21. Will The Mahdi Burn Or Crucify Abu Bakr And ‘Umar?
https://www.al-islam.org/imam-al-mahdi-twelfth-khalifah-sahih-sunni-ahadith-toyib-olawuyi/21-will-mahdi-burn-or-crucify-abu#fref_e5a6d238_22We have examined the riwayat which are normally quoted as “proof” that Imam al-Mahdi will exhume the two Sunni caliphs and burn or crucify them. All the reports are dha’if, and most of them are very unreliable. There are nine reports:
a) The first hadith is dha’if: Imam al-Mahdi will resurrect them both and then burn them only, without crucifying them at all.
b) The second hadith is dha’if: Imam al-Mahdi will resurrect them both and will then burn them with the same firewood which they had allegedly gathered to burn the Ahl al-Bayt, without crucifying them.
c) The third hadith is mawdhu’ (a fabrication) due to Ahmad b. Hilal: Imam al-Mahdi will only exhume their corpses and will NOT resurrect them, and he will burn them both.
d) The fourth hadith is dha’if: Imam al-Mahdi will only exhume their corpses and will NOT resurrect them, and will burn them both.
e) The fifth hadith is dha’if: It mentions absolutely nothing about Imam al-Mahdi or his alleged exhumation/resurrection/cremation of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. So, it is grossly irrelevant.
f) The sixth hadith is dha’if jiddan: Imam al-Mahdi will only exhume their corpses and will NOT resurrect them, and will only crucify them on two pieces of wood (and not trees) and will NOT burn them.
g) The seventh hadith is also dha’if jiddan: It mentions absolutely nothing about Imam al-Mahdi or his alleged exhumation/resurrection/cremation of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. So, it is grossly irrelevant as well.
h) The eighth hadith is dha’if: Imam al-Mahdi will only exhume their corpses and will NOT resurrect them, and will crucify them, and then burn them.
i) The ninth hadith is mawdhu’: It contradicts itself on the exact timing of the alleged exhumation. It also claims that Imam al-Mahdi will crucify the duo on a tree (not on two pieces of wood), and will then burn them with a fire from the earth and the tree on which they will be crucified (and not with the wood which they had allegedly gathered to burn the Ahl al-Bayt).
Two of them are completely irrelevant. Therefore, we are left with seven reports. Two of those are also mawdhu’. That leaves five. Of those five, four are dha’if, and one is dha’if jiddan. So, we are left with the four dha’if reports. The four dha’ifah also contradict one another on whether the Qaim will resurrect the two caliphs or not, and on whether he will crucify them or not.