Is There a Contradiction Between the Religious Accounts of the Return and the Mahdis?

Is There a Contradiction Between the Religious Accounts of the Return and the Mahdis?

The Return has been mentioned in a general way in the frequently narrated religious accounts of Ahl al-Bayt.

Allama Al-Majlisi says:

How can a believer doubt in the truth about the purified Imams pbut when there are nearly two hundred clear, frequently narrated, straightforward hadiths? They have been narrated by more than forty trustworthy, great scholars of knowledge in more than fifty of their books. If accounts such as these are not considered to be at the level of frequently narrated even though they have been conveyed by all of the Shia, generation after generation, then what would be considered to be at the level of frequently narrated instead? (Al-Majlisi 1983, vol. 53, 122).

Al Hurr Al-Amili says:

The hadiths about the Return are clearly from the people of infallibility pbut, as they are found in The Four Books, other trustworthy books, and the many definitive contextual references that indicate its authenticity and the correctness of the religious accounts. However, the Return does not need to be proven with contextual evidence since it has reached the level of being frequently narrated, and has even gone beyond that. Every hadith provides knowledge about the Return, and contextual evidence also points to it. So how can there be doubt, even after a consensus has been reached by all of the scholars? (Al-Amili 1910, 56).

The guiding Imams pbut have mentioned the Return in only a general way, because they have stated that the time for revealing the great details about it has not yet arrived, and that this matter has been assigned to the Qaim pbuh.

Zurara said: I asked Abu Abdullah pbuh about the great matters pertaining to the Return and other, similar matters. He said, “Regarding what you are asking about, its time has not yet arrived” (Al-Hilli 1950, 24).

If the scholars had refrained from delving into the details of the Return after they realized this, they would not have put themselves in this predicament, and they would have spared themselves from fabricating and presenting assumptions and interpretations in the religion of God. This has led some of them to imagine that there is a conflict between the Return and the religious accounts of the Mahdis from the progeny of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh.

Moreover, the religious accounts regarding the Mahdis are also at the level of being frequently narrated. They are found in abundance in Shia sources, and most of them are from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt pbut. The Ansar (supporters) of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh have cited many of these sources in the books they have written. They have been published on the official website of this blessed call, and anyone can take a look at them.^[5]

Sayed Ahmed Al-Hasan pbuh says:

There are many frequently narrated religious accounts saying that there are twelve Mahdis from the progeny of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh and that they are the vicegerents of God on His earth. There are also many religious accounts saying that there is a Return, so both beliefs are proven in many of the frequently narrated accounts. A person who denies any of them is either ignorant, and his intellect and knowledge are of no help in compiling and integrating these accounts in an acceptable and correct manner, or he is a stubborn and arrogant person who wants to cover the sun with a sieve. Otherwise, what does it mean to deny a reality that has been mentioned in countless religious accounts and has been mentioned by Shia scholars, generation after generation?!

This is the truth that the scholars do not possess, although it will definitely materialize, since the progeny of Muhammad promised it to their followers: “Regarding what you are asking about, its time has not yet arrived” (Al-Hilli 1950, 24). They should have waited for its time instead of delving into an explanation, not to mention coming up with an understanding based on their imagination, and then deciding to discard anything that opposes it.