GHAYBAH, the Arabic word for "concealment," in the sense of absence from human sight, is applied by various Shīʿī Muslim groups to the condition of one or another imam who disappeared rather than died and whose life is believed to have been prolonged (in a paradisial state or in God's presence) until his foreordained return as mahdī (the Expected Deliverer) to initiate the eschatological drama concluding history.

Early History

The Qurʾān contrasts the invisible or hidden spiritual realm (al-ghayb) with the observable world of human experience. Drawing upon prototypes of such eschatological prophet figures as Moses and Jesus, the first generations of Muslims embraced the view that certain prophets were withdrawn by God from the eyes of mortals, among them Jesus, Idrīs (Enoch/Hermes), Ilyās (Elijah), and Khiḍr. The Qurʾanic description of the crucifixion of Jesus (4:157–159) and legends of the bodily incorruptibility and...