Volume 2 Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

Volume 2

- Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

volume 2

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Muntakhab al-Athar Fi l-Imam al-Thani `Ashar (Vol. 2) This text, which is available in two volumes and is authored by Ayatullah Lutfullah as- Safi al-Gulpaygani, presents a handful of precious narrations about the 12th Awaited Imam. The narrations in this volume focus on the reappearance of the Awaited Imam and this text presents the implications and interpretations of these authentic traditions.

Editors Notes

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیِمِ

اَللَّهُمَّ کُنْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْحُجَّةِ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ صَلَواتُکَ عَلَیْهِ وَ عَلیَ آبائِهِ فی هَذِهِ السّاعَةِ وَ فی کُلِّ سَاعَةٍ وَلِیّاً وَ حَافِظاً وَ قَائِداً وَ نَاصِراً وَ دَلیلاً وَ عَیْناً حَتّیَ تُسْکِنَهُ اَرْضَکَ طَوْعاً وَ تُمَتِّعَهُ فیِها طَویِلاً

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"O, Allah! Be now and at all times for your representative Hazrat Hojjat-Ibnil-Hasan (may your blessings be upon him and his ancestors) , a mastr, protector, guide, helper, proof, and guard, until he resides peacefully on the earth, and let him enjoy (your bounties) for a long time (to come). "

*****

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The current book is the English translation of Muntakhab al-athar, which is probably the largest single collection of traditions about the Mahdi, peace be on him. The text used for this translation is the printed edition of Salmān Fārsī publications, 1422 AH. The following notes should be considered regarding this translation:

All verses

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of the Quran appear in boldface.

The words between square brackets are usually additions added by the translator/editor to make the translation of the traditions more expressive. Sometimes, square brackets have been used for the purpose of showing differences in different manuscripts.

Some small sections from the original book have been omitted in the translation. These were mostly explanations by the author about not-so- common Arabic words used in the traditions. The results of these explanations have been incorporated in the translated text and have been used to select suitable equivalent English words. Other sections that have been omitted were mostly minor variations in the wordings of the traditions that the author had pointed to in the footnotes. Since these variations usually had the same meaning in English they have not been mentioned. Occasionally, the authors explanations have been slightly altered or shortened to make them more fluent in English.

Verses of the Quran have mostly been translated by the editor (unless otherwise mentioned).

All instances of ‘ibn’ (meaning son of) have been written as ‘b. ’ except in places where ‘ibn’ is not preceded by a proper noun, e. g. ibn Qutayba.

For the sake of conciseness and simplicity, the connection between two narrators in a chain is simply shown using the word ‘from. ’ For instance, if the chain is ‘X narrated to me that Y heard Z say’ it has been written as ‘From X, from Y, from Z. ’

Phrases like: ‘Allah’s blessings be on him and his family’ and ‘peace be on him/her’ have not

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been abbreviated as is customary in some translations.

The word ‘father’ which is written as ‘Abū, Abā, and Abī’ in Arabic, is only written as ‘Abū’ in the translation, except in places where it is preceded by b. or ibn in a compound name. In such cases Abī is used in conformance with the Arabic pronunciation, e. g. Ali b. Abī Ṭālib or ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd.

‘He says’ is usually used to refer to the author of the last book mentioned, e. g. “Faraj al-mahmūm, p. 247, he says: ‘A section about what we have narrated... ’”

After some of the references in the footnotes, ‘short version’ has been written. This means that the reference points to a shorter version of the same tradition mentioned in the main text.

The transliteration used is in accordance with the following table:

Symbol

Transliteration

Symbol

Transliteration

‘

ṭ

Long:

ẓ

ا، آ

Short:

ḥ

_َ

_ُ

Diphthongs:

أو

أی

ṣ

a, at

ḍ

ال

al-, l-

Since we are fallible, it is inevitable that we will make mistakes. If you find any in the current book please inform us so they can be corrected in future versions.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Mr Abdol-Hossein Taleie for his useful suggestions during the reviewing process and Ali Mansouri for proofreading the draft.

The editor can be contacted through h. akhoondali@yahoo. com [10].

Author’s Preface

Those informed about Islamic history, traditions, and narrations are certainly aware of the abundance of glad tidings narrated from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, his holy progeny, peace be on them, and his companions regarding the reappearance of Imam Mahdī [1] , peace be on

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him, in the end of times (ākhir al-zamān) and the rise of the sun of his existence to dispel the darkness of ignorance, remove oppression and tyranny, spread the flags of justice, elevate the word of truth, and prevail over all religions even if the polytheists (mushrikīn) dislike it.

With the permission of Allah, he will free the world from the disgrace of worshipping anyone other than Allah. (He will) set aside shameful habits and morals, put an end to defective laws formulated by humans in accordance with their desires, destroy all things that create enmity and hatred, break the bonds of all forms of prejudice—whether they be tribal, familial, national, or otherwise—which lead to differences in the nation, create separations, and inflame the fires of civil unrest and disputes.

Through his reappearance, Allah will fulfill His Promise which He has pledged in His sayings:

Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors on earth just as He made successors those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange. [1]

And We desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak on earth, and to make them the leaders, and to make them the heirs. [2]

Soon, the golden era will arrive during which no house will remain on the face of earth, but that in which Allah will

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enter the word of Islam and no village will exist, but that in which the testimony of there is no god except Allah will be called out every morning and evening.

Perhaps, some may claim that there exists no consensus amongst the Muslims on the issue (of the Mahdī) and their agreement on it is mere speculation. Obviously, such a claim is baseless, because many claimed to be the Mahdī in the first era of Islam and in the following ages in which people were still close to the time of the Holy Prophet Allah's blessings be on him and his family, his companions (ṣaḥāba) and the followers (tābi`īn) , but we do not see any of the companions or the followers refuting the original concept of Mahdawiyya, but rather, they disputed the claims of the imposters on the basis of their characteristics and features.

Among those subjects that have been narrated to us and we don’t have any method of proving except by hearing them, there is no subject that we must have faith in which is more important than believing in the appearance of the Mahdī, may peace be on him.

This is because the glad-tidings that have been narrated concerning him are many and beyond the limit of tawātur. This is while the traditions about most of the beliefs of the Muslims have not reached such a state of tawātur. In fact, for some of these beliefs, one can only find a single tradition as support and yet, it is

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regarded as a definite fact.

Thus, how can a Muslim—who believes in what the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, has brought and conveyed—have doubts about the reappearance of Mahdī, peace be on him, despite the existence of such abundant traditions?

These traditions cannot be disputed because of the weakness of the chain of narrators in some of them or because of the odd concepts and improbability of the occurrence (of the events mentioned) in others. Surely, the weakness of the chain of narrators does not harm the other traditions which have highly authentic and reliable narrators and contents.

Otherwise, we will be forced to put aside all the correct traditions due to the presence of a few weak ones on the subject. Furthermore, their definitions are well known amongst the faithful and the (religious) leaders of the Muslims, great scholars, and the specialists in the science of traditions have narrated them. Besides, the weakness of the chain of narrators can cast doubt on the narration if the narration is not mutawātir. But, when a narration is mutawātir, the weakness of the chain is no longer a criterion for its reliability.

As for the improbability of the occurrence of some of the events mentioned in the narrations, we can answer: Improbability and oddness have no value in scientific matters—especially those related to the transmission of hadith. For, if this door is opened (i. e. , if it is allowed to reject matters on grounds of improbability or oddness) , it will

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become necessary to reject most of the true beliefs that have been established through the traditions of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, about which and about whose characteristics we have no means of gaining knowledge, except through divine texts.

For example, some of the features of the hereafter like the Bridge (Ṣirāṭ) , the Weighing Scale (Mīzān) , Heaven, Hell, etc. Indeed, even the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Mecca regarded the glad tidings of the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, about the domination of his religion and victory of his words, during the early period of proclamation (bi`tha) as improbable, (because) in those days Islam was confined only to the Messenger of Allah, Amīr al-Mu’minīn, and Khadija, peace be on them. They considered this news as ordinarily impossible. Hence, whenever he informed the (polytheists) about matters considered impossible under normal circumstances and apparent causes, they declared:

O you to whom the remembrance (dhikr) has been sent own! Verily, you are a mad man! [1]

But hardly a few days had passed, when Allah made His affairs (kalima) the highest while he degraded the affairs of the disbelievers. As a result, the Arabs submitted to him and Arab and non-Arab tyrants surrendered before Islam and the Muslims.

Furthermore, there is nothing about the Mahdī which is strange or amazing in comparison with the miracles narrated from the Prophets, peace be on them, and the Divine customs in the past nations. Things like giving life to the dead, curing

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the blind and the lepers, the miracles of the Prophets Abraham, Moses, etc. , and their occultation’s (ghayba) from their people.

Thus, there is no reason to regard these mutawātir narrations as strange or improbable. Narrations which were narrated by people who were from different regions: Mecca, Medina, Kūfa, Baṣra, Baghdad, Riyy [1] , and Qum. Some were Shia, others Sunni, Ash’arī, and Mu`tazilī. Some belonged to the first era (of Islam) , while others were from later times.

Furthermore, it was not possible for their narrators to come together in one congregation to fabricate them—because they lived in separate lands and times and had different religions and opinions. Moreover, the suggestion of fabrication regarding the majority of these traditions is extremely weak and unacceptable, as the narrators were famous for their reliability, were great scholars, and were the men of religion, piety and worship.

If we abandon these traditions (because of these inconvincible reasons) , then, there will remain no reliable traditions from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and his Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, in all subjects of jurisprudence, beliefs, ethics, etc. Also, it will be necessary to discard the authentic traditions regarding this world as well as the hereafter, even though the rational Muslims and non- Muslims view these as the foundations of their beliefs.

The existence of improbable matters (which our opponents use against us) is what they themselves have no problems with and rely on in most of their traditions. They object to the Shias,

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without realizing the results of their stance, which in reality, cannot be accepted by any Muslim. God willing, we will explain this in more detail in the future.

The tawātur of these traditions has been clearly declared and the reappearance of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, is famous amongst the Muslims and there is consensus among scholars regarding this matter. Highly esteemed Sunni scholars [1] agree on this issue and their greatest narrators of hadith have narrated such traditions. Some of them are as follows: Aḥmad (b. Ḥanbal) , Abī Dāwūd, ibn Māja,

al-Tirmidhī, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Nisā’ī, al-Bayhaqī, al-Māwardī, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Sam`ānī, al-Rūyānī, al-`Abdarī, Ḥāfiẓ `Abd al-`Azīz al-`Ukbarī in his Tafsīr, ibn Qutayba in Gharīb al-ḥadīth, ibn al-Sarrī, ibn `Asākir, al-Dāraqutnī in Musnad Sayyidat al-Nisā’ al-`Ālamīn Fāṭimat al-Zahrā’, al-Kisā’ī in al-Mubtada’, al-Baghawī, ibn al-Athīr, ibn al-Daiba` al-Shaibānī, al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak, ibn `Abd al-Bir in al-Istī`āb, Ḥāfiẓ ibn Muṭīq, al-Far`ānī, al-Numayrī, al-Munāwī, ibn Shīrawayh al-Daylamī, Sibṭ b. al-Jauzī, al-Shāriḥ al-Mu`tazilī, ibn Ṣabbāgh al-Mālikī, al-Ḥimawī, ibn al-Maghāzilī al-Shāfi`ī, Muwaffaq b. Aḥmad al-Khāwrazmī, Muḥib al-Dīn al-Ṭabarī, al-Shablanjī, al- Ṣubbān, Shaykh Manṣūr `Ali Nāṣif, and others.

You should bear in mind that the appearance of the Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times is a subject about which many books, articles, and treatises have been written about; from the time of the eleventh Imam, al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, until now. Rarely, can one locate a Shia scholar who has not written an exclusive book or an article or

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some special words on this subject. For the seekers of truth, reference to even a few of these would suffice.

This is in addition to the works of Sunni scholars on the issue like: Ḥāfiẓ Abu Nu`aim al-Aṣbahānī’s Ṣifat al-Mahdī and Manāqib al-Mahdī, Ḥāfiẓ al-Kanjī al-Shāfi`ī’s al-Bayān fi akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, Mullā `Ali al-Muttaqī’s al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, `Abbād b. Ya`qūb al-Rawājinī’s Akhbār al-Mahdī, Ḥāfiẓ Jalal al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s al-`Arf al-wardī fī akhbār al-Mahdī, ibn Ḥajar’s al-Qaul al- mukhtaṣar fī `alāmāt al-Mahdī al-Muntaẓar, Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf b. Yaḥyā al-Dimashqī’s `Iqd al-durar fī akhbār al-Imām al- Muntaẓar, etc. Moreover, an independent book called al-Fawāṣim `an l-fitan al-qawāṣim has been mentioned in one of the biographies available in al-Sīrat al-ḥalabiyya.

The purpose of this book’s preface is to clarify for the readers the falsity of those who claim to be the Mahdī or another Imam, during the period of occultation, particularly in recent times. This is a great need of the Muslims today because the enemies of Islam are constantly on the lookout to grasp at any available opportunity to break up the Muslims and ignite the fire of differences and disputes among them in order to facilitate their imperialistic and colonialist desires and gain control over their countries and peoples.

By Allah, nothing disgraces the Muslims but their differences and disputes. The followers of falsehood and disbelief can never overpower the helpers of the truth and Islam, unless disagreements and internal feuds are incited amongst them.

One of the issues used by these

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[1]: The author of al-Nihāya says: “Mahdī means the one whom Allah has guided towards the truth. (This name) has been used so much that it has become a common name. The Mahdī about whose appearance in the end of times (ākhir al-zamān) , the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, has given glad tidings about, has also been given this name. ” The author of Lisān al-`Arab writes: “Mahdī means the one whom Allah has guided towards the truth and it has been used for naming to the extent that it has become a popular name. The Mahdī about whose appearance in the end of times the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, has given glad tidings, has also been given this name. ” The author of Tāj al-`arūs says: “Mahdī means the one whom Allah has guided towards the truth and it has been used for naming to the extent that it has become a popular name. The Mahdī— about whose appearance in the end of times glad tidings have been given—has also been given this name. ” May Allah include us amongst his helpers.

[1]: Quran 24: 55.

[2]: Quran 28: 5.

[1]: Quran 15: 6.

[1]: A region located south of present-day Tehran—Ed.

[1]: Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd remarks in Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha: “All Muslim sects agree that the world and human responsibility will not come to an end but after him” ([Egypt], vol. 2, p. 535). One of them has written in his marginal explanations on Ṣaḥiḥ Tirmidhī that Shaykh Abd al-Ḥaq has written in al-Luma`āt, “Traditions proclaiming that the Mahdī is from the Ahl al-Bait, from the children of Fāṭima, have passed the limits of tawātur” ([Delhi: 1342 AH] vol. 2, p. 46). Al-Ṣubbān writes in Is`āf al-rāghibīn, “Traditions from the Messenger of Allah concerning his reappearance, him being from his Ahl al-Bait, and that he will fill the earth with justice are mutawātir” ([Egypt: 1312], vol. 2, p. 140). Al-Shablanjī in Nūr al-abṣār notes: “Traditions from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, concerning him being from his Ahl al-Bait and that he will fill the earth with justice, are mutawātir” ([Egypt: 1312 AH], p. 155). ibn Ḥajar writes in al-Ṣawā`iq: “Abu l-Ḥusayn al-Abrī says, ‘The traditions concerning his reappearance, him being from his Ahl al-Bait, his rule for seven years, him emerging along with Jesus—and the latter helping him in killing the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl) at the Door of Ludd in Palestine—that he will lead this nation, and Jesus will pray behind him, are mutawātir. A large number of their narrators have directly reported from Muṣṭafā, Allah's blessings be on him and his family’” ([Egypt: al-Maymaniyya], p. 99). Sayyid Aḥmad b. Sayyid Zainī Daḥlān, the Shāfi`ī jurist, notes in al-Futūḥāt al-Islāmiyya: “Traditions concerning the reappearance of the Mahdī are numerous and mutawātir. Some of them are correct (ṣaḥīḥ) , others are acceptable (ḥasan) , yet some others are weak (ḍa`īf) , and these are the majority. But, the abundance of these traditions and abundance of their narrators strengthens the traditions to the extent that they reach the limit of certainty. What is certain is that his reappearance is inevitable, he is from the progeny of Fāṭima, and he will fill the earth with justice. Allāma Sayyid Muḥammad b. Rasūl al-Barzanjī also points this out at the end of al-Ishā`a. Determining a specific year for his reappearance is impossible because (that time) is a hidden (ghayb) knowledge which is not known to anyone except Allah and no clear evidence regarding the time of his reappearance has been mentioned in the texts” ([Egypt: 1323 AH], vol. 2, p. 211). Al-Suwaydī writes in Sabā’ik al-dhahab: “There is consensus among the scholars that the Mahdī is the one who will rise in the end of times and will fill the earth with justice. Traditions about him and his reappearance are numerous, but they will not be mentioned here because this book cannot accommodate them” (p. 78). ibn Khaldūn remarks in al-Muqaddama: “Know that it is well known amongst all Muslims that with the passing of time, inevitably in the end of times (ākhir al-zamān) , a person from the Ahl al-Bait will appear who will make religion strong and will manifest justice. The Muslims will follow him and he will conquer the Islamic nations; he will be called the Mahdī” (p. 367). Shaykh Manṣūr `Alī Nāṣif records in Ghāyat al-ma’mūl: “It is famous amongst past and present scholars, that in the end of times a person from the Ahl al-Bait called the Mahdī will definitely appear. He will conquer the Islamic lands and the Muslims will follow him and he will act between them with justice and he will strengthen the religion. After him, the Dajjāl (Antichrist) will appear and Jesus, peace be on him, will descend. Then, Jesus will kill the Dajjāl or will assist the Mahdī in killing him. A group of the best companions (of the Messenger of Allah) have narrated the traditions concerning the Mahdī and the greatest of scholars like Abū-Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, ibn Māja, al-Ṭabarānī, Abu-Ya’lā al-Bazzār, Imam Aḥmad and Ḥākim, may Allah be satisfied with all of them, have recorded them. Indeed, whoever considers all the traditions about the Mahdī as weak, like ibn Khaldūn, has made a mistake” (vol. 5, Chap. 7: “Concerning the Caliph Mahdī, may Allah be pleased with him,” p. 362). He also says in vol. 5, p. 381: “From what has been mentioned above, it is clear that the Mahdī, the Awaited one (Muntaẓar) is from this nation and the Dajjāl will appear in the end of times and Jesus, peace be on him, will descend and kill him. All Sunnis—in the past and present—hold this belief. ” He says in vol. 5, p. 382: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ writes in Fatḥ al-bārī, ‘Traditions stating that the Mahdī is from this nation, and that Jesus, peace be on him, will descend and pray behind him, are mutawātir. ’ Al-Ḥāfiẓ mentions again, ‘It is true that Jesus, peace be on him, was taken up to the skies and is alive. ’ Al-Shaukānī—in his article titled al-Tauḍīḥ fi tawātur mā jā’a fi l-Muntaẓar wa l-Dajjāl wa l-Masīḥ—states, ‘Twenty-nine traditions have been recorded concerning the descent of Jesus, peace be on him. ’ Thereafter, he mentions them and writes, ‘All that we mentioned have reached the limit of tawātur and this is obvious for anyone who is well informed and he will acknowledge that the traditions concerning the awaited Mahdī are mutawātir, the traditions concerning the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl) are mutawātir, the traditions concerning the descent of Jesus, peace be on him, are mutawātir. These are enough for anyone who has a grain of faith and a speck of fairness; and Allah is the Highest and He knows the best. ”

Al-Kanjī al-Shāfi`ī writes in al-Bayān (chap. 11): “Traditions concerning Mahdī are mutawātir and are spread far and wide because a large number of narrators have reported them from Muṣṭafā, may Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. ” Aḥmad Amīn notes in al-Mahdī wa l-Mahdawiyya (p. 106): “I read an article called Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn min kalām ibn Khaldūn by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīq in refutation of ibn Khaldūn, in which he has weakened the sayings of the latter due to his rejection of the traditions concerning the Mahdī. He proceeds to prove their authenticity then remarks: “These have reached the limit of tawātur. ’ He also mentions other narrations that have not been mentioned by ibn Khaldūn. In his rebuttal of ibn Khaldūn he writes: “Ibn Khaldūn says, ‘Only a small number of the traditions concerning the Mahdī can be deemed pure (correct). ’ We openly ask him, ‘What will you do with these few traditions? Will not one believe in the few traditions except when they become popular or reach the level of tawātur? Never! This is not possible because no one holds such an opinion and none before or after him have held such a view. ’ He also criticizes ibn Khaldūn for using singular traditions (ḥadīth āḥād) as supportive arguments in his history book—which themselves have only been mentioned from a single source, a source which itself has some issues. Concerning this approach, he contends, ‘Don’t you see that when the tradition is not in harmony with his desires he doesn’t accept it even if it is authentic? ’ He then continues: ‘The traditions concerning the Mahdī are believed because they are correct (ṣaḥīḥ) and acceptable (ḥasan) traditions amongst them. Ibn Khaldūn is truly an innovator (mubtadi`) and innovators are of different kinds: Among them is the one who is regarded a disbeliever (kāfir) due to his innovation, like he who deems Allah to have a body/shape or denies Allah has knowledge about the details of things. Another, is the one who is not regarded a disbeliever (kāfir) due to his innovation; he is the one who fabricates inferior things. Ibn Khaldūn may be one of the latter. Regarding this, he has elaborated considerably. In his claim of falsity or weakness, Ibn Khaldūn has contradicted all those whom he has narrated from. For, he has narrated from a group of scholars who have recited poems proving the existence of the Mahdī. For instance:

Traditions about the Mahdī are abundant in report

So give a hand and come forward to support

Or, like the saying of al-Suyūṭī:

And what has been reported in numbers so high

Proves that they haven’t fabricated a lie

He has also mentioned in al-Mahdī wa l-Mahdawiyya (p. 110) that Abu-Ṭayyib b. Aḥmad b. Abī l-Ḥasan al-Ḥusaynī has refuted ibn Khaldūn in his article titled al-Idhā`a limā kāna wa mā yakūn bayna yaday al-sā`a and has regarded his opinions as mistakes. Ultimately, he deduces that the Mahdī will appear in the end of times and denying him is a great defiance and a grave mistake.

Al-Shāfi`ī’s view concerning the tawātur of these traditions has been mentioned in Kifāyat al-muwaḥḥidīn. In al-Burhān fi `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān (chap. 13) , the verdicts of four scholars from the four schools of thought (al-madhāhib al-arba`a) regarding the Mahdī have been mentioned; namely, Shaykh ibn Ḥajar al-Shāfi`ī—the author of al-Qaul al-mukhtaṣar—Abu l-Surūr Aḥmad b. Ḍiyā’ al-Ḥanafī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Mālikī and Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad al-Ḥanbalī. Their verdicts speak about the validity and authenticity of the belief about the appearance of the Mahdī. They also mention that correct traditions have been narrated about him, his attributes, his appearance, and the unrests (fitnas) before his reappearance; like the emergence of al-Sufyānī, the khasaf (sinking in the ground) , etc. Ibn Ḥajar has explicitly acknowledged that they are mutawātir and that he is from the Ahl al-Bait, he will conquer the east and the west (of the earth) and he will fill it with justice, and Jesus will pray behind him. He will kill al-Sufyānī, and the army which al-Sufyānī will dispatch to kill the Mahdī, will sink in the ground in al-Baydā’ (which is a place) between Mecca and Medina.

wicked and corrupt powers to split the Muslims and engage them in internal disputes—instead of external defense—is that of the Mahdī, may our souls be sacrificed for him [1] . To achieve these goals in areas like Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and Africa, they dispatched foolish and power- hungry stooges, well known for their immorality, lack of sensibility and understanding, and vileness.

They were ignorant, or at least pretended to be so, regarding the contents of the traditions concerning his names, attributes, signs, symbols, effects, pure lineage, and noble ancestry which cannot be collectively found in any single individual, except the holy character of the twelfth Imam, Abū l-Qāsim al-Ḥujjat b. al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī b. Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī al-Hādī b. Abū Ja`far Muḥammad al-Jawād b. Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī al- Riḍā b. Abū l-Ḥasan Mūsā al-Kāẓim b. Abū `Abd-Allah Ja`far al-Ṣādiq b. Abū Ja`far Muḥammad al-Bāqir b. Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī Zain al- `Ābidīn b. Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ḥusayn, Sayyid al-Shuhadā, ibn Amīr al-Mu`minīn `Ali b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on them all.

He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. He will conquer the whole world and will turn Islam into a global religion—to such an extent that there will remain no one on the face of earth who will worship other than Allah. There will not remain a village, but that in which the testimony of ‘there is no god but Allah and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah’ will echo in it. When he reappears,

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Gabriel (Jibra’īl) will call out his and his father’s name from the heavens. This call will be heard by the inhabitants of the East and the West.

He has attributes and signs—which God willing, we shall soon mention. These signs do not fit anybody but him, whosoever he may be, let alone the poor creatures who were arrested, jailed and lived in imprisonment until they were crucified. Their plans remained incomplete, whilst they couldn’t manage their own affairs—let alone others’.

Despite such clear explanations, some negligent people thought up fancy basis’ for their false claims. Perhaps, they have not seen what has been mentioned in the Holy Quran and the traditions about the Mahdī, may peace be on him, regarding the fact that he is a special person, whose lineage, ancestry, and attributes have no equivalent. Here, we have collected and reproduced traditions from reliable and authentic Shia and Sunni sources, so that no room remains for any doubts or questions whatsoever. Indeed, this will lead to great benefits and advantages.

Mentioning these traditions in this order and detail has other purposes and benefits. There is no harm in mentioning a few of them here:

The Shia belief regarding the existence of the Mahdī, peace be on him, during the occultation and after his emergence in the end of times, is neither an obstacle to the unity of the Muslims, nor a barrier to setting aside the differences which are damaging their majesty and might. This pure belief originates from the glad

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tidings (in these narrations) and is not contradictory to the principles of Islam or the explicit and clear guidelines of the Holy Quran and correct Sunna.

