Ahmed al-Hasan () is an Iraqi Shia Muslim religious leader. He has been called the most prominent of figures claiming to be the pre-messianic al-Yamani, in the upheaval following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. In Twelver Shi'ism Islam, the majority religion of Iraq, al-Yamani is "the deputy of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, and a precursor to his Reappearance" and to End Times.
Ahmed al-Hasan, who was born in Iraq, started his call in 1999 and began a public "religious call" in 2002. He was last seen, photographed, and interviewed in 2007, and is presumed to have gone into hiding following the Battle of Najaf sometime in 2008. An office in Najaf claims to exclusively speak for him through various social media platforms including Facebook and Telegram, which his followers believe to be managed by Ahmed al-Hasan himself.
Life Ahmed al-Hasan was born in Basra, Iraq. He is the son of Ismael, son of Saleh, son of Hussain, son of Salman, who Ahmed claims to be son of Muhammad al-Mahdi. His uncle, Muhsin ibn Saleh, claims that the family tree traces back to Muhammad al-Mahdi. Along with two tribal Sheikhs among others, Sheikh Idaan Khizaawi Muhammad and Sheikh Shayaa' Ismail, who testify that the family tree traces back to Muhammad al-Mahdi.The family tree including approving testimonies Twelver scholar Sayyid Muneer al-Khabbaz has said that Muhammad al-Mahdi was married and has an offspring, and that there is a well known tribe which traces its lineage to Imam al-Mahdi, which tribe exists until today.
In an interview given in 2007, Ahmed al-Hasan said that he had received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering while living in Basra, Iraq.An Interview with Mr. Ahmed Alhasan regarding the American newspapers (Arabic Original)An Interview with Mr. Ahmed Al-Hasan regarding the American newspapers (English Translation) He also reportedly received seminary education in Najaf in the school of Sayyed Mohammad al-Sadr.
Religious call
According to one of his sermons, in 1999, Ahmed al-Hasan had been commanded by Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Imam of Shiites, to enter the Hawza Najaf and make some reformation in it. He criticized the available financial corruption, which caused some minor changes in their financial policies. As for scientific activities, in that interval, he published two books, Wilderness or the Path to Allah and The Calf, which were admired by some of the scholars of Hawza at that time.
He publicly started his call in 2002. In the sermon of Hajj and the sermon of Meeting Story, he states that a group of students in Hawza Najaf, decided to give allegiance to him as the messenger of Muhammad al-Mahdi, after seeing visions, revelations, and miracles. Ahmed al-Hasan is referred to as the "savior of mankind" on his official website.
Claims Ahmed al-Hasan, in his books like The Ideology of Islam, after discussing the meaning of the religion, elaborates on the method by which the previous prophets and representatives of God introduced themselves and proved their righteousness. He states that the most important element of their method is an identifying text or statement from their previous prophets, and anyone who claims that he is a representative of God, including himself, should come up with an identifying text in which he is mentioned. He also emphasizes a lot on visions and revelations seen by people in confirmation of messengers and representatives of God. He considers it a direct way by which God testifies to them. Many of his followers have reported experiences such as seeing visions and revelations confirming him .
Ahmed al-Hasan claims there are many texts and prophecies, in the scriptures of different religions, mentioning him and his matter. He has brought up texts, narrations, and prophecies from different resources like the Quran, the Gospel, and the Torah, and has addressed why they are referring to him.
Purpose Regarding the purposes of his movement, he claimed: "The goal of my message is the goal of the Prophets: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, which is to spread the true monotheism with which God is satisfied, and for the earth to be filled with peace and justice after it had been filled with oppression and injustice."
Muslims
The most important text that Ahmed al-Hasan refers to is the Muhammad's will, in which he states after him there will be twenty-four successors, twelve Imams, and twelve Mahdis. Muhammad names the first thirteen of his successors, from the first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib, to the first Mahdi, Ahmed, and Ahmed al-Hasan claims he is the Ahmed mentioned in the will of Muhammad. In other words, Ahmed al-Hasan introduced himself as the thirteenth successor of Muhammad and the direct successor of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi.
Muhammad's will is narrated in one of the oldest and most reliable narration books for Shiites, The Occultation () by Shaykh Tusi. There are many studies about the will of Muhammad and its authenticity, such as The Sacred Will by Ahmed Alhasan and Frequency of Narrating the Will by Nadhem Aloqaili.Frequency of Narrating the Will (Arabic Version)The Will and The Successor, Ahmed Alhasan (Persian Version) There exist other narrations in which Muhammad describes his will as a statement after which his nation never goes astray.Sahih al-Bukhari, 7:70:573, Fath Albari in explaining Sahih Bukhari Hadith number: 5345. Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:160Al-Ghaybah by Al-Noa’mani, 81. The book of Occultation English version pg. 87 Ahmed al-Hasan by emphasizing this description, states the first person who brings this will as his identifying text must be the true claimant.
