Imam Al Mahdi, The Twelfth Khalifah In The Sahih Sunni Ahadith

7. Birth Of A Little Paradise =============================

It is impossible to completely eradicate oppression and injustice from the face of the earth. There will always be some people who are oppressing and unjustly treating others till the Day of al-Qiyamah. However, incidences of oppression, aggression and injustice can be reduced to the barest minimum, to the extent they are hardly heard of anywhere on the globe. This is what Imam al-Mahdi, ‘alaihi al-salam, will achieve, with Allah’s Help, through his worldwide revolution. This is also what the ahadith say: that just as cases of equity and justice are existent but unusual today, incidences of oppression, aggression and injustice will also occur at his time, though very rarely. Imam Abu Dawud (d. 275 H) records:

Sahl b. Tammam b. Buzay’ – ‘Imran al-Qaṭṭan – Qatadah – Abu Nadhrah – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “The Mahdi is from me, with a broad forehead, a curved nose. He will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice, and he will rule by kingdom for seven years.”[^1]

Al-Albani says:

Hasan.^2

Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) also documents:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Muhammad b. Ja’far – ‘Awf – Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “The Hour will not be established until the earth is filled with injustice and aggression. Then, a man from my offspring or my Ahl al-Bayt will come out. He will fill it with equity and justice just as it had been filled with injustice and aggression.”[^3]

Shaykh al-Arnauṭ comments:

Its chain is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs.^4

A world with almost no oppression and injustice is only a wild dream today; and certainly, it will take a great miracle to achieve. This is why it is clearly one of the miracles of the Mahdi that he will successfully create a earth which is nothing but a little paradise. The earth will become virtually crimeless and overwhelming peaceful, once Allah grants victory to him.

Another major miracle which Imam al-Mahdi will achieve is that he will completely end poverty in our planet. Literally every single human being on the earth will become very rich and wealthy. Imam Muslim (d. 261 H) records how this will occur:

Zuhayr b. Harb and ‘Ali b. Hajar – Isma’il b. Ibrahim – al-Jariri – Abu Nadhrah:

We were with Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah and he said…: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “There will be a khalifah at the END of my Ummah who will distribute wealth without ever counting it.”[^5]

This khalifah is named in this hadith of Imam al-Hakim (d. 403 H):

Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Mahbubi – Sa’id b. Mas’ud – al-Nadhr b. Shumayl – Sulayman b. ‘Ubayd – Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “The Mahdi will come out at the END of my Ummah**.**.[^6]

Al-Hakim comments:

This hadith has a sahih chain^7

Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H) agrees:

Sahih^8

He will be Imam al-Mahdi, and he will distribute wealth to his subjects without measure. Muslim again records:

Zuhayr b. Harb – ‘Abd al-Samad b. ‘Abd al-Warith – my father – Dawud – Abu Nadhrah – Abu Sa’id and Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “There will be a khalifah at the End of Time, who will distribute wealth and will not count it.”[^9]

‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) too has copied this hadith of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi:

Among your khulafa will be a khalifah who will distribute wealth without ever counting it.[^10]

He then comments:

Sahih[^11]

In the footnote to the report, al-Albani further says:

He is the Mahdi, whose advent is promised to occur before the descent of ‘Isa, ‘alaihi al-salat wa al-salam, and ‘Isa, ‘alaihi al-salat wa al-salam**, behind him**.[^12]

With such a leader in charge of world affairs, it is no surprise that the earth will be transformed into the promised land for mankind, which flows with milk and honey. Imam al-Hakim records about some other benefits of the Mahdi’s rule for humanity:

Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Mahbubi – Sa’id b. Mas’ud – al-Nadhr b. Shumayl – Sulayman b. ‘Ubayd – Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “The Mahdi will come out at the end of my Ummah**. Allah will provide rain to him, and the earth will bring out its vegetation, and he will give wealth correctly. Livestock will become abundant and the** Ummah will become great. He will witness seven or eight Hajjs.[^13]

