He then cited examples of what he alleges are contradictions and incoherence among the hadiths concerning the Mahdi. Among them is his statement: “The best-known reports among Ahl al-Sunnah regarding his name and his father’s name state that he is Muhammad ibn Abd Allāh; another report gives Ahmad ibn Abd Allāh. The Imamī Shi‘a unanimously hold that he is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Askari; al-Hasan and Muhammad are, respectively, the eleventh and twelfth of their infallible imams. They confer upon him the titles ‘the Proof,’ ‘the One Who Will Rise,’ and ‘the Awaited One.’ ... The Kaysāniyya (1) claim that the Mahdi is Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and that he is alive and residing on Mount Radwā. ...” (2)

He also said: “The prevailing account of his lineage is that he descends from Ali and Fatima through Hasan; according to some reports, he descends through Husayn, which accords with the position of the Imamī Shi‘a. There are also several hadiths explicitly stating that he is a descendant of al-Abbās.” (3)

He then stated that many reports of Israelite origin had found their way into the hadith collections: “Likewise, pro-Alid, pro-Abbasid, and Persian partisan loyalties played a major role in fabricating many hadiths about the Mahdi. Each faction claims that he belongs to it, and the Jews and Persians propagated these reports in order to lull the Muslims into complacency, so that they would rely upon the emergence of