Moslems also expect the advent of Imam Mahdi ("The Guided One"). The Shia sect claims that he will appear out of a tunnel (which he entered at the age of 5) in Samarra; allegedly his name is Muhammed ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Askari.

A Hadith from Abu Allah ibn Masud says: "The Prophet (pboh) said, If there were only one day left for the world, that day would be lengthened until a man from among my descnedants or from among the people of my Household [Ahl al-Bayt, a descendant of Fatimah through Hasan], was sent; his name will be the same as my name, and his father's name will be the same as my father's name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness, just as it will have been filled with injustice and oppression. The world will not end until a man of my housefold, whose name is the same as mine, holds sway."

According to Sa'id [Master] ibn-I Jabir, the prophet Mohammed (pboh) told Ibn-I Abbas this similar prophecy of Imam Mahdi: "Even if the entire duration of the world’s existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before Qiyamah, Allah will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person from my Ahlul-Bayt who will be called by my name. He will fill the earth with peace and justice as it will have been full of injustice and tyranny by then.

"We (I and my family) are members of a household that Allah has chosen for them the life of the Hereafter over the life of this world; and the members of my household (Ahlul-Bayt) shall suffer a great affliction and they shall be forcefully expelled from their homes after my death; then there will come people from the East carrying black flags, and they will ask for some good to be given to them, but they shall be refused service; as such, they will wage war and emerge victorious, and will be offered that which they desired in the first place, but they will refuse to accept it till they pass it to a man from my family who appears to fill the Earth with justice as it has been filled with corruption. So whoever reaches that time ought to come to them even if crawling in the snow since among them is the Khalifatullah al-Mahdi."

In a similar prophecy, Abd Allah said: "Whilst we were with the Prophet (pboh), some young men from Banu Hashim approached us. When the Prophet (pboh) saw him, his eyes filled with tears and the color of his face changed. I said, We can see something has changed in your face, and it upsets us. The Prophet (pboh) said, We are the people of a Household for whom Allah has chosen the Hereafter rather than this world. The peolpe of my Household will suffer a great deal after my death, and will be persecuted until a people carrying black banners [the Abbasids]  will come out of the east. They will instruct the people to do good, but the people will refuse; they will fight until they are victorious, and the people do as they asked, but they will not accept it from them until they hand over power to a man from my hosuehold. Then the earth will be filled with fairness, just as it had been filled with injustice. If any of you live to see this, you should go to him even if you have to crawl across ice."

Thwaban transmitted another version of this prophecy: "The Prophet (pboh) said, Three men will be killed at the place where your treasure is [the Ka'aba]. Each of them will be the son of a Khalifah, and none of them will get hold of the treasure.  Then the black banners will come out of the East, and they will slaughter you in a way which has never been seen before. Then he said something which I do not remember; then, If you see him, go and give him your allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice, because he is the Khalifah of Allah, the Mahdi."

Likewise, Abd Allah said: "The Prophet said (pboh), A man from my household, whose name is like mine, will take power".

Rasulullah makes similar claims for Imam Mahdi: "This world will not come to an end until one person from my progeny rules over the Arabs, and his name will be the same as my name.

"Al Mahdi will be from my progeny. His forehead will be broad and his nose will be high [or, hooked]. He will fill the world with justice and fairness at a time when the world will be filled with oppression. He will rule for seven years.

"There will be four peace agreements between you and the Romans. The fourth agreement will be mediated through a person who will be from the progeny of Hadhrat Haroon and will be upheld for seven years. He will be from my progeny and will be 40 years of age. His face will shine like a star and he will have a black spot on his left cheek. He will don two Qutwaani cloaks and will appear exactly as a person from Bani Israel.

"After the death of a Ruler there will be some dispute between the people. At that time a citizen of Medina will flee and go to Mecca. While in Mecca, certain people will approach him between Hajrul Sawad and Maqaame Ibraheem, and forcefully pledge their allegiance to him. Thereafter a huge army will proceed from Syria to attack him but when they will be at Baida, which is between Mecca and Medina, they will be swallowed into the ground. On seeing this, the Abdaals of Shaam as well as large numbers of people from Iraq will come to him and pledge their allegiance to him. Then a person from Quraish, whose uncle will be from the Bani Kalb tribe will send an army to attack him, only to be overpowered, by the will of Allah. This defeated army will be that of the Bani Kalb. Unfortunate indeed is he who does not receive a share from the booty of the Kalb. This person will distribute the spoils of war after the battle. He will lead the people according to the Sunnat and during his reign Islam will spread throughout the world. He will remain seven years. He will pass away and the Muslims will perform his Janazah salaat."

Other prophecies made by Mohammed (pboh), and transmitted by Ibn Majah and Ahmad, give these details about Imam Mahdi: "There will be a Caliph in the last period of my Ummah who will freely give handsful of wealth to the people without counting it. Al-Mahdi is from our Ahlul-Bayt; no doubt Allah will enforce his appearance within a night...

