Shaykh Abul Hasan Sharif Amili (r.a.) has said in the book
of Ziaul Aalameen, quoted from Hafiz Abu Noaim and Abul Alai
Hamadani; both narrating through their chains from Ibne Umar
that he said: Prophet Muhammad said: Mahdi will appear from a the village called Kara and there is a cloud above him, from
which a caller will call out: This Mahdi is the Caliph of God, thus
you follow him.
A group of scholars have narrated from Muhammad ibn
Ahmad that he said: My father always used to ask about Kara and
I did not know where Kara was. So a trader came to us with a lot
of articles and I asked him about that village.
He asked: How do you know about that village?
My father said: I saw it in books of traditions.
That trader said: My father traveled a great deal. Once he
loaded his camels and traveled with them and lost his way for
some days. He says: My provisions were exhausted and I was
about to perish. Then we noticed a dome and a tent of leather.
They came out to us and I explained my circumstances to them.
At noon, a young man emerged; he was such that I had not
seen anyone as elegant and graceful as him such that I was not
satiated of seeing him. I prayed the afternoon prayer with him
leaving the hands free like people of Iraq; that is he did not link
his hands like Ahle Sunnat people.
When he recited the salutation of the prayer, he invoked
blessings on his father and then asked me about my
circumstances. I stayed there for a few days, and did not see or
hear people like him, and never heard any nonsense from him.
Then he sent a person with us to escort us. We traveled till noon and suddenly I reached the place that I wanted.
So my father asked him: Who was that man?
He replied: He is the Mahdi, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (a.s.).
The place where the Imam was located is called as Kara,
which is an area of Yemen, on one side it is connected to
Abyssinia at a distance of ten days’ journey through a desert, in
which there is no water.1
After narrating this incident, the scholar said: There is no
contradiction between what is mentioned; that the advent of
Mahdi (a.s.) from Kara and between what is proved that His
Eminence will appear in Mecca at the beginning of his
reappearance, because he will appear from a village where he
was staying till he reaches Mecca and there he will appear and
establish his mission.
The author: This village is also mentioned in our reports.
The reliable scholar, Ali ibn Muhammad Khazzar, narrates
in Kefaayatul Asar:2 through numerous chains of narrators from
the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) that he said after counting the
number of Imams after him: Then their Imam will disappear from
them…till Ali said: O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), what will he
do during his occultation?
He said: He will wait till Almighty Allah accords him leave
to stage an uprising. Then he will come out from a village known
as Kar, wearing my turban and coat of mail. He will be carrying my sword Zulfiqar and a caller will call out: This is Mahdi, the
caliph of Allah, obey him…and so forth.
Ganji Shafei has also quoted this report in his book of
Bayaan.
Seraatul Mustaqeem Elaa Mustahaqqit Taqdeem, vol. 2, p. 259;
Behaarul Anwaar, vol. 36, p. 335;, vol. 51, pp. 80-95;, vol. 52, p.
380; Meezaanul E’tedaal, vol. 2, p. 680; Mo’jamul Buldaan, vol. 4,
p. 452.