Imam Mahdi (A.S.) in Sehah-e-Sitah:

Imam Mahdi (A.S.) in Sehah-e-Sitah:


The belief in Imam Mahdi (A.S.) has been a topic of debate
since the very inception of Islam. Most of the Islamic scholars
are so deeply drowned in the pit of prejudice that they deny
the existence of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) in its entirety. They assert
that it is an idea fabricated by the Shias which has no origin
either in Quran or in Prophetic traditions and is an unfounded
belief. As far as Quran is concerned, time and again in several
articles of Yamahdi.com we have proved the point. God-willing
in this article we shall try to prove the holy existence of Imam
Mahdi (A.S.) from the Prophetic traditions. We shall also try to
establish that not only this belief is not concocted by Shi'te
zealots but it is such a foundation of Islam which cannot be
rejected. The Holy Prophet (S.A.) and his companions were
awaiting such a 'Reformer' who will establish justice and
equity in the world and thus fulfill the Divine Promise of "so
that it (Islam) may prevail upon all the religions" (Quran).
Why Sehah-e-Sittah?
Often it happens that when Shia Scholars bring some proofs,
then immediately the Sunni learned men retort by, "If you
prove it from Sehah-e-Sittah we will believe. We believe only
in the references of Sehah-e-Sittah and nothing else." How far
their reply is correct or incorrect is beyond the limits of this
article. But it will not be out of place to mention that umpteen
Sunni beliefs are not to be found in Sehah-e- Sittah. For
instance the belief in 'Ashrae Mubashshirah', these are those
ten 'fortunate' companions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.) who
were promised paradise in their lifetime. But, this belief Of
Ahle-Sunnat is not to be found in any of the Sehah.
Nevertheless in order to exhaust the arguments, we will
confine our references and citations from Sehah Sittah alone.
Imam Mahdi (A.S.) is from the Holy Ahlebait (A.S.)

1- Hafiz Abu Abdullah Mohammad bin Yazid Al Qazvini
narrates in his 'Sunane-Ihn Majah' that Hazrat Ali (A.S.)
related from the Holy Prophet (S.A.) that :
"The Mahdi is from us Ahlebait, Allah shall organize his
affairs within one night."
(Sunane-lbn Majah, Kitabul Fitan, Tradition No. 4085).
Bukhari has quoted the same tradition ditto in his 'Tarikh' but
only Allah knows who advised him against quoting the
tradition in his 'Sahih'.


2- Saeed bin Musayyab relates that once we were sitting in
the company ofUmme Salmah (R.A.) when we mentioned
about Mahdi, she replied that I have heard the Holy Prophet
(S.A.) saying :
"The Mahdi is from the offspring of Fatema."

3- Anas bin Malik related from the Holy Prophet (S.A.) that
"We, the progeny of Abdul Muttalib viz. I, Hamza, Ali,
Jafar, Hasan, Husain and Mahdi are the chiefs of
inhabitants of Paradise."

4- Abu Isa Mohammad bin Sauda narrates in his Sahihe-
Tirmizi, that the Holy Prophet (S.A.) said :
"The world will not perish unless a man from my
progeny will not rule on the land of Arabs—-."
(Sahihe-Tirmizi, Kitabul Fitan, Chapter of The Reports on
Mahdi', Tradition No. 2230.)
Abu Isa opined that the tradition is also quoted from Ali (A.
S.), Abu Saeed Umme Salma and Abu Huraira. This is a
correct and authentic tradition. Apart from this, classifying a
separate chapter in his Sahih about Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) itself
speaks volumes about the importance of the subject.
There are numerous such traditions from the Holy Prophecy (S.A.)
 which proclaim that the Mahdi will be only from Ahlebait (A.S.)
 and none else. Two conclusions can be derived from such
traditions. Firstly, Haznit Mahdi (A.S.) is not an ordinary person.
He is such an extraordinary and sublime person of whom
the Holy Prophet (S.A.) is proud. He (S.A.) heaves a breathe
of pride when he announces that Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) is from
his own progeny. Secondly, these traditions exposed and
unmasked all those importers and pseudo-Mahdi is who were
neither related to the Holy Prophet (S.A.) nor were in any way
linked to his Ahlebait (A.S.).
The Reappearance Of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) Is Inevitable
Some persons reject the existence and the reappearance
of
Imam-e- Zaman (A.S.) because of his concealed birth,
occultation and longevity.

Today when the majority of the Islamic sects are scoffing at
us because we are convinced of the existence of Imam Mahdi
(A.S.) then it should not be in the least surprising because the
believers were always made the target of mockery. (For
details refer to Holy Quran). The Holy Prophet (S.A.) had

spoken a lot about Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) and declared emphatically
that Qiyamat will never occur unless Hazrat
Mahdi(A.S.) does not arrive. Thus it has been quoted from the Holy
Prophet (S.A.) that:
"If a single day remains from the age of this world
then Allah will prolong that day to such an extent
that, He will raise a man from my progeny on that
particular day-—."
(Sunane-Abi Daud, Kitabul Mahdi, Tradition No. 4282)
There are numerous such traditions in the books of 'Sehah-e-
Sittah'. Often a question arises
that why always a similarity is struck between the
reappearance of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) and the occurrence
of
Qiyamat ?