Ahmed al-Hasan has claimed, "I am the Messenger of Imam Mahdi, and I am his vicegerent, and I am the first of the twelve Mahdis from the sons of Imam Mahdi". He claims he is the Yamani, who paves the way for the appearance of Imam Mahdi, after his major occultation. The appearance of Al-Yamani is one of the major signs of the appearance of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam of Shi'a Muslims.Narration from Muhammad al-Baqir about al-Yamani (The Book of Occultation by al-Nu'mani)
Also concerning the Sunni Muslims, as it is narrated in their narration books, Muhammad named the Mahdi The Vicegerent of God Al-Mahdi, and has urged people to pledge allegiance to him.السلسلة الصحيحة للألباني: برقم 1529Narration from Muhammad (the vicegerent of God, al-Mahdi)
Ahmed al-Hasan, in some of his books like The Allegories and The Sacred Will, interprets some verses of the Quran that mention Imam Mahdi, himself, and the twelve Mahdis.
Christians
Ahmed al-Hasan has introduced himself as the messenger of Imam al-Mahdi, Jesus, and Elijah. He has brought forth many verses of the Bible as his identifying text. Among these texts, one can mention the one sitting on the throne and the twenty-four elders mentioned in the Book of John's Revelation.Revelation chapter 4 He interprets them as Muhammad and his twenty-four successors, i.e. the twelve Imams and the twelve Mahdis mentioned in Muhammad's will. Also, he has introduced himself as the comforter sent by Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of John,John chapters 14 and 16 the Son of Man coming from the east and the faithful and sensible slave in the Gospel of Matthew,Matthew chapter 24 one like a son of man on the white cloud,Revelation chapter 14 and the lamb in the Revelation of John Revelation, chapters 4, 5, 14, etc In addition to these verses from the New Testament, Ahmed al-Hassan also presented other verses from the Old Testament as identifying texts, the interpretations of which are available in his books.
Jews
There are other verses in the old testament that Jews also believe in, and Ahmed al-Hasan has brought them up as his identifying text. For example, in the book of Isaiah chapter 11, he has interpreted that the shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse as Imam Al-Mahdi, and the branch from his roots as himself.Isaiah, chapter 11 Ahmed al-Hassan has interpreted The Ancient of Days mentioned in the book of Daniel as referring to Imam Al-Mahdi.Daniel, chapter 7 In the same verse, One like a Son of Man that came up to The Ancient of Days is also interpreted as the messenger of Imam Al-Mahdi, Ahmed al-Hasan himself. Ahmed al-Hasan brings forth The Stone seen in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in the book of DanielDaniel, chapter 2 as another identifying text. There exist other verses interpreted as referring to Ahmed al-Hasan and his matter.Isaiah, chapter 63 Multiple books have been written about the evidence of this call, the connection between these texts, and why they refer to their interpreted characters like Imam Al-Mahdi and Ahmed al-Hasan. Among these works by the followers of Ahmed al-Hasan concerning the Bible, one can mention the books by Adil Alsaeedi, Alas Alsalem, Abdurazaq Aldeeravi, Ali Abdulreza, Sadiq Al-Muhammadi, and Hussain Al-Mansuri.
Supporters and opponents Supporters The adherents of Ahmed al-Hasan collectively identify themselves as Ansar al-Mahdi ( supporters of the Mahdi, ), (also Ansar al-Imam al-Mahdī), and are sometimes called Ansars. His followers have described his call as being universal, because his preaching addresses Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all of mankind.
Many of his supporters are in his native land, Iraq. While his prominence has wained since his first burst of publicity, there are reportedly "more than 15 official public offices and representatives in major cities" there. He is believed to have followers in many other countries as well, including Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and Australia. And his websites provide teachings in several languages. In Iran, the Yamani movement is said to have "more than 6,000" converts and to be more popular among clerics than lay people, especially due to clerics being more knowledgeable eschatological hadiths and because of the similarities between Ahmed al-Hasan's characteristics and the descriptions given of the promised al-Yamani in the Shīʿa scriptures. This support has begun to cause friction with the Iranian government. According to the chief of Basra police his followers are mostly intellectuals and educated people, including university professors, seminary graduates and engineers.
Ahmed al-Hasan has an official website and Telegram channels. There are many books devoted to supporting or debunking him.Online Arabic library on official Ahmed Alhasan's website
Arrests and fabricated charges
Ahmed al-Hasan's supporters said that their cause is humanitarian, not terrorist, and that they have no worldly ambitions. Rather, their cause is reform as Sayeed Ahmed al-Hasan has said: "I did not come to demolish."
The group said that the judicial rulings that took place in Iraq and the charges that were falsely and slanderously imposed on people from the group are considered an infringement on the freedom of belief of a group with a non-utilitarian religious orientation. They raise demands to the relevant Iraqi authorities, whether judicial or governmental, to the governments of major countries, and to humanitarian organizations to intervene, reopen investigations with the detainees, and remove Article 4 terrorism charges against them. It is noted that the fatwas to arrest Sayeed Ahmed Al-Hasan, shed his blood, and target his group were issued by the Iraqi Shia authority, followed by the Iranian Shia authority. In 2008, sentences were passed against 43 individuals within days amidst continuous torture and coercion to confess to fabricated charges: 19 men were sentenced to life imprisonment, and 24 men from our group were sentenced to death.