Imam Mahdi; from birth to the beginning of his Imamate

Imam Mahdi; from birth to the beginning of his Imamate

With the passage of more than two centuries since the Prophet Muhammad’s emigration (Hijrah)[1], the responsibility of the Imamate was delegated to Imam Ali al-Naqī al-Hādī (the 10^th Imam of Shiˈa) and then to Imam Ḥasan al-ˈAskari (the 11^th Imam). There was a growing concern among the tyrannical ˈAbbasid administration due to the prophecies based on the news and Hadiths narrated from the Prophet and his infallible household that the last Imam will overturn the monarchy of the tyrants and oppressors, and will replace the oppression with justice and equity. The multiplicity of Hadiths narrated in both Shiˈite and Sunnite sources regarding the promised Mahdi, and the prophecies about his uprising was such that it left no room for doubt about its occurrence for anyone. Hence, the enemies held out false hopes to recognize the son of the 11^th Imam and annihilate him, and thereby, preventing the fulfillment of the holey Prophet’s unfailing promises; they were unaware that nothing can prevent the actualization of God’s promise. For this reason, and by the order of the 11^th Imam, the embryonic period of Imam Mahdi and his birth were kept concealed from the then people’s vision.

At any rate and despite the ˈAbbasid government’s agents and spies, Imam Mahdi - the only son of Imam Hasan al-ˈAskari- was born on the daybreak of the 15^th of Sha'bān in 255 A.H. (August 2^nd 869 A.D.) in Samarra (a small town in the mid-north Iraq). His secret birth, somehow, resembles the birth of Prophet Moses and Prophet Abraham. Just like these two great divine Prophets, who were born safely in the palaces of Nimrod and Pharaoh, respectively by the will of God despite the strictest obstruction of these tyrant kings, Imam Mahdi was also born safely and secretly while the spies and agents of the ˈAbbasid caliph were keeping a close eye on all events in the house of the eleventh Imam, the father of Imam Mahdi.

The honorable mother of Imam Mahdi is a worthy lady, named "Narjis", whose father was the son of the Roman emperor (Kaiser), and her mother was a descendant of Simon (one of the disciples of Prophet Jesus). In accordance with Islamic narrations, Lady Narjis became Muslim following a strange dream and under the guidance of Imam Hasan al-ˈAskari. Being hidden among the Roman troops going to fight against the Muslims, she was, finally, captured by the Muslims army. She lived for some time in the house of Lady Ḥakīmah (the aunt of Imam al-ˈAskarī), where she was educated and was always highly respected by Lady Ḥakīmah. The respected mother of Imam Mahdi was also called by other names like Sūsan, Rayḥānah, Malīkah, and Ṣayqal. It would be appropriate to know that in Islamic traditions, this honorable lady has always been mentioned with total honor and respect.

1. Concealed birth

When a person has a newborn child, naturally, his/her relatives, friends, and even neighbors will be aware of it, especially if he/she enjoys a high rank and meritorious social position. So, how can it be imagined that the son of Imam Hasan al-ˈAskari will be born, but none of his opponents, despite assigning many spies and agents in the Imam’s house and among his relatives, will know about this event. Was this a natural issue, or a miracle? To answer this question, it can be said that Imam al-ˈAskari was never unaware of the sensitivity of the enemies towards the birth of his son, al-Mahdi, as the last Imam and promised saviour. He knew the political and social conditions very well; therefore, he paved the way for the concealed birth of his child such that not only the enemies but also many of his close friends and companions were not aware of this event either. So, Sheikh al-Ṭūsi considers the concealed birth of Imam Mahdi an ordinary event, saying that this is not the first and the last such an incident as there have been many examples of the kind throughout the mankind history.^[2]

According to a narration quoted by Sheikh al-Ṣadūq (d. 381 A.H./ 991 A.D.) in Kamāl al-Dīn, vol. 2, p. 424-426, Lady Ḥakīmah, the honorable aunt of the eleventh Imam (Hassan al-ˈAskarī) says:

“Imam Ḥasan al-ˈAskarī sent for me and said: ‘O my aunt! Have your Ifṭār (dinner) tonight with us. This is the night of mid-Shaʹbān and the Almighty God will bring forth the Ḥujjat (Imam Mahdi) on this night. He will be God’s Hujjah (a proof from God) on the Earth.’”

