religion, firmly established, until you have had twelve caliphs.” The hadith continues beyond this. Al-Suyūtī stated at the end of his treatise al-‘Arf al-Wardī fī Akhbār al-Mahdī that this alludes to the scholars’ statement that the Mahdī is one of the twelve. Ibn Kathīr also mentioned this in his commentary on Allah’s words in Sūrat al-Mā’idah:

“Allah certainly took a covenant from the Children of Israel.”

His words will be cited later. A group of scholars, including the commentator on al-Tahāwiyyah, hold that the twelve are the Rightly Guided Caliphs and eight others. End of quotation.

5- Abū Dāwūd narrated in his Sunan, through ‘Āsim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Abū Zur‘ah, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“If only one day remained of this world, Allah would prolong that day until He sent forth in it a man from me—or from my household—whose name would match mine and whose father’s name would match my father’s. He would fill the earth with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice.”

Abū Dāwūd and al-Mundhirī made no comment on this hadith, nor did Ibn al-Qayyim in Tahdhīb al-Sunan. Ibn al-Qayyim indicated its authenticity in al-Manār al-Munīf, and Ibn Taymiyyah graded it authentic in Minhāj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah. It was included in Masābīh al-Sunnah in the section on good hadiths. Al-Albānī said of it in his verification of the hadiths of al-Mishkāh: “Its chain of transmission is good.” End of quotation.

The pivotal narrator in this hadith is ‘Āsim ibn Abī al-Najūd. The assessments of him were summarized in ‘Awn al-Ma‘būd Sharh Musnad Sunan Abī Dāwūd as follows:

“This ‘Āsim is Ibn Abī al-Najūd; Abū al-Najūd’s name was Bahdalah. ‘Āsim was one of the seven Quran reciters. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: ‘He was a righteous man, and I favour his reading of the Quran.’ Ahmad and Abū Zur‘ah also said: ‘Trustworthy.’ Abū Hātim said: ‘I regard him as truthful and his hadith as acceptable, but his memory was not particularly strong.’ Abū Ja‘far al-‘Uqaylī said: ‘His only shortcoming was poor memory.’ Al-Dāraqutnī said: ‘There was some weakness in his memory.’ Al-Bukhārī narrated from him in his Sahīh jointly with other narrators, and Muslim also narrated from him. Al-Dhahabī said: ‘He is firmly reliable in Quran recitation, but less precise in hadith. He is truthful but makes mistakes, and his hadith are good.’

“In sum, ‘Āsim ibn Bahdalah is trustworthy according to Ahmad and Abū Zur‘ah; according to others, his hadith are good and may be used as evidence. His only shortcoming was poor memory. Rejecting the hadith on account of ‘Āsim is therefore not the way of the fair-minded. Moreover, the hadith has also been transmitted through routes other than ‘Āsim, thus dispelling the suspicion that he had erred. Allah knows best.” End of quotation.

Ibn Khaldūn mentioned this hadith in the introduction to his history and impugned it on account of ‘Āsim ibn Abī al-Najūd, taking into consideration what had been said about his poor memory. He stated that criticism takes precedence over accreditation, but this application of the principle was challenged. Shaykh Ahmad Shākir said in his verification of the hadiths of the Musnad:

“Ibn Khaldūn did not properly understand the hadith scholars’ statement that criticism takes precedence over accreditation. Had he examined their statements and understood them, he would not have said any of what he said.”

He also said: “‘Āsim ibn Abī al-Najūd is one of the well-known leading Quran reciters, trustworthy in