were claimed by various Shi'a groups to be their
False Claimants of Mahdi
Excessive discussion and interest amongst the
masses with regards to the awaited Mahdi, led many
desirous of power and glory to claim being the Mahdi.
At times, deviated sects sought to legitimize
themselves by claiming their leaders to be the Mahdi,
for which they publicized false evidences that fit these
leaders. Apart from them, there were those who had
some qualities, or who adopted some characteristics,
by which people misunderstood them to be the
Mahdi. Allamah Hamoud At-Tuwaijri explained, “The
Mahdi will not demand for himself to be called the
Mahdi at the onset, like what the claimants to
Mahdiship do by lying and forgery, certainly people
from Makkah will come to him, and will choose him
while he is reluctant, and will give the bayaah (oath of
allegiance) to him, then the people will give him the
title of Mahdi after they see his righteousness, justice
and his eradication of injustice and oppression.’ [Al-
Ahtajaaj bil Athr ala man Ankara Al-Mahdi al-Muntazir, p. 302]
Following is a short list of some famous people who
have claimed Mahdiship.
The Mahdis of Shi'ism (Based upon, ‘Myth of the Shi'i
Mahdi' by Abu Muhammad al-Afriqi)
The foundation of the Shia faith is to believe
that the Imams from the progeny of Ali are appointed
by Allah to be the spiritual and political leaders of the
Muslim, and they enjoy all the distinctions and
privileges of the Prophet r, but unlike Prophethood,
the reign of the Imams cannot end as the well-known
Shia hadith says, “the world cannot exist without an
Imam”, and “if the earth were to be without an Imam
for a single day, it would sink.”
When Ali died, the Jew, 'Abdullah bin Saba'
was the first to deny his death and claim Ali to be the
Mahdi who will return to establish justice. Whereas,
other Shia accepted Ali's departure and a need to
appoint his successor, which was to be his son al-
Hassan; and after him al-Hussain. Abdullah bin
Saba's nonsense was to become a pattern with the
shia, that whenever an Imam of theirs died, some of
them would deny his death and declared him alive in
occultation (hidden from view), and await his return
as the Mahdi. Their Mahdi thus moved from person to
person, each time someone they hoped to be the
Mahdi was proved to be false.
After Hussain's death, some claimed that his
half-brother Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah was the
Imam. When he died, 'Al-Mukhtâr bin Abî Ubayd' and
the Kisaniyyah sect claimed he was alive at a place
with springs of water and honey called Jabal Ridwaa;
and he would return back as the Mahdi. [Al-Mukhtar
also used to claim that angels visited him, to which the sahabi
Ibn Umar replied, “He is telling the truth, for Allah says: 'The
devils inspire their helpers…'(6:121) see. Tafsir Ibn Katheer]
As for the other Shia they sought to limit the
Imams to the progeny of Faatimah, so after Hussain
they took his son Zayn al-Abidin (4th Imam), and
upon his death, his son, Muhammad al-Baqir (5th
Imam). When al-Baqir died some elements from the
Shi'a denied his death and claimed he would return,
while others took his son Ja'far as-Sadiq as their 6th
Imam. Ja'far's death brought mass confusion
amongst the Shi'ah: each of his sons Isma'il,
Abdullah, Muhammad, Zakariyya, Ishaq and Musa
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Imam. Additionally, one group also believed that
Ja'far did not really die but would return one day.
Those who took Isma’il bin Jafar, as the 7th
Imam, came to be known as the Isma'iliyah (a sect of
the Batiniyyah). After Ismail's death, they declared
him the last Imam. They are thus Seveners
(sab'eeyah) and believe in Ismail's return before the
last day.
As for the twelvers, they took Musa al-
Kaathim from amongst the sons of Ja'far as-Sadiq as
the 7th Imam. Upon his death, the story repeated, i.e.
some of the Shi'a denied his death and claimed he will
return, while others agreed to take one of his son's as
Imam. Some chose Ahmad, while others chose the
other son Ali ar-Rida (8th). After him they took as their
Imam his son At-Taqi (9th), and after him his son Ali
al-Hadi (or an-Naqi) (10th). At the death of Ali al-Hadi
they looked upon his son Hasan al-Askari as their
11th Imam. Hasan al-Askari died at the young age of
28 without having sired a son.
This landed the Shia in an enormous predicament,
because the continuation of the Imamah is central to
Shi'ism. The shia were thrown in mass-disarray, and
splintered into 14 sects (according to the Shia writer
Hasan an-Nawbakhti) or 20 separate sects (as the
historian al-Mas'udi said).
