হাদিস 257-এর ধারাবাহিকতা: 'ঈসা ব্যতীত কোনো মাহদী নেই' হাদিসের প্রামাণিক বিশ্লেষণ ও সমাপ্তি

...Ali, and not from the descendants of al-Husayn, as preceded in the wording of the hadith of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

Thirdly, various factions have each claimed that their leader was the promised Mahdi, such as the Mahdi of the esoteric Qaramitah (Batiniyyah), who established their mission in the Maghrib (North Africa). He was from the descendants of Maymun al-Qaddah, and they alleged that this Maymun was from the lineage of Muhammad ibn Isma'il. The Isma'ilis traced their affiliation to him, though they are heretics (mulhidun) in secret, apostates from all religious communities, even more blasphemous than extremists such as the Nusayriyyah. Their doctrine is a compound of the doctrines of the Magians (Zoroastrians), the Sabians, and the philosophers, while outwardly professing Shi'ism. Their progenitor was a Jewish man who was the stepson of a Magian man. They possessed a state and followers, and the scholars authored works uncovering their secrets and tearing down their veils, such as the book of al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Hamadhani, the book of al-Ghazali, and others like them.

Among those who claimed to be the Mahdi was Ibn Tumart, who also emerged in the Maghrib and named his followers 'al-Muwahhidun' (the Almohads). It was proclaimed concerning him in their sermons: 'The Infallible Imam, the Infallible Mahdi, who will fill the earth with justice and equity, just as it was filled with injustice and oppression.'

This man claimed to be from the lineage of al-Hasan, not al-Husayn, for he was not a Rafidi, and he possessed sufficient knowledge of hadith to fabricate a claim conforming to the prophetic traditions. Yet it is known by necessity that he was not the one whom the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned, just like several others who claimed this status: some of them were killed, and regarding some, their followers falsely claimed it for them. These claimants are numerous, and none can enumerate them except Allah. Perhaps some benefit accrued to a group through one of them, even if harm befell others, just as occurred with the Mahdi of the Maghrib: some groups benefited through him while others were harmed, and there were aspects in him worthy of praise as well as aspects worthy of censure. In any case, he and his kind are far better than the fictitious Mahdi of the Rafidah, who has no reality or trace, neither perceived by sense nor known by news; no one has benefited from him either in worldly matters or in religion. Rather, belief in his supposed existence has brought about evil and corruption that none can count except the Lord of creation.