The Awaited Imam

Economic Prosperity and Fair Distribution of Wealth

01. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) has narrated that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: Mahdī will be born during the last days of my Ummah. Allāh will pour down heavy rain during his caliphate and the earth will grow its produce in abundance, and he will distribute things equally among the people. During his reign there will be plenty of cattle and the Ummah will be held in great esteem. (After becoming the caliph) he will live for seven or eight years.”

02. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) has narrated that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: I am giving you the good news of the coming of Mahdī who will be sent down at a time when my Ummah will fall prey to disputes and chaos. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it was filled (before him) with oppression and persecution. Those in the earth and heavens will be pleased with him. He will distribute things equally among the people (ie he will not discriminate against anyone). Allāh (during his caliphate) will fill the hearts of my Ummah with generosity. He will provide justice to all (without any discrimination or preference). He will ask his announcer to announce that if anyone required anything (they should come to Mahdī. On hearing this announcement) no one from among the Muslims except one person will stand up. Mahdī will ask him to go to the treasurer and tell him that Mahdī has ordered you to give me some goods. (The man will go to the treasurer), the treasure will say to him: take as much as you want. He will take (as much as he wishes) and will come out of the treasury. He will, at that moment, be ashamed (of his act) and (will say to himself), am I the greediest person in Muhammad’s Ummah, or he will say to himself that which is enough for others is not enough for me. (Feeling guilty of his act) he will want to return the goods but it will not be taken back. He will be told that, once we have given something we do not take it back. So Mahdī will live for seven, eight or nine years with this justice and fairness and distribution of wealth. Then after his (death) there will be no goodness (comfortable life) for the living to enjoy.”

03. “Abū Hurayrah (RA) has narrated that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said while mentioning Mahdī: At minimum, the duration of the caliphate of Mahdī will be seven years. It can also be eight or nine years. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it was filled with tyranny and oppression before it.”

04. “Narrated by Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (رضي الله عنهما) that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: There will be a caliph in my Ummah who will generously distribute wealth without keeping a record of it. And I swear by the One who controls my life! Certainly, the dominance (of Islam) will return (that is, Islam will recapture its lost glory and retrieve its status during his reign).”

05. “Abū Hurayrah (RA) has related that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: there will be Mahdī in my Ummah. If (the duration of his caliphate is a) short (period) then it will be seven years, otherwise, it will be eight or nine years. The prosperity of my Ummah will be at such a high, the likes of which not experienced by it in the past. Rain will pour down from the sky (as needed), the earth will grow as much crop as possible and there will be no shortage of wealth. A person will stand and say: O Mahdī! Give me something. Mahdī will say him: take it yourself (from the treasury according to your desires).”

06. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) has related that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: There will be Mahdī in my Ummah who will be the caliph for at least seven years, otherwise for nine years. My Ummah will be so prosperous in his period that it would not have experienced such prosperity before it. The earth will grow every form of crop and hold back nothing. During this period goods will be in such a high quantity as a heap of grain on the threshing floor. Someone will stand up and say: O Mahdī! Give me something. He will say: Take (as much you like).”

07. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) narrates: We asked the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) about happenings after him. We asked him: What will happen after you? He said: There will be Mahdī in my Ummah who will rule for five, or seven or nine, (the narrator is doubtful about the correct period). I asked: what is meant by this figure? He said: (this figure means) years. He said: (his period will be a period of blessing and prosperity.) A person will come over to him and ask him: O Mahdī! Give me something, give me something. So Mahdī will give him as many goods as he will be able to carry.”

Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام) will be welcomed with Open Arms

08. “(The famous tabi‘ī (Successor)) Mujāhid has narrated that a Companion said: (The caliph) Mahdī will appear after the murder of ‘Nafs Zakiyyah’. When ‘Nafs Zakiyyah’ is murdered, those in the heavens and the earth will be angry with the murderers. Later, the people will come to Mahdī and bring him (with great pomp and show) as the bride is carried to her groom on wedding night. He will fill the earth with equity and justice. (During his caliphate) the earth will grow its crops as the skies pour down plenty of rain. During his rule my Ummah will be blessed with so many favours that it has never been blessed before.”

