A Study of the Growing Phenomenon of Waiting and Salvationism (Mahdism) in the Age of Ilkhans

Belief in the advent of the Imam Zaman (AS) is one of the basic pillars of the Imami Shiite religion that has flowed throughout the history of Islam and Shiism. During the Mongol domination and the establishment of the Ilkhanid government in Iran, the issue of Mahdism grew significantly. The presence of alien elements who had non-Islamic religion and their domination of the Islamic society and country caused sedition and corruption, chaos, wars, tax increases and chaos. In such circumstances, the people felt more than ever the need for a reformer who would put an end to all oppression and tyranny with his arrival. In this period, expectation and saviorism penetrated the ideas and thoughts of the people (Shiites) and even non-Shiites, more than any other age. ‌In some cities, people went to the city gates every day waiting for a savior and waited for the absent Imam ‌. In this study, the causes of the emergence and growth of the idea of saviorism and Mahdism and their consequences, including the use of the idea of saviorism by the insurgents have been studied in a descriptive and analytical manner.