The reason is that Qiyamat is one of the promises of Allah, the
Almighty, Who always fulfills His promises. Similarly, Hazrat
Mahdi (A.S.) is also one of the promises of Allah. Hence
occasionally, he is also referred as 'Mahdi-e-Mauood' (The
Promised Mahdi) whose advent is mentioned in the Holy
Quran in the following words:
"O Prophet say) Then await certainly I am awaiting
too." (Araf:81)
Hence if Qiyamat is an irrefutable reality then the advent of
Mahdi too is an incontrovertible fact.
Secondly the belief in Mahdaviyat is one of the fundamentals
of Islam and as much a basic principle as Qiyamat is. This
purports that the denial of the belief in Mahdaviyat is like the
abnegation of a basic fundamental of Islam, and denial of any
of the fundamentals
of Islam is infidelity. All the same,
Khwaja Kalan Qunduzi Hanafi narrates a tradition from the
Holy Prophet that :
"The one who denied the reappearance of Mahdi (A.
S.) then it is as if he has disbelieved in all that which
was revealed upon the (Prophet) Mohammad (S.A.)."
Is there any further proof required? The conclusion which is
derived after keen perusal of logical and traditional reasoning
is that any one who denies the existence or the reappearance
of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) will be an infidel and not a Muslim.


Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) And Justice:


Whenever the Holy Quran has mentioned about the aims of
Prophets then it has mentioned about the establishment of
justice as a chief objective of their mission. As it is said in the
Holy Quran that:
"So that man may deal with justice."
In Sehah Sittah whenever Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) is mentioned,
then along with it, his attributes also have been described.
One of these descriptions is that when he will come, he will fill
the earth with justice and equity as it would be fraught with
injustice and inequity. For instance
"He will fill the earth with justice and equity as it would
be rife with tyranny and oppression". (Sunane-Abi Daud,
Tradition Nos. 2283, 4282) It can be inferred from these
traditions that the purpose of the reappearance of Imam
Mahdi (A.S.) is the dissemination of justice. Secondly, when
he will arrive then injustice and oppression would be rampant
in the world. The oppressors would be obeyed and the
disbelievers would be disgraced. There will he only one person
who will turn the tide whose name will be on the name of Holy
Prophet (S.A.) and his epithet will be same as that of the
Prophet (S.A.). It will be the era of the fulfillment of Divine
promises such as :
"... The last era is for the pious men" (Araf:127) and
"... So that if (Islam) may prevail upon all religions
though the polytheists may resent." (Tauba : 33)
and people will realize the truth of the following verse :
"Say ('0 Prophet) truth has come and falsehood
vanished, Surely falsehood was bound to vanish." (Bani
Israil; 80)
An Emphatic Command For The Believers:
The revolution of Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) will not be an ordinary
one. It will bring a sea change in the cosmic order in its wake.
It is evident that for bringing about such an unparallel
revolution Hazrat Mahdi (A.S ) will need a legion of
companions who are determined and can endure all sorts of
untold calamities in their way. Perhaps for this reason the Holy
Prophet (S.A.) had laid emphasis on the believers to aid and
assist Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) when he reappears. He (S.A.) put
the same in the following words:-
"So if you will see him then pledge allegiance to him
even if you have to crawl on an iceberg because he is
the Caliph of Allah, the Mahdi." (Sunane-lbne-Majah,
Tradition No. 4084)
It can be inferred from this tradition that it has been stressed
to assist Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) in all conditions, either in

comfort or calamity. Alas ! the Muslims slaughtered the one
whom the Holy Prophet (S.A.) regarded as his son in Karbala
and denied the existence of one in whom he reposed all his
hopes and expectations. Only Allah knows how this
community will face Him and His Prophet (S.A.) on the day of
Qiyamat.

Anyhow, all the topics discussed over here are extracted from
Sehah-e-Sittah which are unchallengeable
and undeniable.
For, a majority of Sunni scholars agree that whoever dared to
reject or question
Sehah-e-Sittah has intact repudiated the
Holy Prophet (S.A.) and has consequently disbelieved in
Islam. Also it can be noticed that those compilers of Sahih
who have not narrated the traditions regarding Hazrat Mahdi
(A.S.) in their books have quoted the same in their other
books. If any of the Sehah does not contain a proper and
adequate narration about him then it does not cast any
serious impact on the veracity of the beliefs in Imam Mahdi (A.
S.), because in other Sehah it has been related redundantly.
Here it was mentioned only to apprise others that even Sehahe-
Sittah is not devoid of the traditions regarding Hazrat Mahdi
(A.S.). This much should suffice to those who are skeptical of
the veritahility of this pristine belief.