Rather, it is a belief that stems from faith in the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who is the source of these prophecies. Therefore, it is necessary that the Sunnis deal with this subject as they do with any other issue in which their scholars have differences amongst themselves and investigate the truth like they do for other problems.

Eliminating Repetition: After browsing through early and also recent books on this subject which were available to me, I found many duplicate narrations. Most of the traditions are not related to a particular concept and cannot be included in a specific chapter. Since there are a number of concepts and meanings found in one tradition, the same tradition has been mentioned under different titles.

This is why duplicate narrations can be found in the books of both sects on the one hand and the truncation of traditions on the other. I have refrained from doing this by simply pointing to the traditions in the other chapters and also by mentioning their locations and numbers at the end of every chapter.

Knowing that most topics are mutawātir: We have already mentioned in the first volume, some of the traditions concerning the twelve Imams, may peace be on them, because of their significance regarding our discussion. God willing, we will now proceed to narrate the

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traditions concerning the Mahdī, peace be on him, his attributes, and his conditions from both sects. Investigating the traditions on this subject is beyond the aim and scope (of this book) and is not possible except for those who are experts in the sciences of tradition and the great scholars.

We have restricted ourselves to mentioning only the narrations which are relevant to the facts regarding that particular topic. By doing this, we will have fulfilled the purpose for which this book has been compiled for. Whoever desires more details should refer to the writings of other scholars.

This was the preface of this book in the first edition (which was published) more than forty years ago. Thank God, in this new edition, we have succeeded in compiling a complete volume about the traditions of the twelve Imams, peace be on them, and made it the first volume. We then revised the old edition until it turned into an almost new book and we included it in the current edition as the second and the third volumes.

The three volumes have been separated into eleven main chapters and ninety-four sections. We also succeeded in adding discussions based on narrations which are related to the subject of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, and placed them at the end of the third volume.

We ask Allah, the Exalted, to make us successful in accomplishing the tasks that are the cause of His satisfaction, and to protect us from prejudice and recklessness, and

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to guide us to the path of truth and justice, and to make our actions purely for Him, and to reserve them for “the Day when neither wealth nor children will benefit anybody except the one who comes to Allah with a purified heart. ” [1]

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[1]: Dr. Aḥmad Amīn al-Miṣrī has published an article titled al-Mahdī wa l-mahdawiyya and refuted the traditions concerning the Mahdī by relying on poor reasons which are as follows: (1) Weakness of the traditions narrated about him, the answer of which you have already read, (2) Their contents run contrary to common sense. The reply to this objection is as follows: We do not see anything contrary to common sense in believing that a reformer will appear in the end of times who is from the Ahl al-Bait and a descendant of Fāṭimat al-Zahrā, who appears with the aforementioned attributes and signs to support the religion, make the souls perfect, purify the earth from polytheism and oppression, and free it from the hands of the oppressors and tyrants—even if there are some prophecies whose occurrences seem to be normally improbable and unusual. They do not harm in any way the other abundant traditions. Moreover, improbability and unlikeliness is not, and should not be a cause for refuting the narrations as we already elaborated, (3) The third argument which he relies on in most of his article, is the suggestion that the idea of Mahdī and Mahdawiyya in Islam has a long and saddening history due to the various revolutions and movements in the name of Mahdī which resulted in the weakening of many Islamic states. In order to support his view, he cites a few instances which he thinks are related to the concept of Mahdawiyya. These clearly expose his lack of information about the concept of Mahdī, his poor insight about the different sects, their origins, and doctrines.

It seems that he has not written this article to reach a historical conclusion; rather, he has written it either to split the Muslims and prevent them from fastening unto Islamic unity and the strong rope of Allah, or to support a few astray sects and corrupt views fabricated by the criminal hands of imperialism in the Islamic countries; because he has mentioned in it issues whose falsity is absolutely clear for those who have read the books, magazines, and histories of political sects. For his defense, he cannot bring the excuse of a lack of sources, because he was not responsible for writing this article in the first place, so that he may apologize for the confusion and blunders caused by him because of his desires. It was compulsory for him to stop and leave its writing to those who were worthy of it, (when you are incapable of a thing, leave it). Unfortunately, Aḥmad Amīn has paid no attention to this fact—just as he didn’t care if he deformed the face of religion and plunged the Islamic nation in doubt and skepticism. Perhaps, he and all those who follow in his footsteps and teachings, regard refuting realities, rejecting narrations, or twisting them to match their desires as an intelligent act.

Whatever the reason, the answer to his views is as follows: If what he suggests is the standard for distinguishing between truth and falsehood, then he should also refute all the accepted truths which are undeniable facts that he has no way of rejecting. Why doesn’t Aḥmad Amīn deny the Prophets because of the many revolutions started in their names, which were many more than those who were started in the name of the Mahdī? Or, can he deny the existence of Allah (God forbid) , Mighty and Glorified be He, because most people worship other than Allah and enslave his servants? Or, can he refute the truth of justice and reformation, because most revolutionaries and reformists began their movements in the name of justice and reforms, even though they did not establish anything but evil and mischief, and did not pursue their goals except for greed and their worldly desires?

The truth is, in general, the cause of the success of these revolutionaries was the existence of people like Aḥmad Amīn who lacked sufficient knowledge about the concept of the Mahdī. They were ignorant about his signs and symbols which have been mentioned in the traditions. Worse, some of them have even put forward arguments frailer than a spider’s web to reject these traditions. They argue that the concept of Mahdawiyya leads to hopelessness and laziness, and prevents development and progress! I wish I knew the reason for this prejudice and turning away from reality, because they even went to the extent of denying the sayings of their Prophet, contradicting their leaders in traditions, history, and all other Islamic sciences, simply on the basis of these absurd arguments. Rather, the belief in the appearance of the Mahdī—as we will God willing show—gives energy, purifies the hearts, helps the followers’ to move towards developing ethics and morality, leads to the acquisition of virtues, merits, sciences and perfections, cleanses the souls from all filth and immoral qualities, and finally, arouses the understanding of the nation towards true responsibility.

[1]: Quran 26: 89.

Chapter Three: The Proofs About The Reappearance of The Mahdi,

Chapter Three: The Proofs About The Reappearance of The Mahdi, His Names, Attributes, Characteristics, Personality, And Glad-Tidings About Him

Comprised of fifty-one sections.

Section One

Verses from the Holy Quran which give glad-tidings about his reappearance, or can be interpreted to the signs of his reappearance, and what will happen before, during, and after his reappearance

In this section, we will mention the traditions that have been narrated which are interpretations of the Holy Quran or the opinions of commentators which are in harmony and accordance with these narrations.

Of course, some of these verses in their apparent form or according to their interpretations, exclusively refer to him. This will become clear for you by reading what has been mentioned. We will discuss or at least hint at twenty-eight verses from the Holy Quran and their interpretations (tafsīr) in this chapter. The number of traditions we will refer to, to explain these verses, are eighty-two.

The verses of the Quran which refer to his reappearance are many and exceed one hundred and thirteen in number—as some have enumerated. A few scholars have even compiled exclusive books on the subject. We will, God willing, mention a few of these verses only as examples and not as a complete study. They are

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as follows:

(1)

اَلَّذِیْنَ یُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْغَیْبِ وَ یُقِیْمُوْنَ الصَّلوةَ وَ مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ یُنْفِقُوْنَ

Those who believe in the unseen and establish prayers and give away from what We have bestowed upon them [1]

310. Kamāl al-dīn [2]: Muḥammad b. Mūsā al-Mutawakkil, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-`Aṭṭār, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from Muḥammad b. `Abd al-`Azīz, from a group of our companions, from Dāwūd b. Kathīr al-Riqqī, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, regarding the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, “Those who believe in the unseen,” means those who acknowledge [or believe] [3] that the uprising of the Qā’im is true.

(2)

وَ نُرِیْدُ اَنَّ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِیْنَ اسْتُضْعِفُوْا فِیْ الاَرْضِ وَ نَجْعَلَهُمْ اَئِمَّةً وَ نَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِیْنَ

And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs [4]

311. Nahj al-balāgha [5]: Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, said: “The world will be kind to us after its defiance just like an ill-mannered she-camel which is kind towards its young [but bites those who want to milk it]. ” Then Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, recited the verse, “And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs. ” Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd says in his commentary on Nahj al-balāgha: “Our companions believe that he has given a promise about an Imam who will rule the earth and dominate the

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nations. ”

Al-Ḥaskānī mentions in Shawāhid al-tanzīl from `Abd-al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥasan, from Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Salma, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. Sulaimān, from Yaḥyā b. `Abd al-Ḥamīd al-Ḥammānī, from Sharīk, from `Uthmān, from ibn Ṣādiq, from Rabī`at b. Nājidh, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “The world will become kind to us like an ill-mannered she-camel towards her young. ” He then recited: “And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened... ”

312. Tafsīr al-Furāt [1]: Al-Ḥusayn b. Sa`īd, through a chain of narrators from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, who said:

Whoever wants to ask about our affairs and that of the people, then (he should know that) we and our followers were on the tradition (sunna) of Moses and his followers since the day Allah created the heavens and the earth, and surely our enemy and his followers were on the tradition of the Pharaoh (Fir`un) and his followers since the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. He [i. e. the one who wants to know] should recite the verses from the beginning of Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ to Allah’s saying “they fear (yaḥdharūn). ” I swear by Allah Who split the seed, created the soul, and sent the Book to Muḥammad—Allah's blessings be on him and his family—with truth and justice, these [people] will become kind to you like an ill-mannered she-camel becomes kind towards its young.

313. Shawāhid al-tanzīl [2]: From Abū Bakr al-Ma`marī, from Abū Ja`far al-Qummī, from Muḥammad b. `Umar al-Ḥāfiẓ in

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Baghdad, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn, from Aḥmad b. `Uthm b. Ḥakīm, from Shurayḥ b. Maslama, from Ibrāhīm b. Yūsuf, from `Abd al- Jabbār, from al-A`mash al-Thaqafī, from Abū Ṣādiq, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, who either said: “The verse ‘And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs’ is about us” or “belongs to us. ”

314. Tafsīr al-Furāt [1]: From furāt b. Ibrāhīm al-Kūfī, through a chain of narrators from Abū l-Mughaira, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, who said: “The verse ‘And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs,’ was descended regarding us. ”

315. Tafsīr al-Furāt [2]: From `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Zuharī, through a chain of narrators from Thuwair b. Abī Fākhta, from Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, who asked him, “Do you recite the Quran? ” He replied in the affirmative. The Imam, peace be on him, said, “Then recite Ṭā-Sīn-Mīm [Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ], the Surah of Moses and the Pharaoh. ” Thuwair says, “I recited four of its initial verses until I reached His saying, ‘and make them the Imams and make them the heirs. ’ He, peace be on him, said: “That’s enough. By the One Who truly sent Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, as a giver of good news and warnings (bashīran wa nadhīrā) , the righteous (al-abrār)

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from us Ahl al-Bait and their followers are like Moses, peace be on him, and his followers. ”

316. Tafsīr al-Furāt [1]: From `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Umar al-Zuharī, through a chain of narrators from Zaid b. Salām al-Ju`fī who said:

I went to Abū-Ja`far [Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir], peace be on him, and said, “May Allah improve your condition! Al-Khaithama al-Ju`fī has reported to me that he asked you concerning the verse ‘and make them the Imams and make them the heirs,’ and that you told him that you are the Imams and you are the heirs. ” The Imam, peace be on him, replied, “By Allah, al-Khaithama has said the truth. I informed him exactly like this. ”

317. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [2]: From Muḥammad b. `Alī, from al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-Qiṭa`ī, from `Alī b. Ḥātim, from Muḥammad b. Marwān, from `Ubaid b. Yaḥyā al-Thaurī, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn, from his father, from his grandfather, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said regarding the saying of Allah, the Exalted ‘And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs’: “They are the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. Allah will send their Mahdī after their struggles so that he may give them honor and humiliate their enemies. ”

318. Al-Anwār al-muḍī’a [3]: From Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Ayādī, through a chain of narrators from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, who said, “We Ahl al-Bait are those who have been

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mentioned in (Allah’s) book as weakened in the earth and whom Allah will make the Imams. Allah will send their Mahdī so that he may give them honor and humiliate their enemies. ”

319. Al-Anwār al-muḍī’a [1]: It has been narrated that the verse “And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs” was mentioned in the presence of Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him. Tears started flowing from his eyes and he said: “By Allah, we are those who have been weakened. ”

(3)

وَ لَقَدْ کَتَبْنَا فِیْ الزَّبُوْرِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّکْرِ اَنَّ الْاَرْضَ یَرِثُهَا عِبَادِیَ الصَّالِحُوْنَ

And indeed We have written in the Psalms after the Remembrance, that the earth will be inherited by my righteous servants [2]

320. Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām [3]: Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, from Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan, from his father, from Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. al-Ḥasan, from his father, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, who said: “The saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, ‘The earth will be inherited by My righteous servants’ refers to the companions of the Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times. ”

321. Tafsīr al-tibyān [4]: Imam al-Bāqir, peace be on him, said: “Surely, this is a promise to the believers that they will inherit the entire earth. ”

The author of Majma` al-bayān says:

It has been narrated from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, that “they are the companions of the

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Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times. ” The proof for this can be found in the traditions narrated by the Shias and the Sunnis on the authority of the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said, “If only one day remains to the end of the world, Allah will prolong it until He sends a righteous person from my Ahl al-Bait. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ” The renowned Sunni scholar, Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī has recorded numerous traditions concerning this concept in his book al-Ba`th wa l-nushūr. His grandson, Abū l-Ḥasan `Ubaid-Allah b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, narrated to us all these traditions in the year 518 AH... One of the things that Abū l-Ḥasan narrated to us was that he said, “Narrated to us Abū `Alī al-Rūdbārī, from Abū Bakr b. Dāsa, from Abū Dāwūd al-Sajistānī, from many different people, from the book al-Sunan, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, ‘If only one day remains to the end of the world, Allah will prolong it until He sends a person from me or from my Ahl al-Bait. ’ Some versions of the tradition also add, ‘His name will be my name. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and oppression. ’”

322. Tafsīr al-Qummī [1]: (From Imam al-Bāqir, peace

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be on him) who said:

In the saying of Allah, “And indeed We have written in the Psalms after the Remembrance (al-dhikr) ,” Remembrance (al-dhikr) refers to all the [Holy] books and “The earth will be inherited by my righteous servants,” [1] refers to the Qā’im, peace be on him, and his companions; The Psalms consist of the story of fierce battles, praises, glorifications and supplications.

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[1]: Quran 2: 3.

[2]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 33, p. 340, no. 19; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 52, no. 28; al-Maḥajja fī mā nazala fī l-Qā’im al-Ḥujja, p. 16; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 1, p. 26; al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Quran, vol. 1, p. 53.

The author of al-Tibyān writes: “Unseen in this verse encompasses what our companions have narrated about the period of occultation and the time of the reappearance of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him. ” Al-Ṭabarsī mentions a similar view in Majma` al-bayān.

Al-Nīsābūrī—while explaining the saying of Allah, the exalted, “those who believe in the unseen”—writes in Gharā’ib al-Quran: “According to some Shias, unseen in this verse means the awaited Mahdī about whom Allah has promised in the Quran ‘Allah has promised those who believed and did good deeds that He will certainly make them the heirs like He has made heirs those before them’ (Quran 24: 55) and it has been narrated, ‘Even if there only remains one day before the end of the world, Allah will prolong it until a man emerges from my nation whose name will be my name and whose epithet will be my epithet (kunyatuhū kunyatī). He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ’”

Fakhr al-Rāzī mentions in his Tafsīr: “According to a Shia [scholar], unseen means the awaited Mahdī about whom Allah, the Exalted, has promised about in the Holy Quran and in a tradition. ” Thereafter, he mentions the Quranic verse and the tradition and warns: “Know that assigning a single meaning (to the verse) without proof is incorrect. ”

I say: From the statements of the two aforementioned scholars, it is apparent that they agree with the Shias concerning the usage of the word unseen (al-ghayb) for the awaited Mahdī, peace be on him, because this is an indisputable fact amongst the knowledgeable. The fact that they do not deny the Shia belief that Allah has made a promise about the awaited Mahdī in the Holy Quran, also shows their agreement with the Shias and with what has come in their traditions under the interpretation of this verse.

Now that this discussion has reached this particular topic, there is no harm in reporting the meaning of unseen (al-ghayb) and whether it refers to Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, in a general sense, or it is specifically about him.

An interpretative discussion

Anything that is hidden from a person and cannot be comprehended by any of his senses is regarded as ‘unseen with respect to him. ’ Similarly, a thing that is concealed from everybody is regarded as ‘unseen with respect to all,’ regardless of: (a) The fact that intellect (`aql) guides towards this unseen or it is comprehended through reasoning, or its effects and signs; like the existence of Allah, the Exalted, His Attributes, and His Names. (b) The news and information given by the prophets and their successors which guide towards this unseen. Of course, these news’ are [the result of] extraordinary feats and include prophecies like the signs of Judgment day, punishment in the grave, the Bridge (al-ṣirāṭ) , the Weighing Scale (al-Mīzān) , Heaven, Hell, and informing people about what they had done in private and their beliefs. (c) There being absolutely no way to verify this unseen—either through intellect (`aql) or any other media— like the Reality of Allah’s Being (Dhāt Allah).

It makes no difference whether this unseen cannot be perceived by the senses because it cannot be viewed, heard, etc. , or, it can be seen or heard but knowing about it is not ordinarily possible except for a selected group of people as a part of their extraordinary acts, like the Prophets who informed the people about what they had eaten and stored in their houses. It also makes no difference whether this unseen involves believing in what currently exists, what existed in the past but was destroyed and rendered non-existent, or what may exist in the future.

Therefore, all the aforementioned are instances of the unseen, whether they are absolutely impossible to perceive, cannot be comprehended except through intellect and understanding, or cannot be understood by the senses for all or some people except by miracles and extraordinary feats. Allah, the Exalted, the Eternal, and the Everlasting, is unseen, for He can neither be indicated at—except through intellect and rational proofs—nor is it possible to perceive Him through the senses. He is unseen because the recognition of His Essence and His Reality is impossible even through intellect and intelligence.

The signs of Judgment day, the descent of Jesus, the reappearance of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, the questioning by Munkar and Nakīr, the punishment in the grave, the Bridge (al-Ṣirāṭ) , the Weighing Scale (al-Mīzān) , Heaven, Hell, the beginning of creation, the creation of Adam and Jesus, rewards and punishments, angels and their kinds, Prophetic revelations and inspirations, life of the previous Prophets and their nations, future occurrences, miracles of the past Prophets like: converting a staff into a serpent, the she-camel (nāqa) of the Prophet Ṣāliḥ, splitting of the ocean, curing the blind and the lepers, and all other such incidents that have been mentioned in the Holy Quran and reliable traditions, which cannot be known ordinarily except through the news of the Prophet or his successors, are all examples of the unseen, because our intellect has no access to such information and news except through he who has been informed by Holy Revelations.

Sometimes the word unseen (al-ghayb) is used to refer to things that cannot be comprehended by using rational arguments or by viewing their apparent effects and signs. Things like the existence of Allah, the Exalted, His Attributes, and His Names. It is also used for those things which are not known by all and whose existences are proved through mutawātir traditions. Things like the existence of remote and distant cities, famous people who are now part of history, our ancestors, structures built by past nations, etc. Thus, some have interpreted the unseen (al-ghayb) in this verse to anything which intellect has no clue about, like the signs of Judgment Day, punishment in the grave, the Gathering (al-Ḥashr) and Scattering (al-Nashr) , the Bridge (al-Ṣirāṭ) , the Weighing Scale (al-Mīzān) , Heaven, and Hell.

Al-Rāghib writes in al-Mufradāt that “Unseen (al-ghayb) in the Quran... denotes anything hidden from the senses or from human knowledge. A thing is said to be unseen with respect to people, not Allah, the Exalted, because nothing is unseen for Him. The word unseen in the verse: ‘Those who believe in the unseen’ (Quran 2: 3) means things which can neither be felt by the senses nor understood by the intellect (aql) at a first glance. They can be known only through the Prophets and those who deny them are regarded as disbelievers... ”

Al-Ṭūsī writes about the aforementioned verse in Tafsīr al-Tibyān: “A group from the companions (ṣaḥāba) like ibn Mas`ūd and others have said, ‘Verily, the unseen (al-ghayb) refers to all things whose knowledge is hidden from the people. [Things] like: Heaven, Hell, sustenance (al-rizq) , actions, etc. , and this interpretation is more preferred because it is more general and encompasses the view of our companions about the time of occultation and the reappearance of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him. ”

Perhaps, this interpretation can be justified by saying that the meaning of unseen— although it might point to all unseen things in general—includes the known facts which cannot be perceived except through intellect. It is also possible that in the interpretation, al-ghayb was viewed as a word which points to something specific while ibn Mas`ūd and some others viewed it as a word which points to all things that cannot be perceived. By using a group of narrations mentioned by the commentators (mufassirīn) , it can be implied that al-ghayb is a general term which refers to those things which people cannot see using their sight—although they have knowledge about them (see al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 1, p. 26-27). Allah knows the best.

It is worth mentioning that some commentators (see al-Ṭabarsī in Tafsīr majma` al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 38, and al-Zamakhsharī in Tafsīr al-kashshāf, vol. 1, p. 38) have interpreted unseen and have remarked, ‘They believe in a state that the people don’t see them. ’ Such an interpretation and explanation, apart from being incompatible with the obvious and apparent [structure of the verse], is refuted by authentic narrations and the views of the companions. Such an explanation is acceptable in other verses like “And fears the Most Gracious (Allah) while he is unseen” (Quran 36: 11) , and “Those who fear their Lord while they are unseen” (Quran 21: 49).

It should be known that there are numerous opinions about the explanation of the verse under discussion and the difference between the meaning of unseen (al-ghayb) and the absent (al-ghā’ib) which we haven’t mentioned. Anyone who is interested should refer to the major tafsīr books.

According to all interpretations—which are backed by traditions, views of the companions, and renowned commentators—there is no doubt that unseen does not refer to those things which are hidden from the senses only, because surely it is not obligatory to believe in them and no purpose or aim in connection with human perfection and the goals of the Prophets is achieved through believing in them. Thus, it is not compulsory to believe in the worlds which are hidden from our senses, or the incidents of the past, or the occurrences of the future which have no place of importance in religion. So, unseen refers to all the things which should be believed in, either because they are [a part of] sharia or [are deduced through the reasoning of] intellect (`aql) , or because it is not permissible to deny them or have doubt about them because the Messenger of Allah or his successors have informed us about them and it is obligatory for us to accept these facts even if they are not a precondition of having true faith. A little pondering will make the difference between these absolutely clear; (in this regard, refer to my book, Ma`a l-khaṭīb, the chapter of Ghalat al-khaṭīb).

Undoubtedly, believing in the unseen, hidden, and non-material world, as opposed to the visible, apparent, and material world, is obligatory, whether it is what this verse refers to or not. Because the essence of the Prophets’ call was to make the people understand that existence is confined to the apparent, material creation and that there is an unseen world, which clearly dominates this universe. Believing in its unseen armies is like believing in the evident armies of this visible and material world and this material world is a sign of the unseen world and that the unseen world is prior to the visible world just as cause is prior to effect, Creator is to creature, writer is to what has been written, and speaker is to speech. The world of the unseen will neither exhaust nor terminate nor be annihilated nor be destroyed. In comparison to it, the material world is like a shadow and despite all its visible displays, it is merely a manifestation of the unseen world and its signs.

O Allah! Make us believe in You and all that is not visible to us from Your Power and Your Manifestation! Make us taste the sweetness of belief (al-īmān) to the extent that we won’t love the delay of whatever You have advanced nor the hastening of whatever You have delayed.

Although it was beyond the scope of this book, but by now, it should have become apparent to you by what we have put forward in this lengthy discussion that believing in the Mahdī—whose news was foretold by the Messengers and the Seal of the Prophets and their Chief, and has been accepted by both the sects (Shias & Sunnis) via definite mutawātir traditions and all Muslims are unanimous about—is part of the belief in the unseen that Allah has attributed to the pious. The narrations from the Ahl al-Bait which mention Imam Mahdī and have related him to this matter, have done this as a reminder to show that he is an instance of al-ghayb. Even if these narrations had not interpreted this verse, we would have certainly believed that he is an instance of the unseen just like other things like the descent of Jesus, the Beast of the Earth (Dābbat al-Arḍ) , the splitting of the sky, the tearing up of the earth, the successor-ship of the twelve Imams, the domination of Islam over all religions, etc. , because these have either been proved in the sharia or have been mentioned in the Holy Quran or by the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

The reason we claim Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, is just one of the many instances of the unseen, is what has been narrated by `Alī b. Ibrāhīm through his chain of narrators from Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, about the verse “Those who believe in the Unseen. ” (The Imam says,) “They testify to the Resurrection (Ba`th) , the Scattering (Nashr) , the Promise (Wa`d) , and the Threat (Wa`īd). ” Amazingly, Ālūsī has criticized the Shias in his Tafsīr: “People have differed on the meaning [of the unseen] and have various opinions, to an extent that Shias think that it refers to the Qā’im, but they don’t bring any proof for it. ” It seems that he has not understood what the Shias mean or he has distorted their view and thinks that Shias say that the unseen only refers to the Qā’im and not the other unseen things that the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, has informed about. He says “but they don’t bring any proof for it” so that the readers may misunderstand and become confused. The practice of people like him, when they see the correctness of the Shia viewpoint, is to narrate their views in a distorted form. Here too, when he sees that the occultation and reappearance of the Mahdī—which has been proved by mutawātir traditions to be an instance of unseen—cannot be denied, he twists the Shia viewpoint and claims that the Shias have restricted the unseen only to the belief in the Qā’im. Suppose we accept his claim and interpret the traditions of the Ahl al-Bait as restricting the unseen to the Mahdī, peace be on him, because of the high stature of his affair (as is apparent in the narration of Yaḥyā b. Abī l-Qāsim from Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him) , because the religion will end through him and Islam will dominate over all religions; he will fill the earth with fairness and justice and will destroy the forts of deviation. Which evidence is stronger than the interpretation of the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, who are one of the two weighty things that holding to prevents from going astray. We are amazed by those who learn their religion from the enemies of the Ahl al-Bait, the tyrants, and those who were known for their wrongdoings, lies, crimes and treacheries; and use their sayings as proofs and then they say about the beliefs of those who rely on the sayings of Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī-Ṭālib, peace be on him, and hold onto the Ahl al-Bait, those who have the knowledge of the Quran: “but they don’t bring any proof for it” (Refer to our book Amān al-umma min al-ḍalāl wa l-ikhtilāf)

[3]: According to another manuscript—Ed.

