An Investigation of the Narratives Concerning Mahdism Quoted from Imam Reza (AS)

The belief in Mahdism is common to divine religions. All the Infallibles, from the Prophet (PBUH) to the eleventh Imam (AS), have elucidated Mahdism and prepared the Shiites for the period of absence while making them familiar with Mahdavi teachings. In this study, the discussion of Mahdism in the words of Imam Reza (AS) has been analyzed using the narrative-descriptive method and the Shiite narrative sources. The ideas of Mahdism were explained in the era of Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (AS), but during Imam Reza’s (AS) era, the current of Mahdism was diverted by the Waqifiyyah and deviant cults. Therefore, Imam Reza (AS) attempted to restore Mahdism and Mahdavi knowledge to their proper course and to preserve them. In this article, Imam Reza’s (AS) narratives on Mahdism are typologized and validated in terms of document and content. The topics discussed in these narratives include the introduction of the personality of Hazrat Hujjat (AS), the events of the apocalypse and the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS), and their narrators are reliable Shiites scholars, able to convey the concepts and thought of Mahdism to the Shiite community.