Evaluating the Criteria of Recognizing Imam Mahdi (A.S) from the Messianic Claimants at the Time of Appearance

The emergence of various disturbances and false claimants at the Occultation period has made it far more difficult than any other periods to identify the true Mahdi (A. S). Therefore، the criteria for recognizing the Imam of the Time (A. S) at the time of Appearance are one of the important Messianic topics. In traditions، the five indications of “Yamāni”، “Sofiyāni”، “manslaughter of the pure soul”، “Khasf Baydā” (the submerged desert)، and “the celestial shout” are among the signs of Appearance of Mahdi. Of these signs، because the first three signs can be compared to multiple instances، they cannot be easily used to identify Imam Mahdi (A. S). However، since Khasf Baydā and the celestial shout seem to be miraculous and unique events، it is a lot easier to recognize them. The basis of the current paper is identifying the signs of the true Imam Mahdi (A. S) from the false claimants; therefore، we have searched for a criterion، which helps us to achieve this goal. Although Khasf Baydā is a miraculous sign، it is not an event، which leads us to the true Imam Mahdi (A. S). But because the celestial shout is mentioned in the traditions as a shout which introduces Imam Mahdi (A. S) with his name and details to all people، this sign can be inferred as an exclusive sign to the identification of Imam of the Time (A. S). In the present paper، we investigate and analyze this issue using intellectual and traditional methods.