A Glance At the Concocted
Traditions:

It is an indisputable fact of Islam that a noble man of
the highest caliber, from the progeny of the Holy Prophet
(S.A.) and offspring
of Hazrat
Fatema Zahra (S.A.) will appear in the last era of the world, defunct
religion, establish justice and equity and purge the world from all evils.
All the sects of Islam unanimously agree that this major upheaval will be
known as 'the
Revolution of Mahdi. Verily the
Sunni
traditionalists have adorned and embellished their books with the
detailed narration of this glorious revolution.
Of course there is a difference of opinion in their view point
regarding his pedigree like some say that he is the immediate son and
successor of Imam Hasan
Askari (A.S.),

while others opine that he is from the offspring of Imam Hasan
al- Mujtaba (A.S.),
still others think that he is from the generation of Imam
Husain (A.S.).
There are a few who falter that he will belong to
Abbasid lineage. Some of them believe
that he was born in 255 A.H. and others
are adamant that he is yet to take birth.

Some predict that he will reappear from Holy Mecca, while some forecast that
he will arrive from Khurasan there are also some who assert that he will
rise from 'the far west'.
There are some pedantic scholars who out of their shallow and scant
knowledge arbitrated that Mahdi and Hazrat
Isa (A.S.) are one and the same person.
Precisely speaking according to them, Mahdi is none else but Hazrat Isa (A.S.).

Such different and discordant narrations have stemmed from
those contradictory traditions which are recorded in various books. It is
deplorable, indeed such fabricated and concocted traditions have slowly and
gradually penetrated into the books of
Ahle-Sunnat traditionalists. From the
historical view point it is evident that such traditions were fabricated by
those imposters who claimed to be
'Mahdi'
and have attracted hordes of naive followers. Some of the renowned
Sunni scholars and traditionalists have admitted to the rampant fabrication
of traditions in their books viz Ibn Jauzi
in 'Al-Mauzoo'aat', Zahabi in
'Meezanul Etedaal',
Ibn Araq
in 'Al-Ahadithuz-Zaeefa
wal-Mauzoo'ah'.

In this brief article, such concocted and fabricated
traditions will be discussed, their authenticity scrutinized and their truth
exposed.

1. Ibn Majah
Qazveeni in his
'Sahih' narrates from Anas bin
Malik who relates from the. Holy Prophet
(S.A.) that:

"Mahdi is none else but Jesus, the
son of Mary."

Which purports that the Mahdi of Islam is
Hazrat Isa (A.S.). None of the scholars
of Ahle-Sunnat have accepted this concept (that Isa is Mahdi) because this
tradition contradicts various other traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.)
which are authentic and continuous. Particularly those traditions in which
the Holy Prophet (S.A.) has said that 'He
will be from my progeny and from the offspring of Fatema (S.A.)'.
The noted celebrity of Ahle-Sunnat, Imam
Qurtubbi (exp. 671 A.H.) in his
famous exegesis of Quran i.e. 'At-Tazkera
fi Umuril
Akhera' has declared that it is a weak
tradition because in the reliable traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.) it
is clearly mentioned that he will be from his own lineage, from the children
of Fatema (S.A.). These traditions are
much more authentic and reliable than the one in question. Hence the verdict
will be based on the most authentic traditions rather than the weaker ones.
Such objections are raised by other

Sunni
stalwarts too. Like Ibn
Qayyim in fiftieth chapter of
Al-MunarAl-MunifFil-HadithAs-Sahih waz-Zaeef.
And according to Baihaqi, the narrators
of this tradition are unknown or unreliable.Also
the sequence of tradition is not consistent but is lost from some where in
between. This tradition is one of the single reports of
Mohammad bin Khalid
Junaidi. Zahabi in his
Meezanul-Etedaal in third volume,
Pg. No. 535 has decisively stated that
Mohammad bin Khalid is an unknown narrator and the traditions related by him
are not acceptable. More or less similar thing is indicted by another great
scholar Abul HasanAaburi in
'Manaqibush-Shafei'.

However
the unreliability of narrators and incorrect contents of the traditions
prove that it is a spurious tradition. But despite all such inherent
weaknesses some of the Sunni scholars like Ibn
Kathir and Qurtubbi have made
efforts to prove it a correct tradition by whimsical interpretations and
fragile justifications.

