Rubay’ah al-Filisṭini...

Rubay’ah al-Filisṭini, Abu ‘Abd Allah, his origin was Damascus: Saduq (very truthful) , hallucinates a little.[^12] Concerning the second narrator, he equally states: عبد الله بن شوذب الخراساني أبو عبد الرحمن سكن البصرة ثم الشام صدوق عابد ‘Abd Allah b. Shawdhab al-Khurasani, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, he lived in Basra, then Syria: Saduq (very truthful) , a devout worshipper of Allah.[^13] So, the sanad is hasan .

Al-Maruzi has included the report under the heading “Way of Life of the Mahdi and His Justice and Length of His Time.”[^14] We know from this then that Ibn Sirrin was describing “the Mahdi” – the same man mentioned in the hadith of Abu Dawud above - as being superior to some prophets in rank.

Meanwhile, here is another riwayah about this Mahdi, ‘alaihi al-salam , from the same Abu Dawud: حدثنا سهل بن تمام بن بزيع ثنا عمران القطان عن قتادة عن أبي نضرة عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم " المهدي مني أجلى الجبهة أقنى الأنف يملأ الأرض قسطا وعدلا كما ملئت جورا وظلما ويملك سبع سنين " Sahl b. Tammam b.

Buzay’ – ‘Imran al-Qaṭṭan – Qatadah – Abu Nadhrah – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “ The Mahdi is from me , with a broad forehead, a curved nose. He will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice , and he will rule by kingdom for seven years.”[^15] Al-Albani says: حسن Hasan . ^16 Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.

728 H) also declares: الأحاديث التي يحتج بها على خروج المهدي أحاديث صحيحة The ahadith that are relied upon as hujjah (proof) for the coming out of the Mahdi are sahih ahadith .[^17] So, he will be “the Mahdi”, from the blood and flesh of the Messenger, and “will rule by kingdom”. He will be “sent” by Allah to reduce oppression and injustice on the earth to the barest minimum. He will rule the whole planet as a just, righteous and rightly guided royal khalifah , assisted by his Lord.

Interestingly, his personal name will be Muhammad, like that of our Prophet. Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H) documents: حدثنا عبيد بن أسباط بن محمد القرشي الكوفي قال حدثني أبي حدثنا سفيان الثوري عن عاصم بن بهدلة عن زر عن عبد الله قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم لا تذهب الدنيا حتى يملك العرب رجل من أهل بيتي يواطئ اسمه اسمي ‘Ubayd b. Asbaṭ b. Muhammad al-Qurashi al-Kufi – my father – Sufyan al-Thawri – ‘Asim b. Bahdalah[^18] – Zirr – ‘Abd Allah (b.