[4]: Quran 28: 5.

[5]: Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 3, p. 199-200, saying 209; Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha, vol. 19, p. 29, saying 205; Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 431, no. 590 and p. 432, no. 595.

The author of Majma` al-bayān writes: “An authentic Tradition has been narrated from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī-Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said, ‘I swear by the One Who split the seed and created the soul! The world will become kind after its defiance just like an ill-mannered she-camel which is kind towards its young. ’ He then recited the verse: ‘And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth” (vol. 7, p. 239) ; Tafsīr nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 4, p. 109, no. 10; Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, pp. 406-407, nn. 1 & 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 64, no. 66.

I say: This tradition has been confirmed by what has been narrated in Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 430, no. 589, through his chain of narrators from al-Mufaḍḍal b. `Umar from Imam Ja`far al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, looked at `Alī, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them all, then started crying and said, ‘You are the weakened ones after me. ’” Al-Mufaḍḍal asked, “What did he mean, O Son of Allah’s Messenger? ” He answered, “It means, you are the Imams after me. Surely, Allah, the Exalted, says, ‘And We intend to bestow a favor upon those who have been weakened in the earth and make them the Imams and make them the heirs. ’ This verse applies to us until the Day of Judgment. ” This has also been narrated in Ma`ānī al-akhbār, p. 79, Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 4, p. 10, no. 14. The same concept has also been narrated in al-Kāfī, vol. 1, The Book of Divine Proof, chap. 128, p. 306, no. 1; Majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 239, from al-`Ayyāshī through his chain of narrators from Abū l-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kinānī, from Imam Abū-Ja`far al-Bāqir, peace be on him.

[1]: Tafsīr al-Furāt, p. 116; Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 431, no. 591, through his chain of narrators from Ḥanash from `Alī, peace be on him; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 24, chap. 49, p. 171, no. 9.

[2]: Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 432, no. 593; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 4, p. 111, no. 15; al-Amālī (al-Ṣadūq) , Session 72, p. 387, no. 26; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, sect. 8, chap. 9, p. 532, no. 309.

[1]: Tafsīr al-Furāt, p. 116; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 4, p. 109, no. 9; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 24, p. 167–168; Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 432, no. 594.

[2]: Tafsīr al-Furāt, p. 116; Majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 239, which mentions “and surely our enemies and their followers are like the Pharaoh and his followers”; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 24, chap. 49, p. 171, no. 8.

[1]: Tafsīr al-Furāt, p. 117.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 184, no. 143; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 4, p. 110, no. 11; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, p. 54, chap. 5, no. 35; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 7, chap. 32, sect. 12, p. 10, no. 299.

[3]: Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 63, no. 65; Muntakhab al-anwār al-muḍī’a, p. 17.

[1]: Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 64, no. 65.

[2]: Quran 21: 105.

[3]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, under verse 21: 105, pp. 326–327; al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurān, vol. 3, p. 75, no. 5; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 24, chap. 67, p. 358, no. 78; al-Maḥajja fī mā nazala fī l-Qā’im al-Ḥujja, p. 141; Ilzām al-nāṣib, vol. 1, p. 75, under verse 56; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 7, chap. 32, sect. 21, p. 50, no. 419.

[4]: Tafsīr al-tibyān, vol. 7, p. 284; Majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 66–67; Jawāmi` al-jāmi`, p. 296; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 3, p. 464; Ilzām al-nāṣib, p. 75–76; al-āyāt al-bāhira fī faḍl al-`Itrat al-ṭāhira, under the verse 21: 105; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, sect. 9, p. 563, no. 639.

[1]: Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 77; al-Maḥajja fī mā nazala fī l-Qā’im al-Ḥujja, p. 141, verse 51; Ilzām al-nāṣib, vol. 1, p. 75, verse 56, citing Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, although, according to the context of Tafsīr al-Qummī, it has been narrated from Imam al-Bāqir, peace be on him; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 425; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 75, no. 6.

I say: The interpreters (mufassirīn) differ on the interpretation of this verse. Some of them have interpreted it as the land which the souls of the believers will gather while others view it as the land of Syria. Nevertheless, the explanation of the interpreters cannot be relied upon when they differ on any verse except when the interpretation is based upon a certain logical argument which acts as a strong reason that shows the verse had a specific meaning, or upon another verse which has an obvious interpretation, or an authentic tradition. Preferring one probability over another, without any of the aforementioned reasons, leads to an assumption which in the least should not be followed. Therefore, no commentary and Islamic knowledge should be accepted, and no saying from anyone from the Islamic nations should be used as proof, except those whose words are regarded as proof and errorless by divine decree. Evidently, no one from the Muslim nation qualifies for this status except the Imams from the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, and the progeny of the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. Mutawātir traditions have made it clear that it is compulsory to hold onto and refer to them, that they are infallible and holding onto them protects from going astray, they and the Holy Quran will never separate from each other until they meet [the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family] at the Pond (of Kauthar) , and that they are the Ship of Salvation (Safīnat al-Najāt). This is a fact that is approved by intellect (`aql) , because intellect rules that it is necessary that there be somebody in the nation who has the last say and is the point of reference for all disputes concerning the divine laws. When Imam Zain al-`Ābidīn, peace be on him, recited the verse “O you who believe, fear Allah and be with the truthful ones” (Quran 9: 119) , he, peace be on him, used to say a lengthy supplication comprised of requests to reach the level of the truthful and high stature. He also described in it the calamities and what the innovators (al-mubtadi`a) —who separated themselves from the Imams of the religion and the tree of prophethood—attributed to themselves: “Others fell short of our affair and argued on the basis of the ambiguous (al-mutashābih) verses of the Quran, which they interpreted according to their desires. They discredited the reliable traditions... ” Until he, peace be on him, said: “Then to whom will the latter of this nation take refuge, while the signs of this nation are being destroyed, and the nation is being defeated by divisions and disagreements, and people are calling each other infidels. Allah, the Almighty, says: ‘And do not be like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them’ (Quran 3: 105). Who can be relied upon for conveying the proofs and interpreting the laws except the People of the Book [i. e. the Ahl al-Bait]? Surely, we are the Imams of guidance and the lights of darkness, those through whom Allah argues against His servants that he[Allah] did not leave the creatures to wander aimlessly without a proof (ḥujja) [to guide them]. Can you recognize or find them except from the branches of the Blessed Tree and the chosen progeny, those from whom Allah has removed all uncleanness, purified them a thorough purification, kept them away from all calamities, and made their love compulsory in the Holy Quran? ” (Jawāhir al-`iqdain, part 2, discussion 4; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, chap. 11, part 1, p. 150, concerning the verses revealed about them under the fifth verse).

Therefore, it is not permitted to rely upon or argue using what the umma disagrees on concerning the interpretation of the Book or whatever is related to the religion, when there is no definite proof or clear document from the Book [of Allah] or the traditions, except what has emerged from the noble house of the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and originated from the infallible progeny, peace be on them. It is not allowed to turn away from them and refer to other than them, whosoever they may be. Hence, while interpret any verse, only the traditions of the holy Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, should be followed.

Additionally, interpreting earth in the above verse as the land of Syria is contradictory to the context of the verse and its apparent meaning. Propriety demands that the righteous shall inherit all cities and parts of earth. Similarly, there is no reason to confine earth to the land where the souls gather, as this too is against the context of the verse and its obvious meaning. Apparently, this verse is simply giving information and news about an affair that will occur in the future—in the end of times. That time will end this era which has been predominantly and mostly governed and ruled by the transgressors, the disbelievers, and the tyrants. Allah, the Exalted, has given glad tidings to His righteous servants about a virtuous era for this earth, which shall be inherited by them.

Al-Ālūsī says: “It means the land of this world. The believers shall inherit it and rule over it. ” He also says: “If we say that all this will occur in the lands of the believers during the reign of Mahdī—may Allah be satisfied with him—and the descent of Jesus, then there is no need for what was mentioned” (Tafsīr rūḥ al-ma`ānī, under verse 21: 105). In other words, according to him, the above verse speaks about the divine promise that the entire earth will become a territory of Islam and the believers, during the rule of Mahdī and his universal government, peace be on him.

In Rūḥ al-bayān under verse 21: 105: “The earth will be inherited by my righteous servants,” it has been mentioned: “It refers to all the believers, after they have driven out the disbelievers. Just as Allah has said, ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them’ (Quran 24: 55). This is a promise about the domination of religion and the honor of its followers. ”

There is no doubt that this verse is a glad tiding about the victory and domination of this umma over the entire earth. This is supported by numerous prophecies in the Old and New Testaments about the twelve Imams from the progeny of Ismā`īl, peace be on him, and about the Imam who will dominate the earth and the righteous who shall inherit it. These can be found in the Torah, in the Psalms, Joshua, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and the Bibles of Luke, Matthew, John, etc. Also, refer to the books Man dhā, the writings of Fakhr al-Islām, especially his celebrated work Anīs al-a`lām, my book in Persian Iṣālati Mahdawiyyat (The Originality of Mahdawiyya) , and other authored books on this subject—which we cannot enumerate here.

[1]: Quran 21: 105.

(4)

وَ اِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِلسَّاعَةِ

And surely he is a sign of the Hour [2]

323. Al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa [3]: Ibn Ḥajar records in al-Ṣawā`iq in the chapter on the verses revealed about the Ahl al-Bait:

Regarding the twelfth verse, Allah’s saying: “And surely he is a sign of the hour,” Muqātil b. Sulaimān and other commentators who have followed him say, “Verily, this verse was revealed concerning the Mahdī. ” We will soon mention traditions that clearly show he is from the progeny of the Messenger of Allah. This verse shows the prosperity of the descendants of Fāṭima and `Alī—may Allah be satisfied with them—and that surely Allah will bring forth from them many pure people and that He will make their descendants the keys of wisdom and the mines of mercy... ”

It has been recorded in Is`āf al-rāghibīn: “Muqātil b. Sulaimān and the commentators who followed him have said the verse ‘And surely he is a sign of the hour,’ was revealed concerning the Mahdī. ” According to Nūr al-abṣār, “Muqātil b. Sulaimān and the commentators who followed him have said regarding the above verse, ‘He is Mahdī. He will be in the

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end of times. The signs of the Hour and its establishment will occur after his reappearance. ’”

(5)

هُوَ الَّذِیْ اَرْسَلَ رَسُوْلَه بِالْهُدی وَ دِیْنِ الحَقِّ لِیُظْهِرَه عَلَی الدِّیْنِ کُلِّه وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُوْنَ

It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it superior over all religions, even though the polytheists detest it [1]

324. Tafsīr al-tibyān [2]: Imam al-Bāqir, peace be on him, says:

This will occur when the Qā’im, peace be on him, emerges. According to Majma` al-bayān, Imam Al-Bāqir, peace be on him, says, “This will take place when the Mahdī from the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, reappears. No one will remain but that he will testify to [the prophethood] of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. ”

325. Al-Bayān [3]: Sa`īd b. Jubair says regarding the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, “to make it superior over all religions, even though the polytheists detest it” that “He is the Mahdī from the progeny of Fāṭima, peace be on her. ”

326. Al-Kāfī [4]: `Alī b. Muḥammad, from one of our companions, from ibn Maḥbūb, from Muḥammad b. al-Fuḍail, from Abū l-Ḥasan al- Māḍī [i. e. the tenth Imam] who when asked about the verse: “to make it superior over all religions,” had said, “He [Allah] will dominate it over all the religions at the time of the Qā’im’s rising. Allah says, ‘And Allah will complete His Light,’ [means] the mastership (wilāya) of the Qā’im... ”

327. The Book of Faḍl

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b. Shādhān [1]: Ṣafwān b. Yaḥyā, from Muḥammad b. Ḥumrān, from (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, who said:

Surely the Qā’im from us will be aided by fear and made powerful with assistance. The earth will twist for him [distances will be shortened for him], all the treasures will be exposed for him, and through him, Allah, the Exalted, will dominate His religion over all religions even if the polytheists detest it. His government will encompass the East and West of the earth. No ruined thing shall remain on the earth but that he will revive it. The Spirit of Allah, Jesus the son of Mary, peace be on him, will descend and pray behind him.

Ibn Ḥumrān narrates that someone asked him, “O son of Allah’s Messenger! When will the Qā’im from you appear? ” He, peace be on him, replied:

When the men will resemble women and the women will resemble men, men will suffice with men and women will suffice with women, [2] women will ride on saddles, false testimonies will be accepted while the true ones will be refuted, blood [murder] will be taken lightly, unlawful sex will be committed, loans will be given with interest and bribes will be taken, the evil shall govern the good, the Sufyānī will emerge from Syria and the Yamānī from Yemen.

The earth will sink at Baydā’ and a young man from the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, will be killed between the Rukn and

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the Maqām [at Ka`ba]. His name will be Muḥammad b. Muḥammad and his epithet will be al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (the pure soul). A cry will come from the skies that “salvation is for `Alī and his followers. ”

It is then that our Qā’im will reappear. When he emerges, he will lean his back on the Ka`ba and three hundred and thirteen men will gather near him. The first thing that he will say will be the verse, “The remnant of Allah is better for you, if you are believers. ” [1]

Then, he will say, “I am the remnant of Allah, His Proof, and His Caliph upon you. ” No Muslim will salute him but through these words, “Peace be upon you, O remnant of Allah on His earth. ” When the ten thousand men assembly meets for the covenant, he will emerge from Mecca. Then, besides Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, nothing that is worshipped and no idol will remain on earth except that it will catch fire and burn. This will occur after a long occultation.

328. Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī [2]: Narrated to us Ja`far b. Aḥmad, from Abū `Abd Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, who said about the verse: “It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it superior over all religions, even though the polytheists detest it” that “When the Qā’im reappears, there shall not remain a polytheist nor a disbeliever except that he will dislike the reappearance [of the Qā’im]. If [one

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of them hides] in a boulder, the boulder will call out, ‘O believer! Within me is an unbeliever. Break me and kill him. ’”

329. Mashāriq anwār al-yaqīn [1]: From Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, who said: “Surely, this affair will end in the one whom the horsemen will return to humbly from the horizons. He is the one who will make [Islam] prevail over all religions and he is the Mahdī. ”

330. Majma` al-bayān [2]: al-`Ayyāshī narrates through his chain from `Imrān b. Maitham, from `Ibāya that he heard Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, say: “‘It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it superior over all religions,’ Has this already occurred? ” [Those present] replied, “Yes. ” He, peace be on him, said, “No, by the One in Whose hand is my life. Not until there remains no village but that from which the testimony of there is no god but Allah will be called out every morning and evening. ”

331. Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī [3]: From Samā`a, from Abū Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, (under the verse) , “It is He Who has sent... even though the polytheists detest it”:

When the Qā’im, peace be on him, reappears, there shall remain no one who associates others with the Great Allah and no disbelievers, except that they will dislike his reappearance.

332. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-kabīr) [4]: Under the interpretation of the saying of [Allah], the Exalted, “It is He Who has sent His Messenger... ,”

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from al-Suddī: “This will occur when the Mahdī emerges. ”

He also says in al-Sirāj al-munīr under the interpretation of the same verse: “Al-Suddī said, ‘This will occur when the Mahdī, peace be on him, emerges. ’” It has also been narrated from al-Suddī in Tafsīr abū l-futūḥ [1] that “This will occur when the Mahdī, peace be on him, emerges. ”

(6)

وَعَدَ اللهُ الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا مِنکُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَیَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِی الْأَرْضِ کَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِینَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَیُمَکِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِینَهُمُ الَّذِی ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَیُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا یَعْبُدُونَنِی لاَ یُشْرِکُونَ بِی شَیْئًا وَمَن کَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذٰلِکَ فَأُوْلَئِکَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; They worship Me and don’t associate anyone with Me; and whoever is ungrateful after that, then those are the disobedient [2]

333. Shawāhid al-tanzīl [3]: Furāt b. Ibrāhīm, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Shīrawayh al-Qaṭṭān, from Ḥuraith b. Muḥammad, from Ibrāhīm b. Ḥakam b. Abān, from his father, from al-Suddī, from ibn `Abbās concerning the verse, “Allah has promised to those of you who believe... ” He said: “It has been revealed about the family of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. ”

334. Shawāhid al-tanzīl [4]: Furāt, from Aḥmad b. Mūsā, from Mukhawwal, from `Abd

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al-Raḥmān, from al-Qāsim b. `Uwf who said: “I heard `Abd-Allah b. Muḥammad say [concerning the verse], ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds... ’ that ‘It is for (about) us Ahl al-Bait. ’”

335. Al-Durr al-manthūr [1]: Aḥmad and ibn Mardawayh have both narrated and Bayhaqī has recorded in al-Dalā’il from Ubay b. Ka`b who said: “When the verse ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds... ’ was revealed to the Prophet, he said, ‘Give good news to this nation about loftiness, elevation, religion, help, and establishment on earth. Whoever amongst them performs the deeds of the hereafter for this world [i. e. to reach worldly aims], he will have no share in the hereafter. ’”

336. Tafsīr al-Qummī [2]: His saying: ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; They worship Me and don’t associate anyone with Me’ was descended concerning the Qā’im from the progeny of Muḥammad, peace be on him and his forefathers.

337. Al-Iḥtijāj [3]: In a lengthy tradition from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, in which he mentions the shortcomings of some of the enemies of the Ahl al-Bait and those who

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had gained power and Allah’s delay in punishing them. He says:

All these [delays] were [put in place] so that the respite would come to an end which Allah, Blessed and High be He, gave to His enemy Satan; until the Book reaches its time and the word is fulfilled against the disbelievers and the true promise which Allah has explained in His Book approaches: ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He - Volume 2 , Page 29 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

--------------------

[2]: Quran 43: 61.

[3]: Al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, p. 162; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, p. 141, chap. 2; Nūr al-abṣār, p. 143, chap. 2; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 301; al-Bayān, p. 109, chap. 25.

I say: There is no doubt that the reappearance of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, and the descent of Jesus, peace be on him, and even the proclamation (bi`tha) of the last Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and the descent of the Holy Quran, are signs of the Hour (i. e. Judgment Day) , as has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah that he showed his index and middle fingers and said: “My proclamation (bi`tha) and the Hour are like these” (Refer to Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, chap. 25, p. 1341, no. 4040). Therefore, some have the view that the pronoun he in “surely he is a sign of the hour,” refers to the Quran, while others believe that it refers to Jesus, peace be on him (Refer to Tafsīr ibn Kathīr [Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth], vol. 4, p. 132; Tafsīr al-Ālūsī (Rūḥ al-bayān) , vol. 25, p. 96; Tafsīr al-tibyān [Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth], vol. 9, p. 212).

It has been mentioned in Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira that “The Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, have explained that the pronoun he refers to `Alī, peace be on him. ” Then, a tradition has been mentioned to support it and it has been followed with a discussion to show harmony between the different interpretations and to remove the contradictions between them. He finally writes, “If the Qā’im, peace be on him, is a sign and symbol of the hour and he is the son of Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, then it is correct to state that his father too is a sign of the Hour, and this is the purpose of the discussion. ”

Anyway, in all the books authored by our Shia companions about the traditions of the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, that I have browsed through, I did not find any tradition which specifically mentions this interpretation. Perhaps, it did exist but it did not reach us, or perhaps, I have not discovered it. Allah knows the best.

[1]: Quran 9: 33 and 61: 9.

[2]: Tafsīr al-tibyān, vol. 5, p. 244; Tafsīr majma` al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 25. He says, “It is the opinion of al-Suddī. ” Al-Kalbī says, “No religion shall remain but that Islam will prevail over it. This will occur soon—not later—and the Hour will not occur until this happens. Al-Miqdād b. Aswad said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah say, “There shall not remain a house on the face of the earth belonging to the nomads or those in the cities, except that Allah will enter into it the word of Islam, whether with the honor of an honorable person or the disgrace of a disgraceful person. Either He will honor them and make them believe in [Islam], by which they will be respected, or He will disgrace them and only then they shall believe in Him”’”; Musnad of Aḥmad, vol. 6, p. 4; al-Jāmi` lil-aḥkām al-Qurān, vol. 12, p. 300; Jawāmi` al-jāmi`, p. 318; al-Mustadrak of Ḥākim al-Nīsābūrī, vol. 4, p. 430.

[3]: Al-Bayān, chap. 35, p. 109; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 153.

I say: Apparently, this is Sa`īd b. Jubair’s interpretation, but according to the scholars of hadith, if we are unsure that these are Sa`īd b. Jubair’s own words, we can attribute these words to the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

[4]: Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 432, no. 91.

[1]: Kifāyat al-muhtadī (al-Arba`īn) , under tradition no. 39; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 7, chap. 32, sect. 44, p. 140, no. 686; Kashf al-ḥaqq (al-`Arba`īn) , no. 30. A tradition similar to this will be mentioned in chapter 36 under no. 669, from Muḥammad b. Muslim, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad al-Bāqir, peace be on him, and it includes: “his name is Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. ”

[2]: This refers to homosexuality and lesbianism—Trans.

[1]: Quran 11: 86.

[2]: Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī, p. 184; Kamāl al-din, vol. 2, chap. 58, p. 670, no. 16, through his chain of narrators from Muḥammad b. Musa b. al-Mutawakkil, from `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Sa`dābādī, from Aḥmad b. Abī `Abd-Allah al-Barqī, from his father, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Umair, from `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza, from Abū Baṣīr, that Imam Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, said concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, “It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance... even though the polytheists detest it”:

By Allah, its meaning has not yet occurred nor will it occur in the future until the Qā’im reappears. When the Qā’im, peace be on him, reappears, there will not remain a disbeliever in Allah, the Great, nor anyone who associates others with the Imam except that they will dislike his reappearance. Even if an infidel (kāfir) or a polytheist (mushrik) hides in a rock, it will call out, “O believer! Within me is a disbeliever; break me and kill him. ”

In Yanābī` al-Mawadda, chap. 71, p. 423, a similar narration has been mentioned from Abū Baṣīr and Samā`a, recorded by Muḥammad b. al-`Abbās in his book Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām from al-Āyāt al-bāhira, p. 263, under the interpretation of sura 61; al-Maḥajja, p. 85, verse 22; al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 2, p. 87, no. 52; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 60, no. 58.

[1]: Mashāriq anwār al-yaqīn, p. 172; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 7, sect. 25, chap. 32, p. 61, no. 453.

[2]: Majma` al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 280, under sura 61; Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām, citing al-Āyāt al-bāhira, p. 263, which says: “the testimony of there is no god but Allah and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah will be called out every morning and evening”; Jawāmi` al-jāmi`, p. 492 (a short version).

[3]: Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 2, p. 87, no. 52; al-Maḥajja, p. 85, verse 22.

[4]: Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 16, p. 40, under verse 9: 33; Rauḍ al-jinān wa rūḥ al-janān, vol. 10, p. 233.

[1]: Tafsīr abū l-futūḥ al-rāzī, vol. 6, p. 16, under Verse 9: 33.

[2]: Quran 24: 55.

[3]: Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 413, no. 572. It is worth mentioning that although such traditions do not clearly mention the Mahdī, peace be on him, they do imply that this verse is a promise to the family of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, to rule the earth, which will be fulfilled during the government of the Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times. This can be understood by using other traditions that clearly explain this concept. God willing, this will be explained later on. Anyhow, this tradition has been included amongst those that give glad tidings about his reappearance.

[4]: Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 413, no. 572.

[1]: Al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 5, p. 55. Al-Qurtubī writes in al-Jāmi` li aḥkām al-Qurān (vol. 12, p. 298): “Some people suggest that this promise is for the entire nation in ruling all of earth under the banner of Islam as he, peace be on him, has said, ‘The earth folded up for me and I saw its Easts and Wests. Soon, the rule of my nation will reach the places which have been folded up for me. ’ This is the view of ibn `Aṭiyya in his tafsīr where he says: ‘The correct interpretation of this verse is that it is talking about the rule of the entire nation [i. e. all the Muslims]. And making them rulers means they will control the cities and will make them part of [their nation] like what has happened in Syria, Iraq, Khurāsān (North-East Iran) , and in the West. ’”

An Interpretative Discussion

It is apparent from the verse that it is addressed to the entire umma and the promise of Allah mentioned in the verse is addressed to those who believed and did good deeds—regardless of these addressees being present or absent during the time in which the verse was revealed—because an address includes both the parties (present as well as absent) , as has been demonstrated in the principles of jurisprudence. Apparently, the term earth refers to all of it, not only the lands of Mecca and Medina and those ruled by the Muslims during the era of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, or in the reign of the companions. Therefore, the verse implies that the believers and the believing nation, along with their tribes and groups are the addressees of this divine promise. Thus, in whichever time the aforementioned promise is fulfilled—for this nation in general—the promise of Allah, the Exalted, will be fulfilled.

