and others[1]—narrated the report about the Mahdi from the Prophet to dozens of their followers, and through them to hundreds of Muslims. Moreover, many leading hadith scholars—such as al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH), al-Aburi (d. 363 AH), al-Hakim (d. 405 AH), al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH), al-Baghawi (d. 516 AH), ibn al-Athir (d. 630 AH), al-Qurtubi (d. 671 AH), al-Mizzi (d. 742 AH), al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH), al-Haythami (d. 807 AH), al-Sakhawi (d. 902 AH), al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH), ibn Hajar (d. 974 AH), al-Kattani (d. 1345 AH), al-Albani (d. 1420 AH), and others[2]—explicitly affirmed its authenticity and mass-transmission; and many of them—such as ibn Hammad (d. 228 AH), ibn Abi Khaythamah (d. 279 AH), ibn al-Munadi (d. 336 AH), Abu Nu‘aym (d. 430 AH), Abd al-Ghani (d. 600 AH), al-Hamawi (d. 626 AH), al-Ganji (d. 658 AH), ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH), ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH), al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH), ibn Hajar (d. 974 AH), al-Shawkani (d. 1250 AH), and others—authored independent works about it. Its content is also in agreement with Allah’s promise in the Quran, where He has said: ﴿وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ﴾[3]; “And Indeed, We wrote in the Psalms, after the Torah, that My righteous servants shall inherit the Earth,” and: ﴿وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ﴾[4]; “And We intend to bestow favor upon those who were oppressed on the Earth, and to make them leaders, and to make them inheritors,” and: ﴿وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا ۚ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ﴾[5]; “Allah has promised those among you who believed and did righteous deeds that He will surely appoint them as caliphs on the Earth, just as He appointed those before them as caliphs. And He will surely establish for them their religion, which He chose for them, and will surely grant them security after their fear, so that they may worship Me and not associate anything with Me. And whoever disbelieves after that—they are the sinful,” and: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ ۚ ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾[6]; “O you who believed! Whoever among you renounces his religion, Allah will soon bring a people whom He loves and who love Him; they are humble toward the believers, stern toward the disbelievers, fight in the way of Allah, and do not fear the blame of any blamer. That is Allah’s grace which He bestows upon whomever He wills. And Allah is the All-Embracing, the All-Knowing”

↑[1] . Reports from some of them are directly attributed to the Prophet (marfu‘), and from some of them to the Sahabah themselves (mawquf). However, the narrations attributed to the Sahabah in this matter fall under the same ruling as those directly attributed to the Prophet; because the Sahabah did not know the unseen and only reported what they heard directly from the Prophet during their time in his company. Among those from whom reports in this regard have also been narrated are Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, Husain, Umar, Uthman, Abbas, Hafsah, Umm Habibah, Asma bint Umays, Abdullah ibn Amr, Qurrah ibn Iyas, Amr ibn Awf, Harithah ibn Wahb, Tamim al-Dari, Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, Adi ibn Hatim, Ali al-Hilali, Abdullah ibn Harith ibn Jaz’ al-Zubaydi, Dhu Mikhmar, the nephew of al-Najashi, and others.

↑[2] . For example, al-Aburi (d. 363 AH) has stated in Manaqib al-Shafi‘i (p. 95): “The reports about the Mahdi’s advent, and that he is from the Ahl al-Bayt, have reached the level of mass transmission and have become widespread due to the large number of its narrators from Mustafa (SAW)”; and al-Qurtubi (d. 671 AH) has stated in his Tafsir (vol. 8, p. 121): “The authentic reports have reached the level of mass transmission regarding the fact that the Mahdi is from the family of the Messenger of Allah (SAW)”; and ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) has stated in Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (vol. 8, p. 254): “The Hadiths that are relied upon to prove the rise of the Mahdi are authentic”; and al-Barzanji (d. 1103 AH) has stated in al-Isha‘ah al-Ashrat al-Sa‘ah (p. 215): “You have learned that the Hadiths about the existence of the Mahdi, his rise at the end of time, and that he is from the family of the Messenger of Allah (SAW), from the descendants of Fatimah , have reached the level of mass transmission in meaning, so denying them is meaningless,” and also: “The Hadiths transmitted about him through various chains of narration are difficult to count” (ibid., p. 175); and al-Safarini (d. 1188 AH) has stated in Lawami‘ al-Anwar al-Bahiyyah (vol. 2, p. 84): “The narrations concerning his rise have become numerous, to the extent that they have reached the level of mass transmission in meaning. And this has become widely known among Sunni scholars, to the extent that it is considered part of their beliefs...And many narrations have been reported from those mentioned among the Sahabah, from those other than them, and from the Tabi‘un after them, the totality of which provides certain knowledge. Therefore, belief in the rise of the Mahdi is obligatory, as has been firmly established among the scholars and recorded in the creeds of Ahl al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama‘ah”; and al-Shawkani (d. 1255 AH) has stated: “The Hadiths about the Mahdi that can be relied upon are fifty in number, including authentic, good, and weak Hadiths whose weakness can be remedied. And they are mutawatir without any doubt or ambiguity. Rather, the description of mutawatir can apply to less than that as well, according to all the technical definitions established in the principles of hadith” (Nazm al-Mutanathir Min al-Hadith al-Mutawatir by al-Kattani, p. 227); and Siddiq Hasan Khan (d. 1307 AH) has stated in al-Idha‘ah Lima Kana Wa Ma Yakun Bayna Yaday al-Sa‘ah (p. 149): “The Hadiths transmitted about him through various chains of narration are numerous and reach the level of mass transmission. They can be found in the books of Sunan and other Islamic collections, including Mu‘jams and Musnads,” and also: “There is no doubt that the Mahdi rises at the end of time, without specifying a particular month or year, since the reports on this matter are mutawatir, and the whole Ummah, generation after generation, has agreed on it—except for those whose opposition is not taken into consideration” (ibid., p. 182).

↑[3] . Al-Anbya/ 105

↑[4] . Al-Qasas/ 5

↑[5] . An-Nur/ 55

↑[6] . Al-Ma’idah/ 54