Complete Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 31:
The Promised Deliverer (Kitab Al-Mahdi)
Chapter 1568:
Book 31, Number 4266:
Narrated Jabir ibn Samurah:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The religion will continue to be established till there are twelve caliphs over you, and the whole community will agree on each of them. I then heard from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) some remarks which I could not understand. I asked my father: What is he saying: He said: all of them will belong to Quraysh.
Book 31, Number 4267:
Narrated Jabir ibn Samurah:
I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: This religion will continue to be strong till the time of the twelve caliphs. The people then uttered: Allah is most great, and uproared. He then silently spoke a word which I could not understand. So I said to my father: What did he say, father? He said: All of them will belong to Quraish.
Book 31, Number 4268:
The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Jabir ibn Samurah through a different chain of narrators. This version adds: When he came back to his home, the Quraish came to him and said: Then what will happen? He replied: Then turmoil will prevail.
Book 31, Number 4269:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If only one day of this world remained. Allah would lengthen that day (according to the version of Za’idah), till He raised up in it a man who belongs to me or to my family whose father’s name is the same as my father’s, who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it has been filled with oppression and tyranny (according to the version of Fitr). Sufyan’s version says: The world will not pass away before the Arabs are ruled by a man of my family whose name will be the same as mine.
Abu Dawud said: The version of ‘Umar and Abu Bakr is the same as that of Sufyan.
Book 31, Number 4270:
Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If only one day of this time (world) remained, Allah would raise up a man from my family who would fill this earth with justice as it has been filled with oppression.
Book 31, Number 4271:
Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu’minin:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The Mahdi will be of my family, of the descendants of Fatimah.
Abdullah ibn Ja’far said: I heard Abu al-Malih praising Ali ibn Nufayl and describing his good qualities.
Book 31, Number 4272:
Narrated Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The Mahdi will be of my stock, and will have a broad forehead a prominent nose. He will fill the earth will equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny, and he will rule for seven years.
Book 31, Number 4273:
Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu’minin:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Disagreement will occur at the death of a caliph and a man of the people of Medina will come flying forth to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An expeditionary force will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Medina. When the people see that, the eminent saints of Syria and the best people of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam.
Then there will arise a man of Quraysh whose maternal uncles belong to Kalb and send against them an expeditionary force which will be overcome by them, and that is the expedition of Kalb. Disappointed will be the one who does not receive the booty of Kalb. He will divide the property, and will govern the people by the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and establish Islam on Earth. He will remain seven years, then die, and the Muslims will pray over him.
Abu Dawud said: Some transmitted from Hisham “nine years” and some “seven years.”
Book 31, Number 4274:
The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Qatadah through a different chain of narrators. This version has: “nine years.”
Abu Dawud said: The other narrators mentioned “nine years” from Hisham except Mu’adh.
Book 31, Number 4275:
The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Umm Salamah from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) through a different chain of narrators. The tradition of Mu’adh is more perfect.
Book 31, Number 4276:
Narrated Umm Salamah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said about the swallowing up of an army by the earth. I asked: How will a man who comes against his will (be swallowed up by the earth), Apostle of Allah? He replied: All will be swallowed up, but each will be raised according to his intention on the Day of Resurrection.
Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib:
Abu Ishaq told that Ali looked at his son al-Hasan and said: This son of mine is a sayyid (chief) as named by the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), and from his loins will come forth a man who will be called by the name of your Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and resemble him in conduct but not in appearance. He then mentioned the story about his filling the earth with justice.
Book 31, Number 4277:
Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: A man called al-Harith ibn Harrath will come forth from Ma Wara an-Nahr. His army will be led by a man called Mansur who will establish or consolidate things for Muhammad’s family as Quraysh consolidated them for the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). Every believer must help him, or he said: respond to his sermons.
1. The Mahdi will be from the family of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
“The world will not come to pass until a man from among my family, whose name will be my name, rules over the Arabs.”
– Prophet Muhammad (Tirmidhi Sahih, Vol. 9, P. 74; Abu Dawud, Sahih, Vol. 5, P. 207; also narrated by Ali ibn Abu Talib, Abu Sa’id, Umm Salma, Abu Hurayra)
2. He will spread justice and equality & eradicate tyranny and opression
“Allah will bring out from concealment al-Mahdi from my family and just before the day of Judgment; even if only one day were to remain in the life of the world, and he will spread on this earth justice and equity and will eradicate tyranny and oppression.”
– Prophet Muhammad (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Vol. 1, P. 99)
3. The Mahdi will rise even if it is one day before Qiyamah
“Even if only a day remains for Qiyamah to come, yet Allah will surely send a man from my family who will fill this world with such justice and fairness, just as it initially was filled with oppression.”
– Prophet Muhammad (Abu Dawood)
4. The Mahdi will emerge within a single night
“The promised Mahdi will be among my family. God will make the provisions for his emergence within a single night.”
– Prophet Muhammad (Ibn Majah, Sahih, Vol. 2, P. 519)
5. The Mahdi will be a descendant of Fatima
“The promised Mahdi will be among my progeny, among the descendants of Fatima.”
– Prophet Muhammad, narrated by Umm Salmah, the Prophet’s wife (Abu Dawud, Sahih, Vol. 2, P. 207; Ibn Majah, Sahih, Vol. 2, P. 519)
6. The Mahdi will be from the household of the Prophet (Ahlul-Bayt)
“Al-Mahdi is one of us, the members of the household (Ahlul-Bayt).”
– Prophet Muhammad (Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 2, Tradition No. 4085)
7. An army will proceed from Syria to attack the Mahdi and be swallowed into the ground
“After the death of a Ruler there will be some dispute between the people. At that time a citizen of Madina will flee (from Madina) and go to Makkah. While in Makkah, certain people will approach him between Hajrul Aswad and Maqaame Ibraheem, and forcefully pledge their allegiance to him.
Thereafter a huge army will proceed from Syria to attack him but when they will be at Baida, which is between Makkah and Madina, they will be swallowed into the ground.”
– Prophet Muhammad, narrated by Umm Salmah, the Prophet’s wife (Abu Dawood)
8. Jesus will descend and pray behind the Mahdi
“A group of my Ummah will fight for the truth until near the day of judgment when Jesus, the son of Mary, will descend, and the leader of them will ask him to lead the prayer, but Jesus declines, saying: “No, Verily, among you Allah has made leaders for others and He has bestowed his bounty upon them.”
– Prophet Muhammad (Sahih Muslim)
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 