Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

the eclipse of the sun will not occur but on the twenty-seventh, twenty-eight or twenty-ninth of the month. the sun will be eclipsed at the time when it comes close to the moon in a special form, (6) rising of the sun from the west, (7) killing of seventy pious people (3) killing (9) destruction of the wall of the mosque of kufa, (10) advancement of the holders of black flags from khorasan, (11) yamani's revolt, (12) maghrabi's revolt in egypt and becoming the ruler of syria, (13) descencion of turks in an island, (14) the coming of romans in rumalah, (15) the rising of a star in the east which would be like a sparkling moon, (16) that star would bend and break into two in such a manner that they would come close to each other, (17) a redness will appear in the sky and it will cover its surrounding, (18) a fire would appear throughout the east and it would remain so for three or seven days, (19) arabs would set free their rein, (20) arabs would become owners of cities, (21) arabs would exit from the rule of iranian kings, (22) the inhabitants of egypt would kill their ruler and his commands, (23) syria would be destroyed and three flags will advance towards it, (24) the flags of qais and arab would advance towards egypt, (25) engraved flags would advance towards khorasan, (26) the entry of some arabs in the outskirts of hirah (27) the coming of black flags from the east, (28) a split shall occur in euphrates as a result of which its water would flow on the roads of kura, (29) sixty liars will emerge where each of them will claim prophethood for themselves, (30) twelve persons from the progeny of abu-talib would revolt and each of them would claim imamate for themselves, (31) a dignified person from the followers of bani-abbass will get drowned near the bridge of karkh in baghdad, (32) a black wind will blow in baghdad, (33) an earthquake shall occur in baghdad where a greater portion of the city will collapse, (34) fear will encompass the inhabitants of iraq, (35) death will swiftly overtake the people of iraq, (36) the people of iraq will face deficience in their property and fruit, (37) locusts will appear during the normal season as well as during off-season and they will get attracted to plants and cereals, (38)the agriculture output of the people will be poor, (39) discord will arise amongst non-arabs and they will shed blood of one another, (40) slaves shall disobey their master and will kill them.

(41) after that, it would rain successively for twenty-four times. the earth would become alive after its death and would throw out its treasures. at that time, all types of calamities will be kept away from Mahdi's believers. at that moment they will realize that Mahdi has emerged in mecca. as a result, they will move towards mecca for assisting hazrat and the same can be seen in the traditions.

some of these events are sure and certain to occur while some others are conditional. Allah knows better what might take place. we have mentioned the afore-mentioned happenings as per the traditions.

ali-ibn-yazid ezadi narrates from his father who narrates from his grand-father that amirul-mumineen (a.s.) said: 'when the qaem's emergence shall draw near, red and white deaths will appear. red-coloured locusts shall become visible during the normal and off-season. red death refers to the sword and white death refers to plague.

jabir tuafi narrates that imam muhammad baqir (a.s.) told him as such: remain firm in your place. do not move until you see for yourself these signs. i do not think that you will perceive these signs. they are as such: discord amongst bani-abbass, a caller who will call out from the heavens, sinking of a village (called jobiah) in syria, descension of turks in an island descencion of romans in rumalah and discord in every part of the land until syria will be ruined. the reason for destruction of social life will be the hoisting of flags where one of them would be red and white, the other black and white and the third flag will belong to sufyani.

traditions about the year and day
of Mahdi's emergence

abu basir has narrated from sadiq aal-e-muhammad as such: 'Mahdi shall not emerge but in the odd year i.e. the first, third, fifth, seventh or ninth year.' again abu basir narrates from imam jafar sadiq (a.s.) who said: 'the name of qa'em will be taken on the 23rd night of the blessed month of ramadhan. the qa'em shall emerge on the day of ashura - the day on which imam hussein was martyred. as if i am seeing the qa'em emerging on saturday, the tenth of muharram between ruku and maqaem and someone standing in front of him calling out: allegiance, allegiance,. thus Mahdi's followers will turn towards him from all sides and will give allegiance to him. by Mahdi's means Allah will fill the earth with justice just as it was previously filled with cruelty and oppression. thereafter, Mahdi will turn his attention from mecca to kufa and will land in najaf from where he will send soldiers towards the cities.

it has been narrated from abdul-karim nakh'ee as such: 'i asked sadeq aal-e-muhammad: for how long will the qa'em rule?
imam (a.s.) replied: seven years. the days and nights during Mahdi's time will be so lengthy that one year of that time will be like twenty years of today and (seven) years of Mahdi will be equal to seventy years of your reckoning.

in a lenghty tradition, imam muhammad baqir (a.s.) said: 'when the qaem shall emerge, his attention will be drawn towards kufa. he will develop the mosques of kufa, strike down the balconies overlooking the roads, destroy the wells and drain-pipes on the road-paths, uproot all sorts of heresy, enliven every custom and conquer istanbul, china and the mountains of dailam. this will remain so for seven years where each year would be equal to ten years of your reckoning.

in another tradition imam muhammad baqir (a.s.)said:- due to fear (which the enemies have of hazrat) the qa'em will be assisted (by Allah) and due to triumph, will become victorious. the earth will roll for Mahdi and treasures will loom before him. his rule will extend from east to west. Allah will place his religion above all other religions even though the polytheists may dislike it. there will be no dilapidated place but that Mahdi will develop it. the earth will not cede anything from its herbs but that it will cause it to thrive. during Mahdi's time, the people will enjoy such blessings which they had never enjoyed before.