OSMANLI METİNLERİNDE MEHDİ TASAVVURLARI

Abstract

The mahdi has been regarded as a sign of apocalypse in many societies and beliefs since the ancient times. The expectation of a savior ruler who will appear in the end of the world, at a time when evil is dominant all over and who will defeat the evil and ensure the goodness in the world, underlies the basis of mahdi belief. This belief, first mentioned in the Sumerians in the 3rd century according to the sources, found its place in later periods in many religions. In addition, in Islamic faith, it is mentioned as one of the signs of doomsday. Mahdi has always been affiliated with the Antichrist and the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). According to this belief, at the end of the world, the mahdi will first destroy the blasphemy that filled the world with cruelty. And then the Antichrist will appear and dominate the world and make the evil dominant. And finally, Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and put an end to the rule of the Antichrist. In this process, Jesus Christ will help the mahdi. However, there is no direct reference neither to the Antichrist nor the mahdi in the Quran. What is known about them is based on the hadith of the Messenger. While there is an alliance of Islamic scholars and hadith narrators on Antichrist-related rumors there are some conflicts about the mahdi. Apart from religiousworks, it is seen that the Antichrist and the mahdi are mentioned in some literary poetic and prosaic works. These are sometimes intended to give direct information and to stimulate the reader. In some cases, it appears as an element of the metaphor of Ottoman poetry. The main purpose of this study is to examine the mahdi concept in the world of mentality of the Ottoman society. In this context, first the updated religious sources related to the subject was scanned and the knowledge and the beliefs about mahdi which have been produced from the past to the present are determined. Then, based on the literary texts, it was tried to understand how these beliefs were responded in the society. The reality of the belief or its place in religion was not discussed. The aim of this study is only to determine in what aspects and in what ways the mahdi belief is dealt with in Ottoman literary texts.