The “Hidden Imam” of the Shiites – myth or reality?

The “Hidden Imam” of the Shiites – myth or reality?

By Abu Muhammad al-Afriqi

The confusion that reigned amongst the Shi‘ah after the death of Hasan al-Askari is reflected by the Shi‘i writer Hasan ibn Musa an-Nawbakhti, who counts the emergence of altogether 14 sects amongst the followers of Hasan al-Askari, each one with a different view on the future of the Imamah and the identity of the next Imam. It must be noted that an-Nawbakhti was alive at the time all of this was taking place. Another Shi‘i writer, Sa‘d ibn Abdullah al-Qummi, who also lived during the same time, counts 15 sects, and a century later the historian al-Mas‘udi enumerates altogether 20 separate sects.

http://www.newageislam.com/the-%E2%80%9Chidden-imam%E2%80%9D-of-the-shiites-%E2%80%93-myth-or-reality?--/islam-and-sectarianism/d/1178