You have glossed over an important distinction. The Ahadith about the coming of Mahdi are not simply Khabr, they are instructing the believing Muslims to pledge allegiance to him. So your analogy with the 12 caliphs and Dajjal is deficient.
فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوهُ فَبَايِعُوهُ وَلَوْ حَبْوًا عَلَى الثَّلْجِ فَإِنَّهُ خَلِيفَةُ اللَّهِ الْمَهْدِيُّ
"When you see them (black banners from the east) then pledge your allegiance to them even if you have to crawl over the snow, for that is the Caliph of Allah, the Mahdi." (Ibn Maja).
The hadeeth my friend you used was declared weak by the same scholar whose Takhreej you used for the narration of Abu Dawud. That is Zubair Ali Zaee, he weakened this hadeeth in his analysis of Sunan Ibn Majah.
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Also Shiekh Albani too declared this hadeeth weak in his checking of Sunan Ibn Majah.
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As for the reason Albani gave then he said:
وقد ذهل من صححه عن علته، وهي عنعنة أبي قلابة، فإنه من المدلسين
Those who declared it sahih have overlooked its defect, and that is the ‘an-‘an report of Abu Qilabah, for verily he was from the mudalisin. [Silsila ahadeeth Daeefa, #85]
But to be fair, there were some scholars who authenticated this report, so I want to be good enough not to blame you of double standards.
I believe that perhaps certain wording "for he is the caliph of Allah, the Mahdi" is not authentically established,
True. Scholars heavily criticized it, Albani called it mUnkar, Ibn Jawzi included it in Mawdooat. etc. When Abu Bakr(ra) was called with his termed he corrected it and told that he is Khalipa of Rasool Allah(saws).
قرأت على أبي عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله بن حكم يعرف بابن البغوي أن محمد بن معاوية أخبرهم قال: حدثنا الفضل بن الحباب الجشمي، حدثنا أبو الوليد الطيالسي، حدثنا نافع بن عمر الجمحي عن ابن أبي مليكة قال: قال رجل لأبي بكر: يا خليفة الله، قال: لست بخليفة الله. قال ولكني أنا خليفة رسول الله وأنا راضٍ بذلك.
( Al-Istiab fi Maarifat al-Ashaab, vol 1, page 297 by Ibn Abdul Bar)
http://islamport.com/w/trj/Web/267/297.htmnevertheless, what is established when we analyze all the authentic narrations concerning the Mahdi is that the Muslims are being instructed by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself to pledge allegiance to the Mahdi. In short, the Mahdi is a figure that is Mansoos Min Allah, he has a Nass proving that he has to be given the allegiance. and it is not a Nass that is generic about obeying the Muslim leader, etc., it is a Nass that specifically mentions him as an individual by his name (his name is my name and his father's name is my father's name).
You have hurried in deducing a ruling from the report brother. When you compare both the ahadeeth we are discussing then you can see that they can easily be reconciled. The one from Ibn Majah is talking about the time when Imam Mahdi will be the Caliph leading an army carrying black flags, that time when Muslims see them they must pay allegiance to him. But how he will become Caliph is mentioned in the Hadeeth of Abu Dawood, which shows people will appoint him as their leader by giving their allegiance against his will. As for the point that after Imam Mahdi is appointed as Caliph by people then others were commanded to pay allegiance to him, then this goes in line of Shariah. The best example is the Caliphate of Abu Bakr siddiq(ra), when he was appointed Caliph by a small group of people, that time the rest of Muslim Ummah where commanded to pay allegiance to him. Similar thing happened during Caliphate of Ali(Ra).
Ali(ra) wrote in his letter to Muawiya(ra) stating:
إنه بايعني القوم الذين بايعوا أبا بكر وعمر وعثمان ، على ما بايعوهم عليه ، فلم يكن للشاهد أن يختار ولا للغائب أن يرد ، وإنما الشورى للمهاجرين والأنصار ، فإن اجتمعوا على رجل وسموه إماماً كان ذلك لله رضى فإن خرج منهم خارج بطعن أو بدعة ردوه إلى ماخرج منه فإن أبى قاتلوه على اتباعه غير سبيل المؤمنين ، وولاه الله ما تولى
Verily, the people who payed allegience to Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, have payed allegience to me based on the same principles as the allegience to them. So anyone who was present has no right to go against his pledge of allegience, and anyone who was absent has no right to oppose it. And verily shura (consultation) is only the right of the Muhajirs and the Ansar. So if they decide upon a man and declare him their Imam, then it is with the pleasure of Allah.
