What is the “Khasf al-Bayda” which forms one of the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance? (question)

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Short Comprehensive Answer

  • One of the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi’s reappearance[1] is the Khasf al-Bayda or the sinking of the Earth at Baydā.[2] The Arabic word “Khasf”[3] means “to sink down”, “to collapse”, “to sink into the Earth, and “to become hidden”.[4] The word “Baydā” literally means[5] “a soft desert or wasteland”, and “a featureless, expansive and unhabituated area of wilderness that is devoid of water and vegetation”.[6] It is also the name of a place, characterized by sandy plains, that lies between Mecca and Medina.[7]
  • The term “Khasf al-Bayda” (or the sinking of the Earth at Bayda signifies a miraculous event[8] in which the army of the Sufyani, while marching towards Mecca[9] in order to face Imam Mahdi (a) in battle, will be swallowed up by the Earth at a place called Bayda. Once the Sufyani’s troops reach this particular region, the archangel Gabriel will address the Earth and say: “O’ Baydā, destroy this atrocious group!” Thus, by the will of God and through a miraculous act of divine justice, the Earth will open up its surface and swallow the transgressors whole.[10],[11] An analysis of narrated traditions shows that this incident will occur about one month after the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a).[12] Therefore, the sinking of the Earth at Bayda is not really a sign of Imam Mahdi’s emergence from occultation but rather a sign of Imam Mahdi’s uprising.[13]
  • Some of the narrated traditions regarding the Khasf al-Bayda (or the sinking of the Earth at Bayda) are as follows:
    1. The Commander of the Faithful (a) is reported to have said :[14] “A person from my family will rise up in the land of the sacred mosque. When news of his reappearance will reach the Sufyani, he will send forth an army from amongst his troops in order to wage war on this person. However, the army of the Mahdi (a) will defeat these forces. Then, the Sufyani, alongside his troops, will personally come forth to face the Mahdi (a) in battle. When they reach the land of Bayda, they will sink into the Earth and no one will survive except one single individual, who will convey this news to others.”[15],[16]
    2. Similarly, Imam Ali (a) is reported to have explained the exegesis of the Quranic verse that says, “Were you to see them when they will be stricken with terror, without any escape, and are seized from a close quarter”.[17] In this exegesis, he is narrated to have said :[18] “At the threshold of the reappearance of our Qa’im (i.e. the Mahdi), the Sufyani will start an uprising … His army will march towards Medina and when they reach the land of Bayda, God will sink them into the Earth.”[19]

References

  1. Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Luṭfullāh, Muntakhab al-Athar, p. 452,459; Muhammad ibn Ibrahim. Al-Ghaybah Nu'mani, pp. 252-257, Hadith 15; Tarikh-e Ghaybat-e Kubra, pp. 499-502; Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub, al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 310, Hadith 483; Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali. al-Khisal, Hadith 82, chapter 1, p. 303.
  2. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; Mujtabā Tūnaʾī, Mawʿūdnāmih, pp. 187,298; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, vol.3, p.130; Nadhīr al-Ḥasanī, Sayyid Nadhīr, Muṣliḥ-e Kull, p. 200; Zahādat, Abdulmajīd; Ma’ārif wa ‘Aqā’id 5 vol. 2, pp. 265; Ṭāhirī, Ḥabībullāh, Sīmā-ye Aftāb, p. 277; al-Qazwīnī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāzim, Imām Mahdī az Tawallud tā Baʿd az Ẓuhūr, pp. 335-337.
  3. Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 9, p. 67.
  4. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; Mujtabā Tūnaʾī, Mawʿūdnāmih, p. 298; Ismāʿīlī, Ismāʿīl, Barrisī-ye Nishānihā-ye Ẓuhūr, Chashm bi Rāh-e Mahdī, pp. 278-280; Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad, Dānishnāma-ye Imām Mahdī bar Pāya-ye Qurʾān, Ḥadith wa Tārīkh vol. 7, pp. 436-437; Zahādat, Abdulmajīd; Ma’ārif wa ‘Aqā’id 5 vol. 2, pp. 265; Ṣamadī, Qanbar ʿAlī, Ākharin Munjī, p. 196; Khayrullāhī, Zahrā, Mūsawī Shakūr, Fakhrī Sādāt, ʿAlāʾim-e Ẓuhur dar Āyāt-e Qurʾān, pp. 233-235; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad Jawād, Guftārhā-ye Mahdawī, pp. 198.
  5. Ḥamawī, Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 1, p. 523; Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 1, p. 548.
  6. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; ʿAlī Akbar Mahdīpūr, Dar Āstāna-ye Ẓuhūr, p. 107; Mujtabā Tūnaʾī, Mawʿūdnāmih, p. 298.
  7. Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 1, p. 277.
  8. Zahādat, Abdulmajīd; Ma’ārif wa ‘Aqā’id 5 vol. 2, pp. 265.
  9. Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, vol. 3, p. 130.
  10. Murasid al-Itla, vol. 1, p. 239; Al-Wafi, vol. 2, p. 442; Ibn Abi Zaynab, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim. Al-Ghaybah Nu'mani, p. 252.
  11. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāma-ye Mahdawīyyat, vol. 3, p. 130; Mujtabā Tūnaʾī, Mawʿūdnāmih, p. 298, Ismāʿīlī, Ismāʿīl, Barrisī-ye Nishānihā-ye Ẓuhūr, Chashm bi Rāh-e Mahdī, pp. 278-280; Zahādat, Abdulmajīd; Ma’ārif wa ‘Aqā’id 5 vol. 2, p. 265; ʿAlī Akbar Mahdīpūr, Dar Āstāna-ye Ẓuhūr, p. 107; al-Qazwīnī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāzim, Imām Mahdī az Tawallud tā Baʿd az Ẓuhūr, pp. 335-337.
  12. ʿAlī Akbar Mahdīpūr, Dar Āstāna-ye Ẓuhūr, p. 107; Ismāʿīlī, Ismāʿīl, Barrisī-ye Nishānihā-ye Ẓuhūr, Chashm bi Rāh-e Mahdī, pp. 278-280.
  13. Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad Jawād, Guftārhā-ye Mahdawī, pp. 198.
  14. Ṣadr, Sayyid Muhammad; Tārīkh e Ghaybat e Kubrā, p. 521.
  15. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; Mujtabā Tūnaʾī, Mawʿūdnāmih, p. 298; Ismāʿīlī, Ismāʿīl, Barrisī-ye Nishānihā-ye Ẓuhūr, Chashm bi Rāh-e Mahdī, pp. 278-280.
  16. Ramaḍānīyān, Alī Riḍā, Sharāyiṭ wa Alā'im-e Ḥatmī-ye Ẓuhūr, pp. 52-54; Nadhīr al-Ḥasanī, Sayyid Nadhīr, Muṣliḥ-e Kull, pp. 200.
  17. Qur'an 34:51.
  18. Qanduzi, Sulayman ibn Ibrahim, Yanabi' al-Mawaddah, p. 427.
  19. Ismāʿīlī, Ismāʿīl, Barrisī-ye Nishānihā-ye Ẓuhūr, Chashm bi Rāh-e Mahdī, pp. 278-280.