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, in response to this question briefly, there are three different views on the way of Imam Mahdi’s behavior towards his opponents at the time of his appearance:
- The first view, which is the conception of the extremists; and those who are the enemies of Islamic savior propound it as their viewpoint, and unfortunately even some Muslims have believed it, is that Imam Mahdi will appear in the shape of a bloodthirsty ruler and will kill a large number of his opponents.
- Contrary to the previous viewpoint, some people have adopted the opposite extreme and unreasonable theory and believe that when the Imam appears, there would never occur any war with the opponents, and there would be no bloodshed at all or just so little that is not considerable.
- And according to the third view, the conduct of Imam Mahdi will be the same as the manner of the prophet Muhammad. So, he firstly will enlighten and guide the opponents; then he will fight with the adamant enemies who are strict obstacles on the path of his divine mission i.e. the elimination of tyranny and the establishment of a divine government throughout the world.
In contrast with the extremist view mentioned above, there is an opposite extreme misconception in which its adherents believe that the Imam, after his appearance, will subdue all creatures through divine power miraculously and supernaturally; hence, the death toll will be very few, and there will just a little bloodshed that is considered as being usual.
According to the third view, there are many authentic Hadiths explicitly declaring the method of Imam Mahdi’s governance in common with the method of the prophet Muhammad. Confirming this assertion, there is a narration from the Prophet to have said,
“A man from among my progeny will rise and act according to the path of mine.” [1]
To explain the conduct of the Prophet, the Holy Quran calls him as the Prophet of mercy where Allah says,
﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ﴾[2]
“And We sent you [O the Prophet!] not save as a mercy unto the worlds.”
In fact, Imam Mahdi will arise to establish justice as a natural and innate desire of human beings; therefore, the Imam cannot act in such a way that people wish they did not see him or, because of the cruelty he commits, to say that he is not from the progeny of Muhammad and does not resemble the promised savior!
