Ja’far al-Raqqi – Abu al-Mulayh al-Hasan b.

Ja’far al-Raqqi – Abu al-Mulayh al-Hasan b. ‘Umar – Ziyad b. Bayan – ‘Ali b. Nufayl – Sa’id b. al-Musayyab – Umm Salamah: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: “ The Mahdi is from MY OFFSPRING , from the descendants of Faṭimah.”[^4] Al-Albani declares: صحيح Sahih . ^5 So, the Mahdi is from the same blood and madhhab as all the rest of the , starting with Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali, ‘alaihi al-salam .

Interestingly, the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah do not follow the offspring of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi . Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H) confirms this with pride: قال الرافضي و في الفقه الفقهاء يرجعون إليه و الجواب أن هذا كذب بين فليس في الأئمة الأربعة و لا غيرهم من أئمة الفقهاء من يرجع إليه في فقهه The Rafidhi said: “In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), the (Sunni) jurists used to reference him (i.e. ‘Ali).” The answer is that this is a plain lie.

There was NONE among the four Imams and others from the Imams of the jurists who referenced him (i.e. ‘Ali) in his fiqh .[^6] He also adds: وهذه كتب الحديث والتفسير مملوءة بالآثار عن الصحابة والتابعين والذي فيها عن علي قليل جدا These are books of hadith and tafsir , filled with reports from the Sahabah and Tabi’in.

What is recorded in them from ‘Ali is VERY LITTLE .[^7] He equally proclaims: قال الرافضي أما المالكية فاخذوا علمهم عنه و عن أولاده و الجواب أن هنا كذب ظاهر فهذا موطأ مالك ليس فيه عنه و لا عن أحد أولاده إلا قليل جدا و جمهور ما فيه عن غيرهم فيه عن جعفر تسعة أحاديث و لم يرو مالك عن أحد من ذريته إلا عن جعفر و كذلك الأحاديث التي في الصحاح و السنن و المساند منها قليل عن ولده و جمهور ما فيها عن غيرهم The Rafidhi said: “As for the Malikis, they took their knowledge from him (i.e.

‘Ali) and from his (i.e. ‘Ali’s) offspring.” The answer is that there is an apparent lie here. This is Muwaṭṭa of Malik. What is recorded in it from him (i.e. ‘Ali) or any of his offspring is VERY LITTLE . Most of what is in it is from other than them. There are nine ahadith from Ja’far (al-Sadiq) in it, and Malik did not record from ANY of his (i.e. ‘Ali’s) offspring except from Ja’far. This is also the case with what is recorded in the Sahih books, the Sunan books, and the Musnad books.

What is recorded in them from his (i.e. ‘Ali’s) offspring is LITTLE . The generality of what is recorded in them is from others.[^8] The mathematics, of course, is straightforward: The Mahdi will follow the path of the . The Sunnis do NOT follow the path of the . Therefore, the Mahdi will NOT be on the same path as the Sunnis.