QUESTION: the mystery behind the 12th Imam Mahdi?

[Bo]

I currently want to research this 12th imam, I want to know why he suddenly dissapeared? was it a hoax? made up? , but before I do this research, I want to know if Laura had done any research on this 12th Imam Mahdi or any of you guys? because I don't want to reinvent the wheel if this subject has been covered already

I'm interested in this subject because my religion WAS Islam, and now I have no religion, my life is my religion.

Who Is Imam Mahdi?
“According to the Shiite version of Islam the 12th descendant of Mohammed, known as the 12th Imam or the Mahdi, (Also known as the "Hidden Imam� ) went into hiding in 941, some 1300 years ago. At an earlier time of rising tensions, the 10th imam was forced from his home in Medina by the powerful Sunni caliph in Baghdad and was sent to live in Samarra, where he could be kept under closer supervision. Both he and his son were believed to have been poisoned by the caliphate. Fearing such persecution, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who was just a child when he became the 12th imam. Then he is said to have gone into what Shiites call occultation, a kind of suspended state from which it is believed he will return. Shiites believe he will reappear when the world has become full of oppression and tyranny. They believe that he is hidden in the Jamkaran well in Iran, which is a place of pilgrimage for believers who drop their requests for help into the well in the hope that the Imam will read them and come to their aid� .

The central Shi'a doctrines revolving around the Hidden Imam are the doctrines of Occultation (Ghayba ) and Return (Raj'a) . The Doctrine of Occultation is simply the belief that God hid Muhammad al-Mahdi away from the eyes of men in order to preserve his life. God has miraculously kept him alive since the day he was hidden in 874 AD / 260 AH; eventually God will reveal al-Mahdi to the world and he will return to guide humanity.

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/imam_mahdi.html

An official state media website in Iran has posted a message heralding the coming of the Shiite messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, noting he could arrive with Jesus by the spring equinox.

"Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka'ba in Mecca," the message says.

The Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting website said in a program called "The World toward Illumination," that the Mahdi will form an army to defeat the enemies of Islam in a series of apocalyptic battles, in which the Mahdi will overcome his archvillain in Jerusalem.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53577 (from 2006)



I would please like to know if anyone one of you ever covered ''the 12 imams'' and this 12th imam Mahdi who supposedly dissapeared, if this subject never has been covered, then I can go and start my search :).