The idea of Mahdihood and its impact on the religious and social life of the Ottoman Empire has extended from its beginning until its collapse. The presence of about twenty risales on Mahdihood penned on different dates clearly attests to this influence. These risales have been compiled on the basis of two main sources: the Mahdi narrations (hadith) in the corpus of hadith and the mystical inspirations (kashf). Risales could rely entirely either on narations or inspirational knowledge or a synthesis of information gathered from these two.
EYÜP ÖZTÜRK