Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

furthermore, in narrating the traditions, i have confined myself only to those books which have been printed in sunni printing houses. moreover i have avoided narrating from those books which have been printed in iran such as 'al - bayan - fi - akhbar - saheb - e - zaman', 'al - fusool - al muhimme - fi - ma'rifat - ul - a'imma' and 'tazkerat - ul - ummah - fi - ahwaal a'imma' - except for some points extracted from the book of 'tazkerat - ul - 'aimma'.

similarly i have refrained myself from narrating traditions from our own great scholars and from what has been deposited in our own books and writings for the simple reason that perhaps it may become a cause of suspicion (i.e. they might think that the quoted tradition is false and fabricated). however i have used some references from the book 'al - durar - al musuwia - fi - shar - al - aqa'ed - al - jafaria' written by our master ayatullah abi muhammad sayyid hassan - al - sadr kazemi who has a great right and to whom we owe a lot. i have used his references not with the intention of reasoning and argumentation but only as a means of supporting the subject at hand.

i bear witness to god that i have treated these traditions and the sayings of the past prior people from the view-point of justice only and avoided the path of injustice and deviation. i deemed it necessary upon myself to conform my belief to reason and not adapt reason to whatever i believe. anyone who reads and examines the contents of this book shall agree to what i have said.

indeed, it is incumbent upon everyone, particularly in religious matters, to release oneself from following the track set by others and from delusions or assumptions. one should be on guard against prejudice and bigotry and only the truth should be kept in mind. what is advisable is the truth and if anyone finds it at any place, it shall embrace him.

«a glancing view»

a researcher who does research in the books of great scholars in matters such as «usul-e-din» (fundamentals of religion) or «furu-e-din» (subsidaries of religion), particularly the books of our sunni brethrens will find less an issue like mahdaviyat which has been discussed from all aspects creditibility, reliability and innumerableness of its narrators who are the leading authorities in traditions irrespective of their differences in status and standards.

indeed, there are many topics which are a matter of consensus and rather unanimiously accepted by both sects whether in 'usul' (fundamentals) or 'furu' (subsidaries). among them the most widely written topic by ahl-e-sunnat is the topic of 'Mahdi'. it is surprizing to note that they have discussed and spoken about the matter of 'mahdaviyat' for days and nights.

indeed, as per their own research they have narrated traditions about 'Mahdi' from the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) himself, some from his noble companions and some from his wives with the differences in the length of the traditions.

they have taken out lengthy and brief traditions concerning 'Mahdi' from their leading traditionists such as bukhari, muslim, nesa'ee, abu dawoud and ibn-maaja.

and among the experts of traditions we may mention such names as imam ahmad-ibn-hanbal, abul qasim tabarani, abu naeem esfahani, hamaad-ibn-yaqub raujani and hakem, the author of 'mustadrak'.