Day 1
The son of Imam al-Hasan al-Askari and the twelfth Imam of the Shia: the promised saviour who, in Shia belief, is alive and hidden, and will…
Day 2
Imam al-Askari asked his aunt Hakima to stay the night of 15 Sha'ban, for that night God would bring forth His Proof on earth. She witnessed…
Day 3
Sunni historians also record the birth of Imam al-Askari's son: Ibn al-Athir (al-Kamil fi l-Tarikh) and Ibn Khallikan (Wafayat al-A'yan). Ib…
Day 4
When some Shia doubted that Imam al-Askari had left a successor, the Imam answered in his own hand: God has appointed guardians since Adam; …
Day 5
Others falsely claimed to be his deputies, among them Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Numayri and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shalmaghani; they were disowned…
Day 6
Before the occultation he lived in Samarra, worshipping in the cellar (sardab) of his father's house, where he was often seen (Kamal al-Din)…
Day 7
Shia exegesis reads his rule in the Qur'an: one narration says the righteous servants who inherit the earth (21:105) are al-Mahdi and his co…