Salman ibn Fahd al-'Awdah
There are many hadîth about the Mahdî, possibly more than one hundred. Some of them are fabricated, some weak, others good. There may even be some hadîth that can be graded as authentic, but they are very few.
One hadîth is from `Alî b. `Abî Tâlib that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The Mahdî is one of us, from our household. Allah will prepare him in one night.” [Related by Ahmad (645) and Ibn Mâjah (4085).] Some scholars have graded it as a good (hasan) hadîth, but its chain of narrators is weak, since it contains Yâsîn b. Shaybân al-`Ijlî. Al-Bukhârî declares him questionable, which, coming from him, is a statement of disapproval. Abû Zur`ah and Ibn Ma`în say there is nothing wrong with him.
There are three hadîth about the Mahdî related on the authority of Abû Sa`îd al-Khudrî. All of them have been related by al-Hâkim. Some of them have also been related by Abû Dâwûd, al-Tirmidhî, Ibn Mâjah, Ahmad, and others.
One of these is: “The Mahdî will come forth from the last generations of my nation.” [al-Hâkim (8716).] Al-Hâkim declares it authentic, and al-Dhahabî concurs. There is some disagreement about its chain of narrators.
Another is: “The Mahdî is from my descendants. He will have a prominent forehead and a hooked nose. He will fill the world with equity and justice just as it had been filled with tyranny and oppression. He will reign for seven years.” [Sunan Abî Dâwud (4285)]
Then there is the hadîth related on the authority of Thawbân that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If you see the black banners coming from the direction of Khurasân, then go to them, even if you have to crawl, because among them will be Allah’s Caliph the Mahdî.” [Related by al-Hâkim (8572) and Ahmad (22387).] All the chains of transmission for this hadîth are weak and inauthentic, though some people have been overly lenient about it and declared it authentic by virtue of the many chains of transmission that it has.
Some people have used this hadîth to support their claim that the Mahdî is from the family of al-Abbâs and that the Mahdî is from of the Abbasid dynasty. There were Abbasid Caliphs who went by the name al-Mahdî. For this reason, we see Ibn Hazm, a supporter of the rival Umayyad house, offer the following words in verse:
Since the banners have started to appear black, it has become clear
To the people of guidance that those have no way of attaining sense.
The banners of the Abbasid State were black. It is not hard to see how this weak hadîth might have been fabricated or at least tampered with to support the Abbasid cause.
Umm Salamah relates that the Prophet said: “The Mahdî will be from my descendants from the line of Fâtimah.” [Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4086).] It has a weak chain of transnmission containing `Alî b. Nufayl who is found in al-`Uqaylî’s book on weak narrators. Al-`Uqayli says: “None of his hadîth on the Mahdî should be accepted. He is the only narrator known to relate them, and all of these narrations were passed on from him by Ziyâd b. Bayân.” Al-Bukhârî mentions this hadîth of his, then says: “Its chain of transmission is questionable.” On this basis, al-Mundhirî opines that these are actually the words of Sa`îd b. al-Musayyib.
There are many hadîth that give an established meaning when taken together, though most of them do not make the grade of authenticity when taken on their own. It may be the case that only one hadîth out of all of them can actually be considered authentic. The hadîth that can be graded as good are very few. The vast majority of these hadîth are weak.
Many scholars have written on the topic of the Mahdî. One of these was Na`îm b. Hamâd who wrote on this matter in his book al-Fitan. Though a leading scholar of the Sunnah, nevertheless Hamâd used to make many errors. Al-Daraqutnî, al-Dhahabî, and Ibn Hajar have all made note of this. Maslamah b. al-Qâsim went so far as to say: “He relates many hadîth on battles that are to be rejected. He is the only person to relate them.”
Abu Nu`aym al-Isfahânî’s book on the subject entitled `Aqd al-Durur has been published. Ibn Kathîr, al-Suyutî, al-Sakhâwî, al-San`ânî, and al-Shawkânî, among others have written on it, not to mention a number of contemporary authors. Ibn Khaldûn, in his Muqaddimah, writes: “The popularly accepted view among Muslims is that the Mahdî is real. There is no doubt that this is the correct view, for the vast majority of the leading scholars and people of knowledge acknowledge the hadîth about the Mahdî as a whole, even though few of the individual hadîth about him are free of criticism. There are even scholars who have declared the hadîth about him to be mutawâtir, especially among the later scholars. There are others, however, who have rejected outright all the hadîth pertaining to the Mahdî.”
[Note: A hadîth is considered mutawâtir if it has been narrated by such a large number of people that it is a practical impossibility for them to have conspired on a lie.]
Such outright rejection has been attributed to Mujâhid, as well as the claim the Mahdî is none other than the Messiah, the son of Mary. This comes in a hadîth: “The Mahdî is none other than the Messiah, the son of Mary.” [Sunan Ibn Mâjah (4039) and al-Hâkim (8412). It is weak.] This same opinion has been attributed to al-Hasan al-Basrî. Ibn Khaldûn is one of those who has dismissed and rejected this opinion as has Muhammad Rashîd Ridâ, Sheikh `Abd Allah b. Zayd Al Mahmûd, and Muhammad Muhyî al-Dîn `Abd Al-Hamîd as well as others in recent years.
