in which he cited more than seventy hadiths.

The author of Awn al-Ma‘būd, a Commentary on Sunan Abī Dāwūd, said: “Reports from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) concerning the descent of Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) from heaven to earth in his material body as the Hour draws near have been mass-transmitted. This is therefore the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah.” (1)

Shaykh Ahmad Shākir said: “The descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) at the end of time is a matter over which the Muslims have never differed, for authentic reports to that effect have been transmitted from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). This is necessarily known to be part of the religion, and whoever denies it is not a believer.” (2)

In his annotations on the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, he said: “The ‘reformers’—or ‘denuders’—of our present age have toyed with these hadiths, which explicitly establish that Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) will descend at the end of time, before the life of this world comes to an end. At times they interpret them in ways that amount to denial, and at others they deny them outright! The reality is that they do not believe in the unseen—or scarcely believe in it. Taken collectively, these hadiths are mass-transmitted in meaning, and what they establish is necessarily known to be part of the religion. Neither denial nor interpretation will therefore avail them.” (3)

Shaykh Muhammad Nāsir al-Dīn al-Albānī said: “Know that the hadiths concerning the Dajjal