Abu Dawud

Abu Dawud published a tradition relating to all in the chapter (on the Mahdi).

It was transmitted by Fitr b. Khalifah, on the authority of:

• al-Qasim b. Abi Bazzah
  • Abu t-Tufayl
    • Ali
      • the Prophet

The Prophet said: “If only one day of the whole duration of the world remained, God would send a man of my family who will fill the world with justice, as it had been filled with injustice.”

Fitr b. Khalifah was considered reliable by:

• Ahmad (b. Hanbal)
• Yahya b. al-Qattan
• Ibn Ma’in
• an-Nasa’i
• and others

But al ‘Ijli said:

“He is ‘good’ in his traditions, (but) he has some pro-Shi’ah bias.” Ibn Ma’in once said= “He is a reliable person and a Shi’ah.”

Ahmad b. Abdallah b. Yunus 837 said= “We used to go and see Fitr, but he is rejected, and we did not write down (traditions) on his authority.”

Another time, he said: “I used to go and see him but always left him like a dog.”

Ad-Daraqutni said: “He is not utilized as evidence.”

Abu Bakr b. Ayyash 838 said: “I gave up transmitting traditions on his authority only because of his bad dogmatic opinions.” Al-Juzajani 839 said= “He is wayward and not reliable.” End of the quotation. With a chain of transmitters going back to ‘Ali, Abu Dawud also published the following tradition, on the authority of Harun b. al-Mughirah, 8 40 on the authority of ‘Amr b. Abi Qays,841 on the authority of Shu’ayb b. Khalid,842 on the authority of Abu Ishaq as-Sabi’i,843 who said that ‘All, looking at his son al-Hasan, said= “This son of mine is a lord, as he was called by the Messenger of God. From his spine, there will come forth a man who will be called by the name of your Prophet and who will resemble him physically, but will not resemble him in character.” He then mentioned the story, “He will fill the earth with justice….” Harun said= 844 We were told by ‘Amr b. Abi Qays, on the authority of Mutarrif b. Tarif,845 on the authority of Abu 1-Hasan 846 on the authority of Hilal b. ‘Amr= 847 I heard ‘Ali say= The Prophet said= “A man will come forth from Beyond the River (Transoxania) whose name will be al-Harith b. llarrath. In his avant-garde, there will be a man whose name will be Mansur. He will pave the way -or= prepare the way -for the family of Muhammad, as the Quraysh prepared the way for the Messenger of God. Every believer must help him-or, he said, respond to his call.“Abu Dawud made no critical remarks about this (tradition). In another passage, he said= “Harun is a Shi’ah.” AsSulaymani 848 said= “He is disputed.” Concerning ‘Amr b. Abi Qays, Abu Dawud said= “There is nothing wrong with him, but his traditions contain errors.” Adh-Dhahabi said= “He is trustworthy, but there are doubts concerning him.” As to Abu Ishaq as-Sabi’i, even though traditions on his authority are published in the two Sahihs, it is well established that he became confused at the end of his life. His transmission on the authority of ‘Ali is not continuous. The same applies to Abu Dawud’s transmission on the authority of Harun b. al-Mughirah.

Abul-Hasan and Hilal b. ‘Amr, (mentioned) in the second chain of transmitters, are little known. Abul-Hasan is known only from the fact that Mutarrif b. Tarif transmits (material) on his authority. End of the quotation. The following tradition, furthermore, was published by Abu Dawud, as well as by Ibn Majah and al-Hakim in the Mustadrak, through ‘Ali b. Nufayl, 849 on the authority of Sa’id b. al-Musayyab, on the authority of Umm Salimah, who said= “I heard the Messenger of God say= ‘The Mahdi is one of my family, one of the descendants of Fatimah.’ "

This is Abu Daw6d’s recension. He did not make any critical remarks concerning it. Ibn Majah’s recension has= “The Mahdi is one of Fatimah’s descendants.”

Al-Hakim’s recension has= “I heard the Messenger of God mention the Mahdi. He said= ‘Yes, he is a fact, and he will be one of the children of Fatimah.’ " Neither (Hakim) nor anyone else discussed the soundness of the tradition (critically). Abu Ja’far al-‘Ugayli declared it to be weak. He said= “‘Ali b. Nufayl has not been followed in this tradition, and it is known only through him.” Abu Dawud also published the following tradition of Umm Salimah, which was transmitted by Abul-Khalil Salih,850 on the authority of one of his colleagues, on the authority of Umm Salimah, on the authority of the Prophet, who said= “There will be a difference of opinion at the death of a caliph. A man from Medina will leave and flee to Mecca. People from Mecca will come to him and will drive him out. 851 He will be unwilling. They will render the oath of allegiance to him between the Corner (rukn) of the Ka’bah and the Maqam Ibrahim. A mission will be sent to him from Syria. He will disappear with them into the desert between Mecca and Medina. When the people see that, the saints 852 from Syria will come to him, and groups of ‘Iraqis, and they will render the oath of allegiance to him. Then, a man from the Quraysh will arise, whose maternal uncles are from the Kalb. He will send a (military) mission to them, and it will defeat them. This is the mission of the Kalb. No success will come to those who did not witness (the seizing of) booty by the Kalb. He will distribute the money and act among the people according to the Sunnah of their Prophet. He will plant Islam firmly upon earth. He will last seven years. Then, he will die, and the Muslims will pray for him.” Abu Dawud said: “Someone said on the authority of Hisham= 853 ‘Nine years.’ Others said= ‘Seven years.’ "

Abu Dawud also transmitted the same tradition according to Abul-Khalil’s recension, on the authority of ‘Abdallah b. al-Harith, 8 54 on the authority of Umm Salimah. This clears up the identity of the transmitter, whose name was not mentioned in the first chain of transmitters. The persons in it are persons mentioned in the two Sahihs. One could not attack them or find fault with them. (The tradition,) furthermore, is stated (by Abu Dawud) to have been transmitted by Qatadah 855 on the authority of Abul-Khalil. Qatadah did not actually hear the traditions he transmits, from his authorities. He says= “on the authority of,” but does not say= “I heard from . . .” In cases of transmitters aboutwhom there is doubt whether they actually heard their traditions from their authorities, a tradition is accepted only when it expressly states that they actually heard it. In this case, moreover, the tradition does not expressly state that it is concerned with the Mahdi, although Abu Dawud did, it is true, mention it in his chapters dealing with the Mahdi.

Abu Dawud, followed by al-Hakim, also published the following tradition of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri through ‘Imran al-Qattan,856 on the authority of Qatadah, on the authority of Abu Nadrah, 857 on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of God said= “The Mahdi is from me. He has a bald forehead and an aquiline nose. He will fill the earth with equity and justice, as it had been filled with injustice and crime. He will rule seven years.”

This is Abu Dawud’s recension. He did not make any remarks critical of it.

Al-Hakim’s recension has= “The Mahdi is from us, the people of the House. He has a well formed, aquiline nose, and a bald (forehead). He will fill the earth with equity and justice, as it had been filled with injustice and crime. He will live this long-and he opened out his left hand and two fingers of his right hand, the thumb and index finger, bending (the other) three down.” Al-Hakim said= “This is a sound tradition, according to the rules laid. down by Muslim (for sound traditions), but neither (al- Bukhari nor Muslim) published it.” End of the quotation.