Abstract:

A belief in the coming of an eschatological savior during a time when injustice and evil spreads across the world is a recurrent theme in many world religions. This has appeared under different names and guises among different cultural communities. The belief in a savior to come has managed to find a place in Islamic culture as well. The belief in a coming savior, the Mahdi, is known as one of the pillars of faith of the Shia, which is one of the important branches, or madhabs of Islam. Although not considered among the pillars of faith in the Sunni branch, the belief that the Mahdi will appear before the Day of Judgment and fill the world with justice and peace has won acceptance among a large part of the community. The idea that the belief in Mahdi is the result and consequence of feelings of oppression and despair is a common theme among the different views on the subject. In this article, the concept of Mahdi is first dealt with through a lexical and conceptual analysis. Following this, information is given about the history of the belief in the Mahdi and its place in Islamic culture. Thereafter, a critical analysis has been conducted on some of the hadiths which make up the sources of the belief in the Mahdi. The narrators (rawi) in the chains of transmission (ithnad) of the hadiths in question have been investigated in terms of whether they are reliable (thika) or not. The narrations themselves have also been examined based on their text and meaning. An account has been given about the inconsistencies and conflicts of the hadiths in question. Apart from this, based on the example of Fethullah Gülen who is claimed to be the Mahdi by his adherents, the damages of the belief in Mahdi have been mentioned also.

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