“PEOPLE WILL FLEE FROM HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] AS SHEEP FLEE FROM THE SHEPHERD... Later, PEOPLE WILL BEGIN TO LOOK FOR A PURIFIER. BUT SINCE THEY CAN FIND NONE TO HELP THEM BUT HIM, THEY WILL BEGIN TO RUN TO HIM...”
Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 52, p. 326
These hadith reported from our Prophet (saas) note that people will initially regard Hazrat Mahdi (as) as someone odd, flawed and on the wrong path. People will therefore avoid him, keep their distance from him, do not assimilate him and strive against him using such methods as slander, defamation and imprisonment. The followers of the Dajjal will use television and other media vehicles to spread groundless and negative imputations about Hazrat Mahdi (as).
Afterward, however, they will come to regard Hazrat Mahdi (as) as the only person who can purify the world and will literally run toward him so he will govern them.