Hidden Imam

Muhammad al-Mahdi محمد المهدي 12th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam
Calligraphic representation of his name as it appears in Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina
Born	c. (868-07-19)19 July 868 CE (15 Sha'aban 255 AH) Samarra,
Disappeared	Minor Occultation c. 5 January 874 (aged 5) Major Occultation c. 941 (aged 73)
Status	Disappeared, believed by Shia Islam to be due to The Occultation
Monuments	Maqam e Ghaybat, Iraq Jamkaran Mosque, Iran, Al-Sahlah Mosque, Iraq
Other names	Dilawar
Agent	The Four Deputies Uthman Abu Jafar Abul Qasim Abul Hasan
Title	List al-Mahdī (Arabic for Guided One) al-Qā'im (Arabic for One who Rises) al-Hujjah (Arabic for The Proof) Sāhib az-Zamān (Arabic for Master of the Era) al-Muntadhar (Arabic for The Awaited One) Hujjatullāh (Arabic for Proof of Allah) al-Ghā'ib (Arabic for The Unseen One) Sāhib al-Amr (Arabic for Master of Command) Imām al-‘Asr (Arabic for Imām of the Age)
Term	874 CE – present
Predecessor	Hasan al-Askari
Parent(s)	Hasan al-Askari Narjis

Minor Occultation
c. 5 January 874 (aged 5)

Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdī (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي‎‎) (Persian: امام زمان‎‎) is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world. Twelver Shī‘a believe that al-Mahdī was born in 869 (15 Sha‘bān 255 AH) and assumed Imamate at 5 years of age following the death of his father Hasan al-Askari. In the early years of his Imamate he would only contact his followers through The Four Deputies. After a 72-year period, known as Minor Occultation, a few days before the death of his fourth deputy Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri in 941, he is believed to have sent his followers a letter. In that letter that was transmitted by al-Samarri he declared the beginning of Major Occultation during which Mahdi is not in contact with his followers.

Followers of Sunni Islam and other minority Shias mostly believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born, and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the Mahdi's precise genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence, his acts, and his universal Caliphate. Sunnis also have a few more Mahdi hadiths which are not present in Shia collections.