Who is …?
Muhammad ibn Hassan al-Askari, known as Hujjat ibn al-Hasan (in Arabic: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Askari; born on 15 Sha’ban 255 or 256 AH) is believed by the Shiites to be the twelfth Imam, the twelfth and last Imam, and the promised Mahdi. He is the son of Hassan bin Ali Askari, the eleventh Imam of the Shiites, and like the Prophet of Islam, his name is Muhammad and his nickname is Abu al-Qasim. “Imam of the time”, “Sahib al-Zaman”, “Wali al-Asr”, “Qaem al-Muhammad” and “Promised Mahdi” are some of his famous titles. According to the current belief of the Twelver Shiites, Hujjat ibn Hassan was born in Samarra in the middle of Sha’ban in the year 255 or 256 AH;
He became the Imamate at the age of five after the death of his father. After the death of Hassan Askari, the Mahdi only contacted the Shiites through four ambassadors or deputies. Of course, historical studies show that from the beginning, the number of lawyers was not limited to four and the term special representation was coined in the fourth and fifth centuries AH by Shiite scholars such as Sheikh Tusi to explain the minor absence. After a period of seventy years – known as the minor occultation – and with the death of Ali ibn Muhammad Samari, the fourth deputy of the twelfth Shiite Imam, the Shiites were once again amazed.
. Finally, in the fifth century, they found a rational explanation of the absence of the Imam in Shiite theology. Shiites believe that after the time of Sufra (special deputies), Shiites are not in direct contact with the Mahdi and call this period the so-called Great Absence. At the end of the period of absence, he will rise as Mahdi, and he will be the one through whom right and justice will prevail again.