Ibn Haldun's Mahdiship idea and ilt crities

When the Umayyads came to power in the second half of the 1st century (AH), subsequent to the period of four caliphs, a group of Muslims defended that the caliphate belonged to the Ahl al-Bayt and took an opposing side against the authority. As a result of this, civil wars broke out and a reformist idea of savior was formed in the religious, political and economic fields in order to restore the deteriorated order in the society. These ideas were reinforced with the rumors attributed to the Elevated Prophet owing to the development of hadith science. As a result, the belief of a savior leader named Mahdī, who is the harbinger of the Apocalypse in the Islamic world, emerged with different interpretations. The belief of Mahdī is a social issue that has been discussed for centuries. The issue of Mahdī, which is still on the agenda today, has been examined, interpreted and criticized by many Islamic scholars. One of the scientists who dealt with this issue is Ibn Khaldūn, a social scientist who left his mark in the 14th century in North Africa, but whose value was later recognized in the following centuries. Ibn Khaldūn brings a different perspective to the issue by basing his understanding of Mahdī on his own sociological observation and theory in the axis of hadith narrations. In this case, his Mahdī theory made the issue worthy of discussion. Therefore, in this study, we have examined Ibn Khaldūn's understanding and criticism of Mahdī in order to contribute to the relevant literature.