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According to Shia sources Nafs-e-Zakiyyah (pure soul) is one of the apocalyptic characters that Muhammad al-Mahdi, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams, will send as his envoy to Mecca before his reappearance. He will be killed in Mecca and his death is one of the signs of Muhammad al-Mahdi's reappearance.
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Appellation
Nafs-e-Zakiyyah is a person by the name of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. He is a descendant of Husayn ibn Ali. He is named Nafse-e-Zakiyyah because he is very pious and devout and another reason for his nickname is that he will be slain without any sin and crime.
Duty of Nafs-e-Zakiyyah
Duty of Nafs-e-Zakiyyah is mentioned in a hadith that narrated by Abu-Basir from Muhammad al-Baqir. According to the hadith when Muhammad al-Mahdi realizes, people of Mecca don't accept his reappearance. Therefore, he will send Nafs-e-Zakiyyah as an envoy to convey his oral message to people of Mecca.
Certain sign of reappearance
According to narrations the murder of Nafs-e-Zakiyyah is one of the certain signs of reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi. In the hadith of Ja'far al-Sadiq is mentioned to these signs: "there are five signs for our Dhuhur (the reappearance of the twelfth Imam), the appearance of Sufyani and Yamani, the loud cry in the sky, the murder of Nafs-e-Zakiyyah, and the earth swallowing (a group of people) in the land of Beyda."
Place and time of murder
He will be slayed by people of Mecca around the Ka'ba after impart Imam's message to them. Ibn Babawayh in his work mentions to a hadith of Ja'far al-Sadiq that he has said the uprising of Muhammad al-Mahdi will occur 15 days after the murder of Nafse Zakkeyah.
According to Shia beliefs, Nafs-e-Zakiyyah is a sign occurred before Muhammad al-Mahdi’s appearance, who will be killed between Rukn and Maqame Ibrahim(Position of Ibrahim) in the ambit of Ka’ba. Another Shia scholar Shaykh Mufid in al-Irshad book, contains biographies of each of the fourteen infallibles, says the reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi will occur at an interval of 15 days after this event.