 The promised Mahdi, who is usually mentioned in Shia Islam by his title of Imam-Al-Asr (the
Imam of the "Period") and Sahib al-Zaman (the Lord of the Age), is the son of
the eleventh Imam.His name is the same as that of the Prophet of Islam.According to Shia Islam, Mahdi was
born in Samarra in 868 and until 872 when his father was martyred,
lived under his father's care and tutelage.