Anyone who obeys him would be obeying me...

Anyone who obeys him would be obeying me, and anyone who turns away from him would be turning away from me. Anyone who denies his existence during his concealment would have denied me, and anyone who falsifies him would have falsified me. Anyone who confirms his existence would have confirmed my existence. As for those who are engaged in falsifying what I have said about him and thereby mislead my community, I will complain against them to God.

“Those who do wrong shall surely know by what overturning they will be overturned. (4)”(5). Abu Ayyub Ansari says: I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) say: “I am the chief of the prophets and ‘Ali is the chief of the legatees. My two grandsons are the best among the descendants. The infallible Imams will come forth from among us through Husayn.

Moreover, the Mahdi of this community is among us.” At that time, an Arab stood up and asked: “O Prophet of God, how many Imams are there after you?” He replied: “Equal to the number of the apostles of Jesus and the chiefs of the Children of Israel. (6)” A tradition with similar information has been cited from Hudhayfa, another companion of the Prophet, who heard the Prophet declare: The Imams after me will be equal to the number of the tribal chiefs among the Children of Israel.

Nine among them will be the descendants of Husayn. The Mahdi of this community is among us. Beware! Truth is with them and they are with truth. Thus be careful of the way you treat them after me . (7) In still another tradition Sa’id b. Musayyib reports from ‘Amr b. ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, who said: We heard from the Prophet saying: “The Imams after me will be twelve in number, of whom nine will be from the progeny of Husayn. Moreover, the Mahdi of this community will be among us.

Anyone who holds on to them after me holds on to the rope of God; and whoever abandons them has abandoned God. (8)” There are numerous hadith -reports of this kind in the sources which one can undertake to examine. The Sunni Traditions on the Subject of the Mahdi Dr. Fahimi: Mr. Hoshyar! Our friends know it. But let me tell you that I follow the Sunni school of thought. Hence, the positive evaluation that you have of the Shi’i hadith-reports, I do not share.

In all likelihood, extremist Shi’is, for whatever reasons, after having accepted the narratives about the Mahdiism, must have fabricated traditions in support of their views and ascribed them to the Prophet.