Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Promised Savior: An Inquiry into the Imamate of Imam Mahdi (a.s) from the Viewpoint of Muslim Thinkers

Author: Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Husaini Milani
Translator: Sayyid Abur Rauf Afzali
Publisher: www.shiaword.net
Category:

• Foreword
• Translator's Note
• Introduction
• Part One: Mahdaviyat and Imam Mahdi from the view point of Muslim thinkers
• Muslim Community and Imam Mahdi
• Imam Mahdi and famous Sunni writers
• Companions as narrators of traditions on Imam Mahdi (a.s)
• Sunni Scholars and the successively reported traditions on Imam Mahdi (a.s.)
• Sunni scholars and authenticity of traditions on Mahdi
• Chapter Two: Imam Mahdi and Mahdviyat in successively reported traditions
• 1. Necessity of knowing the imam of the time
• The tradition of knowing the imam and its historical instances
• 2. Two successors of the Holy Prophet (s)
• The tradition as narrated by Zaid bin Thabit
• The tradition as reported by Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari
• The tradition as reported by Abu Sa'eed Khidri
• The tradition as narrated by Zaid bin Arqam
• 3. The twelve caliphs
• Chapter Three: Mahid (a.s) belongs to Prophet's progeny
• Mahdi (a.s) is from the descendants of Fatima (a.s)
• Mahdi is from the offspring of Imam Husain (a.s)
• Tradition one
• Tradition Two
• Tradition Three
• Chapter Four: The Promised Mahdi is born
• Part Two: Counter-traditions
• 1. Mahdi is the same as Jesus
• Unauthentic tradition and unreliable narrators
• Muhammad bin Khalid Janadi
• Aban bin Salih
• Hasan Basri
• Yunus bin Abduala
• Jesus Christ in presence of Imam Mahdi
• Taftazani's opinion rejected
• 2. Mahdi is from the offspring of Hasan
• An assessment of this opinion
• Sheikh Mansur's opinion
• An evaluation of the chain of this tradition
• An evaluation of the text of this tradition
• An inquiry into the meaning of this tradition
• 3. His father is the namesake of Prophet's father
• Being Prophet's namesake
• His name is the same as the name of my father
• Part Thre: Question of Mahadviyat and Doubts about it
• Taftazani's strange opinion
• An apt answer
• The issue of Mahdaviyat and important questions
• Imam Mahdi and his long life
• Is long life something incredible?
• Ibn Taymiyya and denial of Khidr's being alive
• Opponents of Ibn Taymiyya's opinion
• Divine power and wisdom
• Why did the Imam disappear? How can we benefit from him, given he is not among us now?
• Imam Mahdi's occultation and traditions
• The need to know the imam of the time
• Harmony between occultation and imamate
• Imam Mahdi and divine grace
• Uses of an absent imam
• Where does he live?
• A baseless claim by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Khaldun
• A response by Shiite scholars
• The Samirra basement as a holy place
• 4. When will Imam Mahdi reappear?
• How does Imam Mahdi judge?
• Waiting and those who wait
• Waiting and praying for Imam's reappearance
• Waiting and taking preparation for his reappearance
• Bibliography
• Notes