Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

great sunni scholars like yahya-ibn-sa'eed, ibn-jareeh, malik, sufyanin, abu hanifa, shuaba and ayub bakhtiyani have narrated traditions from him....

under the verse «--» imam fakhr raazi says: 'among the meanings of 'kauthar' (river in paradise) one meaning can be that of 'offspring' because, this sura was revealed in refutation of those who were rebuking the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) for not having a son and then Allah provided him a generation which would continue to remain in the course of time. thus, you may see for yourself that how many an offspring of the holy prophet have been killed and yet the world is full of their existence whereas not even one has remained from bani-ummayid. once again, you may see for yourself that those who are from his ahlul-bait like baqir, sadeq, kazim, reza (a.s.), 'nefs-zakiyah' and their likes are great scholars.

«Mahdi is from the offspring of
reza (a.s.)»

the author of «yanabi-ul-muwadda» on page 448 narrates from the book of «fara'ed-ul-semtain» as such: hassan-ibn-khalid says - ali-ibn-musa reza (peace be upon him) said:- 'the one who does not have (i.e. piety), does not have faith and the most honourable of you before Allah is the one who is the most pious. thereafter he said:- verily the fourth from my descendant is the son of a princess of slave-maids who shall cleanse the earth from every cruelty and oppression.

in the afore-mentioned book on page 489, the author narrates from hassan-ibn-khalid who said:- ali-ibn-musa ar-reza (a.s.) said:- 'the appointed time (in quran) refers to the day of emergence of our 'qa'em'. then it was asked from hazrat as to who is the qaem and he replied: 'he is the fourth of my descendant, the son of a princess of slave-maids who shall purify the earth from every cruelty and oppression'.

once again, in the same book on page 454 the author narrates from «fara'ed-ul-semtain» as such: ahmad-ibn-ziad has narrated from de'abel khuza'ee who said - 'i read out my elegy which began with «--» before hazrat reza (a.s.) until i reached to this part of the poem:

that is to say, the emergence of imam and his leadership is a certainty. he shall rise in the name of Allah and will be a blessing. he shall separate the truth from falsehood and recompense as per good and evil actions.

hazrat cried bitterly and then said: 'o de'abel, the holy spirit has spoken through your tongue. do you know who this imam is?

i replied: no, i do not know him. but, i have heard that an imam shall emerge from your household, the one who shall fill the earth with equity and justice.

hazrat said: the imam after me shall be my son muhammad and after muhammad will be his son ali and after ali will be his son hassan and after hassan will be his son hujjat al-qaem and he is the awaited one.(45)