, who is the first of them. Know that the hadiths concerning him, in all their varying narrations, can scarcely be counted.” He went on to say: “The many authentic and well-known narrations state that he is a descendant of Fātimah.” He went on to say: “Note: You have learned that the hadiths concerning the Mahdī’s existence, his appearance at the end of time, and his belonging to the family of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as a descendant of Fātimah, have reached the level of mass transmission in meaning. There is therefore no sense in denying them.”

At the conclusion of the aforementioned book, after referring to certain events that will occur at the end of time, he said: “What is ultimately established by the many authentic and well-known reports that have reached the level of mass transmission in meaning is that the great signs will occur. Among them—indeed, the first of them—is the appearance of the Mahdī, a descendant of Fātimah who will come at the end of time and fill the earth with justice as it was filled with injustice.”

3- Among those who affirmed the mass transmission of the hadiths concerning the Mahdī was Shaykh Muhammad al-Saffārīnī, who died in 1188 AH. In his book Lawāmi‘ al-Anwār al-Bahiyyah, he said:

“The narrations concerning his appearance—meaning the Mahdī—have become so numerous that they have reached the level of mass transmission in meaning. This has become so widely known among the scholars of the Sunnah that it has been counted among their beliefs.”

He then mentioned some reports and hadiths concerning the Mahdī’s appearance and the names of some of the Companions who narrated them. He then said:

“Numerous narrations have been transmitted from the aforementioned Companions and others among them, may Allah be pleased with them, and from the Successors after them, which, taken together, yield certain knowledge. Belief in the Mahdī’s appearance is therefore obligatory, as is established among the scholars and recorded in the creeds of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah.”

4- Another was the judge Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Shawkānī, who died in 1250 AH, author of the well-known Quran commentary and of Nayl al-Awtār. In his book al-Tawdīh fī Tawātur mā Jā’a fī al-Mahdī al-Muntazar wa-l-Dajjāl wa-l-Masīh, he said:

“The hadiths concerning the Mahdī that I have been able to locate number fifty. They include authentic and sound hadiths, as well as weak ones whose weakness is overcome by corroboration. They are mass-transmitted beyond any doubt or uncertainty. Indeed, even fewer reports than these qualify as mass-transmitted under all the established technical definitions in works on foundational principles. As for the reports from the Companions that explicitly mention the Mahdī, they are very numerous and have the status of reports traced back to the Prophet, since there is no scope for independent reasoning in such matters.” End quote.

On the question of the descent of the Messiah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he said:

“It is thus established that the hadiths concerning the awaited Mahdī are mass-transmitted, and that the hadiths concerning the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him, are mass-transmitted.”0

5- Another was Shaykh Siddīq Hasan al-Qannawjī, who died in 1307 AH. In his book al-Idhā‘ah limā Kāna wa-mā Yakūnu bayna Yaday al-Sā‘ah, he said:

“The hadiths concerning the Mahdī, in all their varying narrations, are exceedingly numerous and reach the level of mass transmission in meaning. They are found in the Sunan and other Islamic hadith collections, including the Mu‘jams and Musnads.” He went on to say: “There is no doubt