Reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi

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Beliefs and practices Monotheism Holy Books Prophethood Succession to Muhammad Imamate Ismaili Twelver Zaydi Angels Judgment Day Mourning of Muharram Intercession Clergy The Four Companions Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage
Days of remembrance Ashura Arba'een Mawlid Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Eid al-Ghadir Mourning of Muharram Omar Koshan
History Verse of purification Two things Mubahala Khumm Fatimah's house First Fitna Second Fitna Battle of Karbala Origin Persecution
Branches and sects Twelvers Ja'fari Akhbari Usuli Shaykhi Alawites Zaydi Shi'a Isma'ili Musta'li Tayyibi Alavi Dawoodi Sulaymani Hafizi Nizari Khoja Satpanth Batini Alevism Bektashi Bektashism and folk religion Qizilbash Alians Hurufism Extinct Shi'a sects
Ahl al-Kisa Muhammad Ali Fatima Hasan Husayn
Holy women Fatima Khadija bint Khuwaylid Umm Salama Zaynab bint Ali Umm Kulthum bint Ali Umm ul-Banin Fatima bint Hasan Sukayna bint Husayn Rubab Shahrbanu Fatima bint Musa Hakimah Khātūn Narjis Fatimah bint Asad Umm Farwah bint al-Qasim Sayyida Ruqayya bint Ali Sayyida Nafisa
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The reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi is the Twelver eschatological belief in the return of their Hidden Imam in the end of time to establish peace and justice on earth. For Twelvers, this would end a period of occultation that began shortly after the death of Hasan al-Askari in 260 AH (873–874 CE), the eleventh Imam. While the miraculously prolonged life of the eschatological Mahdi is specific to Shia, the signs of his (re)appearance and his career are largely common in Shia and Sunni, and the belief in a messianic Mahdi remains popular among all Muslims, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources.