are not capable of using the argumentation of Imamology. Hence, for ordinary people, a simple way for having a better understanding of the Imam and making a better image of him in their minds is to know the physical characteristics of the Imam, which have been reflected in Islamic narrations. Of course, in …

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A set of hadiths narrated by our Sunni brothers about twelve successors of the Prophet will be presented in this article. There are different versions of these hadiths; sometimes the term Amīr, or ruler/leader is used for the twelve Imams and sometimes the term caliph, or successor, is used. It is interesting to note that in these sets of hadiths, the number twelve is always used. In a hadith in …

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One of the issues that the believers in Imam Mahdi would like to understand during the time of his Major Occultation, is to take cognizance of the tasks that are assigned to them during this period. It is totally clear that a loyal expectant awaiting the Imam and looking forward to the great universal peacemaker must also show his or her expectation and readiness in beliefs, thoughts, and actions. It …

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In response, we can pay attention to some points: First, creating a culture to celebrate the Days of Allah[1], such as Ghadir and Mab'ath Eve,[2] the anniversary of the Holy Prophet’s birthday, and other religious occasions are rooted in the cultural life of the Household of the Prophet. The Shias celebrate both of the birthday and the day of the beginning the mission of the Messenger of Allah; and both …

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According to Islamic narrations, during the emergence of Imam Mahdi, he will confront various groups and sects as non-believers in him; however, he will adopt different methods against each group of his opponents because all of these disbelievers would not be the same. Of course, a majority of the disbelievers are the ordinary people who do not know the Imam and the magnificent rank of the Imamate so, at the …

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A large number of narrations about the wars and the killings at the End of Time are related to the era before the appearance of Imam Mahdi which should not be ascribed to the Imam and the period of his ruling. As for those narrations dedicated to the time of the advent of Imam Mahdi and depict his uprising violently and murderously, they bear a serious problem in terms of …

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According to some authentic narrations, before the appearance of Imam Mahdi, especially on the threshold of his advent, wars and killings and calamities will befall human beings, but we should not, by mistake, attribute these wars and killings to Imam Mahdi because these events will take place before the time of his emergence, or at the very beginning of his advent and therefore he is not responsible for that; however, …

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Answering the mentioned question we can point to the following reasons: First, our Infallible Imams used to do the same: In some Islamic reliable sources it has been indicated that supplicating for Imam Mahdi refers to the manners of the Infallible Imams who used to allocate the best times of their life, e.g. in their prayer, to pray for Imam Mahdi’s health, and they have taught us to do the …

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There are two opinions as response: Some scholars believe that the Imam does not know the time of his appearance. Regarding this, they refer to some groups of authentic narrations: In some of them, those who have set a time of the appearance are considered as the liars. For instance, Imam Bāqir says about these people,  “Those who set a time for the appearance are the liars.”[1] Also, it has …

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The most important motives for the human being's sinning are, on the one hand, his avarice in hoarding material wealth and, on the other hand, his sense of need for the goods of this world. If the human being possesses a sufficient amount of wealth, and a good social reputation, if his mentality becomes Divine-permeated, if the world and her goods are belittled in his eyes, and he thus reaches …

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