The features of the twelfth imam of His Holiness the Mahdi are expressed in traditions of Sunni and Shiite origin, some of which we bring to your attention:
His Eminence is the son of Prophet Ali, Fatima and Hussein. He is the ninth son of Imam Husain and the sixth son of Imam Sadq and the fourth son of Imam Rida and the son of Hasan Askari.
He has two periods of absence or, more precisely, to hide from the eyes, of which the first is short-lived, and the second is very long. The second absence is so long that those who do not have strong faith will gradually begin to doubt.
His Holiness’s life will be very long. When he appears, the whole world will be filled with their justice, and justice and the whole world will be established divine authority.
These and other features, narrated in hundreds of Shiite and Sunni narrations, are given so that people recognize those who pretend to be Mahdi – the promised one, do not succumb to their deceptions and do not stray from the righteous path.
The twelfth Imam His Holiness Mahdi was born in 255 or 256 AH in the city of Samera until 260, when his father died, many saw his Holiness as a child in the house of Imam Hasan Askari and could observe in him the signs of greatness and characteristics of the Imam. Imam Askari himself reminded people of the issue of his son’s imamate within the permitted limits.
In 260, when his respected father Imam Askari died, his eminence disappeared from the eyes of the people (because the Abbasid caliphs intended to kill him and made every effort to arrest his eminence). Nevertheless, during the seventy-year term, which is called the small absence, the connection of Shiites with his eminence did not stop. This happened because during this term, four people one after the other were appointed by his lordship as special representatives to whom people turned and expressed their scientific and religious needs and received worthy answers. From 329, when the fourth special representative died, a period of great absence began. His Eminence did not appoint special representatives for this period and placed the people under the authority of great faqihs (Islamic jurist – trans.) and religious scholars, so that people could learn their religious laws through them.
Now, more than a thousand years have passed since the beginning of the great absence, and the Shiites are waiting for his appearance, the embodiment of divine justice and justice, so that he will put an end to the misfortunes of Muslims and lead them in the direction of happiness and true Islam.
Of course, waiting for the Imam of the age does not mean that Muslims and Shiites should sit idly by and take no action to advance Islamic goals and just wait for his arrival. On the contrary, as great Islamic scholars and theologians have said for a long time, all Muslims and Shiites are obliged under all conditions to make efforts aimed at spreading Islamic education, to oppose and fight evil and vices as much as possible.
In other words, they must make efforts to prepare the prerequisites for the power of justice, that is, to educate society in such a way that everyone desires justice, and if there is evil and violence in the world, then all together oppose them. In short, every Muslim is obliged to sacrifice himself in the name of faith and Islam and always be ready to meet the promised Mahdi, to stand with him in one line.
As it was said above, his eminence is the imam of the era from 260 Hijra until now, and the time of the appearance of his eminence is unknown to anyone, and we must reject the words of anyone who will determine the date of the appearance of his eminence.
Yes, on the day when evil and violence will reach their peak and people will get tired of them and everyone will want to establish true justice, that is, their way of thinking will change, and the Lord Almighty will recognize the arrival of his light as necessary and useful, light will appear and transform peace to the city of ideals and the heavenly flower garden.
As narrated from the words of the twelfth imam himself, people during his absence are obliged to turn to eminent scholars, theologians and authoritative, worthy of emulation theologians of higher authorities on matters of religion and laws, as well as their duties, and to follow their instructions in all spheres of life . It is absolutely clear that exemplary theologians and eminent religious scholars have no right to issue any fatwas and decrees, but must use only the prescriptions of the Koran and the decrees of the great prophet and imams. Under such conditions, the appeal to them is tantamount to
aversion to the prophet, imam and the Koran and opposition to their instructions is equivalent to opposition to the Koran and the imam of the era.
Scientists and researchers say that life expectancy is not the main cause of death. The main cause of death, in their opinion, lies in disorders and pathology that occurs in all or one of the most important organs of the human body. If this does not happen, then there will be no death. If these pathologies occur before old age, the person will die at a young age, otherwise death will occur in old age according to the normal aging process.
Thus, if a person can protect himself from various disorders in the body, then the length of life will not be a reason for death.
For example, we read in newspapers and magazines that scientists are trying to invent drugs that can increase the body’s ability to live longer. This proves that a person has the ability to live long, but must do so in order to remove obstacles on this path.
Therefore, if a person will have a healthy mind, heart, nerves, kidneys, liver and stomach, and will know all hygienic prescriptions and follow them, will know the characteristics of various types of food and will use them if necessary, then he will be able to live quite a long time without any complications a long and even millennial life.
Of course, not everyone in the current conditions can be like that, but if we assume that the existence of such a person (imam) is necessary, why would the Lord God not create such a system of Creation, such conditions and knowledge, so that a person can do everything necessary for a long life .
But when we prove with mental and practical arguments that the existence of the imam of the era is necessary and the length of life for a person is possible only if it is necessary to observe his conditions and the Lord can create these conditions for whom He wishes, in such a case we will come to the conclusion that the Lord Almighty created for the imam of the era, all the necessary conditions for the life of his venerable being were long.
Therefore, the opinion of the Shiites, who claim that the twelfth Imam was born in 255 or 256 Hijri and is still alive and will live until the date that Allah wills, does not cause any scientific and natural contradictions.
In addition, if the life span of his luminary will not be consistent with the usual and natural laws, then the Lord Almighty with his unlimited power, having created a miracle, can exceptionally preserve a person for thousands of years at a young age.