They have asserted that the Mahdi does
not imply a particular person but it is used in its literal sense which
means 'guided'.
Thus Hazrat
Isa (A.S.) is the best guided
person though this meaning is not correct in itself. Those things which are
pertinent to this tradition like the events and conditions of last era,
commotion and distraught which will be ubiquitous refute this justification
were given in order to maintain the credibility of the book i.e.
Sunane-Ibn
Majah because it is claimed that all the traditions in the book are
correct and authentic.

2.
Ibn Asakir from the third Caliph
Usman bin
Affaan and he had related from the Holy Prophet (S.A.) that
:

"The Mahdi is from the progeny of my uncle
Abbas",

means
'Mahdi will be from
Bani Abbas. In this context
Hafiz
Mohibuddeen Tabari in his
'Zak-haerul-Uqba' Pg. 206 has quoted on
the authority of Hafiz Sahmi, who quoted
from Ibn Abbas who related from Holy Prophet (S.A.) that:
'Once the Holy Prophet (S.A.) addressed
him thus :

"Mahdi will be from your offspring
who will disseminate guidance and quell deviations. Allah the Almighty
commenced His religion from me and will culminate it on your progeny."

Muhibuddeen
Tabari has quoted two more traditions from Abu
Huraira and from Abdus-Samad of
similar contents. Besides this, Abul Faraj
Isfahan!
has quoted from a courtier scholar of Bani Abbas namely
Qati bin Abbas in his book
'Al-Aghani'(Vol. 12, Pg. 81), a tradition
ascribed to Holy Prophet (S.A.) without mentioning the chain of narrators.

All
these traditions are supporting the notion that Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) will be
from the lineage of Abbas, the uncle of the Holy Prophet (S.A.).
In other terms he will be from Bani Abbas. But if a person is scantily aware
of the traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.) in this regard then he can
infer on his own that it is a concocted and an unscrupulously fabricated
tradition. Such few traditions are starkly contradictory to those authentic
and continuous traditions which abound the books of traditions. Such as
:

"Mahdi will descend from my lineage from the offspring
of Fatema."

It was
this reason that such a great Sunni scholar like
Dar Qutni has objected to the
former tradition and thus commented :

"This is a weird and queer tradition related only by
the slave of Bani Hashim
namely Mohammad bin Walid."

As it
was hinted earlier that historically these were the product of claimants to
attract the laymen towards themselves and gain
their sympathies. As a further step they entitled Mohammad bin
Abdullah bin
Ali as 'Mahdi'.
They distorted the religion of Holy Prophet (S.A.) for their greed of rule
for few days in this transient world. Qazi
Luqman bin Mohammad has hinted towards
such heinous vices of Bani Abbas in his eulogy.

"The time when gems were compared to their like.
Similarly Mohammad
bin Abdullah
was entitled as "Mahdi'.This
Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Ali
Abbasi is a
wretched transgressor. If mere similarity in names was sufficient
then every man named as 'Ahmed'would
have been a Prophet. Alas! every name is not like its named ones. And
ignorance made them dumb and blind ."

This is
not the only attempt to dupe and deceive the common populace but there are
numerous such instances which are cited over here.

3.
Tirmizi in his
'Sahih' has quoted from
'Zaeda', he narrated from
'Aasem' and in turn he quoted from
'Zar', who narrated it from Abdullah bin
Masud who related from the Holy Prophet
(S.A.) that :

"If a solitary
day is left from the eve of doomsday then Allah will prolong that day to
such an extent that a man from my progeny will rise. Whose name will be my
name and his father's name will be my father's name. He will fill the world
with justice and equity as it would be filled with injustice and oppression."

The
contents of this tradition are continuous and reliable according to
Shia and Sunni scholars. It
has been narrated in various ways.

The
thing which has made this narration of Tirmizi skeptical are those words
which are not quoted in other authentic hooks. In other books the phrase of
'his father's name is the same as my
father's, is not recorded they all have recorded only
'his name will be same as mine'.

