What is meant by the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance? (question)

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What is meant by the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance?
Upper entryMahdism / Preconditions for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a) / Signs of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a)
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What is the essential nature of the “immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s return”?

The Arabic word “Mahtum” signifies any event that must definitively happen[1] and which cannot be changed or avoided.[2].[3] As such, the “Mahtum” signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance are signs that will immutably occur before or alongside the return of Imam Mahdi (a).[4] These signs are not subject to any preconditions or prerequisites.[5] They must happen prior to the Imam’s emergence from occultation,[6] and if they do not take place, then the Imam will also not return.[7] The exact time period wherein these signs will transpire extends from slightly before Imam Mahdi’s reappearance to the initial stages of his uprising.[8] In fact, it would be better to label these signs as the signs of Imam Mahdi’s uprising instead of calling them signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance because, according to the narrated traditions, some of these signs are scheduled to happen before Imam Mahdi’s emergence from occultation while others will occur after his return. Indeed, one narrated tradition clearly states :[9] “Five (signs will occur) before the uprising of the Qa’im…”[10]

The immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance

Based upon narrated traditions and popular academic opinion, most scholars identify five events as being the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s return from occultation. These are: the uprising of the Yamani, the uprising of the Sufyani, the celestial proclamation, the sinking of the Earth at Bayda wherein they Sufyani will be swallowed up by the ground, and the murder of al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah.[11] Within various narrated traditions, certain events are stated to be the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance.[12] For instance, Imam Sadiq (a) is reported to have said :[13] “Before the reappearance of the Qa’im (a), five signs will immutably take place: the (rise of the) Yamani, the (rise of the) Sufyani, the Sayḥah (or celestial proclamation), the killing of al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah, and the sinking of the Earth.”[14] Even though certain other narrated traditions have also named other events and occurrences as immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s return, the famous and popular academic view held by scholars accepts only these five signs to be immutable in nature.

References

  1. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad, Al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān, p. 218.
  2. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 12, p. 113.
  3. ↑ See: Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, vol. 3, pp. 116; Nadhīr al-Ḥasanī, Sayyid Nadhīr, Muṣliḥ-e Kull, p. 190.
  4. ↑ See: Alīpūr Mahdī, Ẓuhūr, pp. 252-262; al-Qazwīnī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāzim, Imām Mahdī az Tawallud tā Baʿd az Ẓuhūr, pp. 307-308.
  5. ↑ See: Mūsawī Nasab, Sayyid Jaʾfar, Diwīst Pursish wa Pāsukh Pīramūn-e Imām Zamān (a) vol. 2, pp. 33-43; Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 30-32.
  6. ↑ See: Mūsawī Nasab, Sayyid Jaʾfar, Diwīst Pursish wa Pāsukh Pīramūn-e Imām Zamān (a) vol. 2, pp. 33-43; Hāshimī Shahīdī, Sayyid Asadullāh , Zamīnasāzān-e Inqilāb-e Jahānī-ye Haḍrat-e Mahdī: az Didgāh-e Riwāyāt, pp. 25-26.
  7. ↑ See: Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Farhangnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, pp. 445-448; Nadhīr al-Ḥasanī, Sayyid Nadhīr, Muṣliḥ-e Kull, p. 190.
  8. ↑ See: Alīpūr Mahdī, Ẓuhūr, pp. 252-262.
  9. ↑ Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 303.
  10. ↑ See: Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Pursimān-e Mahdawīyyat, pp. 226-229.
  11. ↑ See: Alīpūr Mahdī, Ẓuhūr, pp. 252-262; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Farhangnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, pp. 445-448; al-Qazwīnī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāzim, Imām Mahdī az Tawallud tā Baʿd az Ẓuhūr, pp. 307-308.
  12. ↑ See: Mūsawī Nasab, Sayyid Jaʾfar, Diwīst Pursish wa Pāsukh Pīramūn-e Imām Zamān (a) vol. 2, pp. 33-43; Zahādat, Abdulmajīd; Ma’ārif wa ‘Aqā’id 5 vol. 2, pp. 262.
  13. ↑ Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali. Kamal al-Din, p. 650.
  14. ↑ See: Mūsawī Nasab, Sayyid Jaʾfar, Diwīst Pursish wa Pāsukh Pīramūn-e Imām Zamān (a) vol. 2, pp. 33-43; Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad, Dānishnāma-ye Imām Mahdī bar Pāya-ye Qurʾān, Ḥadith wa Tārīkh vol. 7, pp. 429-431; al-Qazwīnī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāzim, Imām Mahdī az Tawallud tā Baʿd az Ẓuhūr, pp. 307-308.
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