transmitting hadith.” End of quotation. Al-Dhahabī also included a biographical entry for him in Tadhkirat al-Huffāz, naming several people from whom he narrated and several who narrated from him. He then said: “Ibrāhīm al-Harbī declared him trustworthy despite knowing that he accepted payment, as did Abū Hātim and Ibn Hibbān. Al-Dāraqutnī said: ‘Truthful.’ As for accepting payment for transmitting hadith, he was poor and had many daughters. Abū al-Fath al-Azdī and Ibn Hazm said: ‘Weak.’” End of quotation.

Ibn al-‘Imād said in Shadharāt al-Dhahab: “In that year—that is, 282 AH—the hadith master Abū Muhammad al-Hārith ibn Abī Usāmah al-Tahmī al-Baghdādī, the author of the Musnad, died on the Day of ‘Arafah at the age of 96. He heard hadith from Ibn ‘Āsim, ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Atā’, and others of their generation. Al-Dāraqutnī said: ‘Truthful.’ Some weakness was attributed to him; because of his poverty, he used to accept payment for transmitting hadith.”

These are the transmitters in the hadith’s chain, from its beginning down to Jābir, may Allah be pleased with him, and the chain is connected. The wording of this hadith of Jābir is close to that of his hadith recorded by Muslim in his Sahīh, in which he said that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say:

“A group of my community will continue fighting for the truth, prevailing until the Day of Resurrection.”

He continued: “Then Jesus son of Mary will descend, and their leader will say, ‘Come and lead us in prayer.’ He will reply, ‘No. Some of you are leaders over others, as an honor Allah has bestowed upon this community.’”

This, then, is the hadith that Ibn al-Qayyim quoted from the Musnad of al-Hārith ibn Abī Usāmah with a chain he described as good. You have now heard a summary of what has been said about its transmitters. I say: This hadith identifies the leader mentioned as the Mahdi. Thus, this hadith, together with the many other hadiths indicating that the Mahdi will emerge at the end of time, clarifies what is meant by the hadith recorded by Muslim and by the other hadiths of similar meaning recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, as noted earlier.

[Seventh: - Some scholars who cited the hadiths concerning the Mahdi as evidence and accepted their implications, with quotations of their statements]

The hadith master Abū Ja‘far al-‘Uqaylī, who died in 322 AH, said: “There are good hadiths concerning the Mahdi.” In the biography of ‘Alī ibn Nufayl ibn Zāri‘ al-Nahdī in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, the hadith master Ibn Hajar said: “I say: Al-‘Uqaylī mentioned him in his book and said: ‘His transmission of the hadith concerning the Mahdi is uncorroborated, and the hadith is known only through him.’ He said: ‘There are good hadiths concerning the Mahdi through other chains.’” End of quotation.

Imam Ibn Hibbān al-Bustī, who died in 354 AH, held that the hadiths concerning the Mahdi qualify the general scope of the hadith: “No time will come upon you but that what follows it is worse.” In Fath al-Bārī, the hadith master Ibn Hajar discussed the hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, recorded by al-Bukhārī in the Book of Tribulations in his Sahīh, in which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“No time will come upon you but that what follows it is worse, until you meet your Lord.”

He said: “In his Sahīh, Ibn Hibbān cited the hadiths concerning the Mahdi—that he will fill the earth with justice after it has been filled with injustice—as evidence that the hadith of Anas does not apply without exception.” End of quotation.