Mahdi doctrine common to both Sunni and Shia Muslims

In Shia and Sunni eschatology, the Mahdi (Arabic: مهدي‎ / ISO 233: mahdī / also Mehdi / English: Guided One) is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years (according to various interpretations)^[1] before the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyamah / literally, the Day of Resurrection)^[2] and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.^[3]

In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "powerful and central religious idea" and closely related to the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, whose return from occultation is deemed analagous with the coming of the Mahdi.^[4]

In Sunni Islam, the doctrine of the Mahdi has been questioned by some theologians.^[2][5]Qur'an or Sahih al-Bukhari, the most trusted^[6] collection of hadith in Sunni Islam; however, each of the remaining five collections of hadith, which together with Sahih al-Bukhari constitute the six canonical collections of hadith, does refer to the Mahdi. Even among those Sunni Muslims that accept the Mahdi doctrine, there is disagreement on the timing and nature of his advent and guidance. There is no explicit reference to the Mahdi in either the

The Islamic scholar Moojan Momen considers the following beliefs in relation to the Mahdi are shared by Sunni and Shia Muslims alike:^[3]

• The Mahdi will be a descendant of Muhammad of the line of Fatimah, He will be descendent by one side (by one of the parents) by Al Hassan and by another by Al Hussain.
• He will have the same name as Muhammad.
• He will be a fore-runner to Jesus' Messianic Rule.
• His coming will be accompanied by the raising of a Black Standard.
• His coming will be accompanied by the appearance of the Antichrist.
• There will be a lunar and solar eclipse within the same month of Ramadan.
• A star with a luminous tail will rise from the East before the coming of the Mahdi.
• He will establish the Caliphate.
• He will fill the world with justice and fairness at a time when the world will be filled with oppression.
• He will have a broad forehead, a prominent nose, and a natural mascara will ring his eyes. (Despite Momen's findings, these physical attributes appear only in Sunni Islam.)^[7]

Additional characteristics specific to the Mahdi in Shia Islam include:

• His face shall shine upon the surface of the Moon.^[8]
• The name of the Mahdi's representative will begin with the first-letter of a prophet's name and a verseی of the Qur'an: (English: Y).^[8]