such as Musnad Ahmad, Musnad al-Bazzār, Musnad Abī Ya'lā, Musnad al-Hārith ibn Abī Usāma, al-Hākim’s al-Mustadrak, Ibn Abī Shayba’s al-Musannaf, Ibn Khuzayma’s Sahīh, and other compilations (1) in which hadiths concerning the Mahdi are recorded. A number of scholars also devoted independent works to the awaited Mahdi, gathering in them a large body of hadiths reported concerning him. These works include:

1—The hadith master Abū Bakr ibn Abī Khaythama (2) compiled the hadiths concerning the Mahdi, as Ibn Khaldūn stated in his Muqaddima, quoting al-Suhaylī (3).

2—Al-Suyūtī authored a treatise entitled al-Urf al-Wardī fī Akhbār al-Mahdī (The Rose-Scented Fragrance on Reports of the Mahdi). It is printed as part of al-Hāwī lil-Fatāwī (The Compendium of Fatwas) (4).

3—In his book al-Nihāya: al-Fitan wa-l-Malāhim (The End: Tribulations and Epic Battles), the hadith master Ibn Kathīr stated that he had devoted a separate treatise specifically to the Mahdi (5).