This
doubt holds ground when we notice the name of 'Zaeda'
in the chain of narrators, which according to Sunni scholars of
'Rejal' is not reliable and adds more
words in the concept of traditions. Because that chain of narrators where
Zaeda's name is not there and only
namesof Aasem,
Zar, Abdullah bin Masud are mentioned
then addition of 'his father's name is
same as that of my father' is not seen.
But all have sufficed
upto 'his
name will be same as
mine.This point requires special attention
that Tirmizi whose book is enumerated among
Sehah Sittah has narrated the same
tradition elsewhere but has not narrated this addition (i.e. his father's
name will be my father's name) over there .
Similarly in the ranks of traditionalists
Ahmed bin Hanbal is accorded precedence
over Ibn
Majah. Ahmed ibn Hanbal in his
'Musnad' has recorded the same tradition
at four places but even for once he has not mentioned this addition'.
(Vol. 1, Pg. 377, 430, 448)

The renowned scholar of
Ahle-Sunnah and reliable traditionalists of fifth
century HafizAbu
Noaim Isfahan!
has recorded the traditions regarding Hazrat
Mahdi (A.S.) from very reliable
sources in his book 'Manaqibul-Mahdi'. He
has narrated this tradition from 31 different channels with the exception of
'Zaeda's'
narration. Not a single tradition included the added phrase. This phrase is
narrated only by 'Zaeda'.
(Ref. Al-Bayan
Fi-Akhbare-Sa.hibiz Zaman, at the end of
first chapter Pg. 94-96). It is
undoubtedly proved that Zaeda, as his name implies has added the so-called
phrase. But it is deplorable to note that Abu
Daud has ignored other reliable channels of narration and has opted
to choose only the narration of Zaeda. Some other scholars
of Ahle-Sunnah too have
benefited from this fabricated tradition.
Albeit, the author of 'Iqdud-Durar has
quoted this tradition from Sunane-Abi-Daud
but did not record this addition. On this basis it can be concluded that the
versions of Sunane-Abi- Daud must have
been tampered with (particularly after the seventh century) or correctors
must have added the phrase on their own accord while verifying. Apart from
this the acclaimed traditionalists ofAhle-Sun-nah,
who have a deep dexterity and expertise in sitting and sorting out the
traditions have objected to this tradition vociferously. Some of them are
Hafiz Ganji
Shafei in 'Al-Bayan
Fi-Akhbare-Sahibiz Zaman',
Khwaja Mohammad
Parsa Hanafi
(exp.866)

in the footnotes of 'Faslul-Khitab' and
Ihn Talha
Shafei in Ghayatus-Sol. They all
have unanimously regarded it as weak, unreliable, discontinuous and
contradictory to correct traditions.

The reason for this tradition of Zaeda
being fabricated are those authentic and
continuous traditions in which the name of Hazrat
Mahdi's (A.S.) father is mentioned as
'Hasan'. The below given tradition is
quoted as an example.

The
accredited traditionalist of
Ahle-Sunnah Abu
Noaim Isfahan!
narrates from a veteran interpreter Ibn
Khashaah wlio
relates from Imam Alt Reza (A.S.) that:

"The Mahdi
is the pious son of Hasan Askari."
Such
traditions are also found in 'Faraedus-Simtain'
(Chap. 35, 73)

4.
The Doyen ofTraditionalists of
Ahle-Sunnah Abu Daud, whose book is
among the much respected 'Sehah-e-Sittah'
narrates one tradition from Abu Ishaq who
quoted Hazrat
Ali (A.S.) and who related that Hazrat
Mohammad (S.A.) said while looking
at Imam Hasan (A.S.) :

"This
son of mine is the chief
- one of his
descendants will bear the name of your Prophet."

Some of
the great Sunni scholars like the
ideological guide and Leader of Wahabis,
Ibn Qayyim
Jauzi in AI-Munar-Al-Munif,
Sehudi (exp.
911),Ibn Kathir in
'Al-Fitan
wal-Malahim and Ihn Hajar in
Sawaeq have quoted this tradition
profusely in their respective books and have regarded Imam Mahdi (A.S.) from
the lineage of Imam Hasan (A.S.) on the
ground.sthat since a person from his lineage will avenge this
humiliation hence he had signed the truce.

But even
this tradition is fabricated and distorted as the earlier ones. As can be
seen from the following facts :

(a) Same
tradition is quoted by the
author of 'Iqdud-Dunir'
from the same
chain of narrators from Sunane
Abi
Daud but
instead of phrase
'he
looked towards his son Hasan*
the author
has indicated
'he looked
towards his son Husain'. Perhaps
the scribe must
have written
'Hasan' instead
of 'Husain'.
Those who are experienced
in this field will realise
that this possibility does
exist.

