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About Imam Mahdi

Last Updated on Sunday, 25 July 2010 13:17

Question:

(Translated from Urdu)

1- I want to know about Imam Mahdi. Are there any clear verses in the Qur'an regarding the coming of Imam Mahdi? and is he an Imam of the Prophets? Why is he called an 'Imam'?
2- What are the things (beliefs) amongst Ahlay-Tashayo which clash with Islam? or due to what reasons can we not follow them?

Asma

Answer:

Salam,

1. There is no mention of a Mahdi in the Qur'an. There is not even a clear indirect reference to it. Those among the mainstream Muslims who believe in coming of Mahdi, consider him Imam in its literal sense meaning a leader for the Ummah of Islam. They do not consider him Imam of prophets but there are some Ahadith suggesting that he will lead the prayers and Jesus (as) follows him in prayers.

2. There are different sects among Shia Muslims. The majority of them are Imami (Ithna Ashari) Shia Muslims. They believe that after the Prophet (pbuh) there have been 12 divinely appointed infallible Imams from his Ahl Albayt and generation who all the Muslims had to obey and follow. They consider these Imams to have partial access to the hidden knowledge and capable of receiving direct guidance from God. They therefore consider any understanding of Islam that is not derived from what is attributed to these Imams to be false or incomplete. Quite naturally they also consider any one who became the Imam or the Khalifa of Muslims at the time of these Imams to be a false leader. According to the Imami Shia Muslims, the first Imam was Ali (ra) who they consider to be appointed by God and his Prophet as the true successor of the Prophet (pbuh). They believe the 12th Imam went into occultation about 1000 years ago but that he is alive and among us and will reappear before the end of the world to bring justice to the world, they consider him to be Mahdi.

If a Muslim finds that the Qur'an has categorically informed us and directed us about existence of certain infallible divinely appointed Imams from the generation of the Prophet (pbuh) who were supposed to become the successors of the Prophet (pbuh), then he may consider that these Imams might be in deed the Imami Shia Imams and then he might decide to follow Imami Shia in their belief.

Obviously if a Muslim cannot find such explicit directives about infallible divinely appointed people after the Prophet (pbuh) in the Qur'an then he cannot follow any sect of Islam that is associated with such belief, being Imami Shia or other sects.

Abdullah Rahim
Understanding Islam UK
30th of June 2010

Follow up Question

Question

Assalam-o-alikum. First thanks for sending me your reply but I m not completely satisfied. I want to ask why Shia fight for Hazrat Ali (ra). Why say that he should be first Imam? If there is a reason that Holy Prophet (pbuh) wanted to see him as first imam of Muslim Umah then why did he not make him the Imam or announce it?

Answer

Salam,

The reason Shia Muslims consider Ali (ra) to be a God appointed Imam is because of the way that they interpret certain events in the history of the life time of the Prophet (pbuh) - like the event of Qadeer - and the Ahadith that they believe to be true and other Ahadith that other Muslims also believe to be true but Shia Muslims interpret them differently.

I very briefly explain the event of Qadeer and am happy to elaborate on any other event or Hadith on request:

After the last Hajj, in their way back to Medina, the Prophet (pbuh) gave a Khutba in a place called Qadeer Khum. In that Khutba the Prophet (pbuh) made this statement:

"Who ever I am his Mula, Ali is his Mula, of God be friend of who is Ali's friend and be enemy of who takes Ali as enemy"

The Shia Muslims consider this to be the Prophet (pbuh) announcing Ali (ra) to be his successor and Khalifa.

According to the non-Shia Muslims, the Shia Muslims take the statement of the Prophet (pbuh) out of the context and also interpret it with exaggeration. They argue that since certain people in the army in which Ali (ra) was its Amir had complained about Ali (ra) systematically during the Hajj, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to put emphasis on the position of Ali (ra) as a righteous person and one that people should not look down at. He therefore made that statement in Qadeer Khum (not in Mecca for all). Qadeer Khum was a place where the people in that army would separate their ways to go to their different destinations. So it seems like the Prophet (pbuh) used that point for the cause because it was the last point where people in that army were mostly together and also a point were many of the other Muslims who were not involved with this particular issue were not around.

They also say that the word Mula does not necessarily mean Master, it in fact has a more obvious meaning of Friend. Also that even in the meaning of Master, it does not deliver any meaning about the successor of the Prophet (pbuh). The argument is that the Prophet (pbuh) was always very direct in his speeches and orders and if he wanted Ali (ra) to be his successor he would have said that in front of all that were available (for instance in Mecca during Hajj) and in very simple and clear words, like: "oh people when I passed away, Ali is your leader".

Moreover, please note that what makes Imami Shia belief different from the mainstream belief is not the issue of successorship of Ali (ra). It is in fact the issue of claiming divine position for certain people from the generation of the Prophet (pbuh) that makes Imami Shia belief different. Ali (ra), according to this claim, is only the first one of these Imams and therefore the issue of successorhsip of Ali is only an application of that belief.

The best way of deciding about this and any other argument that is directly relevant to our beliefs as Muslims, is to look at the Qur'an, as I said in my last e-mail. Where the Qur'an has given us clear directives about any of the above we need to follow it and where it does not give us anything about it then we can be assured that it is not part of our beliefs as a Muslim.

Hope this helps.

Abdullah Rahim
UIUK
1st of July 2010

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Comments

0 #2 Bilal Firdaus Khan 2010-08-25 19:21

Thank you for your comments, Ian.

Our aim is to promote what we consider to be the true and correct understanding of Islam, based primarily on the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) with out putting emphasis on sectarian allegiance.

We do not offer any online courses but we would direct you to our sister website underneath which has many courses to offer:

http://www.studying-islam.org/

UIUK Web Team

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0 #1 Ian 2010-08-24 20:58

If I take your courses, are they reflective of sunna or shia, or some other sect?

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