Khudā Murād Salīmīān, Farhangnāmi-yi Mahdaviyyat (Dictionary of Mahdism), 1st ed., 1 vol., Tehran: Cultural Foundation of Imām Mahdī (a), 1388, 509 pp.
The increase in religious knowledge about Imam Mahdī (a) and the simultaneous raising of numerous questions about different aspects of his life, occultation, reappearance, and uprising have made the compilation of scientific sources in the form of academic collections -such as dictionaries and encyclopaedias- inevitable. Farhangnāmi-yi Mahdaviyyat (Dictionary of Mahdism) in Persian by Khudā Murād Salīmīān is an effort in this regard.
Born in 1346 (solar) in Zarrinshahr, Iran, Khudā Murād Salīmīān joined the Islamic Seminary in 1361 (solar). As a researcher on Mahdism, he has authored numerous books in this regard, including Darsnāmi-yi Mahdaviyyat (Textbook on Mahdism), Bāzgasht bi Dunyā dar Pāyān-i Tārīkh (Return to the World at the End of History), Naqsh-i Mardum dar Inqilāb-i Jahānī-yi Imām Mahdī (a) (the Role of People in the World Revolution of Imām Mahdī (a)), and Ravish-i Naqd va Barrasī-yi Rivāyat-i Mahdaviyyat (the Method of Analyzing the Narrations on Mahdism).
According to the author in the introduction, this dictionary was written after studying more than 2500 ḥadīths in Shiʿa and Sunni sources and reading dozens of related books. The entries and keywords of Farhangnāmi-yi Mahdaviyyat are only those concepts and categories that have a Qurʾānic or narrative basis or are accepted by the great scholars. This book is arranged based on the Persian alphabet and under each letter, the relevant entries are explained. Under each of the entries, while explaining its literal meaning, the author has mentioned verses, narrations, and historical sources and has tried to convey comprehensive information about the subject of the entry to the reader.
Entries are based on the following 28 letters:
Ā: 7 entries such as End of Time, Friday, and future studies.
A: 37 entries such as Abdāl, Abā Ṣāliḥ, Aḥmad b. Isḥāq Qumī, Aḥmadiyya, residence of Imam Mahdī (a), Imamate of Imam Mahdī (a), waiting for the reappearance, Ḥujjatiyya Society, Sunnis and Imam Mahdī (a), People of the Book in the age of the reappearance, and the companions of Imam Mahdī (a).
B: 17 entries such as Bābiyya, Bahāʾiyya, Baqiyyat Allah, Khasf Baydāʾ, and al-Burhān fī ʿAlāmāt Mahdī Ākhir al-Zamān.
P: 6 entries such as Imam Mahdī’s father and black flags.
T: 7 entries such as meeting with Imam Mahdī (a), tawqīʿ, and the prohibition of setting a time for the reappearance.
J: 7 entries such as Jazīra Khaḍrāʾ, Jaʿfar Kadhdhāb, and Imam Mahdī’s weapons.
Ḥ: 15 entries such as Divine Proof (Ḥujja), Ḥadīth of Lawḥ, prohibition of mentioning the name of Imam Mahdī (a), Ḥusayn b. Rūḥ Nawbakhtī, Ḥusayn b. Manṣūr Ḥallāj, global government, and Ḥakīma Khātūn.
KH: 22 entries such as Khurāsānī, the uprising of Dajjāl, the uprising of Sufyānī, the uprising of Shuʿayb b. Ṣāliḥ, the uprising of Yamānī, the uprising of Imam Mahdī (a), Khiḍr, and sun behind the cloud.
D: 15 entries such as Iftitāḥ supplication, Nudba supplication, religion in the age of reappearance, and the Twelvers.
DH: 1 entry, i.e. Dhī Ṭuwā.
R: 6 entries such as the return (rajʿat) and death of Imam Mahdī (a).
Z: 9 entries such as Zaydiyya, women in the uprising of Imam Mahdī (a), and Āl-i Yāsīn ziyāra text.
S: 8 entries such as Sardāb, Sāmarrā, institution of deputyship, and 313 companions of Imam Mahdī (a).
SH: 14 entries such as Shiʿa, witnesses of the birth of Imam Mahdī (a), conditions of the reappearance, Shaykhiyya, and Satan.
Ṣ: 8 entries such as the heavenly call, Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, and Ṣāḥib al-Amr.
Ṭ: 6 entries such as Ṭāliqān, longevity, and sunrise from the west.
Ẓ: 1 entry, i.e. reappearance.
ʿ: 13 entries such as ʿĀshūrā, ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd, justice, ʿAṣāʾib, signs of the reappearance, and ʿAli b. Muḥammad Samurī.
GH: 8 entries, such as minor occultation, major occultation, al-Ghayba, and Antioch cave.
F: 11 entries, such as Farīd, philosophy and the reason for occultation, the virtue of waiting for reappearance, and the benefits of the absent Imam (a).
Q: 6 entries, such as Qāʾim, Qom, and uprisings before the reappearance.
K: 7 entries, such as Kaysāniyya, Kamāl al-Dīn, and Kufa.
L: 2 entries, i.e. Imam Mahdī’s clothes and the Lawḥ of Lady Fāṭima.
M: 55 entries, such as the mother of Imam Mahdī (a), the claimants of Mahdism, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Shalmaghānī, the red death and the white death, Jamkarān Mosque, Sahla Mosque, Mikyāl al-Makārim, Muntakhab al-Athar, Mahdī (a), Mahdī Sūdānī, and Mahdiya.
N: 15 entries such as general deputyship, special deputyship, Nāwūsiyya, al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, and the 15th of Shaʿbān.
W: 7 entries such as Walī Faqīh and the time of the reappearance.
H: 2 entries, i.e. Imam Mahdī’s wife and children, and his awe
Y: 2 entries, i.e. Gog and Magog, the companions of Imam Mahdī (a), and Yā lathārāt al-Ḥusayn.
The list of entries is at the beginning and the bibliography of the sources used by the author is at the end of the book. The footnotes mostly mention the sources and the original text of the verses and narrations that are translated in the text. This book is being translated into Turkish and English.
