Recreating identity in the rational and existential reading of Imamate and Shi’i Mahdism (Mahdaviat)

The teachings of Shi’i Mahdism (Mahdaviat) and its micro-teaching, which arise from the text of the Qur'an and Islamic hadith, have been confronted with various readings and understandings throughout the history of occultation (Ghayba). This research using the method of content analysis, investigated the Mahdavi works of one of the contemporary Mahdi scholars, Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani. The system of Mahdavi doctrine in his intellectual system has been formed with a rational approach to faith, and based on monotheism. While some Sunni and exaggerated (Ghali) readings of Imamate and Mahdism (Mahdaviat) seek to distort this doctrine, Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani believes the demarcation between the Creator and the creature is necessary. By rejecting Marxist and liberal readings from Mahdavi teachings such as justice and expectation, this great Islamic scholar has provided a reading of Imamate and Mahdaviat, based on preservation of Islamic traditional heritage along with rationality and coherence. His emphasis on the knowledge of God's authority ( Hujaat Allah) and the dependence of the world on the Imam of the time ( Imam Zaman) shows the position of the Imam in the thought of the Shiite man and the importance of establishing an effective existential relationship between the Imam and his followers (Mammum).  The findings of this study showed that the theological thought of Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani has been able to establish the foundation of applied theology and the theology of salvation on the faith in  Mahdism by turning to the existential human concerns; Define the components of hope, meaning, and integration of Mahdavi society in the connection of the waiting man (Muntazir) with the authority (Hujjah or Imam), and recall the role of the waiting people in the age of appearance (Zohour) and use the teachings of Imamate and Mahdaviat to recreate the identity of the waiting man and the waiting society in the age of occultation (Ghayba).