The Thought of Symbolism in Sufyani

According to the narrations, before the appearance of Imam Mahdi (as), a man of the Abu Sufyan generation come and deceived a large group of Muslims and gathered them around him. There are different views among thinkers as to whether Sufyani is a certain human being or a symbol of a false current and movement. In the symbolic view, Sufyani does not have a human personality, while there are many evidences to indicate his personality. The possibilities of accepting the emergence of narrations in the real and non-symbolic meaning, the existence of various characteristics of personality in Sufyani and the conflict with the appearance of various narrations are among the reasons that prove the true and real meaning and personality of Sufyani. Symbolic Sufyani's view cannot be rejected due to the existence of a valid narration; but the definite value of Sufyani's narrations is that the meaning of Sufyani in the many narrations is the same Sufyani who will come in the end times with certain characteristics and is not more than one person.