yet the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“The affairs of this community will remain firmly established.”
Thereafter, momentous events occurred until the order of the caliphate broke down. Each Muslim region came to have its own emir and ruler, and numerous small states arose. In our own time, this division is even greater and more widespread.
The Mahdi has still not emerged. How, then, can it be correct to say that affairs will remain firmly established until his emergence? No one who has reflected on the matter and examined it carefully could say this.
The more likely interpretation, as a number of scholars have stated, is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was referring to the following caliphs when he said:
“The affairs of this community will remain firmly established so long as twelve caliphs govern it, all of them from Quraysh.”
They are the four caliphs; Mu‘āwiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, and his son Yazīd; then ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān and his four sons; and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz. These are twelve caliphs. The point is that, according to the likelier and more accurate interpretation, the number of the twelve imams is completed with Hishām ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. During their time, the religion was firmly established, Islam was widespread, the truth prevailed, and jihad continued.
The disagreement and division over the caliphate after Yazīd’s death, with Marwān assuming rule in Syria and Ibn al-Zubayr in the Hijaz, did not undermine the ascendancy of the Muslims’ religion. Their religion continued to prevail, their affairs remained firmly established, and their enemy was subdued despite this disagreement. It subsequently ended, praise be to Allah, when allegiance to ‘Abd al-Malik was fully secured and the people reunited after the upheavals brought about by al-Hajjāj and others.
This makes it clear that what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, foretold has already occurred, run its course, and ended. The Mahdi’s emergence will take place at the end of time and has no connection with the hadith of Jābir ibn Samurah.
As for whether the Mahdi will be present when Jesus descends, Ibn Kathīr said in al-Fitan wa-l-Malāhim (Tribulations and Battles): “I think he will be present when the Messiah descends.” The hadith narrated by al-Hārith ibn Abī Usāmah points to this and supports it, for it speaks of “their leader, the Mahdi.” This suggests that he will be present when Jesus son of Mary descends, as do some narrations recorded by Muslim and certain other reports, though they are not explicit. This is therefore the soundest and most evident interpretation, but it is not a matter of certainty.
As for his emergence or presence at the end of time, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated, this is well established, and the hadiths plainly indicate it. The truth, as the imams and scholars have stated concerning this, is that he will assuredly emerge and appear.
As for the Messiah, son of Mary, peace be upon him, and the false messiah, the Dajjāl, the matter concerning them is clearer still. It is certain, and there is unanimous agreement on it among the scholars