3

With respect to the appearance of the savior, I ought to point out that in accordance with the perspective of Shiite, 12th Imam of Shiite (Imam Mahdi (a.j.)) is going to appear to save the world from the oppression. So my question is that what is the viewpoint of Sunni regarding this issue? In truth, do they believe in this matter as well? If so, who is him (according to Sunni)?

0

3 Answers 3

-1

It's the same for both Sunni & Shia. It's the same religion. On one side you have Wahhabies (in their different forms), they love Sahaba but they don't appreciate A'al Albayt, they even deny (or hide the proof of) their high status.

On the other hand, there are Shia who love Ahlul-bayt but they're misinformed about some of the Sahaba and hate them accordingly. Right in the middle, there are Sufis, they love all Ahlul-bayt and all the Sahaba. All sects are awaiting Imam Mahdi's appearance.

1
3

Al-Mahdi in Sunni Ahadith Collections

Many of the Sunan Collections have a whole chapter about a deliverer:

In Sunan Abi Dawod (for example1, 2, 3 which is Naming him al-Mahdi, 4 which is describing him) it is quoted that their will be a deliverer from Ahl Al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) with different grades of authenticity.
Just as an Indication for the 1st one: By abu Bakr and 'Omar, abu Dawod doesn't refer to the two Sahabis (May Allah be pleased with them) but to different Chains one narrated by Abu Bakr ibn 'Ayyash and the other 'Omar ibn Abayd!

And also at-Tirmdhi has a couple of ahadith on that subject (See here 1, 2, a hadith not quoted by ab Dawod is 3 but qualified as da'if)

In Sunan ibn Majah you may also find similar narrations (1 2 3 4) but apparently all of them or most qualified as da'if.


Ahadith on 'Isa Ibn Maryam's appearanceT

There are also ahadith quoting 'Isa ibn Maryam (Peace be upon him) (See for example here in Jami' at-Tirmidhi) as a Person who would play a role in this.
This Hadith which one could find in Both sahihs is precising that 'Isa will descend while al-Mahdi will be among us (1,2,3)


Sunni View about al-Mahdi

Sunni believe that at the End of time the Mahdi will appear as you may read in the above listed Ahadith/Hadiths where he is named, described and also a hint of where he will come (or appear) from is given. And He will rule the earth in accordance with Islamic Shari’ah. But they don't worship by waiting for him to appear. This is an accepted and well known matter among Sunni scholars.

For example al-Shawkaani said:

"The ahadith that we have come across that speak of the awaited Mahdi reach the level of tawaatur, including fifty saheeh, hasan and da’eef munjabar ahaadeeth. There are mutawaatir without a doubt; indeed they are more mutawaatir than others, according to all the standards of usool. There are also many reports from the Sahabah that speak about the Mahdi and that reach the level of marfoo’, so there is no room for individual opinions in such an issue."

But on the other hand one should be aware that some liars have fabricated adhadith about the Mahdi, and other even claimed to be he (One of them might be al-Mahdi ibn Tumart).

See also this Fatwa in English and this one about the 'Aqida of ahl As-Sunna on al-Mahdi (Arabic) and on Wikipedia (Arabic).

And Allah knows best!

0

In this answer, I'll mention both the majority and minority views but I'd like to heavily point out that the belief in Mahdi's emergence and/or existence is not unanimous within the Ummah since the inception of Islam until present no matter what someone else might say. Belief in the Mahdi or concept of Mahdi is not a central belief in Islam and doesn't make one a sinner or out of the scope of the religion if they reject the Mahdi.

In Ibn Al-Qayyim's book, Al-Manar Al-Munif fee Sahih wa Daif, he lists 4 different opinions commonly held in the Ummah:

  1. Mahdi is Jesus, the Son of Mary, himself. p.148

  2. Madi is Ibn Mansur, who was one of the Abbasids, and his time has already ended. p.149

  3. Mahdi is a man from Ahlul-Bayt, from the son of Al-Hassan Ibn Ali, who will emerge at the end of time. Majority of hadiths are on this view (Majority opinion). p.151

  4. Mahdi is Muhammad bin Al-Hassan Al-Askari according to the Imamate (Shia view). p.152

Additionally, there are those, commonly from Ahl al-Hadith, who reject the concept of Mahdi entirely.

Majority View

The majority view is that the Mahdi exists, that he'll come at the end times to lead the Muslims, will be from Ahlul Bayt, and is often considered a minor sign of the Day of Judgement.

The majority of scholars hold this view and it got significantly popular later in Islamic history and especially in modern times where the Muslim Ummah worldwide is in a weak situation so a destined "savior" that'll lead the Muslims is appealing.

Minority View

The minority views primarily consist of denial of Mahdi as a separate being or the concept of Mahdi entirely within Islam.

Classical Islamic scholars and figures

  • Hasan Al-Basri
  • Ibn Khaldun
  • Imam Al-Shatibi

Modern Scholars

  • Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
  • Dr. Muhammad Al-Ghazali
  • Abdullah bin Zaid Al-Mahmood

Some of their arguments generally consist of that the concept of Mahdi was not mentioned in the Quran, not mentioned in either Sahih Bukhari or Sahih Muslim, and that the hadiths used as evidence for the Mahdi are either weak, contradictory, fabricated, or generally flawed in some way or another.

If you want to read more about this, you can check out this in-depth 82 page Arabic paper written by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid Al-Mahmood on why there is no Mahdi in Islam.

Sources:

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .