Mahdism

Mahdism (Persian: مَهدَویّت,[1] Arabic: المهدوية) in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, derived from the belief in the reappearance of the Twelfth Shiite Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, as the savior of the apocalypse for the salvation of human beings and the establishment of peace and justice.

From this perspective, it is believed that Jesus Christ and Khidr are still alive and will emerge with Muhammad al-Mahdi in order to fulfil their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.

"The commentators have considered the fulfillment of the promise mentioned in the verse at the time of the reappearance of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi.

[7][8] Also, verse 5 of Al-Qasas Surah: «وَ نُرِیدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلیَ الَّذِینَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ فیِ الْأَرْضِ وَ نجَعَلَهُمْ أَئمَّةً وَ نجَعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِین»"And We desired to show favour to those who were abased in the land, and to make them imams, and to make them the heirs"Some have considered the interpretations of this verse to be related to Muhammad al-Mahdi[9][10] and others have considered it to be related to the return (Rajʽa) of the Imams and the return of the government to them.

Upon the death of his father, while he was still a child, after the early years of his Imamate, he disappeared and would only contact his followers through his four successive deputies.

[33] According to Reza Aslan, with the development of the Mahdism doctrine among the Shiites, Sunni jurisprudence scholars tried to distance themselves from belief in the Mahdi.

[32] But according to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the Sunnis believe that the Mahdi is from the family of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam and will emerge with Jesus in the end times.

He also writes that the belief in the coming of the Mahdi is so strong among Muslims that throughout history, especially in times of pressure and hardship, has led to the emergence of claimants of "Mahdism".

[38] Contemporary Sunni writers such as Abd al-Muhsin al-Ibad, Muhammad Ali al-Sabuni, and Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz have also referred to the hadiths attributed to the Prophet of Islam about the Mahdi and the savior of the end times in their books and speeches, and have considered these hadiths trustworthy because have been mentioned frequently by different narrators.

In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdi in Sudan and started an uprising that was suppressed in 1898 by British forces.