Because of its improbability, it is incorrect to state that the verse implies the rule of the entire umma on the earth from those present during the time of the address to those that shall follow them until the Day of Judgment. For, such an event did not occur even for those who were present during the address or in the era of the Prophet and the companions, when Islam had conquered the Arabian Peninsula and because some of them died or were martyred before this. This does not imply that the verse is of the kind that is general (`ām) , but rather, that it has a specific (khāṣ) intention. This arises from the arrangement and the obvious meaning of the context. As we already mentioned, it is improper to interpret the verse as the victories achieved by the Muslims during the era of the companions, because they did not rule the entire earth nor did religion acquire absolute power.

The context of the verse also rules out that the promise is only confined to the believers who lived during the time of the companions, and not those who were present during the revelation of the verse, or those who will follow later.

The promise to the faithful nation in this verse and its occurrence during the reign of the Mahdī, peace be on him, who will rule the entire earth and fill it with justice, equality, and safety, is the only interpretation that is in harmony with the verse just as it has been interpreted in the traditions. This can be implied even if the addressees are specifically the Ahl al-Bait and the twelve Imams, peace be on them. We have stated earlier that the word those in the verse is used to show an explanation and not to make a distinction, as has been mentioned in some commentaries. This means that while it is addressed to all of them, the fulfillment of the promise at the hands of one of them is equal to its occurrence for all of them.

From what has been mentioned, the falsity of the interpretation of the verse to the conquests of the Muslims during the era of the companions has become clear, because such an interpretation changes the context of the verse from general to specific and changes the meaning of the word ‘earth’ to a specific piece of land. There is also no reason to apply it to a specific group of people after its generality has been proved and a number of verses in the Holy Quran and mutawātir traditions along with the prophecies of the past prophets, peace be on them, have informed about it.

Some of the traditions explaining the reason of the revelation of this verse, in addition to having weak links in the chain of narrators, cannot be cited as a cause for particularizing the generality of the verse—especially since the occurrence is a general event. One wonders at those who argue about the correctness of the rule of the first three caliphs (i. e. Abū Bakr, `Umar, and `Uthmān) on the basis of this verse, without paying attention to the fact that this requires the establishment of some premises and that proving—even one—of these premises is equal to achieving the impossible. Some of these premises are as follows:

(a) The promise of Allah, the Exalted, was made specifically to the believers present in the time of the revelation of the verse who lived to see the rule of the companions, and [this promise was not made to] the believers who died prior to that time, came after that time, or Allah will bring forth in the future.

(b) The term earth refers to the earth that was ruled by the Muslims in the era of the companions. It neither refers to the land which the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, ruled over, nor the earth in its entirety that shall be in the control of the Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times.

(c) One can use this verse to make this argument when they have proved that those people were indeed believers. This has not been proved and thus we cannot apply the verse generally to everyone. Allah has promised only those who believe and do good deeds. Whenever it is proved that someone qualifies for these two criteria, then the divine promise includes them.

(d) Proving that religion has gained absolute power and the fear of the believers has been converted to security. This was definitely not accomplished for the believers during the reign of the three caliphs.

(e) Proving the fact that the power the three caliphs equals to the power of religion, because when governance crosses the redlines of religion or even if there is doubt about it following the rules of religion, the promise of religion becoming powerful will not have been accomplished; even if, apparently all other affairs are in conformity with religion, thus, it is not permitted to use this verse to prove that their power was a power for religion.

[2]: Tafsīr `Alī b. Ibrāhīm, vol. 1, p. 14; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 3, p. 619, no. 22; Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, vol. 2, p. 178; al-Maḥajja, p. 148.

[3]: Al-Iḥtijāj, vol. 1, p. 382; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 3, p. 619, no. 231.

has made rulers those before them. ’ This will occur when nothing will remain from Islam except its name and from the Quran save its text.

The owner of the affair (ṣāḥib al-amr) will go in occultation because he will have an [obvious] excuse to do so as mischief will cover the hearts to such an extent that the closest of people to him will have the most enmity against him. It is then that Allah will assist him with an army that you cannot see and He will make the religion of His Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, prevail at his hands over all other religions, even if the polytheists dislike it.

338. Miṣbāḥ al-Shaykh [1]: In the ziyāra of Imam Ḥusayn, peace be on him, which he has narrated from Abū (Imam) `Abd-Allah, peace be on him:

O Allah! multiply Your salutations, Your mercy, and Your blessings upon the progeny of Your Prophet—the progeny who were mistreated, terrified

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and belittled; the remnants of the clean, pure, and blessed tree. And O Allah! Elevate their word, make their arguments successful, free them from calamities, straits, the intense darkness of falsehood, and sorrows.

Make the hearts of their Shias and Your party steadfast upon their obedience, their mastership, their help, and their guardianship, and help them and bestow them with patience in the face of the tortures they receive in Your cause.

Make for them witnessed days and praised, fortunate times, in which their salvation will be near and which will be the cause of their establishment and them being assisted (by You) , just as You have guaranteed for Your friends in Your revealed Book, for surely, You have said and Your word is the truth: ‘Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; They worship Me and don’t associate anyone with Me. ’

339. Majma` al-bayān [1]: It has been narrated from the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, that this verse is about the Mahdī from the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. Al-`Ayyāshī has narrated through his chain of narrators from Imam `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, that

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after reciting the verse, he, peace be on him, said:

By Allah! Those are the followers of us Ahl al-Bait. Allah will deal with them in this manner at the hands of a person from us and he is the Mahdī of this umma. He is the one about whom the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, “Even if there remains one day from this world, Allah will prolong that day until a person from my progeny rules. His name will be my name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ”

He narrates a similar tradition from (Imam) Abū Ja`far and (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on them, and then says: “Therefore, the term “those of you who believe and do good deeds” refers to the Holy Prophet and his Ahl al-Bait, may Allah’s blessings be upon them. The verse also gives them glad-tidings about their governance and power in the cities and the removal of fear from them at the time of the rising of their Mahdī, peace be on him. ”

340. Majāzāt al-āthār al-nabawiyya [1]: The Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, saw Fatima, peace be on her, hungry with a torn gown, so he wept and said: “Does it not satisfy you, O Fatima, that there shall not remain on the face of earth any house or tent except that respect or disgrace shall enter it because of your

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father? ” [1]

341. Majāzāt al-āthār al-nabawiyya [2]: He, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “This religion will certainly enter everywhere that night enters. ”

I say: In this tradition as well as the previous one, there is no clear mention of the Mahdī, peace be on him, or that he will make such things happen. But, just like the Holy Quran, some narrations explain other narrations. Whoever ponders about what we have mentioned from the verses of the Holy Quran and the traditions— and traditions similar to these—will know that the aim of all of these traditions is one and that is, giving news about Islam’s domination over all other religions and the rule of the believers on earth during the government of the Divine Caliph, Imam Mahdī, peace be on him, whom Allah will help to conquer the entire globe.

342. Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām [3]: Narrated to us `Alī b. `Abd-Allah, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al-Thaqafī, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn, from Sufyān b. Ibrāhīm, from `Amr b. Hāshim, from Isḥāq b. `Abd-Allah, from (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, “And by the Lord of the heavens and the earth, it is most surely the truth, just as you do speak. ” [4] He, peace be on him, said:

“It is most surely the truth,” refers to the rising of the Qā’im, peace be on him. Concerning him, was revealed, “Allah has promised to those of you who believe

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and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange. ”

343. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Sa`īd b. `Uqda, from Abū l-Ḥasan Aḥmad b. Yūsuf b. Ya`qūb al-Ju`fī, from his book, from Ismā`īl b. Mihrān, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza, from his father and Wuhaib, from Abū Baṣīr, from (Imam) Abū Abd-Allah, peace be on him, regarding the meaning of His saying, Mighty and Glorified be He: “Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good deeds that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth as He has made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; They worship Me and don’t associate anyone with Me. ” He, peace be on him, said: “It was revealed concerning the Qā’im, peace be on him, and his companions. ”

(7)

الَّذِینَ إِن مَّکَّنَّاهُمْ فِی الْأَرْضِ أَقَامُوا الصَّلاَةَ وَآتَوُا الزَّکَاةَ وَأَمَرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنکَرِ وَلِلَّهِ عَاقِبَةُ الْأُمُورِ

Those, who if We give them power in the land, will keep up the prayers and pay the zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil, and the outcome

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of all affairs belongs to Allah [1]

344. Shawāhid al-tanzīl [2]: Furāt (al-Kūfī) , from Aḥmad b. al-Qāsim b. `Ubaid, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad al-Jammāl, from Yaḥyā b. Hāshim, from Abū Manṣūr, from Abū Khalīfa who said:

I and Abū `Ubaida al-Ḥadhdhā’ visited (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him. He asked his slave-girl to get a cushion for us. I said, “There is no need for it, we will sit. ” He said, “O Abū Khalīfa! Don’t reject respect. For surely, none turns down respect except a donkey. ” I asked him, “How can we recognize the owner of this affair (ṣāḥib al-amr)? ” He replied, “The saying of Allah, the Exalted, ‘Those, who if We give them power in the land, will keep up the prayers and pay the zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil. ’ When you see this man from us, then follow him, for surely, he is its owner. ”

345. Shawāhid al-tanzīl [3]: Furāt (al-Kūfī) , from al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Zuray` and Ismā`īl b. Abān, from Fuḍail b. al-Zubayr, from Zaid b. `Alī who said: “When the Qā’im from the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, rises, he will say, ‘O people! We are the ones about whom Allah has promised you in His Book: “Those, who if We give them power in the land... ”’”

346. Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām [4]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Ḥamīd, from Ja`far b. `Abd- Allah, from Kathīr b. `Ayyāsh, from Abū l-Jārūd, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far,

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peace be on him, concerning His saying, Mighty and Glorified be He: “Those, who if We give them power in the land, will keep up the prayers and pay the zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil, and the outcome of all affairs belongs to Allah. ” He, peace be on him, said:

This (verse) is about the progeny of Muḥammad, the Mahdī, and his companions. Allah, the Exalted, will make them rule all the earth. Through them, Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will destroy the innovations (al-bida`) and falsehood—the same way that the fools had caused the truth to die—until no sign of unfairness will be visible. They will enjoin good and forbid evil, and the outcome of all affairs belong to Allah. ”

(8)

أُذِنَ لِلَّذِینَ یُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِیرٌ

Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made, because they are oppressed, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them [1]

347. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī [2]: Informed us `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mas`ūdī, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-`Aṭṭār al-Qummī, from Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Rāzī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Kūfī, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Najrān, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Baṣīr, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He: “Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them. ” He said: “It is about the Qā’im, peace be on him, and his companions. ”

348.

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Mā nazala min al-Qurān fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām [1]: Narrated to us al-Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad al-Mālikī, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from Yūnus, from al-Muthannā al-Ḥannāṭ, from `Abd-Allah b. `Ajlān, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He: “Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them. ” He said: “It is about the Qā’im, peace be on him, and his companions. ”

(9)

أَیْنَ مَا تَکُونُواْ یَأْتِ بِکُمُ اللهُ جَمِیعًا

Wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together [2]

349. Majma` al-bayān [3]: It has been narrated from the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, that this verse refers to the companions of the Mahdī, peace be on him, in the end of times. Imam al-Riḍā, peace be on him, says: “By Allah, when our Qā’im rises, Allah will gather towards him his Shias from all the lands. ”

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--------------------

[1]: Miṣbāḥ al-Shaykh, p. 727, in the second ziyāra in the Day of `Āshūrā; Nūr al-Thaqalain, vol. 3, p. 619, no. 223.

[1]: Majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 152; Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, under the commentary of verse 55: 55.

[1]: Al-Majāzāt al-nabawiyya, p. 420, under no. 337.

[1]: That is, those who will follow and obey your father will be respected while others will be disgraced regardless of their place of dwelling—Trans.

[2]: Al-Majāzāt al-nabawiyya, p. 419, no. 337.

[3]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, p. 596, under the commentary of 51: 23; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, pp. 176–177, no. 33, which mentions “Isḥāq b. `Abd-Allah b. `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him,” instead of “Isḥāq b. `Abd-Allah from `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him”; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, pp. 53–54, no. 34; al-Maḥajja, p. 149, verse 57, no. 3; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, pp. 501–502, no. 289; Tafsīr al-burhān, vol. 4, p. 232; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, pp. 426 & 429; Ilzām al-nāṣib, vol. 1, pp. 94–95, verse 109.

[4]: Quran 51: 23.

[1]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 240, no. 35; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 426.

[1]: Quran 22: 41.

[2]: Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, pp. 400–401, no. 555; Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī, p. 99, except that it includes “until he is recognized” and “He, peace be on him, said, ‘When you see this in a man from us, follow him; for surely, he is your master. ’”

[3]: Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 401, no. 556; Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī, p. 100, with the difference: “from al-Ḥusayn b. Bazī`”

I say: The printed manuscript which we have, is from an original one in which the manuscript-writer has intentionally not mentioned the chain of narrators for the sake of conciseness. In this narration he says: “Narrated to us al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Bazī`, through his chain of narrators from Zaid b. `Alī. ” It is apparent from Shawāhid al-tanzīl that al-Ḥākim (al-ḤHaskānī—its author) had the complete manuscript and hence, he has narrated from Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī using his chain of narrators.

[4]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, p. 339; Tafsīr `Alī b. Ibrāhīm al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 87, from Abū l-Jārūd; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, pp. 47–48, no. 9; al-Maḥajja, p. 143, verse 53; Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalain, vol. 3, p. 506, no. 1611; Tafsīr majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 88, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, who said: “By Allah, we are them... ”; Ilzām al-nāṣib, p. 76, verse 58; Tafsīr al-burhān, vol. 3, p. 95.

[1]: Quran 22: 39.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 241, no. 38; Apparently, a mistake has occurred while recording the name of the narrator who narrates from Abū Baṣīr. It should be `Āṣim b. Ḥamīd, not Qāsim. He is the one from whom `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Najrān has narrated. As for Abū Baṣīr, it is possible that he is Laith b. al-Bakhtarī or Yaḥyā b. al-Qāsim, because `Āṣim b. Ḥamīd has narrated from both of them. Allah knows the best; al-Maḥajja, p. 142.

[1]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, p. 334; al-Maḥajja, p. 142, verse 52.

[2]: Quran 2: 148.

[3]: Majma` al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 231; Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 1, p. 66, no. 117. Apparently the tradition no. is 118 because 117 is the previous tradition; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, chap. 26, p. 291, no. 27.

It has been narrated in Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī from Abī Sumayna, from one of the slaves of (Imam) Abū l-Ḥasan, peace be on him, who said: “I asked (Imam) Abū l-Ḥasan, peace be on him, about His saying, the Exalted, ‘wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together. ’ He, peace be on him, replied, ‘By Allah, when our Qā’im rises, Allah will gather (for him) our Shias from all the lands. ’”

350. Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī [4]: In a lengthy tradition from (Imam) Abū Ja`far al-Bāqir, peace be on him:

Then, the Qā’im, peace be on him,

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will stand between the Rukn and the Maqām (beside Ka`ba) and will perform prayers. He will complete them while his minister is beside him. He will then say, “O People! Verily, we seek the help of Allah against those who oppressed us and withheld our rights. Whoever disputes us concerning Allah, then we are closer to Allah. Whoever disputes us concerning Adam, then we are the closest people to Adam.

Whoever disputes us concerning Noah, then we are the closest people to Noah. Whoever disputes us concerning Abraham, then we are the closest people to Abraham. Whoever disputes us concerning Muḥammad, may God’s blessings be on him and his family, then we are the closest people to Muḥammad, may God’s blessings be upon him and his family. Whoever disputes us concerning the Prophets, then we are the closest people to the Prophets.

Whoever disputes us concerning the Book of Allah, then we are the closest people to the Book of Allah. Surely, we testify and so does every Muslim today, that we have been oppressed, driven away, and rebelled against. [We have been] removed from our houses, our wealth, and our families and we have been defeated. Beware! Surely, we seek the help of Allah today and so does every Muslim. ” By Allah! A little more than Three Hundred and Ten people—which include fifty women—will gather at Mecca all of a sudden and unexpectedly, like the wind-driven, scattered clouds of autumn [1] while some of them are following the others. This

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is the [meaning of the] verse which Allah has stated: “Wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together, Allah has power over all things. ”

351. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Sa`īd, from Aḥmad b. Yūsuf, from Ismā`īl b. Mihrān, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī, from his father and Wuhaib, from Abū Baṣīr, from Imam Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, concerning His saying: “Therefore, hasten to [do] good deeds; wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together. ” He, peace be on him, said: “It was revealed concerning the Qā’im and his companions. They will gather all of a sudden, without a previous appointment. ”

(10)

وَفِی السَّمَاء رِزْقُکُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ. فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاء وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَا أَنَّکُمْ تَنطِقُونَ

And in the sky is your sustenance and what you are promised. And by the Lord of the sky and the earth! It is most surely the truth just as you are speaking [2]

352. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [3]: Informed us al-Sharif Abū Muḥammad al-Muḥammadī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Tammām, from al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-Qiṭa`ī, from `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Ḥātim al-Bazzāz, from Muḥammad b. Marwān, from al-Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from `Abd-Allah b. al-`Abbās, concerning the saying of Allah, the Exalted, “And in the sky is your sustenance and what you are promised. And by the Lord of the sky and the earth! It is most surely the truth just as you are speaking. ” He said: “[It is about] the rising of the Qā’im. ” It is similar to: “wherever you are, Allah

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will bring you all together” which he also said about: “They are the companions of the Qā’im, Allah will gather them together in one day. ”

I say: Regarding this subject, there are numerous traditions concerning the interpretation of this verse. The author of Tafsīr al-burhān has recorded fourteen traditions from reliable and authentic books.

The traditions with the following numbers—which are interpretations for the verses of the Holy Quran—also establish the goals of this chapter: 905, 904, 903, 696, 695, 692, 596, 574, 994, 993, 992, 991, 962, 936, 907, 906, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1126, 1040, 1014, 1004, 1156, 1152, 1151, 1149, 1148, 1147, 1146, 1144, 1143, 1142, 1141, 1158, 1157, and 1175.

The verses are as follows:

“... and made complete to you His favors (both) apparent and hidden,” [1] no. 574

“And by the day when it shows it,” [2] no. 596

“Or, He who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the hardship,” [3] no. 903–907

“And if We hold back from them the punishment until a certain time,” [4] no. 903, 1142, 1147, and 1149

“And if you were to see when they become terrified, but (then) there shall be no escape and they shall be seized from a near place,” [5] no. 903 and 1175

“The remnant of Allah is better for you if you are believers,” [6] No. 936 and 1105

“... and give good news to the patient ones; those, whom when a misfortune befalls them,” [7] no. 962

“If We want, We will send down upon them a sign from the

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heaven to which they would bend their necks in humility,” [1] no. 991, 992, 993, 1004, 1014, and 1040

“And listen on the day when the caller shall call from a near place. The day when they shall truly hear the loud voice,” [2] no. 994

“Say: ‘On the Day of victory, becoming faithful will not benefit those who disbelieved (before) , nor will they be given respite,” [3] no. 1122

“... and to Him submits whoever is in the skies and the earth, willingly or unwillingly,” [4] no. 1123 and 1124

“The kingdom on that day shall rightly belong to the Beneficent,” [5] no. 1125

“And say: ‘truth has come and falsehood has perished, surely falsehood is bound to perish,” [6] no. 1126

“We have entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it,” [7] no. 1146

“Then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, (they will be) humble before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers,” [8] no. 1146

“Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death,” [9] no. 1156–1158

“On the day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, becoming faithful shall not profit a soul, which did not believe before,” [10] no. 692

“And most certainly We will make them taste the nearer punishment before the greater punishment,” [11] no. 695

These are twenty-eight verses about him. Whoever wants to know all the verses in this regard must refer to books exclusively compiled on the subject like al-Baḥrānī’s al-Maḥajja fī mā nazala fī l-Qā’im al-Ḥujja.

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[4]: Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 1, p. 64, no. 117.

[1]: The author of al-Nihāya says: “the saying of `Alī, peace be on him, ‘Then they will gather towards him, peace be on him, like the clouds of autumn,’ i. e. like the scattered clouds. Autumn has been specifically mentioned because it is the beginning of winter, in which the clouds are all scattered and tattered, then they gradually integrate” (vol. 4, p. 59, under the root Qa-Za-`A).

[1]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 241, no. 37; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 58, no. 52.

[2]: Quran 51: 22–23.

[3]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, pp. 175–176, no. 132; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 53, no. 23 and p. 63, no. 65; Tafsīr al-burhān, vol. 4, p. 232; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, sect. 12, p. 501, no. 286; al-Maḥajja, pp. 210–211, verse 91.

[1]: Quran 31: 20.

[2]: Quran 91: 3.

[3]: Quran 27: 62.

[4]: Quran 11: 8.

[5]: Quran 34: 51.

[6]: Quran 11: 86.

[7]: Quran 2: 155–156.

[1]: Quran 26: 4.

[2]: Quran 50: 41–42.

[3]: Quran 32: 29.

[4]: Quran 3: 83.

[5]: Quran 25: 26.

[6]: Quran 17: 81.

[7]: Quran 6: 89.

[8]: Quran 5: 54.

[9]: Quran 57: 17.

[10]: Quran 6: 158.

[11]: Quran 32: 21.

Section Two

The traditions that give glad-tidings about him

and his reappearance in the end of times.

Comprises of 1092 traditions that will either be mentioned (located in this chapter) or referred to (located in other chapters)

*****

353. Musnad of Aḥmad: [1] Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from Ḥajjāj and Abū Nu`aim, from Fiṭr, from al-Qāsim b. Abī Bazza, from Abū l-Ṭufail, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “If there remains from the world but one day, Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will send a man who will fill it with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

[The narrator says,] Abū-Nu`aim mentioned: “A man from us. ” I heard Murra narrating it from Ḥabīb, from Abū l-Ṭufail, from `Alī, may, Allah be satisfied with him, from the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family]. ”

354. Sunan al-Tirmidhī (The Chapter on what has been narrated about the Mahdī): [2] Narrated to us `Ubaid b. Asbāṭ b. Muḥammad al-Qurashī, from his father, from Sufyān al-Thaurī, from `Āṣim b. Bahdala, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The world will not perish until a person from my Ahl al-Bait will rule the Arabs. His name will be my name. ” Abū `Īsā says: “It has also been narrated from `Alī, Abū Sa`īd, Umm Salma, and Abū Huraira and this tradition is good (ḥasan) and authentic (sahih).

355. Sunan al-Tirmidhī (The Chapter on what has been

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narrated about the Mahdī): [1] Narrated to us Abd al-Jabbār b. al-`alā’ b. Abd al-Jabbār al-`Aṭṭār, from Sufyān b. `Uyayna, from `Āṣim, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “A person from my Ahl al-Bait will rule. His name will be my name. ”

356. Sunan al-Tirmidhī (The Chapter on what has been narrated about the Mahdī): [2] Through the aforementioned chain of narrators, `Āṣim and Abū Ṣāliḥ narrate from Abū Huraira that the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will certainly prolong that day until he rules. ”

Abū-Īsā says: “This tradition is good (ḥasan) and correct (ṣaḥīḥ).

357. Musnad Aḥmad [3]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from Sufyān b. `Uyayna, from `Āṣim, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The Hour will not be established until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules. His name will be my name. ”

[`Abd-Allah recounts] my father said: “He narrated this to us in his house in his room. I saw some of the sons of Ja`far b. Yaḥyā or Yaḥyā b. Khālid b. Yaḥyā asking him about it. ”

358. Sunan al-Tirmidhī [4]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Bashshār, from Muḥammad b. Ja`far, from Shu`ba, from Zaid al-`Amī, from Abū l- Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī who said:

We feared that misfortune would occur after our Prophet. So, we asked the Messenger of Allah, may

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Allah’s blessings be upon him [and his family], who replied, “Surely the Mahdī is from my umma. He will emerge and live five or seven or nine. [1] ” Zaid al-Shāk said, “We asked, ‘What are these? ’ He replied, ‘Years. A man will come to him and say, “O Mahdī! Give me, give me. ” Then as much as he can carry will be put in his cloth. ’”

[Al-Tirmidhī says]: “This tradition is good (ḥasan) and has been narrated from Abū Sa’īd, from the Holy Prophet, may Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family]. The name of Abu l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī is Bakr b. `Amr. It has also been said Bakr b. Qays. Aḥmad has recorded it. ”

359. Sunan Abī Dāwūd and ibn Māja [2]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. ‘Ibrāhīm from `Abd-Allah b. Ja`far al-Riqqī, from Abū l-Malīḥ al-Ḥasan b. `Umar, from Ziyād b. Bayān, from `Alī ibn Nufayl, from Sa`īd b. al-Musayyib, from Ummi Salma who recounts: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], say: ‘The Mahdī is from my progeny from the descendants of Fātīma. ’”

`Abd-Allah b. Ja`far says: “I heard Abū l-Malīḥ praise `Alī b. Nufayl and mention him as a truthful person. ”

Ibn Māja has recorded this tradition through his chain of narrators from Abū l-Malīḥ, from Ziyād b. Bayān, from `Alī b. Nufayl, from Sa`īd b. al-Musayyib, who said: “We were with Ummi Salma when we spoke of Mahdī. She said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings be on him [and his

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family], say: “Mahdī is from the children of Fātīma. ”’”

I say: This is a correct (ṣaḥīḥ) tradition. Al-Suyūṭī and al-Ḥākim have clearly declared its correctness.