If anyone goes against this decision, then he must be persuaded to follow the rest of the people. If he persists, then fight with him for leaving that which has been accepted by the believers. And Allah shall let him wander misguided and not guide him. (Nahjul-Balaghah, Letter #6).
So commanding people to pay allegiance to the Caliph appointed by a group of Muslims, doesn't mean that he was divinely appointed hence it is being commanded to pay him allegiance, rather this is the general ruling for the Islamic Khilafa.
I also mentioned that when the Mahdi appears and is given the pledge of allegiance, there will already be Muslim rulers present. Now ordinarily, the Prophet commanded that obedience has to be given to the person who gets the pledge of allegiance from the Muslims first, and if a second person comes he is a rebel and is to be fought. But in the case of the Mahdi there is an agreed upon exception, hence it proves his Imamate is Mansoos.[/font][/size]
The hadeeth of Abu Dawud talks about the death of Khalipha. [We read: Dawud :: Book 36 : Hadith 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.]
So you are wrong brother, to assume that their will be Caliph. The seat of Caliph would be empty, hence people would appoint Imam Mahdi over it. And he would be the rightful Caliph. But yes there could be Ameers(governors) over certain cities at that time, who would like to acknowledge this appointment of Caliph by people, but that doesn't mean they are also Caliph. This situation could be similar to the Caliphate of Ali(ra), when Muawiya(ra) was a governor and didn't want to give allegiance until his demands were met.
Hence again your theory of Khipha masoos min allah falls flat.
The issue that needs to be discussed is whether or not the Prophet has instructed us to obey the Mahdi, a specific individual. If the answer is in the affirmative then it means he is an Imam that has a Nass, there is no Ikhtiyaar in the matter of his Imamate. You can see that our belief that the Prophet left in his will for us that when the Mahdi appears we take him as our leader, is similar to the Shi'ite belief that the Prophet left in his will that after him the Muslims take Ali كرم الله وجهه as their leader. So in principle we both accept the idea of a divinely appointed Imamate, but we differ over who those specific personalities are and when they appeared. It is not a difference over the theory, but a difference regarding the personalities.
Brother, you have made wrong and incorrect parameters to judge things, hence the result of anything you judge is going to be faulty.
Prophet(saws) even commanded Muslims to follow Sunnah of Rightly guided Caliphs after him, and in another hadeeth he said that, rightly guided Caliphate will remain for 30 years.
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا بَقِيَّةُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ، عَنْ بَحِيرِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ مَعْدَانَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو السُّلَمِيِّ، عَنِ الْعِرْبَاضِ بْنِ سَارِيَةَ، قَالَ وَعَظَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَوْمًا بَعْدَ صَلاَةِ الْغَدَاةِ مَوْعِظَةً بَلِيغَةً ذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ وَوَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ إِنَّ هَذِهِ مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَمَاذَا تَعْهَدُ إِلَيْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ " أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ عَبْدٌ حَبَشِيٌّ فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ يَرَى اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيرًا وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الأُمُورِ فَإِنَّهَا ضَلاَلَةٌ فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ فَعَلَيْهِ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ "
Narrated Al-‘Irbad bin Sariyah: “One day after the morning Salat, the Messenger of Allah (saw) exhorted us to the extent that the eyes wept and the hearts shuddered with fear. A man said: ‘Indeed this is a farewell exhortation. [So what] do you order us O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘I order you to have Taqwa of Allah, and to listen and obey, even in the case of a Ethiopian slave. Indeed, whomever among you lives, he will see much difference. Beware of the newly invented matters, for indeed they are astray. Whoever among you sees that, then he must stick to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided Khulafa’, click to it with the molars.'”(Jami` at-Tirmidhi #2676; Grading: Sahih)
The hadeeth narrated by Safeenah (radiallaahu anhu), that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said:
خلافة النبوة ثلاثون سنة ثم يؤتي الله الملك من يشاء
The Prophetic khilaafah will last for thirty years. Then Allaah will give the dominion to whomever He wills. Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Haakim. Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer (no. 3257) declared Saheeh by Imaam al-Albaani.
