al-Alawī, al-Fātimī, and al-Hasanī, may Allah be pleased with him.” (1)
His reported description is that he will have a high, exposed forehead with a receding hairline (2) and an aquiline nose (3).
The Mahdi will emerge from the East. This is stated in the hadith narrated by Thawbān, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Three men, each of them the son of a caliph, will fight over your treasure, but none of them will obtain it. Then black banners will rise from the East, and they will slaughter you as no people have ever slaughtered before ... (He then mentioned something that I do not remember, and said:) When you see him, pledge allegiance to him, even if you must crawl over snow, for he is Allah’s caliph, the Mahdi.” (4)
(1) *Al-Nihāya: al-Fitan wa-al-Malāhim*, 1:29.
(2) *Ajlā al-jabha* (a forehead with a receding hairline): *al-ajlā* describes someone with sparse hair between the receding areas at the temples and whose hair has receded from the forehead.
See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, 1:290.
(3) *Aqnā al-anf* (an aquiline nose): *qanā* denotes a long nose with a slender tip and a convex bridge.
See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, 4:116.
(4) *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, Book of Tribulations, chapter “The Emergence of the Mahdi,” 2:1367; and al-Hākim’s *al-Mustadrak*, 4:463–64. He said: “This hadith is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim,” and al-Dhahabī concurred.
Ibn Kathīr said: “This chain of transmission is strong and authentic.” *Al-Nihāya: al-Fitan wa-al-Malāhim*, 1:29, edited by Dr. Tāhā Zaynī.
Al-Albānī said: “The hadith is sound in meaning, except for the words, ‘For among them is Allah’s caliph, the Mahdi.’ Ibn Mājah narrated it through ʿAlqama, from Ibn Masʿūd, as a *marfūʿ* report attributed to the Prophet, with wording similar to ʿUthmān’s second version. Its chain of transmission is *hasan* (good), and it does not contain the words ‘Allah’s caliph.’ This addition, ‘Allah’s caliph,’ has no established chain of transmission, =