275 H) in his Sunan – under the heading...

275 H) in his Sunan – under the heading: “The Book of al-Mahdi” ( Kitab al-Mahdi ) records: حدثنا عثمان بن أبي شيبة ثنا الفضل بن دكين ثنا فطر عن القاسم بن أبي بزة عن أبي الطفيل عن علي رضي الله تعالى عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال "لو لم يبق من الدهر إلا يوم لبعث الله رجلا من أهل بيتي يملؤها عدلا كما ملئت جورا" ‘Uthman b. Abi Shaybah – al-Fadhl b. Dukayn – Fiṭr – al-Qasim b.

Abi Barzah – Abu al-Tufayl – ‘Ali, may Allah the Most High be pleased with him – the Prophet, peace be upon him: “Even if there remains only one more day left before the end of Time, Allah will surely SEND a man from my . He will fill it with justice just as it had been filled with injustice.”[^6] ‘Allamah al-Albani says: صحيح Sahih ^7 Dr. al-Bastawi, commenting upon the same hadith , states: إسناده صحيح.

Its chain is sahih .[^8] The same word has been employed to describe the appointment and mission of the prophets and messengers, ‘alaihim al-salam , as well in the Qur’an: كان الناس أمة واحدة فبعث الله النبيين مبشرين ومنذرين Mankind were one community and Allah SENT prophets as givers of glad tidings and warners.[^9] And: ولقد بعثنا في كل أمة رسولا Verily, We have SENT within every Ummah a messenger .[^10] Of course, this man will not be a prophet or messenger.

However, he obviously will occupy a separate divine rank which will certainly be very similar in nature to both. One of the top Imams of the Ahl al-Sunnah from the senior Tabi’in, Ibn Sirrin (d. 110 H), indicated the status of this man in one of his brave pronouncements. Imam al-Maruzi (d.

288 H) records: حدثنا ضمرة عن ابن شوذب عن محمد بن سيرين أنه ذكر فتنة تكون فقال إذا كان ذلك فاجلسوا في بيوتكم حتى تسمعوا على الناس بخير من أبي بكر وعمر رضي الله عنهما قيل يا أبا بكر خير من أبي بكر وعمر؟ قال قد كان يفضل على بعض الأنبياء. Dhamrah – Ibn Shawdhab: Muhammad b. Sirrin mentioned a sedition that would occur.

Then he said, “When that occurs, sit in your houses until you hear from the people about the one who is superior to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both.” So, it was said, “O Abu Bakr, someone superior to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar?!” He replied, “ He is even superior to some prophets .”[^11] Al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) says about the first narrator: ضمرة بن ربيعة الفلسطيني أبو عبد الله أصله دمشقي صدوق يهم قليلا Dhamrah b.