As in earlier cases, some denied Hasan al-
Askari's death, claiming he would return in the
future; others sought to extend the Imamah to
Hasan's brother Ja'far; and yet others, whose view
would later became the dominant one, claimed that
al-Hasan al-Askari did in fact have a son. This idea
was forwarded by some of the 'Imam's
representatives' who had been assigned to collect
money from the general shia for the Ahlul-Bayt. At the
head of them was 'Uthman ibn Sa'id al-'Amri', who
claimed that Hasan al-Askari was not childless but
had a 4-year old son, Muhammad, with whom no one
but he (i.e. ibn Sa'id) could have contact. From then
on, he was the sole representative (wakeel) of the
Hidden Imam and collected money in his name.
Hasan al-Askari's own family were completely
unaware of the existence of any child, and when
Hassan's estate was divided, it was distributed to his
mother and brother. Stories have been circulated
about the union between Hasan al-Askari and a
Roman slave-girl, who is variously named as Narjis,
Sawsan or Mulaykah. She is mentioned as the
daughter of the Roman emperor, 'Yusha', a direct
descendant of the apostle Simon Peter. Historical
evidence shows no such Roman emperor, and neither
he nor any other emperor is known to be a descendant
of Peter. Everything about the child is enveloped in a
thick cloud of mystery.
The period of exclusive communication with
the hidden-Imam lasted 70 years, until the fourth
'representative', 'Abul Hasan as-Samarri' put an end
to the hoax by proclaiming on the hidden-Imam's
behalf that until the day of his reappearance, he will
never be seen again, and anyone who claims
otherwise is a liar.
The Shi'ah term the period of indirect contact
with the hidden-Imam as the 'lesser occultation'
(al-Ghaybah as-Sughra), and the period
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henceforth of no contact as the 'greater occultation'
(al-Ghaybah al-Kubar), which has already lasted over
1,000 years. Though the shia claim that their Imams
are appointed by Allah, their history shows the choice
of the Imam is a result of human selection and
elimination. Furthermore, their identification of
someone as the Mahdi is far from credible, and their
fables of the unknown hidden-Imam are a repeat of
what have emanated from them in the past.
It should also be noted that even though the shia
claim the last-Imam to be a treasure-house of
Prophetic knowledge, none of the four representatives
who had the alleged exclusive access to the last-Imam
produced any book. Al-Kafi, the most authentic book
of Shia Hadith, was written during the latter decades
of the Lesser Occultation. It scarcely contains a
reference to any of the four representatives as
narrators from the Hidden Imam. Instead, Al-Kafi's
author, 'al-Kulayni', had to trace back information to
the fifth and sixth Imams through doubtful channels,
instead of taking knowledge directly from the last-
Imam's representatives. The fact that in the presence
of the infallible last-Imam, who is the guardian of the
legacy of Ahlul-Bayt, the shia have to depend upon a
fallible person like Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni
to get their narrations, is in itself a proof of the
hidden-Imam hoax.
Furthermore, the shia scholar Aqa Muhammad Baqir
Khwansari recorded in his book Rawdat al-Jannat
that the 'Hidden-Imam' approved of Al-Kafi, saying,
“This is enough for our Shi'ah” and this book has in it
Shirk, Kufr, utter blasphemy and incidents that the
shia rather not mention, like Ali ibn Abi Talib wedding
his daughter to Umar ibn al-Khattab. Nine centuries
later, the Shia Muhaddith, Mulla Muhammad Baqir
Majlisi, in his commentary on 'al-Kafi' named Mir'at
al-'Uqul, declared that 9,485 out of the 16,121
narrations in al-Kafi are unreliable. So much for the
infallible Imam's endorsement!!! Therefore, the
hidden-Mahdi that the shia’s claim, does not have
any proof of existence, or any witness, or any
effects in terms of his contribution to knowledge.
Rather is a witness to the falsehood and conjecture
upon which the Raafidah have based their religion.
[Note: As for the status of those whom the twelvers declare their
Imams; Ali, Hassan and Hussain are noble Sahabah; Zain al-
Aabideen, al-Baqir, Jaafar as-Saadiq and Moosa Kaadhim are
trustworthy and reliable scholars; their 8th through 11th
Imam did not shown a great deal of knowledge; and the 12th
‘hidden-Imam’, does not exist at all. ]
Haarith bin Suraij (d. 128H) : He rebelled against the
prince of Khurasaan in 116H in the era of Caliph
Hisham bin Abdul Malik and claimed to be the
possessor of the black flags*, and he took over some
cities of Khurasaan but was defeated by the
Ummayad army, and fled to the land of the Turks.