Necessary Clarification: A man known as Nafs Zakiyyah was Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Hussein ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib who revolted against Abbasid caliph Mansūr in 145 AH and was martyred. The tradition does not refer to him. Here Nafs Zakiyyah stands for some other saint who will come before Imām Mahdī.

09. “Abū Hurayrah (RA) has narrated that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: there will be Mahdī in my Ummah who will rule for seven years if the period is short, otherwise for eight or nine years. During Mahdī’s period, my Ummah will be so prosperous that it will not have experienced such prosperity before it. The sky will pour down torrential rain and the earth will yield its entire produce. Goods will be lying like a heap of grains on the threshing floor. One man will stand up and say: O Mahdī: give me something. So he will say: take (as much as you like).”

10. Narrated by ‘Alī (RA), he said: I said (to the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم)): O Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليك وسلم)! Will Mahdī be from us, the family of Muhammad or from others? He said: no, but he will be from among us, Allāh will re-establish Islam through him as he did so (in the beginning) through us. These people will be rescued from mischief through us (Mahdī) as they have been saved from polytheism. And through our means (Mahdī) Allāh will create love in their hearts after the hatred of mischief as He created love in their hearts after the hatred of polytheism. And through our means people will become brotherly amongst each other after the rivalry of turmoils as they have done so in Islam after the rivalry of polytheism."

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01. Hākim graded it sahīh (sound) in al-Mustadrak (4:558 # 8673), while Dhahabī confirmed it.
Hindī transmitted it in Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (14:273 # 38700); and Albānī in Silsilat-ul-ahādīth-is-sahīhah (2:336 # 711).

02. Ahmad bin Hambal related it in al-Musnad (3:37, 52); and Suyūtī in ad-Durr-ul-manthūr fit-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr (6:57).
Haythamī said in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:313,314) that Tirmidhī had narrated it briefly, while Ahmad copied it through his chain of transmission, and Abū Ya‘lā also narrated it briefly and the men of Ahmad and Abū Ya‘lā are trustworthy.

03. Haythamī said in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:316) that Bazzār had narrated it, and his men are trustworthy.

04. Hākim graded it sahīh (sound) according to the conditions of Muslim in al-Mustadrak (4:454 # 8400), while Dhahabī kept quiet about it.
Haythamī said in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:316) that Bazzār had related it, and its men are those of (sahīh) sound hadīth.
Ibn Hammād narrated it in al-Fitan (1:362 # 1055); Suyūtī, ad-Durr-ul-manthūr fit-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr (6:56); and Bayhaqī in Dalā’il-un-nubuwwah (6:330,331).
Muslim related it with different words in as-Sahīh, b. of fitan wa ashrāt-us-sā‘ah (turmoils and conditions of the Last Hour) 4:2234 (#67/2913); Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (3:317); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (14:263 # 38659); and Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (4:599; 10:44).

05. Tabarānī related it in al-Mu‘jam-ul-awsat (6:193 # 5402).
Haythamī said in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:317) that Tabarānī narrated it in al-Awsat and his men are trustworthy.

06. Ibn Mājah narrated this Hassan (fair) hadīth in as-Sunan, b. of fitan (turmoils) 4:453 (#4083); Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Musannaf (7:512, 513 # 37638); Hākim, al-Mustadrak (4:558 # 8675); Dānī, as-Sunan-ul-wāridah fil-fitan (5:1035, 1036 # 550); and Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (10:37).

07. Tirmidhī related this Hassan (fair) hadīth in al-Jāmi‘-us-sahīh, chapters of fitan (turmoils) 4:86 (#2232); Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (3:21, 22); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (14:262 # 38654); and Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (10:37).

08. Related by Ibn Abī Shaybah in al-Musannaf (7:514 # 37653).

09. Tabarānī related it in al-Mu‘jam-ul-awsat (6:193 # 5402).
Haythamī said in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:317) that Tabarānī narrated it in al-Awsat and his men are trustworthy.

10. Suyūtī narrated it in al-Hāwī lil-fatāwā (2:61); Tabarānī, al-Mu‘jam-ul-awsat (1:136 # 157); Ibn Hammād, al-Fitan (1:370, 371 # 1089, 1090); and Haythamī in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:316, 317).