The Awaited Imam

The Day of Judgment will not arrive before the caliphate of Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام)

01. “Related by ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd (رضي الله عنهما) that the Messenger of Allāh’ (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: the world will not seize to exist until someone from my family becomes the king of Arabia whose name will be the same as my name (ie Muhammad).”

02. “‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd (رضي الله عنهما) narrates that the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: one of my children will be the caliph and his name will be the same as mine.

“‘Āsim said: Abū Sālih related to us: Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (RA): even if only one day remains before the end of the world, Allāh will lengthen the day to the extent that that person (ie Mahdī) becomes the caliph.”

03. “Umm Salamah (رضي الله عنها) says: I heard the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) say: Mahdī will be from my family and he will be from the children of Fātimāh.”

04. “Abū Nadrah narrates that we were with Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (رضي الله عنهما) when he said: That time is near when neither dinars nor grain will be brought to the natives of Syria. We asked: who will impose this restriction? Jābir (RA) said: The Romans. Then he kept quiet for a while and said: Allāh’s Messenger (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) has said that a Caliph (ie Mahdī) will appear in the last days of my Ummah and he will give wealth in vast quantities without keeping a record of it.

“Jurayrī, the sub-narrator, said: I asked Abū Nadrah and Abū ‘Alā’: in your opinion is ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd-ul-‘Azīz, the Caliph mentioned in the hadīth? They replied: No (this Caliph will be someone other than ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd-ul-‘Azīz).”

05. “Narrated by Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: The Day of Judgment will not come until the earth is filled with tyranny, exploitation and rebellion. Later, a person (Mahdī) will be born from among my children who will fill the earth with justice and equity. (It means that the Day of Judgment will not come before the appearance of the Caliph Mahdī) as it was filled with tyranny and rebellion.”

06. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: Mahdī will be from my family, his nose will be pointed and high and his forehead will be bright and shining. He will fill the earth with justice and equity, just as (before it) it had been filled with tyranny and transgression. The Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said, “he will live for,” then he stretched out his left (hand), two forefingers and thumb of his right hand and joined the three (meaning Mahdī will live for eight years).”

07. “‘Alī (RA) has related it from the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم): he (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: If only one day was to remain for this world to stay in tact (Allāh will lengthen the day and) a person, (called Mahdī) from my family, will be born who will fill the world with justice and equity just as (before him) it had been filled with tyranny and oppression.”

Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام) and Economic Justice

08. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: Mahdī will be from me (ie from my family), his face will be bright and shining and his nose will be pointed and high. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as before him it was filled with tyranny and oppression. (Meaning that before the caliphate of Mahdī, tyranny and exploitation shall reign supreme in the world and there will not be the slightest trace of justice and equity.)”

09. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: (Near to the end of time) the earth will be filled with tyranny and oppression and a person will be born from among my children, and he will rule as Caliph for seven or nine years. (During his caliphate) he will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it was previously filled with tyranny and injustice.”

10. “Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (RA) says that the Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) mentioned a great test that will face this Ummah. A time will come when oppression will be at such a peak that there will not be any refuge for any Muslim. Then Allāh will raise someone from amongst my children who will refill the earth with justice and fairness just as it was filled with tyranny and oppression before it. All those living in the heavens and earth will be pleased with him. The earth will produce as much as possible, and Allāh will pour down torrential rain from the sky. Mahdī will live in this era (of prosperity, equity and justice) for seven, eight or nine years. Prosperity will be on such a high that the people at the time will wish that only if those who had passed before them and experienced misery and oppression were alive.”

11. “Narrated by ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd (رضي الله عنهما) that Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: if there was only one night left for this world to stay in tact, Allāh will lengthen it until a member of my family becomes the ruler whose name will be the same as my name and the name of his father will be the same as the name of my father. He will fill the world with justice and fairness just as it was filled with tyranny and exploitation. He will distribute things equally among the people and Allāh will also fill the hearts of the Ummah with content. He will rule for seven or nine years. Then after the caliphate of Mahdī, there will be a total end to goodness (and virtue).”

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01. Related by Suyūtī in al-Hāwī lil-fatawā (2:73).

