The Twelfth Imam, from Delusion to Reality: Criticism of Ehsan Elahi Zahir

Ehsan Elahi Zahir is one of the famous Wahhabi authors active in rejecting Shi'a beliefs. In his numerous works, he has considered the existence of the twelfth Shi'a Imam as delusional and believes that Imam Al-Hasan al-Askari (P.B.U.H.) did not have a child. To support his claim, he draws on narrations from Shi'a books and the views of Shi'a scholars such as Nobakhti, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and Al-Tabarsi. In this article, his views and the narrations attributed to Shi’a theologians quoated by him are reviewed critically. The results show clearly that his citations are inaccurate. Furthermore, based on narrations from authentic Sunni sources supplemented with the historical events narrated in historical books, it is concluded that the existence of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) is not delusional and from a historical point of view and based on Shi’a’s and Sunni’s views Imam al-Hassan al-Askari had a son and his son is Imam Mahdi (a.s.).