"The Mahdi is one of us, from among the people of my housefold. In one night Allah will inspire him and prepare him to carry out his task successfully."

According to Ahmad, Abu Said said: "By Allah, every ruler we have had has been worse than the previous one, adn every year has been worse than the year before, but I heard the Prophet (pboh) say, Among your rulers will be one who will give out wealth freely, without counting it. A man will come and ask him for money, and he will say, Take; the man will spread his cloak out and the ruler will pour money into it. The Prophet (pboh) spread out a thick cloak he had been wearing, to demonstrate the man's actions; then he gathered it up by the corners and said, Then the man will take it and leave."

This prophecy is found in Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib's Nahj'ul Balagha [The Path of Eloquence], Khutba 141, 187: "The Imam who will create a world state will make the ruling nations pay for their crimes against society. He will bring succor to humanity. He will take out the hidden wealth from the breast of the earth and will distribute it equitably amongst the needy deserving. He will teach you simple living and high thinking. He will make you understand that virtue is a state of character which is always a mean between the two extremes, and which is based on equity and justice. He will revive the teaching of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has ignored them as dead letters. He will protect and defend himself with resources of science and supreme knowledge. His control over these resources will be complete. He will know how supreme they are and how carefully they will have to be used. His mind will be free from desires of bringing harm and injury to humanity. Such a knowledge to him will belike the property which was wrongly possessed by others and for which he was waiting for the permission to repossess and use. He, in the beginning, will be a poor stranger unknown and uncared for, and Islam then will be in the helpless and hopeless plight of an exhausted camel who has laid down its head and is wagging its tail. With such a start he will establish an empire of God in this world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of God's merciful wish to acquaint man with the right ways of life.

"Moreover, he said: Verily, a time will come upon you wherein nothing will be more concealed than the truth, nothing more manifest than falsehood, and nothing more manifest than falsehood, and nothing more than lies about God and his Apostle. The people of that time will possess no commodity more difficult to sell than the Book when it is correctly recited, or one more in demand when its passages are misinterpreted. There will be throughout all lands nothing more detested than good deeds, or more renowned than evil ones. The reciters of the Qura'an will have cast it away, and those who memorize it will have deliberately erased it from their minds. The book and its disciples will, on that day, be ostracized and outcast, two friends together on the road, to whom no one will offer shelter. The Book and its disciples will be, in that age, among the people and yet neither among them nor with them. For error is incompatible with guidance.

"Even though the Book and its disciples might come together, the people would agree to keep separate. They would divert from the community, as if they were the leaders of the Qura'an rather than it being their leader. Nothing will remain of it among them save the name; they will know nothing of it save its calligraphy and script. Before, they had not made an example of the righteous by maiming them, or called their sincerity towards God a lie, or punished good deeds with the penalties for crimes. They who preceded you perished because they went on hoping for too long and their allotted terms expired. Then the Promised One descended, by whom excuses are rejected and upon whom repentance has no effect, and with whom are the calamity and the affliction."

According to Abu Dawud, who devoted a chapter of his Sunan to Imam Mahdi, "Ali said, whilst looking at his sone al-Hasan, This son of mine is a Sayyid [master], as the Prophet (pboh) named him. Among his descendants there will be a man named after your Prophet (pboh). He will resemble him in behavior but not in looks..."

Abu Dawud also quotes the Hadith of Jabir ibn Samrah, in which the Prophet (pboh) says: "This religion will remain strong until twelve Caliphs have ruled over you... All of them will be from Quraysh... Then there will be Fitnah and killing."

According to Abu Dawud, Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet (pboh) said: "People will begin to differ after the death of a Khalifah [Caliph]. A man from the people of Madinah [Medina] will flee to Makkah [Mecca]. Some of the people of Makkah will come to him and drag him out against his will; they will swear allegiance to him between al-Rikn and al-Maqam. An army will be sent against him from Syria; it will be swallowed up in the desert between Makkah and Madinah. When the people see this, groups of people from Syria and Iraq will come and swear allegiance to him. Then a man from Quraysh whose mother is from Kalb will appear and send an army against them, and will defeat them; this will be known as the Battle of Kalb. Whoever does not witness the spoils of this battle will muss much! The Mahdi will distribute the wealth, and will rule the peole according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (pboh). Then he will die, and the Muslims will pray for him."

Other details given elsewhere describe him thus: his father’s name will be Abdullah; his mother’s name will be Aamina. He will stutter, and on occasion this will frustrate him so much that he will slap his thigh. He is short and has a ruddy face. His hair sticks up. He will be 40 years of age when he makes his appearance. An eclipse of the sun and moon will occur in the Ramadan observance just before he emerges. When the people pledge their allegiance to him, a voice will speak from the sky, saying, "This is the representative of Allah, the Mahdi; listen to him and obey him". His army will march under a black flag; it will come from Khurasaan.