Reviewing and Criticizing the Article Entitled «The Concept of Mahdi in Twelvers Shias» In Iranica Encyclopedia

The doctrine of Mahdism is one of the concerns which has raised the sensitivity of the orientalists in general and Western Shia scholars in particular. A notable number of intellectuals in this field, by relying on the methods of historical studies, have insisted on reading out the Mahdism teaching and tracing it from the previous religious traditions. Perhaps, we can consider the article of “the concept of Mahdi in Twelve-Imam Shi’ism” from the Iranica Encyclopedia, written by Amir Mo’ezzie, as one of the most significant works in this method. He tries to provide evidence that the doctrine of Mahdism has been the product of the historical evolution and the result of the Shiite scholars’ diligence in reproducing the Shi’a identity under the shade of the adaptation from the cultures and the previous long-standing religions with generally the Iranian roots. Of course, such an approach has faced the criticism of the master of thought of Shiite thought. In addition to the orientation such researches have, he considers such researches to be devoid of solid historical evidences and in some cases, he believes such researches suffers from considering the evolution pattern of Christianity and Islam to be the same and the designers of the above-mentioned idea have inadequately compared what has occurred in the Western-Christian culture with that of Eastern-Shiite culture. The following paper is an attempt to present a justifiable report from the “concept of Mahdi in Tweleve-Imam Shi’ism” and investigate the concept based on the content analysis protocols, the methodology of historical studies and the above-mentioned procedures.