فصلنامه انتظار موعود
سال چهاردهم شماره 46 (پاییز 1393)

In the Quran and Infallibles’ Hadith, there are verses that speak about the future of earth and its true heirs and a government with justice. Among these verses is the verse 5 of surat Al-Qasas which talks about the leadership of poor and their inheritance. In the narrations’ and interpretations’ resources of the two sects in relation to this verse, there are narrations based on which different examples are introduced to inherit the earth. In the view of all Shia commentators, the revelation and interpretation of this verse is Israel and according to the contents of verses and the Shia sayings which are in coordination with the outward aspect of the holy verses, the interpretation or the true inheritors of the earth are the Imams and Imam Mahdi (A.S) and his companions and the promise of the inheritance of the earth is dedicated to the era of Imam Mahdi (A.S). But Sunni scholars have accepted the revelation and interpretation of this verse to be the Israel, ignoring the narrations by the Household, and have not mentioned the true revelation or example of the verse (i.e the Household).

“Epistemology of Mahdism” is a conditional or doubling epistemology which analyzes the knowledge resulted from Mahdism with a logical perspective and answers the questions like: Is it possible to have certain knowledge of the terms of Mahdism? What are the ways and sources of knowledge of the terms of Mahdism? Are Messianic terms capable of being true or false? In the terms of being true, what does their truth mean and how we can prove them to be true? The writer believes with the cognitive faculties of sense, reason, heart, acquired and intuitive knowledge, one can achieve the certain knowledge of Messianic issues. The certain knowledge should be acquired either through the evidence in the form of apriority and matters of conscience or via the definite proof. According to the theory of foundationalism, if some of Messianic terms are of the types of actually granted issues, i.e apriority and matters of conscience, they are authorized and do not need to be justified, because their truth is in their essence. Otherwise, Messianic terms are justified based on reasons and arguments. It is undoubtedly true in the terms of Messianism, there are matters of conscience which are actually granted and physical phenomena and transmitted data which are proximately granted.

The need for the presence of Imam and a holy authority at any time has long been raised in the expressions of religious leaders and scholars and reasons have been presented for it. The Occultation and the physical absence of Imam Mahdi (A.S) and its related questions show the necessity of an infallible Imam’s presence on the earth and the resulting effects of his existence need more analysis. Hence, we are still facing this question: how the necessity of the existence of an infallible Imam and a proof of God with a physical body on the earth even in his absence is explained and what its resulting effects are. It seems the reason of being the mediator of (God’s) grace (on people) is the main reason of the infallible Imam’s presence at any time, so in the light of this fact, the existence of Imam Mahdi even in the hidden existence is necessary. In the present paper, by analyzing the position and the subjective role of Imam in the development of creatures, we investigate the position of Imam in the sustainability and survival of creatures and the effect of his existence as the realization of the purpose of creation, and Imam being as the ultimate purpose and the axis of creation, and being a shelter for people. The present paper aims to explain this reality with an emphasis on the luminous verses of Quran with a descriptive-analytic approach.

Allāmah Majlesie, in “Tāriekh Al-Hojjah”, which is a part of the book “Bahār Al-Anwar” has selected and reported the Messianic narrations. The main subject of this paper is Allāmah Majlesie’s the methodology of narrating and typology of sources in this section. The results of investigating and evaluating the book of “Tāriekh Al-Hojjah” show that Allāmah in his own methodology has used understanding the context and its purpose and insightfully and deeply arranged and analyzed the Messianic narrations. After the verification of the authority of the text by attending to the differences in versions, format and considering the segmentation, he is after the study of the text by investigating strange narrations and paying attention to rhetoric and narrations’ category and by collecting the context evidences like the holy Quran’s verses, rationalism, and historical review, he is after discovering the real intention and purpose of the Infallible. Diversity, credibility, and authenticity of the sources are the three characteristics of the sources of Majlesie in “Tāriekh Al-Hojjah”.

The change in the lifestyle of a specific class of Iran’s society which was tangible on the side of the intelligentsia who has gone abroad and the political and economic pressures, especially the new event called “constitutional revolution” confused some of the pious of the time and made them think the promised oppression would reach its utmost before the Appearance. Thus, one of the periods loaded with the written books in the field of Messianism is considered to be the Qajar period and Ali Asghar Boroujerdie, Seyyed Esmāeel Nourie, Sheikh Abolhasan Marandie, and Gourtānie were among the preachers who have written book in this regard. But the lack of scientific rigor, wrong analysis and the use of unauthorized narrations have left a despicable reminder of some books which are still referred to in the recent period by some speakers and writers. In this paper, we investigate one of such writers named Abolhasan Marandie and three of his writings: “Mazhar Al-Anwar”, “Jarā’ed As-Sab’ā”, and “Mostarefāt” which are all a resource for today’s writers and speakers. The results show that this person has spread the apocryphal and unauthorized narrations, with the analysis in accordance with his own political demands as the signs of the Appearance.

“Mirza Gholām Ahmad Qᾱdyᾱnie” is considered as one of the claimants in the field of prophecy and Messianism among the Sunnis who appeared in India at the beginning of twentieth century and after him, his followers have spread this sect’s activities to Pakistan, and some of European and African countries. Gholām Ahmad believes the narrations about Imam Mahdi (A.S) considering him as the descendant of the Honorable Lady Fatemah are weak and with accordance to a narration which is mentioned in some of Sunni’s books which itself is not authorized by Sunni’s scholars believes that Mahdi is the very Jesus Christ and further, he introduces himself as the “Promised Mahdi” claiming that the Jesus Christ’s soul has been revealed in him. In this regard, Qᾱdyᾱnie presents some general reasons and signs such as inspiration, prophecy and cursing. In this paper, we review and investigate his transmitted reasons in relation to the signs of appearance and the uniqueness of Jesus and Mahdi (A.S).