(b)
There are innumerable traditions which
have continuously stated that Imam Mahdi (A.S.) will be the descendant of
Imam Husain(A.S.).
Hence according to the science of traditions if one lone tradition is
contradictory to numerous continuous (Mutawatir)
traditions then this tradition will not be taken into consideration. Ibn
Hajar has related from Hazrat Ali (A.S.) in his book
'As-Sawaequl-Muharreqa' on
Pg. No. 165 that
:

"The world will not perish unless a man, from the
progeny of my son Husain,
will not rise who will fill the earth with justice as it was fraught with
injustice."

Muhibuddeen-e-Tahari in
'Zakhaerul-Uqha'on Pg. 136 has
narratedfrom
Huzaifa Yamani who related from
the Holy Prophet (S.A.) that:

"If a single day remains from the age of this world
then Almighty will prolong that day to such an extent that one of my sons
will appear, whose name will be as mine."

Hazrat
Salman inquired
: "From the progeny of which son"? The
Holy Prophet (S.A.) placed his hand on Imam Husain (A.S.) and said
:

"From the progeny of this son."

(c)
If despite these two narrations we accept the tradition of Abu
Daud even then the point is not against us. Because
Imam Baqir (A.S.) is the first grandson
of Imam Husain (A.S.) and the second grandson of Imam Hasan (A.S.).
His mother was Fatema, the daughter of
Imam Hasan (A.S.). Hence Imam Mahdi (A.S.)
is the son of Imam Hasan (A.S.) as well as Imam Husain (A.S.).
Hilali relates that once the Holy Prophet
(S.A.) consoled his daughter Hazrat Fatema (S.A.) in these words
:

The two sons of this
nation are your sons Hasan and Husain, who descend from me. They are the
chiefs of the youth of
Paradise. By

Allah, their parents are superior to them. 0
'Fatema !
by Allah the Mahdi of this nation will be
the descendant of both of them."

(d)
Keeping these facts in mind that it is a lone
tradition which is contradictory to other several continuous traditions,
also there may he a possibility of error in script. This
becomes crystal clear that it is not an
authentic tradition particularly when the historical facts are contrary to
the tradition. The reason is that those who are attributed as Mahdi, among
them is the grandson ofImam Hasan
(A.S.), Moham-mad
bin Abdullah
known as 'Nafse-Zakiyya.
Bani Abhas's campaign attributed him to
be Mahdi so as to earn the sympathy of masses and take undue advantage of
this belief which is deep-rooted in their
hearts and thus topple the reign of Bani Umayya.
They publicized and promoted his
name and first thing they did was that
they added 'his
father's name is same as that of my father (as it was hinted in
the discussion on third tradition), since the name of this
'Mahdi's' father was Abdullah. Then for
dispelling further doubts they falsely claimed that Mahdi is
(lie
descendant of Imam Hasan (A.S.),
because Moham-mad bin Abdullah descended
from the lineage of Imam Hasan (A.S.).

Then for consolidating their position they fabricated another
tradition from the mouth of Abu Huraira
that there was a stammering in the speech of Imam Mahdi (A.S.)
(Ref.
Maqatilut-Talebin) because Mohammad
bin Ahdullah had stammering in his
tongue. Finally Bani Abbas succeeded in
grabbing power,
by deriving undue advantage from this
belief and intimidating their masses.
When they got absolute control then they
killed the same Mahdi and his father and again spread the news that
Nafse-Zakiyyah who would be killed before
the Mahdi is slained and the reappearance
of Mahdi has drawn nigh. Imam Jafar
Sadiq (A.S.) had
predicted about each and every event long back.
(Maqatilut-Talebeen, Pg. 141-142, Al-Adabus-Sul-taniyyah
Fakhri Pg. 16 has mentioned everything in
detail.)The embezzlement and meddling of Bani Abbas are not limited to
politics or ethics. But they have not even spared the interpretations of
Quranic verses and traditions. The
details of which shall be given later in another article.

But
those who commit such despicable embezzlement, distort the religion of
Allah, make additions in the tradition of Holy Prophet
(S.A.) or ascribe false things to him and
record such baseless things in their books, which misguide the simpletons
and ordinary believers; are they not among those who are condemned in this
verse :

"Surely those who
conceal such clear evidences and guidance which we have revealed and
clarified in the book for the people, they are cursed by Allah and the curse
of cursors be upon
them."

All the hopes are reposed in the day when
Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.)
will reappear and reform the distortions and misguided men.