the appearance of the Mahdi, dismisses the hadiths concerning him as contradictory and false, and claims that the Mahdi is nothing but a legend invented by the Shia that subsequently found its way into Sunni books.
Some of these writers were influenced by the widely known criticism of the Mahdi hadiths attributed to the historian Ibn Khaldūn (1), even though Ibn Khaldūn was not a master of this discipline whose judgments on authenticity and weakness should be accepted. Nevertheless, after reviewing many of the hadiths concerning the Mahdi and criticizing many of their chains of transmission, he said: “These, then, are the hadiths that the leading scholars transmitted concerning the Mahdi and his emergence at the end of time. As you have seen, only a few of them—or even fewer—escaped criticism
*Duhā al-Islām*, 3:237–241; ʿAbd al-Rahmān Muhammad ʿUthmān, in his annotations on *Tuhfat al-Ahwadhī*, 6:474; Muhammad ʿAbd Allāh ʿInān, in *Mawāqif Hāsima fī Tārīkh al-Islām*, pp. 359–364; Muhammad Fahīm Abū ʿUbayya, in his annotations on Ibn Kathīr’s *al-Nihāya/al-Fitan wa-l-Malāhim*, 1:37; ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Khatīb, in *al-Masīh fī al-Qurʾān wa-l-Tawrāh wa-l-Injīl*, p. 539; and, finally, Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd Āl Mahmūd, in *No Mahdi Is Awaited after the Messenger—May Allah Bless Him and Grant Him Peace—the Best of Mankind*.
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Muhsin ibn Muhammad al-ʿAbbād responded to all of them in his valuable book, *A Refutation of Those Who Deny the Authentic Hadiths Concerning the Mahdi*. He devoted particular attention to Shaykh Ibn Mahmūd’s treatise, demonstrating that it departs from truth and sound judgment. May Allah reward him abundantly on behalf of Islam and the Muslims.
(1) He was ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldūn, Abū Zayd Walī al-Dīn al-Hadramī al-Ishbīlī. He is renowned for his book *al-ʿIbar wa-Dīwān al-Mubtadaʾ wa-l-Khabar fī Tārīkh al-ʿArab wa-l-ʿAjam wa-l-Barbar*, published in seven volumes, the first of which is the *Muqaddima*. He also authored several other works and poetry. He grew up in Tunis, then moved to Egypt, where he served as a Mālikī judge. He died in Cairo in 808 AH. May Allah have mercy on him.
See *Shadharāt al-Dhahab*, 7:76–77; and *al-Aʿlām*, 3:330.