This book is written by Ayatollah Ibrahim Amīnī who is the General Secretary of Assembly of Experts in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This book that is originally written in Farsi is translated by Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina who is the Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, U.S.A. It made the English version of the book authentic and to contain the real point that the author wanted to depict in his book. This book is written by Ayatollah Ibrahim Amīnī who is the General Secretary of Assembly of Experts in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This book that is originally written in Farsi is translated by Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina who is the Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, U.S.A. It made the English version of the book authentic and to contain the real point that the author wanted to depict in his book. The book is vital to understand the Twelver Shia belief in regard with the Twelfth Imam as the just leader of humanity. Islamic tradition in general, speaks about the appearance of the ideal caliph of God, who is named al-Mahdi that is from among the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Ayatollah Amīnī’s purpose in the book is to provide a detailed discussion of this central belief in al-Mahdi, both from the Sunni and the Shi`a sources, in order to establish the veracity of the Twelver Shia belief pertaining to the awaited Mahdi. His primary sources are the works of hadith by the early Sunni and Shia compilers who preserved most of the information regarding the future leadership of the Muslim community.
This book was published by Ansārīyān Publication (Box 187, 22, Shohada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran). This book is printed by Sadr and it’s second edition was published in 1999 through a 2000 copies.