Lady Ḥakīmah continued to say: “I said to him: ‘And who is his mother?’ He replied: ‘Narjis’. I again uttered: “But I see no sign of pregnancy in her.” He responded: “It will occur as I said.”

Lady Ḥakīmah said: “I came back to Narjis. When I greeted and sat, approaching me and attempting to take my shoes off, she said: 'O my lady! How are you this evening?' I responded: 'Instead, you are my lady and the lady of my household.' She said: ‘What strange thing are you saying, dear aunt!?' I replied back and said: 'My dear daughter! God, the Exalted, will grant you in this glorious night a boy child, the master of this world and the hereafter.' She sat down and said nothing while shyness and embarrassment covering whole her face."

Lady Ḥakīmah continued: “When I finished the ˈIshā’ prayer and had my dinner, I went to bed and slept. It was in the middle of the night when I got up to perform the midnight prayers. I finished my prayers while she was sleeping; yet there was no sign of pregnancy in her, miraculously. I sat again, said some supplication, and then went back to my bed. After a while, I woke up suddenly being somehow horrified. I saw that Lady Narjīs woke up, performed prayers, and then slept again (without any signs of pain or pregnancy in her yet).

Lady Ḥakīmah continues to say: “Seeking for the Fajr, I came out to search the sky; I saw the first Fajr while Lady Narjīs was still sleeping! As doubts embraced me, Abu Muhammad (Imam Hassan al-ˈAskarī) being aware of my concern, called out: ‘Do not haste aunt! The affair has come near.’ I started to recite Sūrahs Sajdah and Yāsīn; as a matter of sudden, Lady Narjis woke up; I immediately rushed towards her and told her to recite the name of God! Then I asked her: “Do you feel anything?” and she said: ’Yes, aunt.’ I said: ’Be prepared and do not be scared. It will happen as I told you earlier.’”

Lady Ḥakīmah says: “Then faintness overwhelmed me and her. When I recovered back, I sensed my Master (Imam Mahdi). I removed the sheet from him, and there he was, prostrating and touching the Earth with his forehead, palms, knees, and toes; I pulled him to myself and there was a pure and clean child, namely Mahdi, the awaited Imam of all generations!”

At the same time, Abū Muhammad (the eleventh Imam) called on me: “Bring my son to me, Aunt. I took his son to him. He put his hands under his thighs and back and put the infant’s feet on his chest. He put his tongue inside his mouth and then touched his eyes, ears and joints with his hands and said: ’O My son, talk.’ Surprisingly, the newborn (Mahdi) said: ’I bear witness that there is no deity other than God, the One without a partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s messenger.’ He then beseeched blessings to the Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali) and the other Imams until he reached his father, Imam Hassan al-ˈAskarī.

Abu Muhammad said: “O aunt! Take him to his mother so he may salute her and then bring him back to me.” I took her to his mother and he greeted her. Then I brought him back to the sitting room, and Abu Muhammad said: “O aunt! Come to us seven days later.”

Lady Ḥakīmah says: “… It was on the seventh day that I came to Abu Muhammad and greeted and sat before him. He said: ‘Bring my son to me.’ I brought my Master in a wrap. He treated his son in the same way he did the first time. … Then he said: ‘Talk O’ my son!’ The blessed infant repeated the same words (testimonials) as before and sent blessings to all Imams until his father, Imam Hasan al-ˈAskarī. Then he said: ‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate’, and recited the following verse of the Quran:

