Further discussion of some of the hadiths that speak of the Mahdi

Question

Praise be to Allah.

This hadith was narrated in full by al-Haakim in his
Mustadrak (8438) where he (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tameemi informed
me: Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ibraaheem ibn Haydar al-Himyari in Kufah said:
al-Qaasim ibn Khaleefah told us: Abu Yahya ‘Abd al-Hameed ibn ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan al-Himmaani told us: ‘Umar ibn ‘Ubaydullah al-‘Adawi told us,
from Mu‘aawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri
(may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “At the end of time my ummah will
suffer a great calamity, such as has never been heard of, such that the
earth, vast as it is, will become straitened for them, and the earth will be
filled with oppression and injustice, and the believer will not be able to
find any refuge from injustice. Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted,
will send a man from my family who will fill the earth with fairness and
justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice. The
inhabitants of heaven and earth will be pleased with him, and the earth will
not keep any of its seeds inside it, but it will bring them forth, and the
heaven will not keep any drop of water but Allah will send down abundant
rain upon them. That will last for seven or eight or nine years, during
which the living will wish that the dead were with them because of what
Allah will bestow upon the people of the earth of His abundant blessings.”

Al-Haakim said, immediately after narrating it:

This hadith has a saheeh isnaad, although they (al-Bukhaari
and Muslim) did not narrate it.

But its isnaad includes ‘Umar ibn ‘Ubaydullah, who is unknown
(majhool) and no one classed him as trustworthy (thiqah).

Concerning ‘Abd al-Hameed al-Himmaani, Ibn Ma‘een said: He
was trustworthy, but he was feeble-minded. He was classed as da‘eef by
Ahmad, Ibn Sa‘d and al-‘Ijli.

See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (6/120)

Al-Qaasim ibn Khaleefah is a Shi‘i whose status is not known.
No one classed him as trustworthy. See: al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel
(7/109).

Concerning al-Hasan ibn Ibraaheem ibn Haydar, we have not
found any biography for him.

Therefore adh-Dhahabi rejected al-Haakim’s classification of
the isnaad of this hadith as saheeh, by saying: Its isnaad is muzlim (lit.
gloomy). End quote.

So this complete version of the hadith cannot be proven as
narrated. It was also classed as da‘eef by al-Albaani in Takhreej al-Mishkaat
(3/184).

It was also narrated by the following:

Ma‘mar in his Jaami‘ (20770), and via him by al-Baghawi
in Sharh as-Sunnah (15/85);

Nu‘aym ibn Hammaad in al-Fitan (1038);

Al-‘Aqeeli in ad-Du‘afa’ (4/259) from Abu Haroon al-‘Abdi,
from Mu‘aawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri,
in a marfoo‘ report.

Abu Haroon al-‘Abdi was accused of lying. He was classed as a
liar by Hammaad ibn Zayd, Ibn ‘Aliyyah, Ibn Ma‘een, al-Jawzjaani,, and
others. Shu‘bah said: Being brought forward to have my neck struck is
dearer to me than narrating from him.

See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (7/413)

Parts of the hadith were narrated via different isnaads:

With regard to the beginning of it, Abu Nu‘aym narrated in
Tareekh Asbahaan (1/112) from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab that he said: The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “At the
end of time my ummah will suffer a great deal from their rulers, and no one
will be saved from that except a man who knows and practices the religion of
Allah in his words, in his heart and in his deeds…”

This hadith was mentioned by al-Albaani in ad-Da‘eefah
(6725), where he said: It is da‘eef.

With regard to the emergence of the Mahdi, who will fill the
earth with fairness and justice, this is proven in many hadiths, among the
most famous of which is that which was narrated by Ahmad (11313) and al-Haakim
(8669) from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The
Hour will not begin until the earth is filled with oppression, injustice and
transgression, then there will emerge from my family one who will fill it
with fairness and justice, as it was filled with injustice and
transgression.”

Classed as saheeh by al-Haakim according to the conditions of
the two shaykhs (al-Bukhaari and Muslim), and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him.
Al-Albaani said in as-Saheehah (4/40): It is as they said:

See the hadiths about the Mahdi in the answer to question no.
1252

With regard to the words “The inhabitants of heaven and earth
will be pleased with him”, they are mentioned in the hadith of Abu Sa‘eed
that was narrated by Ahmad (11326) with a da‘eef isnaad. See: ad-Da‘eefah
(1588).

With regard to the words “and the earth will not keep any of
its seeds inside it, but it will bring them forth, and the heaven will not
keep any drop of water but Allah will send down abundant rain upon them.
That will last for seven or eight or nine years”, there is a corroborating
report in the hadith of Abu Sa‘eed that was narrated by al-Haakim (8673),
where the wording is: “At the end of my ummah the Mahdi will emerge; Allah
will send rain for him and the earth will bring forth its vegetation; wealth
will be distributed equally, livestock will increase and the ummah will
become great, and that will continue for seven or eight years.”

Classed as saheeh by al-Haakim, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with
him. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Saheehah (711).

Ahmad (11163) narrated it via Zayd ibn Abi’l-Hawaari from
Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri in a marfoo ‘ report, the
wording of which is as follows:

“The Mahdi will emerge among my ummah (and remain for) five
or seven or nine years” – Zayd was not sure – then he said: “The sky will
send down abundant rain, and the earth will not withhold any of its
vegetation, and wealth will be abundant.”

Zayd is da‘eef.

With regard to the words “the living will wish that the dead
were with them because of what Allah will bestow upon the people of the
earth of His abundant blessings”, we have not seen these words in any
report.

And Allah knows best.