Study of Cultural Tradition of Religious Scholars in Promoting the Culture of Mahdism

The absence-recording had been a way to promote the culture of Mahdism and the values of Islamic community and from the time of Imam Reza (AS), discussion of the absence of Imam Mahdi (AS) is made public. Before that time, the issue was the secret of Muhammad (PBUH) and only a handful of privileged people were aware of it. Since then, the absence-recording has been turned into one of the cultural activity by the religious scholars. The various motivations led the absence-recording to be carried out seriously so that in the present paper, we classified them into six groups. The result of the present research shows that the religious scholars, using cultural tools including the power of their writing and speech, have been able to turn the issue into one of the important issues of human society. Today, the absence and returns of Imam Mahdi is an issue which is not unknown in any human societies. These scholars were able to benefit the capacities of the culture of Mahdism to reform the society and preparing Islamic communities to accept the values and returns of Imam Mahdi (as).