Twelvers believe that the last imam will return and with him, Judgment Day. Which option describes this belief?

• A. The last imam will return and with him, Judgment Day.
• B. The last imam will live in hiding
• C. There is no last imam
• D. The last imam is a myth

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is the end-times role of the Twelver Imams in Shia Islam. In Twelver belief, the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is in occultation and will reappear at the end of time to establish justice and prepare the world for the Day of Judgment. His return is tied to the final divine judgment, often with Jesus accompanying him to help bring about that era. So describing the last imam as returning and bringing about Judgment Day matches the eschatological expectation in Twelver Shiism. The notions that he merely stays hidden, that there is no last imam, or that the imam is a myth don’t fit this tradition’s belief about a visible future return marking the end times.