In summary, we can say that there are a lot of hadîth about the Mahdî to be found in the Sunnah of varying quality, running the gamut between fabricated, weak, and good. Hadîth graded as authentic are few. However, belief in the appearance of the Mahdî is an established matter, taking all of the evidence together. The Mahdî in Sunnî and Shî`ah traditions: Ahl al-Sunnah believe that a man from the household of the Prophet (peace be upon him) will appear at the end of time in a very natural manner, born like any other person is born. He will live just as others live. He may even fall into error and need people to correct him just like anybody else. Then Allah will decree a lot of good for the Muslims to come at his hands, as well as piety, justice, and virtue. Allah will unite the Muslims around him. There is nothing more to it than this. This is what is found in the hadîth.
There is no textual evidence telling us that it is an act of piety to wait for him or to anticipate his coming. It is not appropriate for any Muslim to accept such a claim on the basis of mere supposition. A claim must be backed up by sufficient evidence. Those making claims are many. This has been the case since the dawn of history, as I will soon make clear. A Muslim is expected to examine matters, verify them, and approach them with caution. A Muslim must never be hasty and accept matters on the basis of personal desires or wishful thinking.
Likewise, no aspect of Islamic Law is dependent on the appearance of the Mahdî. Claims that such Islamic institutions as the Friday prayer, congregational prayers, jihâd, carrying out the prescribed punishments, or applying the laws of Islam are contingent on his appearance are baseless. Muslims must conduct their lives as normal. They must perform their acts of worship, fulfill their duties, engage in jihâd, reform their societies, learn their religion, and teach each other. When this pious man does appear and his identity is established with unambiguous, indisputable proofs, then we should follow him. This was the attitude of the Companions and those that followed them. The scholars throughout the ages have adhered to this view. The idea that the Mahdî should be awaited and anticipated and the excessive emphasis placed on him was a much later development.
The Mahdî in Shî`ah traditions:
Belief in the Mahdî is a fundamental article of faith for the Shî`ah. Their belief system is founded upon it. The different Shî`ah sects disagree on many things, but they all agree on the idea of the “Hidden Imâm.” They mean by it al-Imâm al-Mahdî, though they disagree about who this Mahdî is.
This whole concept originated in the claim that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had not died and shall return. The first person to advance this claim was the Jew `Abd Allah b. Saba’. He said: “How strange are those people who claim that `خsâ (Jesus, peace be upon him) will return but reject the idea that Muhammad (peace be upon him) will return, and he is more deserving of a second coming than is `خsâ!”
This fanciful idea had a malicious intent behind it. The man who proposed it wanted to corrupt a central tenet of Islam, the belief in the finality of prophethood. This is the belief that Allah had made Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last in the line of Prophets. Allah says:
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.” [Sûrah al-Ahzâb: 40]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I am the Seal of the Prophets. No Prophet will come after me.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (2219) and Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4252)]
This is an indisputable tenet of faith in Islam. For this reason, Muslims – whether laymen, scholars, or leaders – unanimously declare as unbelievers anyone who claims that there is a prophet after Muhammad (peace be upon him). This is why the Islamic courts have declared the Qâdiyânî and Bahâ’î sects as outside the fold of Islam and their adherents as unbelievers. This is because they claim some of their leaders to be prophets after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), like Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (in the case of the Qâdiyânîs) and others. These people fall into unbelief because they violate an indisputable tenet of the faith.
`Abd Allah b. Saba’ attempted to sneak this idea into Islam through the back door by claiming that the Prophet (peace be upon him) will return from the grave. He did not say that there was going to be another Prophet, but this was just the beginning, for once the people, or at least a group of them, bought into this idea and began waiting expectantly for the Messenger’s return (peace be upon him), the matter became simple. Anyone could come forward and claim that he was the Prophet (peace be upon him) returned from the grave and not some other person claiming prophethood for himself. This was the danger of such an idea.
Such a claim to prophethood violates the beliefs of all the Muslims. It violates Islamic Law. It runs contrary to the consensus of the Companions, the Successors and the early scholars. A person who make such a claim must fall in one of two categories:
1. The person might be insane. This person should receive psychiatric help.
2. The person is rational.
Every attempt should be made to make this person understand and to convince him of the truth. If he persists in his claim, then his case must be brought before the courts. In this way, the Qâdiyânîs of Pakistan and other groups have been declared unbelievers in the most unambiguous terms, so that the public would have no misunderstanding on the matter.
`Abd Allah b. Saba’ also made the claim that `Alî b. Abî Tâlib was the Mahdî. He used to say: “If you brought me his brain in seventy parcels, I would not believe that he has died.” He claimed that `Alî would return and fill the Earth with justice just as it was filled with iniquity. This claim subsequently changed to Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah, who was the son of `Alî b. Abî Tâlib. One of the people who claimed that Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah was the Mahdî was a man from Iraq named al-Mukhtâr b. Abî `Ubayd who used to claim that angels visited him. When the Companion Ibn `Umar was informed of al-Mukhtâr b. Abî `Ubayd’s claim to receive revelation, he said: “He is telling the truth, for Allah says: ‘The devils inspire their helpers…’ [Sûrah al-An`âm: 121] Ibn `Umar showed him no courtesy, in spite of the fact that he was married to Safiyyah bint Abî `Ubayd, al-Mukhtâr’s sister.
