In sum, the Mahdi’s principal line of descent is through al-Hasan, since the hadiths stating that he is one of his descendants are more numerous. He also has ancestry through al-Husayn and al-‘Abbās. Nothing prevents several lines of descent from coming together in one person through different branches. Success comes from Allah.
Shaykh al-Saffārīnī, may Allah have mercy on him, then discussed five points: first, his appearance and characteristics; second, his conduct; third, the signs of his emergence; fourth, an indication of some of the tribulations preceding his emergence; and fifth, his birth, the pledge of allegiance to him, the duration of his rule, and related matters. After concluding his discussion of these five points, he said:
“Note: Views concerning the Mahdi have proliferated, to the point that some have said there is no Mahdi other than Jesus. The correct view, held by those who adhere to the truth, is that the Mahdi is someone other than Jesus and that he will emerge before the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him. The narrations concerning his emergence have become so numerous that their common meaning is established by mass transmission. This has become so widely known among Sunni scholars that it is counted among their beliefs.”
He then mentioned some reports and hadiths concerning the Mahdi’s emergence and named some of the Companions who narrated them. He then said:
“Numerous narrations have been transmitted from the Companions mentioned above and from other Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, as well as from the Successors who came after them. Taken together, these reports yield certain knowledge. Belief in the Mahdi’s emergence is therefore obligatory, as affirmed by the scholars and recorded in the creeds of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah.”
Shaykh Muhammad Bashīr al-Sahsawānī al-Hindī (d. 1326 AH) said in his book Siyānat al-Insān ‘an Waswasat al-Shaykh Dahlān:
“After the generation of the Companions had passed away, the Prophet’s community experienced the events and innovations of which it had been warned. Whenever an innovation was introduced, a corresponding part of the Sunnah was taken away. Yet during the generations of the Successors and their followers, innovations had not become widespread. After the generation of the followers of the Successors, however, circumstances changed drastically: innovations prevailed, the Sunnah became unfamiliar, and people treated innovation as Sunnah and Sunnah as innovation. The Sunnah will remain unfamiliar in the times to come—with the exception of the time of the Mahdi, may Allah be pleased with him, and Jesus, peace be upon him—until the Hour comes upon the worst of people.” End of quotation.
Shaykh Shams al-Haqq al-‘Azīmābādī (d. 1329 AH) said in his commentary on Sunan Abī Dāwūd, entitled ‘Awn al-Ma‘būd:
“A number of imams recorded the hadiths concerning the Mahdi, including Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, al-Bazzār, al-Hākim, al-Tabarānī and Abū Ya‘lā al-Mawsilī. They related them through chains of transmission going back to a number of Companions, such as ‘Alī, Ibn ‘Abbās, Ibn ‘Umar, Talhah, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, Abū Hurayrah, Anas, Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, Umm Habībah, Umm Salamah, Thawbān, Qurrah ibn Iyās, ‘Alī al-Hilālī and ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Hārith ibn Jaz’, may Allah be pleased with them all. The chains of transmission for their hadiths include authentic, sound and weak chains. Indeed, there was exaggeration on the part of