Ibn Arabi, called Sheikh al-Akbar by many sufism and one of the most prominent of sufis of all time believed that Imam Mehdi(a.s.) has been born. In Futuhat al-Makkiyah (The Meccan Revelations) he constantly used the terms "Rightly Guided Imam" to refer to Imam Mehd(a.s.). He also mentions that he is "Ma'sum".
There is full chapter called "At the End of Time" and devotes a full section about the "Mehdi's Helpers". Awesome book.
You can get it from amazon. It is a partial translation since the original is probably more than 2000 pages. www.amazon.com s=books

Talking of Shaykh Nazim, why is your website down? naqshbandi.org

srry, im a bit confused....

Shias say, tat Imam Mahdi(as) is already born, and is Present living, and he is gonna RETURN inshallah !

wht does sunnis say, as far as i knw, the belive that he is yet to be born...

so, help me out here a lil bit...

So, Ahlus Sunnah believes tat Imam Mahdi(As) is here...among us.. ?!?

Is thr any fatwa, well not a fatwa...but did any trustworthy sheikh say it....???

For shias...well :) all i can say is this

buss ab katne wali hai furqat ki raatein,
Imam-e-Zamana ke aane k din hai...

wht abt the rest of the gang, i mean the Different Sufi orders, the diff. Sunni schools of thought?....

Any info.. ?

JazakALLAH fellas...

woohoo!

Salaams All. I've been away for a while, even my twin (superman) hasn't been here.. I wanted to clarify one thing. There are two archetypes of Sufism. Most sufi's do not even know this, because a large number of the schools of two no longer follow their original inspiration, or purpose for coming about.

These two archtypes are: Love of Muhammad and Love of the Ahl-al-Bait of Muhammad, as Muhammad himself said that the way to him is through them. The Naqshabandi tariqah was the one historic exception (hailing through love and adoration of Abu Bak'r R) but nowadays many others are popping up.

Owais al-Qarni is definitely an instance of the first category. Suleman al-Farsi would be the second. As would a _very_ small number of schools nowadays. Most schools historically sat somewhere in between the two primary realms. They used to compete over their love of the Ahl-al-Bait, or of Ali KAW. Rare was it to go straight for Allah. Pure love of Allah is like trying to eat pure sugar. U do not do it. You mix it in prescribed and creative concoctions of all manner, and thus you enjoy the creations it enables, relishing the true ingredient in the process. (I would say Honey, or Brown Sugar, but the point stands conveyed.) There are, to this day, traditions which make sense when viewed through this lense. The whole hat thing, for instance... don't get me started.

Nowadays, with this strong sunni-backlash to the history the shi'a have been screaming from the top of their lungs throughout our contemptuous centuries together, the concept of love of the Ahl-al-Bait gets tarnished. Schools of thought that originally started with Pirs who realized enlightenment due to this love now sing the Jamaat'i anthem and thus loose an integral aspect of their glory.

Your question is nieve my friend. Unless all this is realized and understood, no one will know what the significance of Al Mahdi (AS wal Amaan!) is to a true Seeker of the Way.

One who understands the truth of the Ark of Noah, and the Hadith-e-Thaqalain (not to mention the event of Mubahilah, Ghadeer-e-Khum, and - immensly significantly - Hadith-e-Kissa) knows that there is no Ali without the Muhammad that lives amongst us. And since Muhammad himself said "Know me through Ali", there truly isn't any access to Muhammad (as prescribed by ALL our teacher) unless it is through Ali. So, is Imam Mehdi signifiant to Sufi's? I, hailing from a shi'a background have an easier time saying this. (I married a sunni, am getting divorced, and have two kids being raised sunni, yet all I am after is the truth!) The fact is that Imam Mehdi (AS) is our current Imam. He is the Qutb of the age, not some famous heir-designate of the "last qut'b". That's not how these things go..

Imam Mehdi is to Khidhr (AS) what Khidhr (AS) is to desirous dervaishes like you and I. And yet my friends will try to argue with me, against the topic.. (Although this one I would like to see argument against.) Was Salaam.

I like imam Mahdi.

Well Sufism is an aproach .. u can be Sunni Sufi or Shia Sufi .. so what ever theology you support thats what your opinion would be on the issue of the Mahdi.