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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imam Al Mahdi, The Twelfth Khalifah In The Sahih Sunni Ahadith Is The Mahdi Superior To The Masih? ====================================== The Sunnah of , sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi , is that only the best of the Ummah should be their khalifah . Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.

728 H) confirms: ففي هذا الخبر إخبار عمر بين المهاجرين والأنصار أن أبا بكر سيد المسلمين وخيرهم وأحبهم إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ذلك علة مبايعته فقال بل نبايعك أنت فأنت سيدنا وخيرنا وأحبنا إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ليبين بذلك أن المأمور به تولية الأفضل وأنت أفضلنا فنبايعك In this report is the declaration of ‘Umar among the Muhajirun and the Ansar that Abu Bakr was the sayyid of the Muslims and the best of them, and the most beloved of them to the Messenger of Allah.

This is the reason for pledging allegiance to him. So, he (‘Umar) said, “Rather, we will pledge allegiance to you because you are our sayyid , and the best of us, and the most beloved of us to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him”. He wanted to make clear through it that: WHAT IS ORDAINED IS TO GIVE AUTHORITY TO THE BEST , and you are the best of us.

So, we will pledge allegiance to you.[^1] ‘Umar considered Abu Bakr to have been the best of the Ummah after the Messenger’s death; and on that account, he campaigned the khilafah for him. Whether he was correct in his assessment or not has been answered in detail in our first book ‘Ali: The Best of the Sahabah and in our second, On the Khilafah of ‘Ali over Abu Bakr . What is important here is: why will Prophet ‘Isa, ‘alaihi al-salam , submit to the authority of the Mahdi, ‘alaihi al-salam ?

After all, the Mahdi will be the Imam of the Ummah while the Masih will be a member of it. The Mahdi will be the amir of the believers; and the Masih will be one of those believers. The Mahdi will rule the earth by kingdom, and ‘Isa b. Maryam will be one of his subjects. Since the Masih is a prophet, why will he submit the authority to the Mahdi, a non-prophet, and take orders from him? Will ‘Isa consider himself better to the Mahdi or vice versa?

It is highly tempting to think that the Masih will be under the Mahdi against his will ; that is, he will be the best, but will be disqualified from leadership due to his tribe. Prophet ‘Isa is an Israilite while the amirs of this Ummah can only come from the tribe of Quraysh. However, this would be a very weak excuse.