Hawzah News Agency -In an article Shia source of emulation Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi has addressed the issue of "Mahdism" as a genuine and Islamic belief and said:

Is the belief in the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) a genuine Islamic belief or was it an imported thought in response to the chaotic situation of Muslims?

Brief answer:

A group of orientalists insist on believing in the existence of a great global reformer as a reaction to the chaotic situation of Muslims in the dark ages of history. On the one hand, a group of Eastern and Islamic researchers who are influenced by Western ideas have considered the belief in the existence of the "Mahdi" and the world reformer to be an "imported idea" taken from Jewish and Christian beliefs. However, in Islamic sources, the belief in such a concept has a genuine Islamic root. On the other hand, it is possible that the interest in material justification for any religious thought and belief has created such ideas.