Ma`rifat Kalami

One of the important issues is the historical authenticity of belief in the Promised Deliverer which some criticize today. A descriptive-analytical study of the early historical and narrative sources shows that the authenticity of this doctrine and attributing it to the Shiʿah during the presence of Infallible Imams (A.S) ,that is from Imam ʿAli's time throughout the presence period, can be proved and its foundations can be traced. The only issue on which there was disagreement and ambiguity is determining who the Promised Mahdi himself is, which seems natural due to the political conditions of the presence period in which it was difficult for the Shiʿah to explain their knowledge, the gradual process of explaining and establishing some doctrines (on Mahdism), the emphasis on waiting (for Mahdi – A.S), the natural ground for the ambiguity of the details of Mahdism doctrine, and different levels of individuals' knowledge, etc. such a difference and ambiguity cannot be considered as weakness in the authenticity of this doctrine among the shiʿas of presence period.