360. Sunan Abī Dāwūd [1]: Narrated to us Sahl b. Tamām b. Bazī`, from `Imrān al-Qaṭṭān, from Qatāda, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd al- Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings be upon him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī is from me. (He has) a hairless forehead and an aquiline nose. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. He will rule for seven years. ”

Al-Ḥākim has narrated it through his chain of narrators with some differences and has said: “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) according to the criteria of al-Muslim, but they [i. e. al-Bukhārī and al-Muslim] have not narrated it. ”

361. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī [2]: Narrated to us ibn Bukair, from al-Laith, from Yūnus, from ibn Shihāb, from Nāfi’ the slave of Abū Qatāda al- Anṣārī, from Abū-Huraira, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who asked: “What will be your condition when the son of Mary descends amongst you and your Imam is from yourselves? ”

Muslim has also recorded this: “Narrated to me Ḥarmala b. Yaḥyā, from ibn Wahab, from Yūnus, from ibn Shihāb, from Nāfi` the slave of Abū-Qatāda al-Anṣārī, from Abū-Huraira, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who asked: “What will be your condition when the son of Mary descends amongst

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you and your Imam is from yourselves? ”

362. Musnad Aḥmad [1]: Narrated to us Faḍl b. Dukain, from Yāsīn al-`Ijlī, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya, from his father, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. Allah will straighten out his [affair] in one night. ”

Ibn Māja has recorded this tradition in his Sunan: “Narrated to us `Uthmān b. Abī Shaiba, from Abū Dāwūd al-Khuḍrī, from Yāsīn, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya, from his father, from `Alī, peace be on him, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait... ”

363. Sunan ibn Māja [2]: Narrated to us Hadiyyat b. `Abd al-Wahhāb, from Sa`d b. Abd al-Ḥamīd b. Ja`far, from `Alī b. Ziyād al-Yamāmī, from `Akramat b. `Ammār, from Isḥāq b. `Abd-Allah b. Abī Ṭalḥa, from Anas b. Mālik, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “We children of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib are the masters (sādāt) of the dwellers of Paradise: I, Ḥamza, `Alī, Ja`far, al-Ḥasan, al- Ḥusayn and al-Mahdī. ”

364. al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [3]: Narrated to us Yaḥyā b. `Abd al-Bāqī, from Yūsuf b. `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Marwazī, from Abū Taqī `Abd al- Ḥamīd b. Ibrāhīm al-Ḥimṣī, from Ma`dān b. Sulaim al-Ḥaḍramī, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Najīḥ, from Abū Zāhiriyya, from Jubair b. Nufair, from `Auf b. Mālik that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings

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be on him and his family, said: “O `Auf! What will be your condition when this umma breaks up into seventy-three sects, one will be in Paradise and all the others will be in Hell? ” I asked, “When will this happen, O Messenger of Allah? ”

He replied, “When the dishonorable will be many, the slave-girls will rule, children (al-ḥamlān) will sit on the pulpits, [the Holy Quran will be (recited) with music, mosques will be decorated, the pulpits will be raised] [1] , the wealth [belonging to the Prophet] (al-fay’) will be passed between [those that it doesn’t belong to], zakāt will be taken by force, trust (al-amāna) will be taken as booty, knowledge in religion will be learned with other than Allah in mind, man will obey his wife while leaving his mother and expelling his father, the last of this umma will curse its first ones, the sinners of a tribe will be their chiefs, the most degraded people of a nation will be their leaders, and people will be respected for the fear of their evil. When this happens, the people will take refuge in Syria [and the Mahdī] will protect them from their enemies. ”

I asked, “Syria will be conquered? ” He replied, “Yes, very quickly. After it is conquered, fitnas [2] will occur. Then, a dark, hazy fitna will arise and fitnas will come after fitnas until a person from my Ahl al-Bait emerges. He will be called the Mahdī. If you meet him, follow him and be one

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of the guided ones. ”

365. Musnad Aḥmad [1]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from `Abd al-Ṣamad, from Ḥammād b. Salama, from Muṭarrif al-Mu`allā, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq, from Abū Sa`īd that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “The earth will be filled with unfairness and injustice. Then, a man from my progeny will emerge and will rule for seven or nine [years] [2] . He will fill it with fairness and justice. ”

After mentioning this tradition, al-Ḥākim says: “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) according to the criteria of al-Muslim, but they [i. e. al- Bukhārī and al-Muslim] have not narrated it. ”

366. Dhikr akhbāri Iṣbahān [3]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Ja`far, from Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al- Ḥusayn b. Ḥafṣ, from his grandfather al-Ḥusayn, from `Akramat b. Ibrāhīm, from Maṭar al-Warrāq, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said:

The Hour will not be established (lā taqūm al-sā’a) until a person from my Ahl al-Bait comes to power, [he will have a] reaping, and an aquiline [nose]. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled earlier with unfairness. He will remain for seven years. ”

367. Al-Mustadrak `alā al-Ṣaḥīḥain [4]: Al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-Tamīmī, from Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm b. Ḥaidar al-Ḥimyarī at Kūfa, from al-Qāsim b. Khalīfa, from Abū Yaḥyā `Abd al-Ḥamīd b. `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥammānī, from Amr b. - Volume 2 , Page 47 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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[1]: Al-Musnad (al-Maṭba`at al-Maymaniyya, 1313 AH) , vol. 1, p. 99, and (Egypt: Dār al-Ma`ārif) , vol. 2, pp. 117–118. Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir says: “Both its chains are correct”; Sunan Abī Dāwūd (Egypt: Al-Maṭba`at al-Tāziyya) , vol. 2, p. 207, in the Book of al-Mahdī: “Narrated to us `Uthmān b. Abī Shaiba, from al-Faḍl b. Dukain, from Fiṭr, from al-Qāsim b. Abī Bazza, from Abū l-Ṭufail, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him,” with the difference that he said, “If there remains from time (al-dahr) ” and “from my Ahl al-Bait. ” Also, Dār al-Iḥyā’ al-Sunnat al-Nabawiyya edition, vol. 4, p. 107, no. 4283; Al-Muṣannaf, vol. 5, “Kitāb al-Fitan,” p. 198, no. 19494, similar to what has been narrated in Abū Dāwūd; Jāmi` al-uṣūl (1370 AH) , vol. 11, book 9, chap. 1, sec. 1, no. 7811; Maṭālib al-su’ūl (Maktabat Dār al-Kutub al-Tijāriyya) vol. 2, chap. 12; Tadhkirat al-khawāṣ (Najaf) , p. 364; Mukhtaṣar sunan Abī Dāwūd (Dār al-Ma`rifa) , vol. 6, p. 159, no. 4114; al-Nihāya or al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, (Egypt: 1388 AH) , vol. 1, sect. “mentioning the Mahdī who will be in the end of times,” p. 25; al-`Arf al-wardī, vol. 2, p. 125; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa (Cairo: Dār al-Ṭabā`at al-Muḥammadiyya) , p. 161; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 267, no. 38675; Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ, vol. 5, p. 179; al-Ishā’a, 1st ed. , p. 113; al-Bayān (1399 AH) , chap. 1, p. 93; `Iqd al-durar (1399 AH) , vol. 1, p. 18; Nūr al-abṣār (al-Maṭba`at al-Maymaniyya) , p. 154; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn (Damascus: 1347 AH). He writes: “The tradition of `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib has been narrated from him through various chains which exceed twenty. Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd have recorded it from Fiṭr b. Khalīfa, from al-Qāsim b. Abī Bazza from Abū l-Ṭufail, from him [i. e. Alī b. Abī Ṭālib]. Abū Dāwūd has recorded it from Shu`ayb b. Abī Khālid, from Abū Isḥāq al-Sabī`ī, from him. Al-Ṭabarānī has mentioned it in al-Ausaṭ from `Abd-Allah b. Lahī`a from `Umar b. Jābir al-Ḥaḍramī, from `Umar, from his father. Al-Ḥākim has recorded it in al-Mustadrak from the narration of al-Ḥārith b. Yazīd, from `Abd-Allah b. Zarīr al-Ghāfiqī, from him. Again, al-Ḥākim has recorded it from `Ammār b. Mu’āwiya al-Duhnī, from Abū l-Ṭufail, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya, and has stopped at him. Nu`aim b. Ḥammād—one of al-Bukhārī’s teachers—has recorded it in Kitāb al-fitan. Similarly, ibn al-Munādī in al-Malāḥim, Abū Nu`aim in Akhbār al-Mahdī, Abū Ghanam al-Kūfī in Kitāb al-fitan, ibn Abī Shaiba, and many others from numerous chains and varying wordings, who have stopped at him [i. e. Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib]”; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, 1st ed. , vol. 1, p. 37; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr (Egypt: 1373 AH) , under the letter al-Lām, vol. 2, p. 131; al-`Umda, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī, `alayhi salām,” p. 225; Jawāhir al-`iqdain (manuscript) , part 2, 8th discussion; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 432; al-Dur al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 58, under the exegesis of His saying, ‘Its conditions came’; `Alāmāt al-qiyāmat al-kubrā, p. 74; Sunan al-Dānī, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” no. 15; Bayna yaday al-sā’a, p. 111; `Aun al-ma`būd (The Commentary on Sunan Abī Dāwūd) , vol. 11, p. 373. He says: “The chain of narrators of this tradition is good (ḥasan) and strong (qawī). ” Thereafter, he refutes the view of those who regard Fiṭr b. Khalīfa as weak (ḍa`īf) , saying: “Aḥmad and Yaḥyā have indeed regarded him as reliable. ”

[2]: Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol. 4, chap. 52, no. 2230; al-Musnad, vol. 1, p. 376 and vol. 5 of Dār al-Ma`ārif edition, p. 99, no. 3572, with the difference that he, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The days will not finish and time will not perish until a person from my Ahl al-Bait, peace be on him, will rule the Arabs; his name will be my name. ” Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir says: “Its chain of narrators is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) ,” also, vol. 1, p. 377; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, p. 29; al-Sunan al-wārida fi l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” no. 22; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 4, p. 107, no. 4282, with the difference that he, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “or it will not end”; al-Mu`jam al-kabīr (Maṭba`at al-Waṭan al-`Arabī) , vol. 10, no. 10233/10218, which says: “the world will not come to an end”; Maṣābīḥ al-Sunna (Egypt: Muḥammad `Alī Ṣabīḥ) , vol. 1, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a,” p. 193; Jāmi` al-uṣūl, 2nd Ed. , chap. 1, vol. 11, p. 48, no. 7810; Farā’id al-simṭain, chap. 6, vol. 2, no. 577; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 2, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a,” sect. 2, no. 5452/16; al-Nihāya or al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, vol. 1, p. 26; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, sect. 12, p. 293, citing Musnad Abī Dāwūd; al-`Arf al-wardī, p. 125; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, p. 169; Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ, p. 179, no. 5; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 17, p. 162, citing the chapters which he has recorded from Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyā’s Kitāb al-fitan; al-Qanā`a fī mā yuḥsin al-iḥāṭa bihī min ashrāṭ al-sā`a, p. 57; Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmi`, no. 7152; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 1, p. 39; Bayna yaday al-sā`a, p. 111; Lawā’iḥ al-anwār al-bahiyya, vol. 2, under the explanation of this line of poetry:

From it is the last Imam, the eloquent

Muḥammad the Mahdī and the Christ

[1]: Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol. 4, Kitāb al-Fitan, chap. 52, no. 2231, p. 505; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 264, no. 38662; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 1, p. 39; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , p. 126; al-Idhā`a, p. 115; Jāmi` al-uṣūl, vol. 11, chap. 1, , p. 49, no. 7810; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl (printed within the margins of Musnad of Aḥmad) , p. 3, vol. 6; Mahdī āl al-Rasūl, p. 19; Dhikru akhbār Iṣfahān, vol. 1, p. 329. He, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The affairs of this Umma—in the ends of its era—will be in the hands of a man from my Ahl al-Bait. His name will be my name”; Bayna yaday al-sā’a, p. 111.

[2]: Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol. 4, p. 505, Kitāb al-fitan, chap. 52, no. 2231; Tuḥfat al-aḥwadhī, vol. 5, p. 179; al-`Arf al-wardī, p. 126; al-Idhā’a, p. 115; Jāmi` al-uṣūl, chap. 1, vol. 11, p. 49, no. 7810; Iqd al-durar, pp. 2 & 28; Mahdī āl al-Rasūl, p. 19. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Ṣiddīq says in his book Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn: “As for the tradition of Abū-Huraira, indeed it has been narrated from him through various chains... He mentions the names of those as follows: Aḥmad, ibn Abī Shaiba, ibn Māja, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Bazzār, Abū Ya`lā, al-Ḥākim, Abū-Nu`aim in al-Ḥilya, al-Dāraqutnī in al-Ifrād, al-Daylamī in Musnad al-firdaus, Abd al-Jabbār al-Khaulānī in Tārīkh dāriyā, ibn `Asākir in Tārīkh dimashq, al-Bayhaqī in Shu’ab al-īmān, al-Khaṭīb in al-Muttafiq wa l-muftariq, etc. ; Bayna yaday al-Sā’a, p. 114.

I say: Apparently, this tradition has a second part, perhaps something like his saying: “A person from my Ahl al-Bait, his name will be my name,” or something similar. He has not mentioned it completely because he has mentioned the tradition after that of `Āṣim from Zirr from `Abd-Allah, and has thought both of them are the same tradition. Surely, his saying: “If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will prolong that day until... ” was at the beginning of the first tradition or under it. Its contents are not unknown due to the repetition of these two traditions. The chain of one of them ends at ibn Mas`ūd and the other at Abū Huraira.

[3]: Al-Musnad, vol. 1, p. 376 and from the Dār al-Ma’ārif ed. , vol. 5, pp. 196–197, no. 3571. Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir says: “Its chains of narrators are correct (ṣaḥīḥ) ; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, p. 29.

[4]: Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol. 4, p. 506, Kitāb al-fitan, chap. 53, p. 34, no. 2232; al-Tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl (Egypt: 1354 AH) , vol. 5, p. 364; Musnad aḥmad, vol. 3, pp. 21–22, through his chains of narrators from Abū Sa`īd with minor variations. He has narrated, “So we asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who replied, ‘The Mahdī will rise in my Umma for five or seven or nine (the doubt is from Zaid). ” I asked, ‘What are these? ’ He said, ‘Years. ’ Then he said, ‘The sky will pour rain on them [by Gods order]. The earth will not conceal anything from its vegetation and wealth will be amassed. A person will come to him and say, “O Mahdī! Give me, give me. ” Then, as much as he can carry will be put in his cloth’”; Al-Tadhkira, p. 616; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 3, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a,” sec. 2, p. 19, no. 5454; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 126; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, p. 163; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 273, no. 38701; Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ, vol. 5, p. 118; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 1, p. 43; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 11, p. 237.

[1]: In the tenth chapter, we have brought a section about the length of his rule and the stability of the affairs at his hands. For more on this, refer to volume 3.

[2]: Sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 4, Kitāb al-Mahdī, no. 4284, p. 107; Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, p. 34, Kitāb al-Fitan, no. 4086; Ma`ālim al-sunan, p. 344; Maṣābīḥ al-sunna, vol. 1, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā’a,” p. 193; Jami` al-uṣūl, vol. 11, p. 49, no. 7812; Maṭālib al-su’ūl, vol. 2, chap. 12, p. 127; Mukhtaṣar sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 6, p. 149, no. 4115; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 3, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a,” sec. 2, no. 5453/17; al-Munār al-munīf, p. 146, sec. 50, no. 334; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” no. 29, 34, and 19, with the difference: “Mahdī is from the children of Fāṭima”; al-‘Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 124; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, p. 161. He says: “Similar to this is what has been recorded by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nisā’ī, ibn Māja, al-Bayhaqī, and others: “Mahdī is from my progeny from the children of Fāṭima”; Firdaus al-akhbār, vol. 4, no. 4943, with the wordings: “Mahdī is from the children of Fāṭima. ” The researcher of Firdaus al-akhbār writes: “The scholars have declared the traditions about al-Mahdī as correct (ṣaḥīḥ) and have compiled exclusive books about it. Most of the scholars have put these traditions under the category of conceptual tawātur (al-mutawātir al-ma`nawī). ” Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 264, no. 38662; Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ, vol. 5, pp. 179–180; Is`āf al-rāghibīn with the marginal notes of Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 145; Nūr al-abṣār, p. 186; al-’Idhā’a, p. 117; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 1, p. 40; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 187, no. 9241; Kunūz al-ḥaqā’iq, vol. 2, p. 128; Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ, vol. 2, pp. 463–464; al-Tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl, vol. 5, p. 364 and vol. 2, p. 187; Yanābī’ al-mawadda, pp. 430 & 432; al-Bayān (Mu’assisat al-Hādī) , chap. 2, p. 89; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 30; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, p. 89, no. 2; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 15, which says: “Abū Dāwūd, al-Nisā’ī, al-Bayhaqī, Abū `Amr al-Dānī, ibn Māja, and Abū Amr al-Muqrī have recorded it in their Sunan and ibn al-Munādī in Kitāb al-malāḥim; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 114, through two chains of narrators from Ummi Salma; Majma` al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 67, under the interpretation of the verse: “And indeed We have written in the Psalms... ” (Quran 21: 105) , from Abū l-Ḥasan `Ubaid-Allah b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, from Abū Bakr Aḥmad al-Bayhaqī, from Abū `Alī al-Rūdbārī, from Abū Bakr b. Dāssa, from Abū Dāwūd, through his chains of narrators from Sa`īd, from Ummi Salma; Mahdī āl al-Rasūl, p. 4; Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ, 8th ed. , vol. 2, p. 464; the author of Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn writes: “The tradition from Ummi Salma has been recorded by Abū Dāwūd from the tradition of Abū l-Khalīl... ”; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, sec. 12, p. 294; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 438.

[1]: Sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 4, p. 101, Kitāb al-Mahdī, no. 4285; al-Mustadrak (India: Haydarābād, 1334 AH) , vol. 4, p. 557; al-Tāj, vol. 5, p. 364, from Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 154, from al-Tirmidhī, until his saying: “and oppression. ” He says: “Tirmidhī states that this tradition is established (thābit) and correct (ṣaḥīḥ) ”; Jāmi` al-uṣūl, vol. 11, chap. 1, p. 49, no. 7813; Mukhtaṣar sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 6, p. 160, no. 4116; Mukhtaṣar tadhkirat al-Qurtubī, p. 615; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 3, chap. 2, sec. 2, no. 5454. Al-Albānī—the researcher of this book—says: “Its chain of narrators is good (ḥasan) ”; al-Munār al-munīf, sec. 50, p. 144, no. 330. He writes: “Abū Dāwūd has narrated it with really good (jayyid) chains of narrators. ’; al-Nihāya or al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, vol. 1, pp. 298–299; Sharḥ al-maqāṣid, p. 307; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, sec. 12, p. 293; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 264, no. 38665; Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ, vol. 5, p. 180. Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 30; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 33, no. 1; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 437; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, no. 9244; al-Ṭarā’if `ani l-jam` bayn al-ṣiḥāḥ al-sitta, p. 177, no. 278; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, p. 39; Lawā’iḥ al-anwār al-ilāhiyya, vol. 2, under “His appearance and character”; Maṭālib al-su’ūl, vol. 2, chap. 12, p. 127; al-Idhā`a, p. 120; `Awn al-ma`būd, no. 4265; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 506; al-Bayān, chap. 8, p. 117, no. 1; `Alāmāt al-qiyāmat al-kubrā, p. 74; Bayna yaday al-sā`a, pp. 111–112; Ashrāṭ al-sā`a, p. 254, Mahdī āl al-Rasūl, p. 9; al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 57.

[2]: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 2, Kitāb bad’ al-khalq, chap. “Nuzūl `Īsā b. Maryam”; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 1, chap. “Nuzūl `Īsā”; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 6, chap. “Mā jā’a fī nuzūl īsā,” no. 2; Firdaus al-akhbār, vol. 3, no. 4916; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 154; al-Bayān (Syria: Manshūrāt Mu’assisat al-Hādī) , chap. 7, p. 112, through his chain of narrators from Nāfi` and he said: “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) with a consensus on its correctness from the tradition of Muḥammad b. Shihāb al-Zuhrī; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 432; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 438; Maṭālib al-su’ūl, vol. 2, chap. 12, citing al-Baghawī’s Sharḥ al-sunna; Sharḥ al-maqāṣid, vol. 1, p. 308; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, sec. 12, p. 294; al-Burhān, chap. 9, p. 158, no. 4; al-`Umda, sect. on “What has been narrated about the Mahdī from the texts of the Ṣiḥāḥ al-sitta, citing al-Jam` bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥain and al-Jam` bayn al-ṣiḥāḥ al-sitta; Jāmi` al-uṣūl, vol. 11, chap. 1, no. 7808.

I say: There is no doubt that the Imam mentioned in this tradition is the Mahdī—the caliph of Allah. Therefore, it has been mentioned in Jāmi` al-uṣūl in the chapter of “al-Masīḥ wa l-Mahdī,” in Ibn Ṭalḥa al-Shāfi`ī’s Maṭālib al-Su’ūl, ibn Ṣabbāgh al-Mālikī’s al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma under “The Traditions About the Mahdī,” al-Muttaqī al-Hindī’s al-Burhān in the ninth chapter about “The gathering of the Mahdī With Jesus,” and al-Muqaddisī al-Shāfi`ī’s `Iqd al-durar in the tenth chapter. It has been written in Ghāyat al-ma’mūl sharḥ al-tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl: “It has already been mentioned that the Caliph in whose era Jesus, peace be on him, will descend, is the Mahdī, may Allah be satisfied with him. ”

Some traditions explain others, therefore, no attention must be paid to the opinion of those who follow their internal desires and view themselves knowledgeable and civilized by rejecting the traditions about the Mahdī, al-Dajjāl, the life of Jesus and his descent in the end of times, and also by refuting the miracles mentioned in the Holy Quran with the help of absurd and false justifications. They say: “The traditions about the Mahdī, peace be on him, have not been recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (of Bukhārī and Muslim). ” As a result, those who have no experience and knowledge about traditions, think that the traditions that have reached us which are about the Mahdī, peace be on him—the person who will rise in the end of times and will rule the earth, and whom Jesus, peace be on him, will pray behind him, etc. —are merely speaking of a title (that can be given to anybody). Thus, they think that the belief of Mahdawiyya—on which the umma has consensus—revolves only around granting a name or bestowing a title on this promised person as the Mahdī. Hence, they say that: “this subject has not been mentioned in the Ṣaḥīḥain. ” They did not understand that the belief about this promised person, who will rise in the end of times to give life to religion, destroy falsehood, establish justice, and eradicate oppression, is a belief based on a consensus (amongst the Muslims).

As for his titles, attributes, reformatory actions, etc. , although there is no source for these except narrations, there is no need for each narration to comprise of all of these. Such is the case in everything explained by the sharia, whether it be the principles of religion or the divine laws. The belief that whatever is not recorded in the Ṣaḥīḥain should not be relied upon is another act of defiance that has been unanimously rejected by the scholars of ḥadīth (muḥaddithīn). The doors of legal interpretation (al-ijtihād) are still vast open. No verse in the Holy Quran and no tradition states that what has not been recorded in the Ṣaḥīḥain is incorrect, just as no verse in the Holy Quran or tradition exists that testifies that whatever has been recorded in them is absolutely correct and reliable.

We will soon reject such beliefs by quoting what the author of Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn has said under the tradition: “In the end of times there will be a caliph who will distribute wealth without counting it. ” Refer to tradition no. 383.

[1]: Musnad aḥmad (Egypt: Dār al-Ma`ārif) , vol. 2, p. 58, no. 645 Its chains of narrators are correct (ṣaḥīḥ) as has been testified by Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir in Sharḥ al-musnad, vol. 3, p. 58, no. 654; Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, chap. 34, p. 23, no. 4085; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” no. 32; Firdaus al-akhbār, vol. 4, no. 6942; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 264, no. 38664; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 124; al-Maqāṣid, p. 435; ibn Kathīr, al-Nihāya, vol. 1, p. 52; Faiḍ al-qadīr, vol. 5, p. 278; al-Taysīr, vol. 2, p. 258; Jam’ al-fawā’id, vol. 2, p. 734; al-Fatḥ al-rabbānī, 24/51, No. 146; ibn Kathīr, al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, vol. 1, p. 25, section “dhikr al-Mahdī”; al-’Idhā’a, p. 117; Muntakhab kanz al-ummāl in the marginal notes of al-Musnad, vol. 6, p. 30, also in Kanz al-`ummāl; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 187, no. 9243; Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 432 & 488; al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa under the 12th verse, p. 163; al-Bayān, chap. 2, p. 100. He says: “Abū-Nu`aim has recorded it in Manāqib al-Mahdī and al-Ṭabarānī in al-Mu`jam al-kabīr. ” The latter says: “These narrations are certainly true because (a) the chain of narrators of some of these complement the others and (b) the great memorizers of traditions have mentioned them in their books. ”; al-Burhān, chap. 2, p. 89, no. 1, from Aḥmad, ibn Abī Shaiba, ibn Māja, and Nu`aim b. Ḥammād in al-Fitan; al-Tadhkira, p. 240. He says: “In a tradition narrated by Ḥāfiẓ Abū l-Qāsim, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: ‘The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will straighten out his [affairs] in one night’ or he, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, ‘in two days. ’”; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 6, p. 135 and chap. 7, p. 158, with the difference that he, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “in a single night. ” He (author of `Iqd al-durar) says: “A group of narrators have recorded it in their books. ” He goes on to mention them as Aḥmad, ibn Māja, al-Bayhaqī, al-Dānī, Nu’aim b. Ḥammād, Abū-Nu`aim al-Aṣbahānī, and al-Ṭabarānī; Dhikru akhbāri Iṣbahān, vol. 1, p. 170; al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 58; Tahdhīb al-tahdhīb, vol. 11, pp. 172–173; al-Fitan, vol. 5, chap. 11, p. 201, through his chain of narrators from `Alī, peace be on him, with the addition of: “Al-Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. ”

I say: From what can be judged from other traditions, perhaps his saying: “Allah will straighten out his [affairs] in one night,” points to the unknown time of his reappearance. Thus, Allah will prepare the grounds of his government and rule in only one night after which he will reappear.