﴿وَ نُرِیدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِینَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِی الأَرْضِ وَ نَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَ نَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِینَ * وَ نُمَکِّنَ لَهُمْ فِی الأَرْضِ وَ نُرِی فِرْعَوْنَ وَ هَامَانَ وَ جُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُمْ مَا کَانُوا یَحْذَرُونَ﴾^[3]

‘And We wished to do a favor to those who were left weak or oppressed on the Earth and make them Imams (rulers) and make them inheritors, and establish them on the Earth, and  let Pharaoh and Hāmān and their armies receive from them what they feared to happen.’”^[4]

2. Childhood

Due to being in a suffocating and unbearable conditions and the sensitivity of the ˈAbbasid government to arrest the promised Mahdi, like his birth, the first five years of the Imam’s life were secret and somehow hidden to avoid any threatening of his life. According to many authentic Hadiths, Imam Mahdi would be in the occultation for a long time; so it is quite clear that in any society, the disappearance of a leader and Imam is an unusual and far-fetched incident, and naturally, it is so difficult for ordinary people to believe in such an event and sustain the hardships caused by it. Hence, the Prophet Muhammad and the infallible Imams, before Imam Mahdi, had gradually made people familiar with the issue of the occultation and prepared public opinion to accept it. This became more apparent during the time of Imam Ḥasan al-ˈAskari because, on the one hand, the Shiˈas’ direct contact with him became less day by day in a way that even in the city of Samarra, the eleventh Imam mainly would answer the questions of the Shiˈas by letters or through his representatives; on the other hand, the eleventh Imam used to conceal his son (Imam Mahdi) from people’s vision and even his close companions such that just five years after the birth of Imam Mahdi, only a few number of Imam al-ˈAskari’s relatives and trusted companions had the opportunity to see Imam Mahdi closely. Among these people, there were an elite group of forty Shiˈas who came to the eleventh Imam and asked him to show them the next Imam so that they could recognize him, and the Imam did so.

 They saw a fair complexioned boy very similar to Imam al-ˈAskari, and then Imam al-ˈAskari said to them:

«هَذَا إِمَامُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِي وَ خَلِيفَتِي، عَلَيْكُمْ أَطِيعُوهُ وَ لَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا مِنْ بَعْدِي فِي أَدْيَانِكُمْ فَتَهْلِكُوا ...»[5]

“After me, this boy is your Imam and the vicegerent of God among you. Obey him and do not be scattered around his leadership; otherwise, you will fall into ruin and your beliefs will be tainted…”

By doing this, the eleventh Imam, in the course of introducing the twelfth Imam and clarifying the certainty of occurrence of the occultation, emphasized the continuity of the Imamate.

3. Physical and moral characteristics

According to the Hadiths narrated by Prophet Muhammad and the Imams of Shiˈa, Imam Mahdi has a well-balanced and strong body, brunet complexion, a high bright forehead, elongated and crescent-shaped eyebrows, black and large eyes, a beautiful narrow nose, and shiny and non-condensed front teeth. There is a black mole on the Imam’s right cheek, and he looks like a forty-year-old man at the time of his appearance.

Some of Imam Mahdi’s spiritual and moral characteristics mentioned in the words of the infallible Imams are as follows:

 He is a person of worshiping at night, asceticism and simplicity, patience and tolerance, justice and generosity. He is the master of masters in wisdom and knowledge, and his existence is a source of blessing and purity. He is a person of the uprising and Jihad in the way of God, and the ultimate saviour and promised reformer of humankind. He is from the lineage of the Messenger of God- Prophet Muhammad- and from the descendants of Lady Fāṭima al-Zahrā, and the ninth Imam from the generation of Imam al-Ḥusayn. At the time of his appearance, he will lean on the sanctuary of Kaˈbah (in Mecca) while holding the flag of the Prophet. With his uprising, he will revive the religion and the divine decrees of God all over the world. He shall fill the whole Earth with kindness and justice after it has turned into a place of chaos and injustice.

Source: The Promised Mahdi in the view of Shi’a, chapter. 2