The sect that claimed that Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah was the Mahdî was known as the Kîsâniyyah.
One of their members was the famous poet Kathîr `Azzah, who wrote:
Nay, for the Imâms are from Quraysh,
The leaders in truth, four of them peers.
`Alî and three from his household.
They are the grandsons, of whom there is no ambiguity.
One of them is the grandson of faith and righteousness.
Another was taken away at Karbalâ'
The other will not taste death until
He leads the calvary carrying the banner.
He is hidden and unseen in our times,
In Radwâ, he enjoys honey and water.
In another poem he writes:
Nay, say to the guardian, my soul has ransomed you.
You have waited too long in the mountain.
You have harmed the people who are loyal to you,
And who call you Caliph and Imam.
In you, the people of the Earth have again become one.
You have kept away from them for sixty years.
Ibn Khawlah has not tasted death
Nor bequeathed his bones to the Earth.
He has his sustenance every day,
And drink following his food.
When Muhammad b. `Abd Allah b. Hasan rose against Abî Ja`far al-Mansûr, he acquired the title of Mahdî, hoping to be the one foretold in the hadîth. Then his army was routed and he was killed in the year 145 A.H. His head was severed and paraded from Madinah to Iraq. In spite of this, his followers split into three camps. There were those who admitted to his death and discarded the notion that he was the Mahdî. Then there were those who claimed that he would return, even though it was made to appear that he had died. A third group decided that the Mahdî was someone else.
The strange thing is that this situation has repeated itself throughout history. When the recent events happened in the Haram in Mecca, some of those who claimed that their leader was actually the Mahdî were so filled with the idea that, after he was killed, they claimed that he did not die but had escaped and fled. A person is often willing to deny the evidence of his own senses because of some notion that has enthralled him. He cannot bring himself to admit that he was mistaken or deceived or that the idea he held so dear was false.
The Mahdî, for the Shî`ah, moved from person to person each time someone they vested their hopes in proved to be false. After Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah, some of them began to look towards Muhammad b. Ja`far, known as Ja`far al-Sâdiq. After he died, some turned to Ismâ`îl b. Ja`far. These people are known as the Ismâ`îliyyah, a sect of the Bâtiniyyah. After he died without leaving a son, some others began awaiting Muhammad b. Ismâ`il. These people belong to another sect of the Bâtiniyyah known as the Qarâmitah. The most famous Shî`ah sect is the Ithnâ `Ashariyyah (the Twelvers). They recognize twelve Imams, the last one being Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-`Askarî, the Mahdî. To them, he is an infallible Imam who went into occultation in a subterranean cave over 1200 years ago. The truth is that his alleged father, Muhammad al-`Askarî, died without having sired any children. For this reason the following verses were penned:
Never did happen the birth of the one in the cavern
Who you spoke to in your ignorance. It did not happen!
Your intellects have fallen into disrepair. To the griffon and goblin you have added a third! As for the Abbasid Mahdî, he was named Muhammad by his father, the Caliph Abû Ja`far al-Mansûr. He then gave him the title of Mahdî because he was combating the problem of the alleged Mahdî from the Ahl al-Bayt. He was compelled to fight fire with fire. In his private assemblies, he used to say: “By Allah, neither the Mahdî of Ahl al-Bayt nor my son is really the Mahdî. We are just fighting them with the same thing that they are throwing at us.” Thus, the sun of Abû Ja`far al-Mansûr claimed to be the Mahdî out of his rivalry with another claimant known as the “Pure Heart.”
There have been many “Mahdîs” throughout history. There was the Mahdî Ibn Tûmart in Morocco who established the Almohad Caliphate. Then there was the Mahdî of the Sudan, Muhammad – or Ahmad – b. `Abd Allah who established the Mahdist Movement, which still exists as a political party in that country. He used to say that he was from the Prophet’s household (Ahl al-Bayt) and claimed to receive revelation. He also claimed that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) spoke to him in person and told him that he was the Mahdî. Many people rallied around him. Admittedly, some good came out of the movement, for it played a role in freeing the Sudan from colonial occupation.
There have been a number of “Mahdîs” who never rose to any prominence. Ibn Taymiyah writes: “I know of more than one sheikh in our times known for piety, asceticism, and devotion, each of whom thinks he is the Mahdî. Some of them might possibly be inspired with this notion while they are awake, but they are hearing it from demons.”
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalânî in his book compiling the biographies of the notable people of the 8th century A.H., mentions one of these people: “His mental state deteriorated and he began making exorbitant claims such as seeing Allah, ascending into Heaven, and having Allah speak to him and inform him that he is the Mahdî.”
In the next installment, we shall take a closer look at these historical events.
Courtesy of Islamtoday.net