[2]: Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, p. 24; al-Fitan, chap. 34: “Khurūj al-Mahdī,” no. 4087; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, p. 15, with the difference that he said: “the sons’ of Abd l-Muṭṭalib” and “Ja`far b. Abī Ṭālib. ” He mentions that “ibn al-Sarī has recorded it”; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, sec. 12, p. 294; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , p. 124, with the difference that he said: “We seven from... ” He cites al-Ḥākim, ibn Māja, and Abū-Nu`aim; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 144, with the difference that he said: “We seven children of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib are the masters (sādāt) of the dwellers of Paradise: I, my brother `Alī, my uncle Ḥamza, Ja`far, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, and al-Mahdī. ” He says: “A group from the leaders of narrators have recorded it in their books”; Al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa, p. 158, under the 10th verse citing al-Daylamī and others. It is the same as `Iqd al-durar with the difference that he said: “I, Ḥamza, `Alī... ”; Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 309 and 435; al-Bayān, chap. 3, p. 101; Maqtal al-Ḥusayn, vol. 1, sec. 6, p. 108; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 113; al-`Umda, vol. 1, sec. 9, through his chain of narrators from al-Tha’labī. It can also be found in its second volume; Hāmish al-jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 129, no. 5; Tahdhīb al-tahdhīb, vol. 7, p. 321, no. 543; Lisān al-mīzān, vol. 3, p. 271; Dhikru akhbāri Iṣbahān, vol. 2, p. 130, the same as what has been mentioned in `Iqd al-durar; Tārīkh baghdād, vol. 9, pp. 434 & 550; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 438 and vol. 1, p. 52, he says: “I saw in another tradition: ‘We sons of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib are the masters (sādāt) of the people. ’”

[3]: Al-Mu’jam al-kabīr, vol. 18, p. 51, no. 91; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 11, pp. 183–184, no. 31144; Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 7, pp. 323–324; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 5, p. 404; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , which starts from his saying: “a fitna will occur... ” pp. 137–138.

[1]: The words in the square brackets are mentioned in Majma` al-zawā’id and Kanz al-`ummāl.

[2]: Fitna usually refers to social unrest or rebellion, especially against a ruler—Ed.

[1]: Al-Musnad, vol. 3, p. 328; al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 558; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 16, which mentions: “Then a person from my progeny will emerge. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice. He will rule for seven or nine years. ” (The author of `Iqd al-durar) says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū-Nu`aim has recorded it like this in Ṣifāt al-Mahdī. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī has also recorded it but with a little difference: “A person from my progeny will rule for nine or seven years, then, he will fill it with fairness and justice. ”

[2]: The words sab` (seven) and tis` (nine) in the ancient Arabic Kūfī handwriting were displayed using the same word. When the scribes copied these narrations and wrote them down in Arabic, they used both words ‘nine’ and ‘seven’ because they didn’t know to what number the original word referred to. The uncertainty in the numbers originated from the scribes’ stringent attitude in correctly transmitting the narrations from one book to another—Ed.

[3]: Dhikr akhbāri Iṣbahān, vol. 1, p. 84; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, p. 324, no. 574.

[4]: Al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 465; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, sect. 1, p. 43 and chap. 7, p. 141; Al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa, p. 161, under the twelfth verse; Is’āf al-rāghibīn, p. 134; al-Bayān, chap. 6, p. 108; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 341.

`Ubaid-Allah al-`Adwī, from Mu`āwiyat b.

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Qurra, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī who informed that the Prophet of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said:

In the end of times, a severe disaster shall descend on my umma from their rulers; a disaster with unprecedented severity, to the extent that they will be under pressure in the vast expanse of the earth and it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. A believer will not find a place to take refuge from oppression. Then, Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will send a man from my progeny who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it was filled with unfairness and injustice. The inhabitants of the skies and the residents of the earth will be satisfied with him.

The earth will not have stored anything from its seeds but that it will make it grow. The sky will not have accumulated anything of its rain-drops but that Allah will pour it on to them. He will live amongst them for seven, eight, or nine years. The living shall long for the dead [i. e. wish the dead were alive] for what Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will do with the people of earth from His goodness. ”

Al-Ḥākim says: This tradition has a correct chain of narrators (ṣaḥīḥ al-asnād) , but they [i. e. Bukhārī and Muslim] have not recorded it.

368. Musnad Aḥmad [1]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from `Abd al-Razzāq, from Ja`far, from

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al-Mu`allā b. Ziyād, from al-`Alā’ b. Bashīr, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, who informed that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “I give you glad-tidings about the Mahdī who will be sent to my umma when the people will be in disputes and disasters. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. The inhabitants of the skies and the residents of the earth will be satisfied with him. He will distribute wealth correctly (ṣaḥāḥā). ”

A person asked him: “What do you mean by correctly (ṣaḥāḥā)? ” He replied: “He will distribute it equally amongst the people. Allah will fill the hearts of the umma of Muḥammad with needlessness and his justice will encompass them. He orders an announcer to call out, ‘Does anybody need wealth? ’ No one from the people will respond except one man. He [i. e. the Mahdī] will ask him to go to the treasurer and say, ‘Mahdī orders you to give me wealth. ’ He will respond, ‘Hold [your hands]. ’ After he takes [what has been given to him] to his house he will regret what he has done. He will say [to himself]: ‘Was I the greediest in the umma of Muḥammad or did I lack what they possessed? ’ Thus, he will return what was given to him but they will not accept it. It will be said to him, ‘We don’t take back what we

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have given. ’ This will continue for seven, eight, or nine years. Then, there will be no good in life after him. ”

I say: He has narrated similar to this through another chain.

369. Firdaus al-akhbār [1]: From `Abd-Allah b. `Abbās, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “Mahdī is the peacock of the inhabitants of Paradise. ”

370. Musnad Aḥmad [2]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from Abū l-Naḍr, from Abū Mu`āwiya Shaibān, from Maṭar b. Ṭahmān, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said:

The Hour will not be established until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules. He will have a wide [forehead] and an aquiline [nose]. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will have been filled before him with unfairness. He will remain for seven years.

371. Al-Mustadrak [3]: Narrated to us both al-Shaykh Abū Bakr b. Isḥāq `Alī b. Hamshādh al-`Adl and Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Bālawayh, from Bishr b. Mūsā al-Asadī, from Haudhat b. Khalīfa, from `Auf b. Abī Jamīla, from al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī al-Dārimī, from Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-Imam, from Muḥammad b. Bashshār, from ibn `Adī, from `Auf, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Hour will not be established until the earth is filled with unfairness, injustice, and enmity. Then, a person from my

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Ahl al-Bait will emerge who will fill it with fairness and justice just as it will have been filled with unfairness and enmity. ”

He [i. e. the author of al-Mustadrak] has said: “This tradition is authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) based on the criteria set by Bukhārī and Muslim, but they have not recorded it... ”

From al-Musnad: “Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from Muḥammad b. Ja`far, from `Auf, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

The Hour will not be established until the earth is filled with unfairness and enmity. Then, a man will emerge from my progeny—or from my Ahl al-Bait—who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and enmity.

372. Sharḥ al-akhbār [1]: From Abū Baṣīr, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, who said: “Verily, Islam began with loneliness (gharībā) and will soon become lonely just as it had begun, and salvation is for the lonely ones. ” [This tradition is famous and has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. Numerous Shias and Sunnis have narrated it. (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, has narrated it from him but I have not mentioned the chain of narrators which reach him. ] [2] Abū Baṣīr says: “I said to him, ‘Elaborate this for me, may I be sacrificed for you, O son of Allah’s

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Messenger! ’ He, peace be on him, replied: “The caller (al-dā`ī) from us will renew the call just as the Messenger of Allah [may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family] had made [a new] call. ”

The same applies to the Mahdī. He will give a renewed invitation to Allah when the [Islamic] customs are changed, innovations are increased, the imams of deviation will dominate, the imams of guidance—those whose obedience Allah has made obligatory upon the people—will seldom be mentioned.

Those whom He has appointed for calling towards Him and to point to Him through His signs. They will be forgotten and their news will be cut off [from the people] because the leaders of oppression will dominate the [Ahl al-Bait]. When Allah fulfills his promise to the Imams about the reappearance of their Mahdī, there will be a need [for the Mahdī] to give the [people] a renewed call just as the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, had called them in the very beginning [of his messengership]. [1]

373. Ṣifat al-Mahdī [2]: From Ḥudhayfa, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “ (May Allah have mercy) on this umma because of the oppressive rulers! It is amazing that they will kill and frighten those who obey them except those who excessively demonstrate their obedience for them! The God-fearing believers will pretend with their tongues to be their friends but will flee from them with their hearts. When Allah, Mighty

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and Glorified be He, intends to return Islam to its might, He will destroy every tyrant; and He has the power to do what He wills and to reform the umma after its corruption. ” Then, he said, “O Ḥudhayfa! If there not remains but one day from the world, Allah will prolong that day until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules. He will lead bloody battles and Islam will be victorious. He (Allah) does not violate His promise and He is quick in calculating. ”

374. Ṣifat al-Mahdī wa kitāb al-`awālī [1]: Through his chain of narrators from Abī-Salmat b. `Abd al-Raḥmān b. `Auf, from his father, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Allah will certainly raise from my progeny a man whose front teeth are slightly apart from each other and who has a wide forehead. He will fill the earth with justice and bestow wealth generously. ”

375. Sunan ibn Māja [2]: Narrated to us Uthmān b. Abī Shaiba, from Mu`āwiya b. Hishām, from `Alī ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Yazīd b. Ziyād, from Ibrāhīm, from `Alqama, from `Abd-Allah who said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], when some youths from Banī-Hāshim entered. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], saw them, his eyes became full of tears and his color changed. I said to him, ‘We are seeing on your face something that we dislike. ’ He replied, ‘Surely, Allah has

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chosen for us Ahl al-Bait the Hereafter instead of this world. After me, my Ahl al-Bait will most certainly witness calamities, expulsions, and banishments, until a group of people come from the East who will carry black flags. They will ask for goodness but it won’t be given to them. They will fight and be victorious and then they will be given what they had asked for. They will not accept it until they hand it over to a man from my Ahl al-Bait (who) will fill the earth with fairness just as they [i. e. the people] will have filled it with injustice. Whoever encounters them must go to them even if he has to crawl on ice. ’”

376. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from `Alī ibn Ḥaushab, from Makḥūl, from `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said:

I asked the Messenger of Allah, “Is the Mahdī from us Imams of guidance or from others? ” He replied, “He is from us. The religion will be sealed by us just as it began through us. By us, they will be freed from the deviations of mischief just as they were freed from the deviations of polytheism. Through us, Allah will unite their hearts in religion after the enmity of mischief, just as Allah united their hearts and their religion after the enmity of polytheism. ”

377. Sunan ibn Māja [2]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā, from Abū Dāwūd, and from Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Malik al-Wāsiṭī, from Yazīd b. Hārūn, and

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narrated to us `Alī ibn al-Mundhir, from Isḥāq b. Manṣūr, all of them from Qays, from Abū Ḥaṣīn, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Huraira, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “If there remains only one day from the world, Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, will elongate it until a man from my Ahl al-Bait rules. He will conquer the mountain of Daylam and Constantinople (Istanbul). ”

I say: In the marginal commentary of al-Sindī, his saying, “until a man will rule... ” has been interpreted about the promised Mahdī.

378. `Iqd al-durar [1]: From Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. [He is] a man from my umma who has a high nose. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has also mentioned it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī.

379. Musnad Aḥmad [2]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from `Abd al-Ṣamad, from Abān, from Sa`īd b. Zaid, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “After me, there will be a caliph who will distribute wealth generously and will not even count it [to see how much he is giving]. ”

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--------------------

[1]: Al-Musnad, vol. 3, p. 37 and similar to it in p. 52; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, pp. 261 and 262, no. 38653. It starts like this: “I give you glad tidings about the Mahdī; a man from the Quraish from my progeny”; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl in the marginal notes of al-Musnad, vol. 6, p. 29, citing Aḥmad and al-Bārūdī; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, chap. 2, p. 137; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 155; Al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa, p. 164; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 469; al-I`lām bi ḥukmi `Īsā `alayhi al-salām, p. 162 (8) ; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, 7, 8 and 11, pp. 62, 156, 164, 166 and 237; al-Burhān, pp. 79–80, chap. 1, no. 21; al-Dur al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 57; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, p. 310, no. 561; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 124; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 562, no. 31; Kashf al-ghumma fī ma`rifat al-A’imma, vol. 2, p. 471.

[1]: Firdaus al-akhbār, vol. 4, no. 6941; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 148, citing al-Daylamī; Kunūz al-ḥaqā’iq under the section of Alif and Lām; Dalā’il al-imāma, p. 258; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 488; Al-Bayān, in the chapter of Alif and Lām through his chain of narrators from ibn Abbās; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 154; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 481.

[2]: Al-Musnad, vol. 3, p. 17; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 35. He says: “It has been recorded by al-Imam Aḥmad in his Musnad and by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū `Abd-Allah Nu`aim b. Ḥammād in Kitāb al-fitan.

I say: I did not find it in al-Fitan, although, he has narrated it in a scattered form in the chapter of Sīrat al-Mahdī wa ṣifatih wa nasabih wa qadr mā yamlik; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 270, no. 38690, with the difference: “He will rule the earth” and “it will be filled with unfairness”; al-Dur al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 57

[3]: Al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, Kitāb al-fitan wa l-malāḥim, p. 557; al-Musnad, vol. 3, p. 36; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, pp. 36–37.

[1]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 15, p. 372, no. 1241.

[2]: The statement between the square brackets belongs to the author of Sharḥ al-akhbār.

[1]: This paragraph probably belongs to the author of Sharḥ al-akhbār.

[2]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, pp. 62–63; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 92, no. 12; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 74, under: “‘What has been narrated from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, about the Qā’im, peace be on him,” no. 23; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 448, al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 133.

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 16. He says: “al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū-Nu`aim has recorded it in Awālī and in Ṣifat al-Mahdī. ” Also chap. 3, p. 34 and chap. 8, p. 170; al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, chap. 19, p. 139, no. 1, with the difference: “he will fill the earth with fairness and justice. ” He says: “al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū-Nu`aim has recorded it in al-`Awālī exclusively from Ṭālūt b. Abbād, who is famous with us for his narrations; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 423 from Jawāhir al-`iqdain; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, sect. 2, p. 135.

[2]: Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, book 36, chap. 34, p. 22, no. 4082; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fi l-Mahdī,” no. 1 & 2; al-Fitan, vol. 4, chap. 13, p. 166; al-Bayān, chap. 5, p. 106; al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 464; Talkhīṣ al-mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 464; Al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa, p. 162. The twelfth verse is similar to this and he says at the end of it: “Then, he should go towards them even if he has to crawl on ice because in it is Allah’s Caliph, the Mahdī”; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 5, p. 124; al-Munār al-munīf, sect. 50, p. 149, no. 341; al-Nihāya or al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, vol. 1, p. 28; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 127.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 198; al-Bayān, sect. 11, p. 125 with the difference: “I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Is the Mahdī from us—the progeny of Muḥammad—or from other than us? ’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], replied, ‘No, he is from us. Through us Allah will end the religion just as He began it through us. Through us they will be freed from the fitnas. ’” He also said, “Like He has united by us,” and “in their religion” has not been mentioned. He also said: “I say, ‘This is indeed a good (ḥasan) and great (`ālin) tradition which has been recorded by the narrators in their books. Al-Ṭabarānī has recorded it in al-Mu’jam al-ausaṭ, Abū Nu`aim has narrated it in Ḥilyat al-auliyā, and Abd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Ḥātim has mentioned it in `Awālī just as we too have recorded it.

Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 7, p. 316; Al-Ṣawā’iq al-muḥriqa, p. 161, under the twelfth verse. He says: “Mahdī is from us; through us Allah will seal the religion just as He has commenced it through us”; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, pp. 24 & 142; Al-Mu`jam al-ṣaghīr, vol. 1 p. 137; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 129; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 598, no. 38682; `Abaqāt al-anwār, vol. 2, p. 68, no. 12, who cites Nu`aim in al-Fitan; al-Ṭabarānī in al-Mu`jam al-ausaṭ, Abū-Nu`aim in Kitāb al-Mahdī, and al-Khaṭīb in al-Talkhīṣ; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 491; Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 155; al-Burhān, p. 91, no. 7.

[2]: Sunan ibn Māja, vol. 2, chap. 11, pp. 928-929, no. 2779; al-Bayān, chap. 1, p. 92 with the difference: “Allah will prolong that day until he rules... ”; Lawāmi` al-`uqūl, vol. 4, p. 3, from Aḥmad; Sharḥ sunan al-Tirmidhī by ibn al-A`rābī, vol. 9, p. 74; al-Tadhkira, p. 619, and he says: “Its chains of narrators are authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) ”; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 266, no. 3874; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, p. 318, who has narrated it through his chain of narrators from Abū Huraira like this: “The Hour will not be established until a person from my house rules. He will conquer Constantinople (Istanbul) and the mountain of Daylam. If only one day remains, Allah will prolong that day until he conquers it”; al-Munār al-munīf, sect. 50, p. 147, no. 336, similar to Farā’id al-simṭain; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 474, no. 36, from al-Arba`īna ḥadīthā (Forty Traditions) by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim.

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 33; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 124; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 448; Farā’id al-simṭain (Beirut: Mu’assisat al-Maḥmūdī li l-Nashr) , vol. 2, p. 330; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, pp. 469–470.

[2]: Musnad aḥmad, vol. 3, p. 49, and similar to it on p. 60; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 263, no. 38659; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 131.

380. Al-Bayān [3]: Abū Ṭāhir Ismā’īl b. Ẓafar b. Aḥmad al-Nāblusī, from Abū l-Makārim Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b.

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al-Mu`addil, from Abū `Alī al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Ḥaddād, from al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim Aḥmad b. `Abd-Allah, from Sa`d b. Muḥammad b. Isḥāq, from Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Turkī, from Kathīr b. Yaḥyā, from Abū `Awāna, from al-A`mash, from `Aṭiyya, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “After the passing of some time and the appearance of fitnas, a man will [come] who will be called the Mahdī. What he grants will be pleasant. ”

[He said: ] This tradition has been recorded by Abū Nu`aim al-Ḥāfiẓ like we have narrated it.

381. Mawaddat al-qurbā [1]: Ibn `Abbās, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Surely, Allah granted victory to this religion through `Alī. When he is killed, religion will become corrupted and no one can reform it but the Mahdī. ”

382. Mawaddat al-qurbā [2]: `Alī, [peace be on him], from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The world will not be destroyed until a man from my umma rises who is from the progeny of al-Ḥusayn; he will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with unfairness. ”

383. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim [3]: Narrated to us Zuhair b. Ḥarb, from `Abd al-Ṣamad b. `Abd al-Wārith, from his father, from Dāwūd, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd and Jābir b. `Abd-Allah, both of them from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who

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said: “In the end of times, there will be a caliph who will divide wealth but will not count it. ”

And narrated the same tradition to us, Abū Bakr b. Abū Shaiba, from Abū Mu`āwiya, from Dāwūd b. Abū Hind, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah.

384. al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us Abū Mu`āwiya, from Dāwūd, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “In the end of times, there will emerge a caliph who will grant wealth without counting it. ”

385. Al-`Arf al-wardī [2]: Ibn Abū Shaiba has recorded from Abū Sa`īd that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “A person will emerge from my Ahl al-Bait after the passing of time and the appearance of fitnas; his grants will be abundant. ”

386. Al-Musnad [3]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from `Affān, from Ḥammād b. Salma, from `Alī b. Zaid, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Verily, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will send in this umma a caliph who will give away wealth generously and will not count it. ”

387. Al-Musnad [4]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah, from his father, from Khalaf b. al-Walīd, from `Abbād b. `Abbād, from Mujālid, from Abū l- Waddāk who said to Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, “By Allah! No ruler rules over us but

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that he is more evil than the previous one, and not a year arrives but that it is more evil than the preceding year. ” He replied, “If I had not heard something from the Messenger of Allah I too would have said like what you say. I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, say, ‘From your rulers there will be a ruler who will give away wealth abundantly but will not count it. A person will come to him and ask him (for money). He will say, “Take. ” The person will spread his dress and he will fill it. ’ The Messenger of Allah spread a thick blanket which was covering him to show the act of the person [who asked], then he gathered all its sides. He said, ‘He will take it and then depart. ’”

388. Al-Musnad [1]: [In a tradition from Abū Naḍra, from Jābir that] the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, said: “There will be a caliph in the last of my nation. He will give away wealth abundantly but will not count it. ”

389. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim [2]: Narrated to us Naṣr b. `Alī al-Jahḍamī, from Bishr (i. e. ibn al-Mufaḍḍal) and narrated to us `Alī ibn Ḥajar al-Sa`dī, from Ismā’īl (i. e. b. `Ulayya) , both of them from Sa`īd b. Yazīd, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “From your caliphs there is a caliph who

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will give away wealth abundantly but will not count it. ”

390. Ṣifat al-Mahdī [1]: From Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Most certainly, the earth will be filled with enmity; then, a person from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge who will fill it with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and enmity [injustice and unfairness]. ”

391. Musnad Abī Ya`lā [2]: Narrated to us Sulaimān b. `Abd al-Jabbār Abū Ayyūb Sahl b. `Āmir, from Fuḍail b. Marzūq, from `Aṭiyya, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, who said: “In the end of times, after the advance of ages and passing of time, there will be an Imam who will be the most generous of the people. A man will come to him and [the Imam] will put [wealth] in his dress. He will be concerned as to who will accept the charity of this wealth which is between him and his family as all the people will be flushed with goodness’s (and riches). ”

392. Tārīkh ibn `asākir [3]: He has recorded through his chain of narrators, from ibn `Abbās that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, said: “How can a nation be destroyed when I am at its beginning, Jesus is at its end, and the Mahdī is in its middle? ”

393. `Iqd al-durar [4]: From Anas b. Mālik, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be

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on him and his family, who said: “A nation will never be destroyed which I am at its beginning, its Mahdī is in the middle, and Christ—the son of Mary—is at its end. ”

394. `Iqd al-durar [1]: From Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

I give glad-tidings to you all! I give glad-tidings to you all! My nation is like rain. It is not clear whether its beginning is good or its end? Or like an orchard from which groups [of people] eat [fruit] for one year. Perhaps the last group [that eats from it] is the most widest and deepest [2] and is better than all the others. How can a nation perish when I am at its beginning, the Mahdī is in its middle, and Christ is at its end? [Beware! ], between all these will be crooked leaders; they are not from me and I am not from them.

395. Faḍā’il al-ṣaḥāba lil-Sam`ānī [3]: From Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī who said:

Fāṭima came to her father, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], during his illness and said while crying, “O my father! I fear neglect/ destruction (al-ḍay`a) after you! ” He replied, “O Fāṭima! Verily Allah examined the earth thoroughly, then chose your father and sent him as a Messenger. He examined the earth a second time and chose your husband. He then ordered me to marry you to him and so, I married you to

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him. He was the greatest amongst Muslims in forbearance (ḥilm) , the best of them in knowledge, and the first in [accepting] Islam.

Surely, Allah has granted seven characteristics to us Ahl al-Bait which He has not given to anyone from those [before us] and no one from those who will come [after us] will acquire them. Our Prophet is the best of prophets and he is your father; our successor (waṣiyyunā) is the best of successors and he is your husband; our martyr is the best of martyrs and he is your father’s uncle, Ḥamza; from us is the one who has two wings with which he will fly in paradise wherever he wishes, and he is Ja`far [al-Ṭayyār]; from us are the two grandsons of this nation and they are your two sons; and from us is the Mahdī of this nation. ”

Abū Hārūn al-`Abdī says:

I met Wahb b. Munabba during the Hajj season and mentioned this tradition to him. He said, “When the tribe of Moses was tested and took the calf as god, a bitter situation was created for Moses. Allah said, ‘O Moses! The nations of all the Prophets before you were tested, and a great fitna will befall upon the nation of Aḥmad to an extent that some will curse others. Then, Allah will make right their affairs through a man from the progeny of Aḥmad, and he is the Mahdī. ’”

396. Al-Istī`āb [1]: [Jābir al-Ṣadafī] narrates from the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family],

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who said: “After me, there will be caliphs. After the caliphs there will be rulers. After the rulers there will be kings. After the kings there will be tyrants and after the tyrants, a man will emerge from my Ahl al-Bait who will fill the earth with justice. ”

This tradition has been narrated by ibn Lahī`a, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Qays b. Jābir al-Ṣadafī, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

397. Al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān [1]: Ḥāfiẓ Abū l-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. Abū Ja`far al-Qurtubī and others in Damascus, and al-Muftī Ṣaqr b. Yaḥyā b. Ṣaqr al-Shāfi`ī and others in (the city) of Ḥalab, all of them from Abū l-Faraj Yaḥyā b. Maḥmūd al-Thaqafī and Abū `Alī al- Ḥasan b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan, from al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim Aḥmad b. `Abd-Allah, from Muḥammad b. Zakariyyā al-Ghalābī, from `Abbās b. Bakkār, from `Abd-Allah, from al-A`mash, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from Ḥudhayfa that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], said:

If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will definitely send in it a person whose name is my name and whose morals are my morals. He will be called Abū `Abd-Allah. The people will pledge allegiance to him between the Rukn and the Maqām. Through him, Allah will bring back the religion and He will grant him victories. [Then,] no one will remain on the face of earth but that he will acknowledge that there is no god

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but Allah.

Salmān, may Allah be satisfied with him, stood up and asked: “O Messenger of Allah! From which one of your sons will he be? ” He answered: “He will be from the descendants of this son of mine,” then patted (Imam) al-Ḥusayn’s back.

398. Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan [1]: Narrated to us Ḥamzat b. `Alī, from `Abd-Allah b. Muḥammad, from Abū Khalīfa, from Musaddad, from ibn Shihāb, from `Aṣim, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], said: “If there only remains one night from the world, Allah will make a person from my Ahl al-Bait rule in it. ”

399. Firdaus al-akhbār [2]: From Jābir b. `Abd-Allah that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, said: “The Paradise yearns for four people from my family. Allah loves [these four] and has ordered me to love them: `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, al-Ḥasan, al- Ḥusayn, and the Mahdī—behind whom Jesus, the son of Maryam, will pray. ”

400. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [3]: Narrated to us al-Ḥasan b. `Alī al-Ma`marī, from `Abd al-Ghaffār b. `Abd-Allah al-Mauṣilī, from `Alī b. Mus-hir, - Volume 2 , Page 63 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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[3]: Al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, chap. 10, p. 124; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, p. 62, and chap. 8, p. 167, with a minor difference; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 133; al-Burhān, chap. 1, p. 84, no. 33, with a minor difference, and p. 83, no. 28.

