At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
The mahdiyya is the belief in the awaited Mahdi. For the Imamiyya he is the Twelfth Imam, who will fill the earth with justice and equity after it has been filled with tyranny and injustice, and who will be given the oath of allegiance at Mecca between the Corner and the Station. The belief in the return (raj'a) is connected with it. 2
Points of view
The people of the Sunna: the hadiths about the Mahdi are received by them without any personal identification, and the report of the Sufyani is, for them, very weak. 3
The academic view: Ahmad Amin holds that the hadiths were composed in a pattern that could serve the Alids or the Abbasids, depending on who was victorious. One example is the hadith "four of us from the People of the House," and al-Mansur named his son al-Mahdi. 3
The Imamiyya: the Twelfth Imam has an occultation, and he is the Mahdi who will fill the earth with justice and equity. 4
Opinions on the question
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (2)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Shia (Twelver) viewOther opinion
People and things also explored
The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· Ghayba (occultation)· Ilm al-kalam (speculative theology)· The Imamate· Infallibility of the Imams (Twelver Shi'a)· Raj'a (the return to the world)· Disavowal (tabarri) of the Companions in Twelver Shi'a sources· Taqiyya (dissimulation)
Sources
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p. 871-873
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p.871-873
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p.872
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p.857
- Asma al-Matalib fi Sirat Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, vol. 2
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The doctrine of the awaited Mahdi (al-mahdiyya)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/mahdiyya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.