A Study of the Isnad and Content of Shiite Traditions about Khurāsānī

A significant number of Mahdism hadiths in Shiite sources are about the events which will occur before the advent of Hazrat Mahdi (AS). Some of these narrations are about the flags and figures in pre-advent period, one of whom is Khorasani. It is said that Khorasani will rise up in the Orient carrying black flags. The data were gathered though library research. The documents of the hadiths about Khorasani from Shiite sources were examined and their contents were analyzed. The analysis showed that there are only four hadiths about Khorasani, among which only that of Bakr Ibn Muhammad Al-Azdi is considered valid; however, this hadith also does not mention any details about Khorasani uprise and its characteristics. Regardless of their weak documents, the other three narrations do not focus on different aspects of Khorasani uprise, its characteristics and the black flags. By using these narrations, the ambiguities about Khorasani cannot be removed by applying them to specific individuals.