[1]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 259 & 445, with the difference: “and when `Alī dies. ”

[2]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 258 & 445.

[3]: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 8, p. 185; Tārīkh ibn `Asākir, vol. 1, p. 186; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “What has been narrated about the Mahdī,” no. 23, through his chain of narrators which are connected until they reach Jābir and its wordings are: “In the last of my umma, there will be a caliph; he will give away wealth profusely and will not even count it”; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 264, no. 38660; Maṣābīḥ al-sunna, vol. 2, p. 192, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a”; al-Bayān, chap. 10, pp. 122–123, no. 3; Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 182 & 230, from Jābir; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 8, p. 161; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, chap. 2, p. 135; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 131; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 3, book 27, no. (5) 5441.

The author of Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn (pp. 513–514) —in reply to those who criticize this tradition on the bases that there is no mention of the Mahdī in it and there is no argument to show that it refers to him—writes: “The text of these traditions are ambiguous whilst the method for recognizing [the Mahdī] is obvious and established... ”

I say: There is no doubt that some traditions explain other traditions. Also, there is no doubt that the person about whom glad-tidings have been given in the traditions, who will fill the earth with justice and fairness, will give away wealth profusely, and he who has signs, symbols, attributes and titles that are known in the traditions that have been narrated in numerous chapters, is only one person, not many. Hence, no one has thought it to be anyone other than the Mahdī or thought that Jesus, peace be on him, will perform prayers behind someone else. All these quotes point to his magnificent character.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, chap. 8, p. 194; Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim, vol. 8, p. 158; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 134, with a slight difference; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 581, no. 98, the same as al-`Arf al-wardī.

[2]: al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 134; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 581, no. 99.

[3]: Musnad aḥmad, vol. 3, p. 96; `Iqd al-durar, chap 8, p. 168, citing Musnad aḥmad and Sunan al-dānī.

[4]: Musnad aḥmad, vol. 3, p. 98; al-Burhān, chap. 1, p. 81, no. 24; al-`Arf al-wardī, p. 128; al-Nihāya or al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, vol. 1, p. 31.

[1]: Musnad aḥmad, vol. 3, p. 317; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fi l-Mahdī,” no. 23; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 128. He has narrated a similar tradition from al-Bazzār, from Jābir; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 26, no. 38659; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 8, p. 185, with a slight difference; Maṣābīḥ al-sunna, vol. 2, chap. “Ashrāṭ al-sā`a,” p. 192; al-Tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl, vol. 5, p. 342; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 31; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 230; Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ, vol. 3, book 27, no. 5441 (5).

[2]: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 8, p. 185; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 266, no. 38672; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 8, p. 161; al-Tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl, vol. 5, p. 341 (The Seventh chapter about the caliph, al-Mahdī).

The author of Ghāyat al-ma’mūl (a commentary on al-Tāj al-jāmi`) , says: “According to the traditions that will be mentioned, this is the Mahdī, may Allah be pleased with him. This act of his is because of the abundance of war booties and victories along with his generosity and his giving away goodness to all the people. ”

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 19, from Abū Nu`aim in Ṣifat al-Mahdī; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, under the letter Lām, vol. 2, p. 123; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 471, no. 22, citing al-Arba`īn by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim, with a little difference; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 186.

[2]: Musnad Abī Ya`lā, vol. 2, p. 356–357, no. 131 (1105).

[3]: Tārīkh ibn `Asākir (1329 H. ) , vol. 2, p. 62; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 269, no. 38682, with a slight difference and p. 266, no. 38671; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, pp. 30–31; al-Sīrat al-Ḥalabiyya (Egypt: Maṭba`atu Muṣṭafā Muḥammad) , vol. 1, p. 227; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 134; al-Taṣrīḥ bi mā tawātara fī nuzūl al-Masīḥ, p. 181, no. 27. He says: “Al-Nisā’ī has narrated it and so has Abū Nu`aim in Akhbār al-Mahdī. Al-Ḥākim and ibn `Asākir have narrated it in their Tārīkh with the following wordings: “How can a nation that I am at its beginning be destroyed... ,” which is like [what has been narrated] in Kanz al-`ummāl. This is a good (ḥasan) tradition as has been stated in al-`Azīzī’s al-Sirāj al-munīr.

He writes under it: “‘middle’ means ‘before the last’ because Jesus will descend to kill the Dajjāl during the era of the Mahdī. Our master Jesus will pray behind him just as it has been mentioned in the traditions. ”

Al-Taysīr bi sharḥ al-jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 302; Faiḍ al-qadīr, vol. 5, p. 301; al-Sirāj al-munīr, vol. 3, p. 196; al-`Arāyis (Maṭba’atu `Āṭif Wa Wuldih) , p. 227, through his chain of narrators from ibn `Abbās with the difference: “Al-Mahdī from my Ahl al-Bait is in the middle”; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 128 (under the letter Lām) ; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 146. He says: “Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal has also recorded it in his Musnad and Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has narrated it in his `Awālī.

I say: I did not find it in the published edition of Musnad Aḥmad although it is apparent that the tradition was recorded in the copy he possessed. We can only rely on a copy in which the tradition has been recorded; Tafsīr Rūḥ al-jinān, vol. 3, p. 158. He has narrated it from al-Manṣūr, from his ancestors, from ibn Abbas, who said: “The Mahdī from my Ahl al-Bait is in its middle. ” Abū l-Futūḥ—the author of Rūḥ al-jinān—has used this tradition to prove the existence of the Mahdī, peace be on him, because it will not be correct if it is said that “The Mahdī will exist in the end of times prior to the descent of Jesus. Such an interpretation would make it necessary for the Mahdī not to exist in the long period of time between the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and the descent of Jesus, whilst glad-tidings have been given that he will be in the middle of these two.

I say: Yes, the umma is unanimous that Jesus, peace be on him, will descend at the time of the reappearance of the Mahdī, peace be on him, and during his universal government. Jesus will pray behind him and assist him in achieving reformist goals, spreading justice, and destroying unfairness, which has been clearly elaborated in mutawātir traditions. Therefore, the belief that the Mahdī will be between them will not hold true for anyone except the one who has been mentioned in the Shia belief. Because the Mahdī was born in 255 AH and continues to live and is sustained by Allah until he reappears by the command of Allah, the Exalted, for the announcement of His Word.

The middle is understood by some commentators to show that the appearance of the Mahdī, peace be on him, will be before the descent of Jesus. This is definitely not the meaning of the tradition and here the middle and end have the same meaning.

Some sycophants—who were the servants and on the pay-roll of the arrogant and devilish rulers—thought that this tradition referred to the Mahdī who was one of the Abbasid caliphs. No explanation is needed to show the wrongness of this view. Such innovations are actually an insult to the lofty stature of the Seal of the Prophets, Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and the great personality of the Prophet Jesus, and the divine successor-ship of Imam Mahdī, peace be on him. Moreover, the mutawātir traditions which describe the Mahdī, his attributes, and his signs, clearly reject such misguided interpretations.

There is no proof in the tradition that Jesus will live after the Mahdī, peace be on him, in addition to the fact that such an idea has also been contradicted by a number of traditions about the Mahdī and other traditions like those about security (al-amān) , etc.

It is possible to interpret the tradition like this: His saying: “I am its first (awwaluhā) ” means that he is its founder, chief, and source. Thus, this umma will not be destroyed, because its founder and the caller towards it is “a mercy for all the worlds” (raḥmatan lil-`ālamīn). A nation will not be destroyed if its founder possesses such traits and this was the purpose of his dispatching? How can a nation be destroyed that has the Mahdī in its middle? As long as he exists and is alive, this nation will not be destroyed. Amongst the greatest benefits of his existence—even though he is in occultation—is the survival of the nation because of his existence. And how can a nation be destroyed that has Jesus at its end, who will descend in the end of times? This means that this religion will remain and last until the descent of Jesus from the sky. He will descend in the last nation and acknowledge this religion in this very world.

We can conclude that this narration serves to give glad-tidings about the lasting of this religion, the continuous survival of this nation because of the blessings of the Prophet of Islam, who is a mercy for the worlds, and the existence of the Mahdī, peace be on him. This nation will not be destroyed and will remain until the end of times because the descent of Jesus—which is one of the conditions of the Hour—will occur in the last nation. Hence, this nation will survive and remain, as long as humanity exists on the face of earth. Allah, His Messenger, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, and the possessors of knowledge—those from his Ahl al-Bait who are steadfast in it—have more knowledge about the meanings of the Book and the Sunna.

[4]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 148. He says: Imam Abū `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Nisā’ī has recorded it in his Sunan. I say: I could not locate it in al-Mujtabā min Sunan al-Nisā’ī but this does not mean it does not exist in his Sunan. In fact, there is no doubt about it being present there.

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 146. He says: Imam Abū `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Nisā’ī has recorded it in his Sunan; Bahjat al-naẓar, sect. 6, has recorded it from Sunan al-Nisā’ī in the chapter: “What has been narrated about the Arabs and the non-Arabs” and this is its last chapter; al-Taṣrīḥ bi mā tawātara fī nuzūl al-Masīḥ, pp. 247–250, no. 66, with a slight difference in the wordings and that he said: “But between this will be a crooked group; they will not be from me nor will I be from them. ” He says in his commentary: “The Holy Prophet has described them as a group, then distanced himself from them because of their deviation from the way and path that he had brought. ”

I say: This tradition praises the beginning of the nation and its end. The latter, being the time when the universal government of the Mahdī appears, in which Jesus will descend, stay amongst them, and pray behind Imam Mahdī, peace be on him. Also, both versions condemn the majority of the nation between these two eras. This is because of the domination of the kings or those who call themselves the Caliphs. They will come to power and rule without the permission and satisfaction of Allah. Apart from this vast majority, there will be some who will wait for the reappearance of Allah’s command and the establishment of the rightful government of Allah’s Caliph, the Mahdī, peace be on him. They will not approve the atrocities committed by these tyrant kings upon the people, will not assist them in their tyrannies and sins, and will not gain closeness to them or try to satisfy them, because of Allah’s wrath towards them. These are none but the followers of the Imams from the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them. The same Imams that the tyrants tried to conceal their virtues and what Allah had specially given to them and to destroy their guidance and that of their followers. The crooked groups are the majority which have left the clear path of the Ahl al-Bait and have not held on to them. They have opposed the mutawātir traditions like ḥadīth thaqalain, ḥadīth safīna, ḥadīth amān, etc.

`Alī al-Qārī writes in al-Mirqāt, vol. 5, p. 658: “Traditions with chains of narrators like this are called golden chained (silsilat al-dhahab). ”

Al-Mishkāt, vol. 3, p. 293; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 489; al-`Umda, vol. 2, sect. “What has been narrated about the Mahdī in the texts of Ṣiḥāḥ al-Sitta from al-Jam’ bain al-ṣiḥāḥ al-sitta of Razīn al-`Abdarī,” p. 224.

[2]: ‘the most widest and deepest’ probably means they will have the biggest population and will live the longest on earth—Ed.

[3]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 490.

[1]: Al-Istī`āb, vol. 1, p. 223; al-`Iṣāba, vol. 1, p. 216, no. 1037 (short version) ; Usd al-ghāba, vol. 1, p. 260: “After me, there will be caliphs, after the caliphs there will be rulers, after the rulers there will be oppressive kings; then, a person from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge who will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice... ”; `Iqd al-durar, sect. 1, p. 19, which is the same as Usd al-ghāba, with the difference: “Then, the Mahdī from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge” and “Then he will rule. ” He says: “Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has narrated it in al-Fawā’id and al-Ṭabarānī has recorded it in al-Mu`jam.

I say: The beginning of the tradition of Al-Istī`āb and Usd al-ghāba is strange. Closer to it in strangeness is the note beneath the tradition of Usd al-Ghāba. Thus they cannot be relied upon. One can only rely on his saying: “The Mahdī—who is from my Ahl al-Bait—will emerge,” or, “a man from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge who will fill the earth with justice as it will be filled with injustice. ” These can be found in many mutawātir narrations.

Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 265, no. 38667

[1]: Al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, sect. 13, p. 129. He writes: “This tradition is good (ḥasan). Praise be to Allah for bestowing this upon us. The meaning of his saying “his morals will be my morals,” is one of the best indications that the Mahdī, peace be on him, will take revenge on those who do not believe in the religion of Allah— just as the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, did. And indeed, Allah—the Exalted—has said to His Prophet: “And surely, you are on the greatest morals” (Quran 68: 4).

Al-Irbilī writes in Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 486: “His comment, ‘is one of the best indications... (to the end) ’ is truly amazing! How can he confine the moral attributes of the holy Prophet and only limit them to revenge?! While he possesses all the attributes of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, like his nobility, honor, knowledge, forbearance, bravery, and other morals that we have mentioned at the beginning of this book. Even more shocking, is the endorsement of his view by using the aforementioned verse! ”

Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, pp. 325–326; `Iqd al-durar, sect. 2, pp. 31–32, from Abū l-Ḥasan al-Raba`ī al-Mālikī, with a little difference; al-Ghadīr, vol. 7, p. 126, citing Zakhāīr al-`uqbā, p. 126, with the following wording: “‘If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will prolong that day until He sends a person from my progeny; his name will be my name. ’ Salmān asked, ‘From which of your sons, O Messenger of Allah? ’ He replied, ‘From this son of mine,’ then patted (Imam) al-Ḥusayn’s back, peace be on him. ”

[1]: Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” no. 26; `Iqd al-durar, sect. 1, p. 18. He writes: “Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recorded it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī. ” On p. 20, he writes: “Al-Imam Abū `Amr al-Muqri’ has recorded it in his Sunan”; Mawārid al-ẓam’ān, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” p. 463, no. 1876; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. vol. 14, p. 269, no. 38684, with a little difference; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 31; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 123. He has recorded it from al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān and Abū Nu`aim.

Al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān is al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān b. `Āmir al-Nasawī, the author of al-Musnad al-kabīr and al-`Arba`īn—who passed away in 303 AH—as has been mentioned in Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ. Or (he could be) al-Fasawī who also expired in 303 AH—as has been mentioned in al-Lisān. Apparently, it is al-Nasawī and al-Fasawī is an error made by the writer of the manuscript.

Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 92, no. 13, from al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān and Abū Nu`aim.

[2]: Kashf al-yaqīn, p. 117; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 1, p. 2, from Kitāb al-āl of ibn Khālawayh; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 7, chap. 32, sect. 2, p. 182, no. 7.

[3]: Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 10, no. 10215 and 10219; al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” p. 96, no. 16; Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ, vol. 2, p. 487, with the difference: “The days and the nights will not pass until the Arabs are ruled by a person from my Ahl al-Bait; his name will be my name. ”

from Abū Isḥāq al-Shaibānī, from `Āṣim b. Abū l-Najūd, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from ibn Mas`ūd who recounts that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], said: “The days and the nights will not go away until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules; his name will be my name. ”

In another tradition, the following sentence has been added: “He will fill

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the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ”

401. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [1]: Narrated to us Ma`ādh b. al-Muthannā, from Musaddad, from Abū Shihāb Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Kinānī, from `Aṣim b. Bahdala, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], said: “If there remains from the world but only one night, a person from the Ahl al-Bait of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], will rule in it. ”

402. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [2]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Jammāl al-Iṣfahānī, from Ibrāhīm b. `Āmir b. Ibrāhīm, from his father, from Ya`qūb al-Qummī, from Sa`d b. al-Ḥusayn, from Abū Bakr b. `Ayyāsh, from `Aṣim b. Abī l-Najūd, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from `Abd- Allah b. Mas`ūd, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The affairs of this nation—in the ends of its time—will be in the hands of a man from my Ahl al-Bait. His name will be my name. ”

403. Al-`Arf al-wardī [3]: Abū Nu`aim and al-Ḥākim have both narrated from Abū Sa`īd that the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], said:

The Mahdī will emerge in my nation. Allah will send him as a helper (ghiāsā) for the people. The nation will be blessed, livestock will feed, the earth will bring out its vegetation, and he will give away wealth correctly (ṣiḥāhā) [4] .

404. Al-Fitan [5]: Al-Walīd narrates from Abū Rāfi` Ismā’īl b. Rāfi`, from someone who narrated to him

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from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

His nation will take refuge in him (i. e. the Mahdī) like the bees which take refuge in their king. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will it be filled with injustice. [This will continue] until the people return to their initial state, that is, they will not wake up a sleeping person and will not shed blood.

405. Kanz al-`ummāl [1]: “The Mahdī will emerge in the ends of my nation. Allah will send rain for him and the earth will bring out its vegetation. He will give away wealth correctly, livestock will increase, and the nation will be glorified. He will live for seven or eight years [as has been narrated by ibn Mas`ūd].

406. Dhikr akhbār Iṣbahān [2]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. al-Faḍl b. Qadīd, from al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf b. Sa`īd al-Miṣrī, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā b. Maṭar al-Makhramī, from Dāwūd b. al-Muḥabbar, from Abū l-Muḥabbar b. Qaḥdham, from his father Qaḥdham b. Sulaimān, from Mu`āwiya b. Qurra, from his father that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “Most certainly, this earth will be filled with injustice and unfairness. When it is filled with injustice and unfairness, Allah will send a person from me whose name will be my name. He will fill it with fairness and justice just as it was filled with injustice and unfairness. ”

407. Al-Rauḍa min al-Kāfī [3]: Al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad

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al-Ash`arī, from Mu`allā b. Muḥammad, from al-Washshā, from Abū Baṣīr, from Aḥmad b. `Umar who narrates:

A person came to (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, and said, “Surely you are the Ahl al-Bait of mercy. Allah, Blessed and High be He, has distinguished you with this [characteristic]. ” He, peace be on him, replied, “We are so, and all praise is for Allah. We don’t make anyone go astray nor do we bring anyone out of guidance. Surely, the world will not end until Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, sends a person from us Ahl al-Bait who will act in accordance with the Book of Allah. He will not see any evil in you but that he will denounce it. ”

408. Al-Mu`jam al-ausaṭ [1]: From Ṭalḥat b. `Abd-Allah, from the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family] who said: “And soon, a fitna will occur. The unrest will not cease in one place except that it will start in another until an announcer from the sky will call out: ‘Surely, your leader is so and so. ’”

I say: The ambiguity of this tradition because of it not explicitly stating the name of the Mahdī does not harm our purpose, because numerous traditions we quoted earlier and those that will be cited in the future explain this tradition and remove its ambiguity.

The author of Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn writes:

I have found a support for his tradition (i. e. the tradition of Ṭalḥa). Ibn Abī Shaiba states, “Narrated to us al-Ḥasan b. Mūsā,

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from Ḥammād b. Salma, from Abū Muḥammad, from `Aṣim b. `Amr al-Bajalī that Abū Umāma said, ‘The name of a person will surely be called out from the sky. It cannot be denied with any argument and no degraded person can prevent it. ’”

(He then mentions another narration) as support, from `Alī, peace be on him, which, God willing, we will mention in the future).

409. Al-Fitan by Nu`aim b. Ḥammād [1]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah b. Marwān, from al-`Alā b. `Utba, from al-Ḥasan that “The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], mentioned the hardships that will be encountered by his Ahl al-Bait [which will continue] until Allah raises a black flag from the East. Whoever helps it, Allah will help him, and whoever deserts it, Allah will desert him, until they come to a person whose name is my name. He will take over their affairs and Allah will assist and help him. ”

410. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Razzāq, from Mu`ammar, from Qatāda that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “Soon, he will bring out the treasures, will distribute wealth, and will fully establish Islam. ”

411. Kanz al-`ummāl [3]: From Sa`d al-Iskāf, from al-Aṣbagh b. Nubāta, who narrates: “`Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, delivered a lengthy sermon. He praised Allah and extolled Him then said:

Know that verily I and the good ones from my progeny and my Ahl al-Bait are the most knowledgeable of the people in childhood and

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the most forbearing of them in old age. With us is the flag of truth. Whoever goes ahead of it will be degraded, whoever stays behind will be destroyed, and whoever stays with it will have reached it. Surely we are the people of mercy and through us the doors of wisdom are opened. Our judgment is based on Allah’s Judgment and our knowledge is based on Allah’s Knowledge and to the sayings of an honest person we have listened.

If you follow us, you will be saved and if you turn away, Allah will punish you at our hands. By us, Allah has opened the noose of disgrace from your necks. By us—and not by you—Allah will end (binā yukhtam lā bikum). Through us the one who lags behind will reach and to us the one who has gone ahead will return... (He continued in another part,) by Allah! I was taught the interpretation of the messages, the fulfillment of the promises, and the completion of the words. Certainly, from those who succeed me from my Ahl al-Bait, there will be a person who will invite to Allah with strength and will judge with the laws of Allah. This will be after a hard and disgraceful era in which the hardships will be severe and hopes will be lost... (After mentioning some of the bloody battles, he continued,) know that surely from us is the one who will rise; his lineage will be

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pure and his companions will be leaders.

When the enemies of Allah are to be destroyed, he will be called out three times with his name and the name of his father in the month of Ramaḍān. This will be after turmoil, killings, miseries, lunacies, and the rise of calamities. I know that to whom the earth will extract its deposits and hand over its treasures.

If I wanted, I could have struck [the earth] with my foot and said, “Bring out from here helmets and armor”... Indeed, Allah will appoint a Caliph who will remain firm in guidance and will not accept bribes in his judgments. When he calls, he will be [heard] far and distant. [His calls] will be lethal for the hypocrites and will bring relief for the believers. Know that these will surely happen despite those who dislike them [happening]. All praise is for Allah the Lord of the worlds and His blessings be upon our master Muḥammad, the seal of the Prophets.

412. Al-Bayān wa l-tabyīn [1]: From Abū ‘Ubaida Mu`ammar b. al-Muthannā, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, from his forefathers, peace be on them, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said:

Know that the good ones (al-abrār) from my progeny and the pure ones from my descendants, are the most forbearing of the people in childhood and the most knowledgeable of them in old age. Know that we Ahl al-Bait have learned knowledge from Allah’s

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knowledge. Our judgment is from Allah’s judgment and we have listened to the sayings of an honest person.

If you follow us, you will be guided with our insight but if you don’t do so, Allah will destroy you at our hands. We hold the flag of truth. Whoever follows it will reach [salvation] and whoever lags behind will perish. Know that through us every believer is protected from bad fate (binā taraddu dabaratu kullu mu’min) , through us the noose of disgrace is removed from your neck, and through us gains are made. Allah will commence through us—not through you—and He will end by us, not by you. ”

Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd says in his commentary: “His saying, ‘He will end by us, not by you,’ points towards the Mahdī who will appear in the end of times. Most narrators have the view that he will be from the progeny of Fāṭima, peace be on her. Our fellow Mu`tazilī companions do not deny this. They have clearly mentioned him in their books and their teachers have testified about him. ”

413. Īḍāḥ al-ishkāl [1]: From Abū l-Za`rā’ who narrates that `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, used to say:

Verily I and the pure ones from my descendants and the good ones from my progeny are the most forbearing of people in childhood and the most knowledgeable of them in old age. By us Allah will invalidate falsehood; by us Allah will break the teeth of the rabid wolves; by us Allah will free

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you from disgrace and remove the noose of your necks. By us Allah will begin and He will end.

414. Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha by ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd [1]: The Chief of Justice (qāḍī al-quḍat) , may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him, has narrated from Ismā’īl b. `Abbād—may Allah have mercy on him—through his chain of narrators which end at `Alī, peace be on him, that he mentioned the Mahdī and said: “He is from the progeny of al-Ḥusayn. ” He then described his appearance: “A man with a wide forehead, aquiline - Volume 2 , Page 71 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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[1]: Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 10, no. 10216; Mawārid al-ẓam’ān ilā zawā’id ibn Ḥibbān, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” p. 464, no. 1877; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 125; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 269, no. 38683 with a minor difference.

[2]: Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 10, no. 10227; Dhikr akhbār Iṣbahān, vol. 1, p. 329.

I say: al-Ṭabarānī has recorded numerous traditions through his chain of narrators from ibn Mas`ūd from the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. You can refer to these traditions which are numbered from 10213 to 10230.

[3]: Al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 132; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, p. 317, with the difference: “Allah will send him in a clear manner and the nation will be blessed by him. ”

[4]: ‘correctly’ probably means ‘justly’—ed.

[5]: Al-Fitan, pp. 192–193; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 153, from Nu`aim, with a little difference; al-Burhān, chap. 1, p. 78, no. 10, with a slight difference. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. This will continue until the people will no longer have their initial state; the sleeping one will not be awakened and no blood will be shed. ”

[1]: Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 273, no. 38700.

[2]: Dhikr akhbār Iṣbahān, vol. 2, p. 165.

[3]: Al-Rauḍa min al-Kāfī, p. 396, no. 597; al-Wāfī, vol. 2, chap. 52, p. 459, no. 977–9.

[1]: Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 561.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 4, chap. 13, p. 167.

I say: This flag which Allah will send is not from the Abbasid flags, as has been clearly explained by Nu`aim in the title of the chapter: “The Black Flags of Mahdī [That Will Come] After the Abbasid and Other Flags”

[2]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 195.

[3]: Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, pp. 592–595, no. 39679. Ibn al-Athīr writes in al-Nihāya: “In the tradition of `Alī: ‘Surely after you there is a fitna and calamity that is tedious and frowning’, frowning means people will frown from its intensity. ” Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 34.

[1]: Al-Bayān wa l-tabyīn, vol. 2, p. 58; Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha, vol. 1, pp. 276 & 281, sermon 16; al-Mustarshid, p. 160.