Al-Hakim comments:

This hadith has a sahih chain^14

Imam al-Dhahabi agrees:

Sahih^15

‘Allamah al-Albani also says about the hadith in his Sahihah:

I say: This chain is sahih[^16]

Dr. al-Bastawi has the same verdict on it:

Its chain is sahih.[^17]

Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah (d. 235 H) too has this report:

‘Abd Allah b. Numayr – Musa al-Juhani – ‘Umar b. Qays al-Masir – Mujahid:

Someone, a man from the Sahabah of the Prophet, narrated to me (from the Prophet): “Verily, the Mahdi will not come out until the Pure Soul is murdered. When he (the Pure Soul) is murdered, those in the heavens and those on the earth will become angry against them. So, the people will go to the Mahdi, and they will accompany him in a procession, just as the bride is accompanied in a procession to her groom on the night of her wedding. He will fill the earth with equity and justice, and the earth will bring out its vegetation, and the sky will bring down its rains. My Ummah will enjoy a comfort during his rule, which it never enjoined before.”[^18]

Dr. al-Bastawi says about this hadith:

Its chain is sahih. Its narrators are trustworthy. Mujahid has not explicitly stated the name of the Sahabi. However, he did hear from a group of the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them.[^19]

The unnamed Sahabi was clearly narrating from the Messenger of Allah. This is why the phrase “my Ummah” is used in his report. Moreover, all Sahabah are trustworthy in Sunni rijal. Therefore, the fact that the Sahabi is not named does not hurt the authenticity of the hadith. It is perfectly sahih.

[^1]: Abu Dawud Sulayman b. al-Ash’ath al-Sijistani al-Azdi, Sunan (Dar al-Fikr) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 2, p. 509, # 4285

[^3]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurṭubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnauṭ], vol. 3, p. 36, # 11331

[^5]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 4, p. 2234, # 2913 (67)

[^6]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihayn (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1411 H) [annotator: Mustafa ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Aṭa], vol. 4, p. 601, # 8673

[^9]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 4, p. 2235, # 2913/2914 (69)

[^10]: Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh b. Tajati b. Adam al-Ashqudri al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami’ al-Saghir wa Ziyadatuhu (al-Maktab al-Islami), vol. 2, p. 1027, # 5913

[^11]: Ibid, vol. 2, p. 1028, # 5913

[^12]: Ibid, vol. 2, p. 1027, # 5913

[^13]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihayn (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1411 H) [annotator: Mustafa ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Aṭa], vol. 4, p. 601, # 8673

[^16]: Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh b. Tajati b. Adam al-Ashqudri al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah wa Shayhun min Fiqhihah wa Fawaidihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma’arif li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’; 1st edition, 1415 H), vol. 2, p. 328, # 711

[^17]: Dr. ‘Abd al-‘Alim ‘Abd al-‘Azim al-Bastawi, al-Mahdi al-Muntazar fi Dhaw-i al-Ahadith wa al-Athar al-Sahihah wa Aqwal al-‘Ulama wa Ara al-Firaq al-Mukhtalifah (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm; 1st edition, 1420 H), p. 165

[^18]: ‘Abd Allah b. Muhammad b. Abi Shaybah Ibrahim b. ‘Uthman b. Abi Bakr b. Abi Shaybah al-Kufi al-‘Ubsi, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah fi al-Ahadith wa al-Athar (Dar al-Fikr; 1st edition, 1409 H) [annotator: Prof. Sa’id al-Laham], vol. 8, p. 679, # 199

[^19]: Dr. ‘Abd al-‘Alim ‘Abd al-‘Azim al-Bastawi, al-Mahdi al-Muntazar fi Dhaw-i al-Ahadith wa al-Athar al-Sahihah wa Aqwal al-‘Ulama wa Ara al-Firaq al-Mukhtalifah (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm; 1st edition, 1420 H), p. 214, # 12