Major Occultation
In Twelver Shia Islam, the Major Occultation (Arabic: الغيبة الكبرى, al-Ghayba al-Kubrā) (329 AH–present; 941 CE–present) is the second occultation of the Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, which is expected to continue until his rise at the end of time to establish peace and justice on earth. While Muslim groups and sects disagree about the identity of the eschatological Mahdi, and whether he was born or not already, most Muslims believe in the figure of al-Mahdi owing to the numerous prophetical traditions in canonical Sunni and Shia sources mentioning him.