Allah's khaleefah, the Mahdee (Allah's endless Rahmah be upon him) will be a Sayyid, from the progeny of say-yiditina Faatimah (R.A.), the beloved daughter of say-yidina Rasulullah (s.a.w). He will not be very tall nor short. He well be well built. He will not be black nor brown, yellow or very white. His face will resemble the face of say'yidina Rasulullah (s.a.w). His habits, morals and way of life will be similar to that of say'yidina Rasulullah (s.a.w).

His name will be Muhammed. His fathers name Abdullah, and mothers name Aaminah. He will have a slight stutter in his speech, as a result at times he will hit his thigh with his palm. His ilm, he will receive directly from Allah, most high. However say'yiid Birzanjee (r.a) writes in his kitaab that I could not find the name of Imaam Mahdee's mother in the riwaayaat (narrations).

Prior to the appearance of Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee, a person will be born from the progeny of Abu-Sufyaan. According to Say'yid birzanjee (r.a) this person will be from the progeny of Khaleed ibn Yazeed ibn Abi-Sufyaan, and according to Imaam Qurtubi (r.a) his name will be Urwah.

The sufyaani will murder the saadaat [progeny of say-yedina Hassan and Hussein (r.a) and will rule over Egypt and Shaam - (Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria).

During the days of the sufyaani, the byzantine ruler will be at war with one Christian faction and will make peace with the other (Christian faction). Thus the waring Christian faction will run over Qustuntuniyyah (Istanbul), and will occupy it. The byzantine ruler will flee and go to Shaam. The Muslim army with the aid of the friendly Christian party will wage war against the enemy Christian party, and will be victorious.

A person from the friendly Christian party will thus announce that "because of the cross, victory was gained", and in the name of the cross we won. On hearing this, a person from the Muslim army will assault this Christian person and will say no "Islaam was victorious and because of Islaam victory was gained". As a result of this incident, war will break out between the Muslims and the friendly Christian party. The Muslim leader will be martyred and the Christians will take over Shaam. Thereafter, the two Christian parties will make peace, and the remaining muslims will migrate to Madinah.

The Christian rule will extend almost upto khaiber, which is to the north of Madinah. Now the muslims will begin their search for Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee.

During this period, Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee will be residing in Madinah. Fearing that the Muslims will appoint him as their leader and will ask him to run their affairs, and to solve their colossal problem, he will travel to makkah. Thus, the Auliyaa and Abdaal of his time will begin searching for him. In the interim period many will lay false claims to be the Mahdee.

Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee, will be performing tawaaf. Whillst he will be between the Hajarul-Aswad and the Maqaame- Ibraheem a group of people will recognize him, and they will force him to make bay'it (pledge). At the time of the bay't, a voice will be heard from the sky (in arabic) saying.

A sign of this event is that during the Ramadhaan prior to this (event) there will be a total lunar and solar eclipse (during the month of Ramadhaan).

[translators note: according to records published by observatories worldwide, is that a total lunar eclipse will be visible during the eighth and ninth of November 2003, and a total solar eclipse will be visible during the 23RD and 24TH of the same month. Furthermore, during the year 2003, Ramadhaan will begin around the 26TH of October. Thus according to the records of the observatories this event may only be four years away.

At the time of the bay'it, the Mahdee will be forty years old. When the news of Allah's khaleefah reaches Madinah Munawwarah, an army will proceed from Madinah to join Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee in Makkah. The Auliyaa and Abdaal of Shaam, Iraaq and Yemen will accompany the Mahdee, and countless people from the arab countries will begin joining the Mahdee's army. The Mahdee will begin unearthing the treasures buried in the Ka'bah, and will distribute it among the muslims.

When the news of the Mahdee begins spreading to the other islaamic countries, a person from Khurasaan will leave with a massive army, and come to the aid of the Mahdee. Enroute to the Mahdee, he will eliminate many Christians and irreligious elements. The name of the commander of this army will be Mansoor.

The sufyaani who will be an arch enemy of the Saadaat, will send an army to fight Allah's khaleefah, the Mahdee. When the sufyaani army will be near a mountain between Makkah and Madinah, the entire army - the good as well as the bad, will all sink into the ground. Thus on the day of Qiyaamah, each person will be resurrected according to his intention, aqaaid and a'maal. There will remain only two survivors. One of them will inform Allah's khaleefah about the fate of the sufyaani army, and the other will inform the sufyaani.

On hearing about the build up of the Arab armies, the Christians will begin preparing their armies, and will merge with the Christian armies of the Byzantine empire. Together, they will head towards Shaam to fight against the Mahdee. Their army will have seventy banners, and under each banner there will be twelve thousand men (a total of eight-hundred and forty- thousand men).

Imaam Mahdee will depart from Makkah and go to Madinah. On reaching Madinah, he will go to the qabr of Say'yidina Rasulullah (s.a.w). Thereafter, he will head towards Shaam. Thus, at a place close to Damascus, the battle will begin between Imaam Mahdee's army and the Christians.

The Muslim army will then be split up into three sections. The one section will fear the Christians and will flee, Allah will never ever accept their taubah. The second section will be martyred, these shuhadaa will gain the reward similar to those who were martyred during the battles of Badr and Uhud. The third section will be victorious.

On the second day, Imaam Mahdee will again confront the Christians. On this day a group of Muslims will make a promise that we will either win the battle or we will become shaheed (martyrs). Thus, everyone from the group will be martyred.

On the third day another large group of muslims will promise that we will not return from the battle-field until we gain victory or we are martyred. This will be a fierce battle. Thus, all those who promised, will be martyred.