02. Tirmidhī narrated it in al-Jāmi‘-us-sahīh, chapters of fitan (turmoils) 4:85 (#2230); Abū Dāwūd, as-Sunan, b.of Mahdī, 4:87 (#4282); Ahmad bin Hambal, al-Musnad (1:376, 377, 430, 448); Ibn Hibbān, as-Sahīh (13:284 # 5954; 15:237 # 6824); Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Musannaf (15:198); Bazzār, al-Musnad (5:204 #1803); Hākim, al-Mustadrak (4:488 # 8364); Tabarānī, al-Mu‘jam-ul-kabīr (10:131, 133-137 # 10208, 10213-10230), al-Mu‘jam-us-saghīr (2:290 # 1181); Abū Nu‘aym, Hilyat-ul-awliyā’ wa tabaqāt-ul-asfiyā’ (5:75); Khatīb Baghdādī, Tārīkh Baghdad (4:388); and Mizzī in Tuhfat-ul-ashrāf bi-ma‘rifat-il-atrāf (7:23 # 9208).

03. Tirmidhī graded it Hassan (fair) sahīh (sound) in al-Jāmi‘-us-sahīh, (chapters of fitan (turmoils) 4:85 (#2231); Ibn Mājah, as-Sunan, b. of jihād (holy war) 3:354 (#2779); Ibn Hibbān, as-Sahīh (13:283 #5953); and Mizzī in Tuhfat-ul-ashrāf bi-ma‘rifat-il-atrāf (9:428 #12810).

04. Abū Dāwūd related it in as-Sunan, b. of Mahdī, 4:88 (#4284); Ibn Mājah, as-Sunan, b. of fitan (turmoils) 4:454 (#4086); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (12:264#38662); and Suyūtī in ad-Durr-ul-manthūr fit-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr (6:58).

05. Muslim narrated it in as-Sahīh, b. of fitan wa ashrāt-us-sā‘ah (turmoils and the conditions of the Last Hour) 4:2234 (67/2913); and Bayhaqī in Dalā’il-un-nubuwwah (6:330, 331).
Ahmad bin Hambal narrated it briefly in al-Musnad (3:38, 333).

06. Hākim graded it sahīh (sound) according to the conditions of Bukhārī and Muslim in his al-Mustadrak (4:557 # 8669), while Dhahabī confirmed it.
Ahmad narrated it in al-Musnad (3:36); Ibn Hibbān, as-Sahīh (15:236 # 6823); and Abū Ya‘lā in al-Musnad (2:274 #987).
Haythamī transmitted it in Mawārid-uz-zam’ān (6:132 # 1880) with a sound chain of transmission.
Haythamī copied it in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (7:313, 314) also, and declared the men of Ahmad and Abū Ya‘lā thiqah (trustworthy).

07. Hākim graded it sahīh (sound) according to the conditions of Muslim in al-Mustadrak (4:557 # 8670).

08. Abū Dāwūd related it in as-Sunan, b. of Mahdī, 4:87 (#4283); Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Musannaf (7:513 # 37648); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (14:267 # 38676); and Suyūtī in ad-Durr-ul-manthūr fit-tafsīr bil-ma‘thūr (6:58).
Ahmad bin Hambal related it with a little bit difference of words in al-Musnad (1:99).

09. Abū Dāwūd narrated it in as-Sunan, b. of Mahdī, 4:88 (#4285); Khatīb Tabrīzī, Mishkāt-ul-masābīh, b. of fitan (turmoils) 3:171 (#5454); and Suyūtī in al-Hāwī lil-fatāwā (2:58).

10. Related by Ahmad bin Hambal in al-Musnad (3:70).
Hākim graded it sahīh (sound) according to the conditions of Muslim in al-Mustadrak (4:558 # 8674), while Dhahabī kept quiet about it.

11. Hākim narrated it in al-Mustadrak (4:465 # 8438); Azdī, al-Jāmi‘ (11:371); Ibn Hammād, al-Fitan (1:359 # 1041); Dānī, as-Sunan-ul-wāridah fil-fitan (5:1049 # 563, 564); and Khatīb Tabrīzī in Mishkāt-ul-masābīh, b. of fitan (turmoils) 3:171 (#5457).

12. Suyūtī narrated it in al-Hāwī lil-fatāwā (2:64); Tabarānī, al-Mu‘jam-ul-kabīr (10:133, 135 # 10216, 10224); Dānī, as-Sunan-ul-wāridah fil-fitan (5:1055 # 572); Haythamī, Mawārid-uz-zam’ān (6:129 # 1877); and Hindī in Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (14:269 # 38683).
Haythamī also narrated it through Abū Hurayarah (t) in Mawārid-uz-zam’ān (6:128 # 1876).
Suyūtī narrated it with a difference of words at another place in al-Hāwī lil-fatāwā (2:58).