Is Mahdi from Ahlul Bayt?

Introduction

A common belief of ‘Sunnis’ and Shias is that the Mahdi and Messiah are two different individuals. The Messiah is Isa (AS) and the Mahdi is from the Muslim Ummah, specifically from the family of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). This belief has no basis in the Quran, nor Ahadith.

Isa (AS) is not alive. There is no verse in the Holy Quran or any hadith that proves he is alive, or flew to the heavens with his physical body and is alive there since 2000 years. On the contrary, there is plenty of proof otherwise

Al-Mahdi is just a title of the Messiah which means ‘The Most Guided one’. At the time of the Messiah, there would be no one more guided than the Messiah himself since his rank his higher than any scholar or mujaddad. We have explained this in detail in our other article: Messiah and Mahdi are one.

Was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) from the Ahlul Bayt?

Most Muslims are unaware that the Shia and ‘Sunnis’ both have a different Mahdi. The Shia Mahdi is already born a 1000 years ago and is in hiding. While ‘Sunni’ Mahdi will be born in the future.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (AS) never claimed to be either of these Mahdi. His claim was that he is Messiah whose title is Al-Mahdi, The most guided one. He was asked the same question and responded with the following:

His Statement— With regard to the Promised Mahdi, there are found in some ahadith words such as من ولد فاطمة [‘from among the progeny of Fatimah’], and من عترتي [‘from my progeny’], and من أهل بيتي [‘from among the people of my household’], and it is also written يواطئ اسمه اسمي و اسم أبيه اسم أبي [‘his name will be my name, and the name of his father will be my father’s name will be that of my father’].Please explain what is meant by each of them

My Answer— My claim is not that I am the Mahdi who conforms to من ولد فاطمة [the progeny of Fatimah], من عترتي [from my progeny], etc. Rather, my claim is that of being the Promised Messiah, and regarding the Promised Messiah, there is no statement of any muhaddith [scholar of hadith] that he would be from among the progeny of Fatimah etc. Nevertheless, at the same time—as every muhaddith says—I also say that all the ahadith regarding the Promised Mahdi are moot and suspect and not one of them is authentic. The degree to which fabrication has taken place in these ahadith has not taken place in any other hadith. During the time of the Abbasid Khulafa etc. the Khulafa were very fond of pronouncing themselves the Promised Mahdi. So for this reason, some ahadith describe the Mahdi as being from the progeny of Abbas and some from the progeny of Fatimah. There are some ahadith which also say that رجل من أمتي ‘He will be a man from my Ummah.’ But essentially all of these ahadith are not worthy of any trust. This is not just my word; all eminent scholars of the Ahl-e-Sunnah have been saying the very same.

[Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya, vol. 5, pg. 477-478]

In conclusion, it is a strawman fallacy to ask Ahmadis to prove that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) is from Ahlul Bayt as he never claimed to be the Mahdi other Muslims are awaiting. Before one can ask this questions, these are some of the beliefs one has to understand:

1. Isa (AS) is not alive
2. Awaited Messiah is from amongst the Muslims
3. No proof of Mahdi is who is separate from the Messiah
4. Mahdi is not mentioned in Quran, Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Muslim and Muwatta of Imam Malik
5. Majority of the Mahdi ahadith are fabricated

Are there any ahadith that claim the Mahdi is from the Ahlul Bayt?

The belief of the ‘Sunnis’ about Mahdi is mostly fabricated, if not from weak ahadith.

For example, they believe that the Mahdi will not claim to be Mahdi, rather, people would force him to be Mahdi in Mecca. This is completely fabricated.¹Will the Mahdi Be Forced to Accept Allegiance (Bay’ah) in Mecca? – WhiteMinaret

They also believe that Mahdi will lead Isa (AS) is prayer and other tasks. This is also wrong!²Who will be the leader? Mahdi or the Messiah (Jesus AS)? – WhiteMinaret.org

Similarly, there exists no mention of Mahdi in:

1. Quran
2. Sahih Bukhari (Most authentic book after Quran)
3. Sahih Muslim (2nd most authentic book after Quran)
4. Muwatta (one of the earliest compilation of ahadith)

Similarly, there exists no hadith that says Mahdi is the ‘Sign of the Hour’ but we do find many about the Messiah being the sign of the hour.

There are only 2 ahadith that are usually quoted regarding Mahdi being from the Ahlul Bayt.

Mahdi is from the descendants of Fatima (RA)

الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنْ عِتْرَتِي مِنْ وَلَدِ فَاطِمَةَ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

The Mahdi will be of my family, of the descendants of Fatimah

[Sunan Abi Dawud 4284] – Weak by Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut

الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنْ وَلَدِ فَاطِمَةَ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

Mahdi will be one of the descendents of Fatimah.

[Sunan Ibn Majah 4086] – Weak by Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut

The Sihah-e-Sitta only contains the above 2 ahadith regarding the Mahdi being from the descendants of Fatima (RA).

1. Both ahadith are graded weak (ضعيف) by Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut, who cites the weakness of the narrator, Ziyad bin Bayan.
2. Both ahadith come through just one person, Ziyad bin Bayan.
3. Ziyad bin Bayan does NOT narrate any other hadith in his entire life EXCEPT this one.
4. The next narrator, Ali bin Nufayl, also does NOT narrate any other hadith in his entire life EXCEPT this one.

In conclusion, the hadith is not just weak but is not found anywhere except through narrators who are not well known and only narrate this single hadith in their ENTIRE lifetime. There are other scholars who have criticized both narrators, but for brevity, this should suffice.

It’s absurd to base one’s entire belief system about the appearance of a future person on a hadith that is not only weak but completely lacking any corroboration from other narrations or Quranic verses.

TO BE COMPLETED

 الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنِّي أَجْلَى الْجَبْهَةِ أَقْنَى الأَنْفِ يَمْلأُ الأَرْضَ قِسْطًا وَعَدْلاً كَمَا مُلِئَتْ جَوْرًا وَظُلْمًا يَمْلِكُ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

The Mahdi will be of my stock, and will have a broad forehead a prominent nose. He will fill the earth will equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny, and he will rule for seven years.

[Sunan Abi Dawud 4285]