Sunni Documentation on Imam al-Mahdi (A.S)
part 3
Also Ahmad Ibn Hanbal recorded:
The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: "Allah will bring out from concealment al-Mahdi from my Family and just before the Day of Judgment; even if only one day were to remain in the life of the world, and he will spread on this earth justice and equity and will eradicate tyranny and oppression."
Sunni references:
Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, p99
A close version has also been narrated in Sunan Abu Dawud, English version, Ch. 36, Tradition #4270 narrated from Ali Ibn Abi Talib (AS).
It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that:
Jabir Ibn Abdillah al-Ansari (RA) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: "A group of my Ummah will fight for the truth until near the day of judgment when Jesus, the son of Marry, will descend, and the leader of them will ask him to lead the prayer, but Jesus declines, saying: "No, Verily, among you Allah has made leaders for others and He has bestowed his bounty upon them."
Sunni reference:
Sahih Muslim, Arabic, part 2, p193
Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v3, pp 45,384
al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Ch. 11, section 1, p251
Nuzool Isa Ibn Maryam Akhir al-Zaman, by Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, p57
Musnad, by Abu Ya'ala which provides another version of the tradition with more clear words on the authority of Jabir that the Messenger of Allah said: "A group among my Ummah will continue to fight for the truth until Jesus, the son of Marry, will descend, and the Imam of them will ask him to lead the prayer, but Jesus replies: "You have more right to it, and verily Allah has honored some of you over others in this Ummah."
Sahih Ibn Habban, whose tradition reads: "their leader al-Mahdi" and the rest of tradition is the same.
Ibn Abu Shaybah, another Sunni traditionist, and the mentor of al-Bukhari and Muslim, has reported several traditions about Imam al-Mahdi (AS). He has also reported that the Imam of the Muslims who will lead Prophet Jesus in prayer is Imam al-Mahdi himself.
Jalaluddin al-Suyuti mentioned that: "I have heard some of the deniers of (truth) deny what has been conveyed about Jesus that when he descends will pray the Fajr prayer behind al-Mahdi. They say, Jesus has higher status than to pray behind a non-Prophet. This is a bizarre opinion since the issue of prayer of Jesus behind al-Mahdi has been proven strongly via numerous authentic traditions from the Messenger of Allah, who is the most truthful." And then al-Suyuti goes on narrating some of the traditions in this regard. (See Nuzool Isa Ibn Maryam Akhir al-Zaman, by Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, p56).
Also al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned that:
"The Mahdi is of this Ummah, and that Jesus (PBUH&HF) will come down and pray behind him."
Sunni reference: Fat'h al-Bari, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v5, p362
This is also mentioned by another Sunni scholar, Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, who wrote:
"The Ahlul-Bayt are like the stars through whom we are guided in the right direction, and if the starts are taken away (or hidden) we would come face to face with the signs of the Almighty as promised (i.e., the Day of Resurrection). This will happen when the Mahdi will come, as mentioned in the traditions, and the Prophet Jesus will say his prayers behind him, the Dajjal will be slain, and then the signs of the Almighty will appear one after another."
Sunni reference: al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar, Ch. 11, section 1, p234
Also Ibn Hajar quoted Abu al-Husain al-Ajiri saying:
The traditions of al-Mustafa (PBUH) on the rising of al-Mahdi has been transmitted via numerous authorities and is more than the level of (being sufficient for) Mutawatir, describing that he is of his Ahlul-Bayt, and will fill the earth with justice, and that Jesus (A.S) will come at the same time and he will assist Jesus for killing al-Dajjal in the land of Palestine, and that he will lead this nation and Jesus will pray behind him.
Sunni reference:
Abu al-Husain al-Ajiri as quoted in al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar, Ch. 11, section 1, p254
So if al-Mahdi and Jesus are to be the same person as some ignorants claim, then how can one prays behind himself?! Moreover this shows that Imam al-Mahdi and Jesus (the Messiah) will come at the same time so that they could pray the morning prayer together in Jerusalem.
In fact, the equivalent word of "Messiah" in Arabic is "al-Maseeh" which means "Wiped Clean; Purified". This word has been used in Quran as the title of Prophet Jesus (A.S). As such, the "Messiah" is the Prophet Jesus (A.S) and not the Imam al-Mahdi (AS). However, the word "Messiah" in English has another meaning, that is "savior". As a result, there have been some English translators who used the word "Messiah" for Imam al-Mahdi (A.S) with the meaning of "Savior" which does NOT have anything to do with Arabic word "al-Maseeh".
I should point out that, there exists a fabricated tradition which is mainly used by Ahmadis and Qadianis to prove that al-Mahdi and Jesus are the same. The tradition states: "And no Mahdi except Jesus." This tradition has been rated by al-Hakim as unknown and strange and he said there are discrepancy in its chain of authorities. al-Bayhaqi said Muhammad Ibn Khalid said this tradition is single (Mufrad). al-Nisa'i has mentioned that this tradition is unfamiliar and is denied, and that the memorizers of traditions confirm that the traditions which state that al-Mahdi is the descendants of Fatimah are authentic and reliable. (See al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, Ch. 11, section 1, p252 for details).
Prophet Jesus is not the Imam of Muslims, and when he comes back, he will be the follower of the Imam of Muslims who is known as Imam al-Mahdi (A.S).
In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated that:
The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: "What would be your situation if the Son of Marry (i.e. Jesus) descends upon you and your Imam is among you?"
Sunni reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English, v4, Tradition #658
NOTE: The above is my own translation. The Saudi-paid translator of Sahih al-Bukhari (Muhammad Muhsin Khan) has shown pure dishonesty in translating the above tradition. His translation of the last portion of the tradition does not bear any similarity what so ever with the Arabic text of the tradition which is as follows:
Now let us look at the false translation of Mr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan:
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 4.658
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> Narrated Abu Huraira:
Muhammad Muhsin Khan>
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> Allah's Apostle said "How will you be when the son
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you and he
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> will judge people by the Law of the Quran
Muhammad Muhsin Khan> and not by the law of Gospel.
Mr. Muhsin Khan has trimmed the last part of the tradition which states that the Imam of Muslims (i.e., Imam al-Mahdi) is among Muslims when the son of marry descends. Instead, the translator has added another sentence which does not exists in the Arabic text. I should mention that this is not the only place that he has altered the text, and there are much more examples in this regard which proves his bias and his dishonesty.
Al-Hafidh Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Shawkani (d. 1250/1834) wrote in a book called "al-Tawdhih fi twawatur ma jaa'a fil muntadar wad-djjal wal masih" (the explanation about the frequent reports concerning the Awaited one, the Dajjal, and the messiah) in which he wrote about Imam al-Mahdi (A.S) that: "The traditions about al-Mahdi have been related by numerous authorities and are therefor reliable beyond doubt or confusion, because in jurisprudence the qualification of Mutawatir is valid even for (traditions) with less than this number of narrations. There are also many sayings of the companions (of the Prophet) which explicitly mention the Mahdi, which have the status of narrations from the Prophet since there is no question of establishing such saying through Ijtihad (one's opinion and research)". The author gives the same opinion in his other book "al-Fat'h al-Rabbani". (In this connection see also Mawsu'atil Imam al-Mahdi, v1, pp 391-392,413-414,434, and also Tuhfatul Ahwadhi, v6, p485).
to be continued...
source: shia.org
Other Links:
Imam Mahdi(pbuh)
Mahdi (AS) in Different Ahatith
Sunni Documentation on Imam al-Mahdi (A.S)-part 1
Sunni Documentation on Imam al-Mahdi (A.S)-part 2
