In relation to those from the school of companions, the sunni, they believe in the Imam Mahdi (as) but they do not consider him to be the 12th.
They believe he is not born and that he is to be born. The sunni have 4 Rightly guided Caliplhs. This is all good and well, but when you
consider that the most famous books of hadith or narrations from the school of the sunnah, clearly state.
Narrated Jabir bin Samura: I heard the Prophet saying, "There will be twelve Muslim rulers (who will rule all the Islamic
world)." He then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said, "All of them (those rulers) will be from Quraish."
Sahih Bukhari (Book 89, Hadith no.329)
It has been reported on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say:
The affairs of the people will continue to be conducted (well) as long as they are governed by twelve men. Then the Holy Prophet
(May peace be upon him) said words which were obscure to me. I asked my father: What did the Messenger of Allah (May peace
be upon him) say? He said: All of the (twelve men) will be from the Quraish."
Sahih Muslim (Book 20, Hadith no.4478; no.4480; no.4481; no.4482; no.4483)
So the above mentioned narrations clearly indicate that there would be 12 rightly guided leaders and not just 4. These 12 rightly guided Princes
were also prophesized in the bible.
Genesis 17: 20.
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him and I have made him fruitful, and I will multiply him
exceedingly: twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation”.
And as we know from Prophet Muhammad (saw) descends from Prophet Ishmael (as) and the 12 Princes descendants from Muhammad (saw).
Also, very clearly the hadith states that all of the rightly guided leaders would be from Quraish. Let us also pose the question of whether the
rightly guided caliphs taken by the school of companions, were from Quraish? This is a question that I will leave open for the reader to research
Insh’Allah.
Also the belief that Imam Mahdi (as) would be born in the end of time, will be discussed and clarified shortly Insh’Allah.
When we look back at history and especially at the lives of the 12 rightly guided men who were to be the successors of the Prophet (saw), we will
notice that the very same thing that plagued the Prophets and chosen of old (pbut), had continued to occur to these 12 rightly guided men.
One by One, One after the other, they and their supporters suffered oppression by the hands of the tyrants, for no reason except for the truth for
which these men had called for, for the Supremacy of Allah and for the rejection of the supremacy of the people, the enjoining of good and for
the forbidding of vices.
This pure message which they had carried resulted in each and every one of them being martyred, either by sword or by poison, on occasion
even both.
The oppressors too were well aware of the narration that I mentioned above regarding the 12 rightful leaders. So much so that when it started
getting close to number 12 they had started spying on the Imams (as) and imprisoning them. The Father of Imam Mahdi (as), Imam Hassan AlAskari (as), was brought to Iraq. He was placed under house arrest in an attempt to spy on him and keeping him in check. There were also very
many people who kept coming to the house to see if any of the woman were expecting a child.
The birth of Imam Mahdi (as) was kept secret, not very many people knew of his birth. As a result of his father, the 11th Imam (as) being
continuously watched, Imam Mahdi (as) was the only Imam other than Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) to be born outside of medina. Imam Mahdi
(as) was born on the 15th Shabaan 255 AH in Summara, Iraq. His mother’s name was Narjis Khatun.
He became the Imam at the very young age of five years old after his father Imam Hassan Al-Askari had been martyred. He underwent a minor
occultation which began when he was about five years old. This occurred after he lead the funeral prayers for his father, with all the people
praying behind him, even the caliphs at that time. After the funeral prayers, the caliphs realizing the implications of everyone praying behind
this 5year old boy plotted to have him killed with no success. The minor occultation lasted some 70years with Imam Mahdi (as) having some
deputies with whom he gave certain commands. The final of these deputies on his death bed revealed a letter from the Imam (as) which stated
that after this deputy, there would be no further deputies for the Imam (as), and thus began the major or greater occultation.