such as his saying—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ūd:
“[If] (1) only one day remained of this world, Allah would prolong that day until a man descended from me, or from my household, emerged during it. His name would match mine, and his 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.”
Al-Tirmidhī and Abū Dāwūd also narrated it on the authority of Umm Salamah (2). It also states:
“The Mahdī is from my family, from the descendants of Fātimah” (3).
Abū Dāwūd also narrated it through Abū Sa'īd, and it states:
“He will rule the earth for seven years” (4).
He also narrated from Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—that he looked at al-Hasan and said:
“This son of mine is a leader, as the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—called him. From his descendants will emerge a man bearing your Prophet’s name. He will resemble him in character, but not in appearance. He will fill the earth with equity” (5).
(1) Law (“if”) is omitted in N.
(2) This hadith was cited earlier, 4:95.
(3) The hadith narrated by Umm Salama—may Allah be pleased with her—is in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4:151 (Book of the Mahdī, first chapter, hadith no. 4284). Ibn Mājah narrated an abbreviated version in his Sunan, 2:1368 (Book of Tribulations, Chapter on the Emergence of the Mahdī), with the wording: “The Mahdī is from the descendants of Fātima.” Al-Albānī graded it authentic in Silsilat al-Ahādīth al-Da‘īfa, 1:108, and stated that al-Hakam included it, 4:557, etc.
(4) The hadith narrated by Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī—may Allah be pleased with him—is in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4:152 (Book of the Mahdī, first chapter), with the wording: “The Mahdī is from me, with a receding hairline and an aquiline nose. He will fill the earth with equity and justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice, and he will rule for seven years.” Al-Albānī graded the hadith hasan (good) in Sahīh al-Jāmi‘ al-Saghīr, 6:22–23, and in al-Tabrīzī’s Mishkāt al-Masābīh, 3:24 (t [0 - 9] 0).
(5) The hadith—with slight differences in wording—is narrated through Shu‘ayb ibn Khālid from Abū Ishāq in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4:153, in the section cited above. The editor—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “This hadith is munqati‘ (disconnected in its chain of transmission). Abū Ishāq al-Sabī‘ī saw ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—but his transmission from him has not been established.”