A scientific course which is entitled “Methods and Techniques of Intellectually Immunizing Society from Mahdist Claimants” was organized by the Department of History at the College of Education for the Humanities /at the University of Kerbala and it was lecturered by: Prof. Zaman Obaid Wanas, Asst. Prof. Ahmed Mahlahal Maklaf Al-Asadi, and Asst. Prof. Haider Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Sada. The course aimed at introducing undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members in the History Department, and employees to “Mahdism” and train them in methods and techniques that will enable them to expose anyone who claims to be the awaited Mahdi or have a connection to him.
The importance of the course lies in introducing the aforementioned groups, especially the elite, to modern methods and techniques that will enable them to stand up against false Mahdist claims and educate society with a sound culture based on the authentic Islamic Mahdist doctrine. The course included the following topics: an introduction to the concept of Mahdism, its Quranic origins, a brief history of its claimants and the reasons for their claims, and exposing the claimant through knowledge of the true personality of the persona of Al- Mahdi, as well as cosmic events and signs preceding his appearance.
The course yielded numerous results, most notably the knowledge of the undergraduate and graduate students who attended, of the methods and techniques used to expose the falsity of those claiming Mahdism and the inevitable signs that must occur prior to the holy appearance. They learned that the Mahdist personality possesses physical and moral qualities, a clear lineage, a well-known biography, and unique qualifications that cannot be impersonated. They also learned that his appearance is conditional upon inevitable preliminaries of events and signs, without which there will be no appearance. Some of these are cosmic signs that humans are unable to fabricate.
