Who is Imam Mahdi?
Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance) is, in Twelver Shia (Ja'fari) belief, the twelfth and final divinely appointed Imam — the son of Imam Hasan al-Askari (a.s.), born in Samarra in 255 AH. He is alive today in a state of concealment (ghaybah), and Muslims await his reappearance, by the permission of Allah, to establish justice upon the earth.
The expectation of a guided saviour called the Mahdi is shared broadly across Muslim traditions on the basis of prophetic narrations. The distinguishing point of the Twelver position is identity: the Mahdi is not a figure yet to be born, but a living Imam already born, whose lineage, birth, and occultation are recorded in the earliest Imami sources.
Identity at a glance
- Name
- Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi (a.t.f.s.)
- Father
- Imam Hasan al-Askari (a.s.), the eleventh Imam
- Mother
- Lady Narjis (s.a.)
- Birth
- 15 Sha'ban 255 AH (869 CE), Samarra, Iraq
- Titles
- al-Qa'im, al-Hujjah, Sahib al-Zaman, Baqiyyat Allah
- Status
- Twelfth and final Imam, alive in occultation (ghaybah)
The two occultations
Minor Occultation (260–329 AH)
After the martyrdom of his father in 260 AH, the Imam remained hidden from public view while communicating with the community through four successive appointed deputies (al-nuwwab al-arba'ah): Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Amri, Muhammad ibn Uthman, Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri.
The Final Letter (329 AH)
Shortly before his death, the fourth deputy received a written instruction stating that no deputy would be appointed after him. With that, the era of direct deputyship closed.
Major Occultation (329 AH – present)
The Imam remains alive but concealed. Twelver scholarship holds that during this period the community refers to qualified jurists in matters of religious practice, while awaiting the Imam's reappearance by the permission of Allah.
Why the belief matters
Belief in the living Imam is not treated as a passive wait. Classical Imami teaching frames the period of occultation as one of preparation: cultivating knowledge, justice, and moral discipline so that the community is ready to support the Imam. Practices connected to this belief include the recitation of Du'a al-Nudbah, Du'a al-Faraj, and Du'a al-Ahd, and the weekly emphasis on Friday as the day associated with his reappearance.
Primary sources
- Kitab al-KafiShaykh al-Kulayni (d. 329 AH)
- Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni'mahShaykh al-Saduq (d. 381 AH)
- Kitab al-GhaybahShaykh al-Tusi (d. 460 AH)
- Bihar al-AnwarAllamah al-Majlisi (d. 1110 AH)
This page is an introductory summary. For rulings and detailed doctrinal questions, refer to the primary texts above and to your marja'.