পৃষ্ঠা 201: তৃতীয় অধ্যায়: কিয়ামতের মহা আলামতসমূহ (মাহদী, দাজ্জাল, ঈসা (আ.), ইয়াজুজ-মাজুজ, পশ্চিমাকাশে সূর্যোদয়)

Mention of the claim of Muhammad ibn Tumart that he was al-Mahdi, and an exposition of his true state.

Mention of the doctrine of the Rafidah regarding al-Mahdi and his identity.

He said: Even if this and what preceded it were authentic, there would still be no proof in it that al-Mahdi was the one who ruled from among the Banu al-Abbas.

I say: It has already been mentioned that the banners of al-Mahdi will also come from Khurasan and that they are black, and that they are distinct from the banners of the Banu al-Abbas; and Allah knows best.

The third view: That he is a man from the household of the Prophet (ﷺ), from the progeny of al-Hasan (or the progeny of al-Husayn ibn Ali), who will emerge at the end of time when the earth has been filled with injustice, and he will fill it with equity and justice; and the majority of the hadiths support this.

As for the Rafidah and the Imamiyyah, they hold a fourth view:

Namely: that al-Mahdi is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Askari, the Awaited One, from the descendants of al-Husayn ibn Ali, not from the descendants of al-Hasan ibn Ali; who is present in the cities but concealed from eyes. He entered the cellar (sirdab) of Samarra as a small child more than five hundred years ago, and no eye has seen him since, nor has any news of him been perceived. They await him every day, standing with horses at the door of the cellar and calling out to him: 'Come forth, O our master! Come forth, O our master!' Then they return in disappointment and despair, and this is their perpetual custom.

How excellent is the one who said in verse:

'Has the time not yet arrived for the cellar to bring forth the one whom you, out of your ignorance, have addressed? No, that time has not arrived!'

'May ruin be upon your intellects, for indeed you have made him a third myth alongside the Phoenix (al-Anqa) and the Ghouls!'

Indeed, these people have become a disgrace to the children of Adam and a laughingstock mocked by every rational person.

I say: A group among the early generations (Salaf) claimed that Muhammad ibn Abdillah al-Mahd, known as al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah, was al-Mahdi, and reference to this has already been made; and Allah knows best.

He said: As for the Mahdi of the North Africans, Muhammad ibn Tumart, he was a lying, oppressive man who seized power through falsehood and ruled through tyranny. He killed innocent souls, violated the sanctities of Muslims, enslaved their offspring, and seized their wealth. He was far more evil for the religious community than al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. He used to place a group of his companions alive into the belly of the earth in graves and command them to say to the people that he was al-Mahdi.