[1]: Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 13, p. 130, no. 36413; `Abaqāt al-anwār, vol. 2, p. 68, no. 12. He writes: “Ḥāfiẓ `Abd al-Ghanī b. Sa`īd has recorded it in Īḍāḥ al-ishkāl. ”

[1]: Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha, vol. 1, pp. 281–282; Yanābī` al-mawadda, pp. 497–498.

nose, sturdy belly, long thighs, shining teeth, and on his left thigh is a mole. ”

Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd writes: “`Abd-Allah b. Qutayba has mentioned this exact tradition in Gharīb al-ḥadīth. ”

415. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us al-Walīd and Rushdain, from ibn Lahī`a, from Isrā’īl b. `Abbād, from Maimūn al-Qaddāḥ, from Abū l-Ṭufail, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. One of the two narrated from `Alī, peace be on him, from the Holy Prophet; Ibn Lahī`a narrated from Abū Zur`a, from `Umar b. `Alī, from `Alī, peace be on him, from the Holy Prophet who said: “Religion will end through us just as it commenced with us and through us they will be freed from polytheism. ”

One of the two narrated [it like this]: “... from deviation. And through us Allah will unite their hearts after the enmity of polytheism. ”

Another narrated [it like this]: “... deviation and mischief

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... ”

416. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from Abū Lahī`a and informed us `Ayyāsh b. `Abbās, from ibn Zarīr, from `Alī, peace be on him, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “He is a man from my Ahl al-Bait. ”

He has recorded it through another chain of narrators: Narrated to us ibn Wahb, from ibn Lahī`a, from al-Ḥarth b. Yazīd, from ibn Zarīr al- Ghāfiqī who heard `Alī, peace be on him, say: “He is from the progeny of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family]. ”

417. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us Abū Hārūn, from `Amr b. Qays al-Mulā’ī, from al-Minhāl b. `Amr, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “The Mahdī is a man from us from the descendants of Fāṭima, may Allah be satisfied with her. ”

418. Al-Fitan [3]: Narrated to us more than one person from ibn `Ayyāsh, from Sālim who said:

Najda wrote [a letter] to ibn `Abbās asking him about the Mahdī. He replied, “Surely, Allah the Exalted, has guided this umma through the first of this house and will free them through the last of them. During his [rule], goats which have horns and also those who don’t will not fight with each other. ”

419. Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān [4]: From Umm Salma who recounts that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said about the Mahdī: “He will distribute among the Muslims their booty and will treat them in accordance with

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the customs (sunna) of their Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family]. He will fully establish Islam (yulqī al-islām bi jirānih ilā al- arḍ) throughout the earth. He will live for seven years. ”

420. Kanz al-`ummāl [1]: (In a lengthy tradition from `Alī, peace be on him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family):

O `Alī! Allah has commenced [Islam] by us and He will end it by us. By us He will destroy the idols and whoever worships them. By us He will crush every oppressor and every hypocrite to an extent that we will kill for rightness like the people who killed for falseness. O `Alī, this nation is like an orchard that a group of people will eat from for a year and another group will eat from it in another year. Perhaps, the last group [is like a tree] who has the firmest root, the most beautiful branch, and the sweetest fruit. They are the best and the most just and will possess the longest kingdom. ”

421. Murūj al-dhahab [2]: It has been narrated that Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, said:

When Allah willed to destine creation and create the creatures and make the things [that He] made, He manifested the creatures in forms like dust particles, and this was before the spreading of the earth and the raising of the sky; while He was in the exclusivity of His Kingdom and Uniqueness of His Omnipotence (jabarūtih).

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Thereafter, He made ready a light from His Light so it shone and took a part from His Brightness and it radiated. Then, He put the Light in the middle of these hidden forms, and the form of our Prophet Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, approached it.

So, Allah the Almighty said, “You are the chosen one, the selected. With you is entrusted My light and the treasures of My guidance. Because of you, I level the desert, let the water flow, and raise the sky. [Because of you], I reward and punish and [created] the Heaven and Hell. I will appoint your Ahl al-Bait for guidance. I will bestow upon them from My unseen knowledge so that the most complex of issues will not be difficult for them and the hidden things will not make them incapable. I will appoint them as My proof upon My creation and as those who draw the attention [of the people] towards My Power and My Oneness. ”

Then, Allah made them testify to [His] Lordship (al-rubūbiyya) and purely acknowledge [His] Oneness (al-waḥdāniyya). After this pledge, He blended the insight of his creations with the fact that he had selected Muḥammad and his family. He showed them that guidance is with him, the light belongs to him, and that leadership (al-imāma) is in his family... Then, His Throne (`arsh) became afloat on water, after which He spread the earth on the surface of water, and from the

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water, He extracted a smoke and made it the sky. Then, He summoned them both (i. e. the earth and the sky) towards His obedience and they submitted by responding [to His call].

Then, Allah made the angels with lights that He created and souls that he invented. Then, he accompanied with His Oneness (tauḥīd) the prophethood of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], whom became popular in the skies before he was sent to earth. When Allah created Adam, He clarified his excellence for the angels and showed them why He had distinguished him on account of His prior knowledge, when He had taught him by informing him alone of the names of things. Thus, Allah appointed Adam as a prayer-niche (miḥrāb) , a Ka`ba, a door (bāb) , and a Qibla to whom the righteous (al-abrār) and the spiritual lights (al-rūḥānīīn al-anwār) prostrated.

Then, He made Adam aware of what He had put in him for safekeeping and manifested for him what He had kept in him as trust. And this was after He had named him as a leader (imām) in the presence of the angels... He called the people, overtly and covertly, and invited them, secretly as well as openly. He, peace be on him, drew the attention of the people to the covenant which He had ordered the particles to, prior to creation.

Whoever agreed with him and took from the lamp of Light that was offered to them, was guided to His

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secret and His clear affair became apparent for him. But, whoever was deceived by negligence, became eligible for [divine] wrath. Thereafter, the Light was transferred inside us and shone in our Imāms. Thus, we are the Lights of the sky and the Lights of the earth. Salvation is achieved through us and from us [comes out] the hidden knowledge. All affairs are destined to us. The proofs (al-ḥujaj) will end at our Mahdī who is the seal of the Imams and the one who will save the umma. [He is] the peak of illumination and the source of all affairs. We are the most superior of the creatures, the noblest of the monotheists, and the proofs of the Lord of the worlds. So, let him enjoy the bounties, he who fastens to our mastership (wilaya) and holds on to our rope.

This is what has been narrated from Abū `Abd-Allah Ja`far b. Muḥammad, from his father Muḥammad b. `Alī, from his father `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, from his father al-Ḥusayn, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [peace be on them].

422. Nahj al-balāgha [1]: Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, said in a sermon narrated by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī—may Allah be satisfied with him—on the authority of Nauf al-Bikālī who stated: “Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī, peace be on him, addressed to us this sermon at Kūfa while standing on a stone which Ja`da b. Hubayra al-Makhzūmī had placed for him. He was wearing a woolen cloak, his sword-belt was made of date- tree leaves, the

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sandals on his feet too were made of date-tree leaves, and His forehead was calloused [because of excess prostration].

Then, he, peace be on him, said [1]: ‘... he will be wearing the armor of wisdom—which he will have secured with all its conditions—such as full attention towards it, its (complete) knowledge, and exclusive devotion to it. For him, it is like a thing which he had lost and which he was then seeking, or a need which he was trying to fulfill. If Islam is in trouble, he will feel forlorn like a traveler and like a [tired] camel beating the end of its tail and with its neck flattened on the ground. He is the last of Allah’s Proofs and one of the vicegerents of His Prophets. ’”

Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd says in his commentary on Nahj al-balāgha:

Every sect has interpreted this speech in accordance with their own beliefs. The Imāmī Shias believe that it refers to the awaited Mahdī they believe in... In my view, it is not improbable that the one intended by this sermon is the Qā’im from the progeny of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, in the end of times.

423. Yanābī` al-mawadda [2]: From Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī, peace be on him, in a poem—that is not from his collection of poems:

Allah has a pearl, a brave Imam

Who will disgrace the polytheist warriors with his sword

He will manifest this religion in every region

And will defeat the polytheists

He will purify the

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earth from all corruption

And will disgrace every tyrant

He will spread justice in the East and the West

And will firmly establish Allah’s religion entrenched

...

I am not saying these out of pride

The chosen one from the Banī-Hāshim [i. e. the Prophet] has informed me.

424. Al-Dīwān [1]:

O Ḥusayn! When you are a stranger in a city

Act in accordance with its etiquette

As if I am seeing myself and my progeny

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[2]: Al-Fitan by Nu`aim, vol. 5, chap. 11, pp. 198–199.

[1]: Al-Fitan by Nu`aim, vol. 5, chap. 11, pp. 199–200.

[2]: Al-Fitan by Nu`aim, vol. 5, chap. 11, p 201; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 155.

[3]: Al-Fitan by Nu`aim, vol. 5, chap. 11, p 201.

[4]: Al-I`lām bi ḥukm `Īsā `alayhi al-salām by al-Suyūṭī, published in the collection of books titled: al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī, vol. 2, p. 289.

He says in Ma`ālim al-sunan, vol. 4, p. 344: “Al-Shaykh says, al-jirān is the beginning of the neck (the front part of the camel’s back) ; it’s mainly referred to the camel when it stretches its neck on the earth. Hence, it is said: The camel has stretched its neck. It does so when it rests in a place for a long time. ’ The stretching of the neck of the camel is used as an example for Islam to indicate its establishment and that there will neither be a fitna nor turmoil. Islamic laws will be implemented justly and steadfastly. ”

[1]: Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 16, p. 196, under no. 44216.

[2]: Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 1, pp. 42–44; Also, refer to Tadhkirat al-khawāṣ, pp. 128–130, the 6th chapter about the selected sayings of Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him. He has recorded similar to this—with minor differences in wording and meaning—through his chain of narrators from Aḥmad b. `Abd-Allah al-Hāshimī, from Imam Ḥasan al-`Askarī, from Imam al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī, from his father Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on them.

[1]: Nahj al-balāgha, trans. Sayed Ali Reza (Iran: Sayed Mujtaba Musavi Lari Foundation) , sermon 181; Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha by ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, vol. 10, sermon 183, p. 96.

[1]: The sermon is a long one, the likes of which is not found except in his speech or the speech of his cousin, the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. Al-Raḍī has mentioned it with all its length in Nahj al-balāgha.

[2]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 74, pp. 438–439.

[1]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 74, p. 438; Sharḥ al-dīwān, under the letter al-Bā’, p. 166

I say: al-Dīwān is a name given to a collection of poems attributed to Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him. It has been published several times and one of its commentaries is the commentary by al-Ḥusayn b. Mu`īn al-Dīn al-Maybudī al-Ḥakīm al-Ṣūfī (d. 870 AH) who was a Sunni. He writes in his commentary: “‘Our Qā’im’ means the one from us who will stand up for the affairs of religion and he is the promised Mahdī who was mentioned in the seventh preface. ” He says in Persian what translates to: “The term ‘Master of Judgment Day’ (ṣāḥib al-qiyāma) has been used to refer to the Mahdī because Judgment Day (al-qiyāma) will be established after his rule comes to an end. ” He then discusses a second reason for referring to him by this title by saying that in the time of his rising and reappearance, hidden things will become apparent and the realities will become manifest; hence, it will be: “The day when the hidden things become manifest” (Quran 86: 9).

I say: It is clear that qiyāma refers to the day of his rising because of the following reasons: domination of the word of Islam, manifestation of truth, and the filling of earth with justice and fairness.

And Karbala and its battleground

Our beards will be dyed with our bloods

Like a bride decorated with cosmetics

As if I am seeing it—but not with the eyes

And I have been given the keys to its doors

Calamities that don’t want to be dispelled

So be prepared for them [before they befall you]

May Allah satisfy our Qā’im who [will suddenly emerge before] Judgment Day

Whilst the people are busy with their normal lives

He will Avenge my blood, O Ḥusayn

And your [blood], so be patient during the difficulties, O Ḥusayn

425. Al-Dīwān [2]:

O my son! When the enemies mobilize their troops

Await the Mahdī’s kingdom, his rise, and his justice

The time that the kings from the Banī-Hāshim will be humiliated

And they will pledge allegiance to he who engages in revelry

He will be like a child with no opinion of his own

A fool who possess’ no wisdom

It is then that the rightful Qā’im from amongst you [Ahl al-Bait] will rise

He will bring the truth and will act rightfully

He is the namesake of Allah’s Prophet; may my soul be sacrificed for him

Help him, O my son, and hasten in assisting him

426. Al-Durr al-munaẓẓam [3]: It has been

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narrated from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, that: “The bearer of the flag of Muḥammad and the [owner] of the government of Aḥmad will emerge. He will rise with the sword and destruction. [He will be] truthful in speech and will reform the earth and bring to life the customs and the duties. ”

427. Al-Muṣannaf [1]: Narrated to us Abū Mu`āwiya, from al-A`mash, from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, from al-Ḥārith b. Suwayd, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

Islam will be degraded to the extent that even ‘Allah Allah’ [2] will not be uttered. When this happens, the leader of the religion (ya`sūb al-dīn) will come out with his followers. Then, a group will be dispatched that will gather around him like the clouds in autumn. By Allah! I certainly know the name of their chief and the resting-places of their horsemen.

428. `Iqd al-durar [3]: From Abū Wā’il who mentions that `Alī looked at al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, and said:

This son of mine is a master (sayyid) just as the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], has named him. Soon, a person from his loin will emerge whose name will be the same as that of your Prophet. He will come when the people will be in a state of negligence, truth will be dead, and injustice will be evident. The inhabitants of the sky and its dwellers will rejoice at his reappearance. He will have a wide forehead, an aquiline nose, sturdy

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belly, and long thighs. There is a mole on his left thigh and his front teeth are slightly apart from each other. He will fill the earth with justice, just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice.

429. Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan [1]: He has narrated a lengthy tradition which is a debate between ibn `Abbās and Mu`āwiya, in which ibn `Abbās has refuted Mu`āwiya in the following manner:

As for what you said that “No one can possess both Caliphate and Prophethood [at the same time],” then what about the saying of Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, “Indeed, We have given the family of Ibrāhīm the Book and Wisdom, and We have given them a Great Kingdom. ” [2] The Book refers to Prophethood and Wisdom refers to sunna and Kingdom refers to Caliphate. We are the family of Ibrāhīm. The Command of Allah concerning them and us is one and the sunna is implemented amongst us and them.

As for your saying, “Your proof is ambiguous,” then I swear by Allah, it is brighter than the sun and more brilliant than the moon and you certainly know that yourself but you are a wretched person. We killed your brother, your grand-father, your paternal uncle, and your maternal uncle. So, don’t cry over decayed bones and souls being wasted in hell fire. Don’t be angry because of the blood that became legible for shedding because of polytheism and which has been degraded by Islam.

As for your saying, “We think that the government of

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the Mahdī belongs to us,” then know that the word ‘think’ is used to refer to ‘doubt’ in the book of Allah. Allah, Purified and High be He, says: “Those who disbelieve think that they will never be resurrected. Say: Yes! By my Lord, you will most certainly be resurrected... ” [1]

Everyone testifies that we have a King who will be appointed by Allah even if nothing remains from the world but one day. Surely, we have a Mahdī that if nothing remains but a single day, Allah will send him [to fulfill] His commands. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness... (to the end of the tradition).

The tradition also speaks about the details of the descent of Jesus, peace be on him, and his praying behind Imam Mahdī, peace be on him.

430. Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan [2]: In the twenty-eighth chapter in which he has discusses the book of Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī called `Uyūn akhbār banī hāshim. He mentions ibn `Abbās’ debate with Mu`āwiya about the Mahdī in which ibn `Abbas says to Mu`āwiya

There is not a single clan from [the tribe] of Quraish who can boast about an affair except that there are other [clans] who [also] have a claim in that affair, except for Banī-Hāshim. For, they can take pride in Prophethood in which no one else was their partner nor was anyone equal with them in [their virtues].

This merit cannot

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be taken away from them. I swear that Allah, Blessed and High be He, did not appoint Muḥammad from the Quraish but because the Quraish were the best of creatures, and He did not appoint him from the Banī-Hāshim but because the Banī-Hāshim were the best amongst the Quraish, and He did not appoint him, from the progeny of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib but that they were the best of Banī-Hāshim.

We do not take pride over you except in what you take pride over the Arabs. This is the umma which is subject to Divine Mercy. To it belongs its Prophet and its Mahdī. The Mahdī is at its end because the affairs [of Islam] commenced with us and will end with us. Your kingdom is short and our kingdom will be long. Your kingdom is prior to our kingdom but there will be no kingdom after ours. We are the [pious] and the end is only for the pious.

431. Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan [1]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Uthmān, from Qāsim, from ibn Abū Khaithama, from Muslim b. Ibrāhīm, from al-Qāsim b. al-Faḍl, from ibn `Umair al-Muhjarī, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq who said:

Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī was sitting on the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], and crying and longing for him. I asked, “What has made you cry? ” He replied, “I remembered the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], and his sitting on this pulpit while he was saying,

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‘Surely, from my Ahl al-Bait is the one with an aquiline [nose] and a wide [forehead]. He will come when the earth will be filled with unfairness and injustice, and he will fill it with fairness and justice. He will live for this period. ’ And he indicated seven or nine with his fingers.

432. Al-Iḥtijāj [1]: In a lengthy tradition which he has narrated through his chains of narrators from Saif b. `Umaira and Ṣāliḥ b. `Uqba, both from Qays b. Sam`ān, from Alqamat b. Muḥammad al-Ḥaḍramī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, in his lengthy sermon at the Ghadīr of Khumm:

O People! The Light of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, is inside me, then in it will be in `Alī followed by his progeny until the Qā’im, the Mahdī, who will take back the rights of Allah and every right which belongs to us.

He then said many things about the Mastership (wilāya) of `Alī and the Imams after him, peace be on them, then continued:

O People! Verily, I am a Prophet and `Alī is my heir (waṣī). Know that the seal of the Imams, the Qā’im, the Mahdī, is from us. Know that surely he is the one who will dominate the religion. Know that surely he is the one who will take revenge from the oppressors. Know that surely he is the one who will conquer the forts and destroy them.

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Know that surely he is the one who will kill all polytheist tribes. Know that surely he is the one who will avenge the blood of all the friends of Allah (auliyā Allāh).

Know that surely he is the one who will help the religion of Allah. Know that surely he is the one who will take water from a deep ocean. Know that surely he is the one who will mark every person of merit with his merit and every person of ignorance with his ignorance. Know that surely he is the chosen and selected one by Allah. Know that surely he is the inheritor of all sciences and has full knowledge about them. Know that surely he informs about his Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He, and mentions the affair of His belief. Know that surely he is guided and firm.

Know that surely [the affairs] have been handed over to him. Know that surely he is the one about whom glad tidings have been given to those before him. Know that surely he is the surviving proof (ḥujja) and there is no proof (ḥujja) after him. There is no truth but that it is beside him and there is no light but that it is with him. Know that no one can overpower him and gain victory over him.

433. Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān [1]: From Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya, may Allah be satisfied with him, who said:

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[2]: Al-Dīwān under the letter al-Lām, p. 371.

[3]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 68, p. 406.

[1]: Al-Muṣannaf by ibn Abī Shaiba, vol. 15, p. 23, no. 19000; al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 210, with some variations; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 557, no. 39591, with a little difference; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, pp. 19–20; refer to al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 37, sect. 3, p. 176 and chap. 181, sect. 1, p. 80; Nahj al-balāgha, sermon 258. Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd writes in Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha: “This narration is from the narrations about bloody battles which he, peace be on him, has informed of and has mentioned the Mahdī. ” Ibn al-Athīr says in al-Nihāya: “And from it is what `Alī, [peace be on him], said: ‘They will gather around him like the gathering of the scattered clouds of autumn. ’ Here, autumn is specifically mentioned because it is the beginning of winter and the clouds are scattered in it, neither piled up nor in layers. After that, some of them integrate with others. ”

[2]: This might refer to the testimony of ‘there is no God but Allah,’ as can be inferred from the previous footnote—Ed.

[3]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 38 and chap. 1, p. 23–24 (short version).

I say: In the published edition of `Iqd al-durar, p. 23, it is mentioned, “`Alī looked at al-Ḥasan. ” The researcher of the book says: “In the original [narration] it was ‘al-Ḥasan’ and ‘al-Ḥusayn’ has been mentioned by mistake. ” You should know that what the researcher has said is wrong and it is up to him to prove what has been mentioned in the original narration. The oldest manuscript that we have access to and have seen is present in al-Raḍawiyya Library (Kitābkhāniyi Āstān Quds, no. 1752) , dated 942 AH, and it is not the manuscript that the researcher has relied on. The one used by the researcher is also available in al-Raḍawiyya Library with the Serial no. 1751, dated 953 AH. We saw that ‘al-Ḥusayn’ was mentioned in the tradition of Abū Wā’il and in the tradition of Abū Isḥāq which he has been mentioned on p. 39 after the current tradition. Anyhow, the oldest manuscripts of this book are two: The first is the manuscript that bears the year 910 AH and belongs to the Berlin Library, with serial no. 2723. This is the manuscript which the researcher has regarded as the original. Yet, he uses other manuscripts when this manuscript is not in conformity with his opinions. The second manuscript is the one in the al-Raḍawiyya Library with the serial no. 1752/185, which is probably older than the Berlin manuscript and al-Ḥusayn has been clearly mentioned in it. Moreover, it is apparent from the book al-Mahdī that in the manuscript which al-Ṣadr possessed, the term ‘al-Ḥusayn’ has been used.

The correctness of the view about al-Ḥusayn is further endorsed by the many mutawātir traditions recorded by us in this book and other books—some of which we have narrated from Sunni sources. For example, in the narration which speaks about al-Ḥasanī handing the affairs over to the Mahdī, peace be on him, he says: “O paternal cousin (yabn al-`am)! This belongs to you. ” It is also mentioned in this tradition that “he is from the descendants of Fāṭima and the progeny of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. Beware! Whoever accepts other than him as his master, will be cursed by Allah. ” Refer to `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, sect. 2, pp. 90, 99, 137, and 138; and al-Burhān, chap. 1, pp. 76,77, no. 15

[1]: Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 17, pp. 116–117. He has recorded it from the book Uyūn akhbār Banī-Hāshim, by Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, the famous historian.

[2]: Quran 4: 54.

[1]: Quran 64: 7.

[2]: Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, sect. 2, pp. 117–118.

[1]: Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī’,” no. 4.

[1]: Al-Iḥtijāj, “The Arguments of the Prophet on the Day of Ghadīr,” pp. 66–84.

[1]: Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 6, p. 144, no. 8, from the published version that was copied from the manuscript of Ḥaram al-Makkī that was finished by its writer Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Rashīdī in 1272 AH and from the hand-written manuscript that was copied by al-Sharīf al-Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir al-Sabziwārī from the hand-written script preserved in the Library of the Holy Shrine of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, in Medina and the third manuscript is in the al-Jāmi` Library (A`ẓam Mosque) that was established and built by our master Ayatullah al-Burūjirdī, may Allah reward him with the best of rewards on behalf of Islam and the Muslims.

It has been recorded in Kashf al-astār, sect. 2, p. 164, with the difference: “When a person says ‘Allah,’ he will be killed. Then, Allah will gather for him like the gathering of clouds in autumn; Allah will unite their hearts. They will neither submit to anybody nor will they be recognized by anybody. They will be equal to the number of the soldiers of [the battle of] Badr. ” He says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ḥākim has recorded it in al-Mustadrak and has said: “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) based on the criteria set by of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, but they have not recorded it [in their Ṣaḥīḥs]. ”

The author of Kashf al-astār continues: “It is worth mentioning that his saying, ‘He will emerge in the end of times (ākhir al-zamān) ,’ then counted with his hand to nine, shows the nine names from the progeny of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. When he reached Ḥujjat b. al-Ḥasan, peace be on him, he said, ‘He will emerge in the end of times,’ and this is a clear comment from him that the Mahdī is the ninth descendant from the progeny of Imam al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. Thus, they should be aware. ”

I say: This is an acceptable interpretation and there is no harm in it. In the published copy of al-Mustadrak and its summary (vol. 4, p. 554) and similarly in `Iqd al-durar (chap. 4, sect. 1 p. 59, and chap. 5, p. 131) it has been written ‘seven’ instead of ‘nine’ and you will not find a proper interpretation for this. Hence, it is better to leave the interpretation to those who have knowledge about it. In these manuscripts, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the tradition unless we assume that ‘seven’ refers to the years of his kingdom and rule. Of course it is more probable that the three available handwritten manuscripts of al-Burhān and the handwritten manuscript of al-Mustadrak, from which the author of Kashf al-astār has recorded the tradition, are correct. Allah knows the best.

This idea is supported by what some Sunni scholars have mentioned. Muḥammad b. Pāyandi al-Sāwī, in his treatise—which is a manuscript, dated 979 AH, and is an appendix to the book al-Burhān—writes: “I have seen in history books that one day Muḥammad b. Ḥanafiyya came to `Alī, peace be on him, and asked, ‘When will the Mahdī appear? ’ He replied, ‘It is far! ’, then he counted nine with his hand and said, ‘In the end of times. ’”

We were with `Alī, peace be on him, when a person asked

him about the Mahdī. He replied, “It is far! It is far! ” Then, he showed nine with his fingers and said, “This will happen in the end of times [in a time] that if it is said to a person, ‘Allah, Allah,’ [that person] will be killed. Then, Allah will gather a group for him like the gathering of clouds in autumn. He will unite their hearts and they will not fear anybody nor will they rejoice for anybody joining them. Their number will be equal to the warriors [of the battle] of Badr. The prior ones will not overtake them and the later ones will not reach them. Their number will be equal to the soldiers of Ṭālūt—those who crossed the river with him. ”

434. `Iqd al-durar [1]

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[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 26.

16/10/28

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Volume 2 Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

Volume 2 Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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