Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

firstly, if this tradition was correct then the oppression and cruelty which was prevalent during the time of yazid and hajjaj should have increased manifold and until today there should have not remained any goodness in this world. however, after the afore-mentioned period, that is from the time of omar-ibn-abdul aziz and the abbasside caliphs up to now, peace and goodness has been settled by the grace of Allah.

secondly, before the appointment of the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) to the position of prophethood, the subject of mahdaviyat was not prevalent among the arabs so that it could possibly reject this saying (there is no Mahdi but isa-ibn-maryam).

thirdly, god has hinted about Mahdi in many verses of his book and as such the holy prophet too has given glad-tidings about him to his followers just as the previous prophets (a.s.) had given glad-tidings to others about the coming of our prophet and the circumstances concerning Mahdi. i have collected and mentioned these glad-tidings in a book entitled «mashreq-ul-ekwan». (end)

what we can derive from the sayings of these great men in reply to the afore-mentioned tradition is the following:-

firstly, it is a fabricated one; secondly it is null and void and hence weak; thirdly it is contradicting the widely transmitted tradition and fourthly its actual interpretation differs from its apparent meaning.

it is possible to conclude from this tradition that the advent of Mahdi and the descending of isa from the heavens are two related affairs connected to each other where none can be separated from the other. therefore it is correct to say that reference to one applies to the other and it seems that both are one and the same or it can be said that something is missing from the tradition and in reality it was as such: (Mahdi is not but that isa is with him) moreover, the diffused traditions prove this meaning to be correct. thus isa is one of the signs of authenticity of the subject of Mahdi (a.s.).

«Mahdi is from kanane»

author of «eqdud-durar» in his first chapter narrates from 'sunan' of imam abu amro osman-ibn - sa'eed muqari who narrates from qatada who said: «i asked sa'eed-ibn-maseeb whether Mahdi is the truth and he replied: 'yes, he is the truth, i then asked: 'to which tribe does he belong? he replied: 'to the kanane.' i again asked: 'to which clan does he belong? he replied: 'to the quraish' i further asked: 'to which family does he belong? he replied: 'to the bani-hashim' again i asked: 'to which one of the families does he belong? he replied: 'to the progeny of fatemah.'

author says: 'by kanane is meant the same son of kazima, who was the son of madraka, son of elyaas, son of mazar, son of nezar, son of sa'ad, son of adnan.'

author of «saba'ek al-zahab» says: 'banu kanane are a family from mazar and mazar had a son in whom the lineage of the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) terminated and he was called as nezar. moreover mazar had children who were from the holy prophet's lineage and they were: malik, malkaan, haaris, amr, aamer, saad, ghanam, auf, mujraba, jarwal, jazaal and gurwaan. abu ubaid says: 'they were all from yemen' and in the book called «ebar» it has come that their place of stay was in the outskirts of mecca.'