If Allah had wanted...

If Allah had wanted, He could have made an exception for the Masih, in view of his special circumstance. For instance, that authentic hadith could have read: “The Imams are from Quraysh, except ‘Isa b. Maryam.” The fact that our Lord has made no such exception shows that there really is no need for it. Islam is not a tribal religion; and Allah will never compromise quality for tribal affiliations.

He has fixed the Imamah within the tribe of Quraysh only because He has also placed the best of us amongst them. Therefore, the best of Quraysh at each point in time is also always the best of Allah’s creation at that period. That best of Quraysh, of course, is then the chosen, rightful khalifah , even if people reject his authority. Apparently, Allah has made no exception for Prophet ‘Isa because the rule of the Mahdi over him does not upset or compromise the requirements of khilafah .

Imam al-Mahdi will be the best of Quraysh, and therefore the best of creation. He will thereby be the rightful amir over all humans and non-humans. In simpler words, the Mahdi will be superior to the Masih in rank before Allah. It is perhaps in recognition of this fact that Ibn Sirrin (d. 110 H), one of the earliest and best Sunni scholars – from the senior Tabi’in – declared that the Mahdi is “superior to some prophets”.

However, this view of his does not represent that of the mainstream Ahl al-Sunnah, despite his extremely high status among them. The orthodox Sunni position is that ‘Isa is vastly superior to the Mahdi. He is a prophet and the Mahdi is not. To them, every prophet is superior to every non-prophet till the Day of al-Qiyamah . Therefore, going by their submission, in the Mahdi-Masih case, quality will be compromised for tribal affiliations.

The primary Sunni evidence for the superiority of all prophets over all non-prophets – as we have confirmed repeatedly from some of their anti-Shi’i debaters – are these verses: وتلك حجتنا آتيناها إبراهيم على قومه نرفع درجات من نشاء إن ربك حكيم عليم وهبنا له إسحاق ويعقوب كلا هدينا ونوحا هدينا من قبل ومن ذريته داوود وسليمان وأيوب ويوسف وموسى وهارون وكذلك نجزي المحسنين وزكريا ويحيى وعيسى وإلياس كل من الصالحين وإسماعيل واليسع ويونس ولوطا وكلا فضلنا على العالمين And that was Our Hujjah which We gave Ibrahim against his people.

We raise whom We will in ranks. Certainly your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.