Also reported by Safeenah, the saying of the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam):
الخلافة بعدي في أمتي ثلاثون سنة ثم ملك بعد ذلك
The khilaafah after me in my Ummah will last for thirty years. Then there will be kingship after that. Reported in the Musnad Imaam Ahmad, by at-Tirmidhi, Musnad Abi Ya’laa, and Ibn Hibbaan. Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer (no. 3341) declared Saheeh by Imaam al-Albaani (rahimahullaah).
Now does it mean that the Caliphate of Abu bakr(ra), Umar(ra), Uthman(ra), Ali(ra) and Hassan(ra)[6 months], was divinely appointed by Allah, just because Prophet(saws) commanded to follow the rightly guided Caliphs?No this is not correct, rather this is Qadr of Allah, as I explained before.
If you disagree then you need to believe that, after the Prophetic Khilapha which was divinely appointed to Allah, then Allah gave it to whom ever he wanted and it was changed into Kingship, and this Kinship was also divinely appointed by Allah, which I believe you would disagree, realizing the erroneous parameters you set.
So brother know that what all I explained still remains strong. Also additional there is a report that Prophet(saws) commanded people to follow Abu Bakr and Umar after him. [Refer Jami at-Tirmidhi Book 49, Hadith 4023].
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE THAT CALIPHATE OF IMAM MAHDI WILL BE SIMILAR TO THE INITIAL CALIPHATEA part from the unrefuted evidence I presented about Caliphs after Prophet(saws being appointed by people, which included the Hadeeth that he was last prophet and there will be many caliphs after him....Here is another proof that Caliphate of Imam Mahdi will not be divinely appointed.
تكون النبوة فيكم ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله – تعالى – ، ثم تكون خلافة على منهاج النبوة ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله – تعالى – ، ثم تكون ملكا عاضا ، فتكون ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله – تعالى – ، ثم تكون ملكا جبرية فيكون ما شاء الله أن يكون ، ثم يرفعها الله – تعالى – ، ثم تكون خلافة على منهاج نبوة . ثم سكت . . .
الراوي: النعمان بن بشير المحدث: الألباني – المصدر: تخريج مشكاة المصابيح – الصفحة أو الرقم: 5306
خلاصة حكم المحدث: إسناده حسن
Al-Nauman ibn Basheer told us: The Prophet PBUH said: ‘Prophethood will remain in you for as long as God decides for it to remain and then God will remove it when He decides to remove it. After Prophet hood, there will be a Caliphate on the style of prophethood and it will exist for as long as God decides for it to exist, then He will remove it when He decides to remove it. Then there will be a kingdom in which people will face trials and tribulations and it will continue to exist for as long as God decides for it to exist. Then He will remove it, when He decides to remove it. After this, there will be an oppressive kingdom and it will continue to exist for as long as God decides for it to exist. Then He will remove it, when He decides to remove it. Then there will once again be a Caliphate on the style of prophet hood. After saying this, the Prophet (pbuh) was silent.’
source: Takhreej Mishat al Masabih #5306.
From Hudhayfah that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said:
تكون النبوة فيكم ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله إذا شاء أن يرفعها ، ثم تكون خلافة على منهاج النبوة ، فتكون ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله إذا شاء أن يرفعها ، ثم تكون ملكا عاضا ، فيكون ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها الله إذا شاء أن يرفعها ، ثم يكون ملكا جبريا ، فتكون ما شاء الله أن تكون ، ثم يرفعها إذا شاء أن يرفعها ، ثم تكون خلافة على منهاج النبوة ، ثم سكت
The Prophethood will remain amongst you for as long as Allaah wills it to be. Then Allaah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be the khilaafah upon the Prophetic methodology. And it will last for as long as Allaah wills it to last. Then Allaah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be biting kingship, and it will remain for as long as Allaah wills it to remain. Then Allaah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be tyrannical (forceful) kingship and it will remain for as long as Allaah wills it to remain. Then He will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be a khilaafah upon the Prophetic methodology. Then he (the Prophet) was silent.Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud. Silsilah as-Saheehah of Imaam al-Albani (1/34 no. 5) and it is Saheeh.
It is known that the initial phase of Prophetic Khilapha was not divinely appointed, neither did these Caliphs claimed so, nor did the Sahaba. Now, eventually after the different changes in the mode of Rulership in the Ummah, the style of rulership will return to the style of Prophetic Khilapha again, and this is about the Caliphate of Imam Mahdi as well. Hence like the initial Prophetic Khilapha was not divinely appointed, the same would apply to later one which include Khilapha of Imam Mahdi, even that won't be divinely appointed.
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December 14, 2014, 03:09:26 AM