On the fourth day, a large number of Muslims will take an oath that today we are going to be victorious, otherwise we will become martyrs. This group too will also be martyred.

On the fifth day Imaam Mahdee will come onto the battle-field with a small army, with the Rahmah and Grace of Allah, this small army will be victorious. So many Christians will be killed in this battle that they will have no hope of ruling the world anymore. The remaining Christians will flee from the battle- field, dishonored and disgraced. The Muslims will track them down and scores of them well be killed.

Thereafter, Imaam Mahdee will honor and reward all those who took part in this decisive battle. Because of grief, this honor and reward will not satisfy many, for almost everyone involved well have lost his family or tribe in the battle.

Thereafter, Imaam Mahdee will begin attending to the welfare and administration of the Muslim lands, and will send armies to all areas.

Imaam Mahdee will then head towards Qustuntuniy'yah (Istanbul). On reaching the byzantine sea (marmara-sea), he will send by boat, an army of seventy-thousand strong men, from the clan of banu-ishaaq to conquer qustuntuniy'yah. On reaching the city walls (of Istanbul), these soldiers will cry aloud: "Allahu-Akbar". With the barakah of Allah's name, the city's wall will crumble, and the Muslims will enter the city. They will eliminate all the arrogant kuffaar, and will establish peace and order in the Byzantine empire again.

Whilst Imaam Mahdee will be occupied with establishing peace and order in the byzantine land, a rumor will spread that daj'jaal-the accursed has made his appearance and is terrorizing the muslims. On hearing about this, Imaam Mahdee will head towards Shaam. To investigate matters further, he will send between five to nine men on horse-back to see whether the rumors are true or false. Say'yidina Rasulullah (s.a.w) said:

Allah's khaleefah - The Mahdee, will now take things easy, and busy himself with the welfare of the ummah. Not long after this, the accursed daj'jaal will make his appearance. Imaam Mahdee will go to Damascus before daj'jaal's arrival in the city. He then will prepare his army, and whils he is busy distributing weapons to his men, the Asr azaan will be called out by the mua'zzin. Thus, the men will begin preparing for the Asr salaah, and at that moment, Say'yidina Ee'saa ibn Maryam (a.s) with the aid of two malaa'ikah (angels) will descend from the skies onto the eastern minaarah of the jaame musjid in Damascus.

Say-yedina Ee'saa (a.s) will thus ask that someone bring the stairs. He will then come down from the minaarah and embrace Allah's khaleefah - the Mahdee. Imaam Mahdee will welcome him and tell him: O ' Allah's nabi, do lead the Asr salaah. Say'yidina Ee'saa (a.s) will tell Imaam Mahdee that you be the imaam and lead the Asr salaah. Hence, Say'yedina Ee-saa (a.s) will perform the Asr salaah behind Allah's khaleefah -the Mahdee (a.s).

After the Asr salaah, Imaam Mahdee will say to say'yidina Ee'saa (a.s) that: O' Allah's nab! from now on you are in charge of the army and their operations, do as you like with them. He then will reply - no, the army will remain under your care. I have come to kill the daj'jaal. The killing of daj'jaal is what Allah has assigned to me.

The entire world will be filled with Imaam Mahdee's fairness and justness. Injustice and oppression well be a thing of the past. Everyone will be engaged in the true ibaadah (worship) of Allah, most high. The khilaafah of Imaam Mahdee well either remain for seven, eight or nine years. But according to reports, he will spend seven years fighting the christians and restoring order, during the eighth year he will be engaged in fighting with daj'jaal's army, and his ninth year he well spend in the company of say'yidina Ee'saa ibn Maryam (a.s). Thus, according to this calculation, he would then be forty-nine years old.

Thereafter, Imaam Mahdee will depart from this world, and Say'yidina Ee'saa (a.s) will perform his jan"zah salaah and will bury him. From this moment onwards, all affairs will be in the hands of Say'yidina Ee-saa (a.s).

From the time of the sahaabah (r.a.) untel the days of the muhad-ditheen, everyone mentioned regarding the Mahdee with great care, caution and gravity. So much so that Titmizi, Abu- Dawood, Ibn Maajah etc, have dedicated special chapters in their works regarding the Mahdee. Similarly, many other muhad'ditheen have mentioned about the Mahdee in their Kitaabs, namely: Imaam Ahmed, Biz'zaar, Ibn abi-Shaybah, Haakim, Tabaraani, Abu-Ya'laa and others.

The sahaabah (r.a) who narrated the ahaadeeth regarding the Mahdee includes: Say'yidina Ali, Abdullah ibn Ab-baas, Abdullah ibn Umar, Talhah, Abdullah ibn Masood, Abu-Hurairah, Anas, Abu-Saeed, Ummi- Habeebah, Ummi-Salamah, Thaubaan (ra.) And others.

The writer of sharh aqeedah as-safaareenee says that according to the ulamaa, and according to the aqaaid of the ahlus-sunnah wal jamaa-ah, it is necessary to have yaqeen regarding the coming of the mahdee.

Qadee Showkaane has compiled fifty marfoo ahaadeeth and twenty-eight aathaar regarding the mahdee. Sheikh Ali- Murtaqee, the author of Kanzul-ummaal has collected a great deal of ahaadeeth regarding the mahdee.

Haafiz ibn-Taymiy'yah in his minhaajus-sunnah and Haafiz Zahabee in his mukhtasir-minhaaj-us-sunnah have written: "those ahaadeeth that prove about the coming of the mahdee are sihaah". They have been narrated by Ahmed, Abu-Dawood and Tirmizi.