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Chapter 1
Who And What Of The Mahdi
The Mahdi is not only an embodiment of the Islamic belief but he is also the symbol of
an aspiration cherished by mankind irrespective of its divergent religious doctrines. He
is also the crystallization of an instructive inspiration through which all people,
regardless of their religious affiliations, have learned to await a day when a heavenly
mission, with all its implications, will achieve their final goal and the tiring march of
humanity across history will culminate satisfactorily in peace and tranquillity. This
consciousness of the expected future has not been confined to those who believe in the
supernatural phenomena but has also been reflected in the ideologies and cults which
totally deny the existence of what is imperceptible. For example, dialectical materialism
which interprets history on the basis of contradictions believes that a day will come when
all contradictions will disappear and complete peace and tranquillity will prevail. Thus
we find that this consciousness experienced throughout history is one of the widest and
the commonest psychological experience of humanity. The religion, when it endorses this common consciousness and stresses that in the long
run this world will be filled with justice and equity after having been filled with
injustice and oppression, gives it a factual value and converts it into a definite belief
in the future course of humanity. This belief is not merely a source of consolation, but
it is also a source of virtue and strength. It is a source of virtue because the belief in
the Mahdi means the total elimination of injustice and oppression prevailing in the world.
It is a source of inexhaustible strength because it provides hope which enables man to
resist frustration, howsoever, hopeless and dismal the circumstances may be. The belief in
the appointed day proves that it is possible for the forces of justice to face the world
filled with injustice and oppression, to prevail upon the forces of injustice and to
reconstruct the world order. After all prevalence of injustice, howsoever dominant and
extensive it may become, is an abnormal state and must in the long run be eliminated. The
prospect of its elimination after reaching its climax, infuses a great hope in every
persecuted individual and every oppressed nation that it is still possible to change the
state of affairs.Although the concept of the Mahdi is more wide spread than the Muslim community, yet
its detailed features, as determined by Islam, meet more fully all the aspirations
attached to it since the dawn of history. They are in greater conformity with the feelings
and sentiments of the oppressed and the persecuted of all times. It is Islam which has
given a concrete shape to an abstract idea. It is no longer necessary to look forward to
an unknown saviour who may come into the world at a distant future. The saviour is already
here and we simply have to look for the day when the circumstances are ripe for him to
appear and begin his great mission. The Mahdi is no longer an idea. He is no longer a
prophecy. We need not wait for his birth. He already exists actually and we only wait for
the inauguration of his role. He is a specific entity living among us in his real human
form and shares our hopes and disappointments and our joys and griefs. He witnesses all
the acts of oppression and persecution which are perpetrated on the face of the earth and,
somehow or another, he himself is affected by them. He is anxiously awaiting the moment
when he will be able to extend his helping hand to everyone whom any wrong has been done
and be able to eradicate injustice and oppression completely.Although this Awaited Saviour is living among us, waiting for the appointed moment for
his advent, yet he is ordained not to proclaim himself nor to disclose his identity.It is evident that the concept of the Mahdi, with its Islamic features, shortens the
gap between the oppressed and the expected saviour. It spans the bridge between them,
howsoever long the period of waiting may be.When we are asked to believe that the Mahdi is a particular person already living a
normal life, we are also expected to believe that the idea of absolute eradication of
every kind of injustice and oppression by the Mahdi has already been embodied in the
person of the Awaited Saviour who will reappear while he will be, as the tradition says,
'owing no allegiance to any tyrant'. The belief in him means the belief in eradication of
all evils in a concrete form.The tradition urges the believers in the Mahdi to keep on waiting for him and to
continue looking forward for solace. The idea is to establish a close spiritual and
intuitive link between the believers, on the one hand, and the Mahdi and all that he
stands for, on the other. It is not possible to establish such a link without believing
that the Mahdi has already been born and is a living and a contemporary personality.Thus we find that the concept of the living Mahdi has given a new impetus to the idea
of an expected saviour. It has made it a source of effective strength and consolation to
every person suffering from deprivation and injustice, a person who rejects all forms of
tyranny because he feels that his Leader, being a contemporary and a living personality
and not a future idea, shares his sufferings and feels his misery.Yet this concept, being beyond the imagination and comprehension of a number of people,
has led them to adopt a negative attitude towards the very idea of the Mahdi.