Jahm bin Safwan supported him and used to
narrated his exploits in the mosques and streets,
until they were confronted by Nasr bin Siyaar (the
prince of Khurasaan) and many of Haarith's
companions were killer including al-Jahm bin
Safwaan. [see. Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah 10/26] * Referring to
the Munkar (rejected) narration, “If you see the black flags coming
from Khurasan, join that army, even if you have to crawl, for in it is
Allah's Caliph Al-Mahdi.' See as-Silsilah ad-Daeefah 85.
Muhammed ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan (An-Nafs
Az-Zakeeyah) (d. 145H): He was a descendant of Ali
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through al-Hassan, and was known for his knowledge
and piety, hence the title, 'an-Nafs az-Zakiya (the
pure soul).' He was a chief of the Hashimites in his
knowledge, courage and honor. His family named him
'al-Mahdi', perhaps because of his name (i.e.
Muhammed ibn Abdullah), his being a descendant of
Faatimah, and his confronting the injustices of the
Ummayads. Muhammed ibn Abdullah was given the
bay'ah by a group of people from Hijaz, amongst who
was Abu Jafar al-Mansoor - the Abbasid Caliph,
whose dynasty was not in power then. When the
Abbasids came to power, Abu Jafar al-Mansoor
became the second Abbasid caliph, after his father's
death.
When Jafar was being given the bay'ah (oath
of allegience), Muhammed when into hiding fearing
harm from Jafar; while Jafar feared that Muhammed
would rise and claim the caliphate. When Jafar was
unable to find Muhammed, he imprisoned his close
relatives instead; many of whom died in prison.
Weary of hiding, Muhammad ibn Abdullah
decided to rise against Jafar. He went to al-Madina,
seized its leader and imprisoned him. The people gave
him their bayah and he was declared the Mahdi. He
then wrote to al-Mansoor as the Mahdi, and
mentioned his superiority and right to Khilafah. Al-
Mansoor brought an army of ten thousand soldiers
and defeated him. When Muhammad died, his
Mahdiship was under question for he had been
unable to fulfill the prophesy of ruling the earth for
seven years and Eesa u had not appeared. His
staunch followers claimed he could not die until the
earth was filled with justice. Others claimed that he is
in the mount Haajar in Najd until he will be ordered to
come out and own the earth.
Ubaidullah ibn Maymoon al-Quddah (d. 322H): His
fitnah occurred after 150 years of Abbasid rule, when
the Abbasids were weak and faced a stream of
rebellions against their rule by groups of Khawaarij,
Qaraamitah and others. A series of rebellions by the
Qaraamitah (a sect of Baatiniyyah) in Maghrib (North
Africe) enabled them to seize power and instate
'Ubaidullah ibn Maymoon al-Quddah' as head of
state. They believed him to be the Mahdi, and claimed
he was from the progeny of 'Muhammed bin Ismail
bin Jaafar as-Saadiq' while “it is know to the scholars
of lineages that Muhammed bin Ismail died without
any successor”. [see. Al-Farq Baynal Firaq p.282/283]
Ibn Taymiyyah described them to be inwardly
Mulhids, ostracized from all the sects, extreme
disbelievers whose way was based on the Magians,
the Sabians and philosophers with expressions of
Shi'ism. He also listed scholars who have authored
books exposing them like al-Qadi Aboo Bakr al-
Baqllani and al-Qadi Abdul Jabbar al-Hamdani and
the book of al-Ghazzali and others. [Minhaaj us-Sunnah
4/211] This was the beginning of the great calamity of
Fatimi rule.
Ubaidullah 'Mahdi' continued his attacks
upon the Abbasids from North Africa. The other
Qaraamitah of Iraq under the leadership of 'Abu Tahir
Sulaiman bin Abi Sayeed Janani' continually rebelled
against the Abbasids and terrorized parts of Iraq.
Despite being within Abbasid territory, the
Qaraamitah read the name of 'Ubaidullah Mahdi' in
their Friday sermon, and recognized him as caliph. In
318H, Abu Tahir raided Macca during the hajj
season, and started to slay the hujjaj and loot 29s
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their belongings. He did not hesitate to kill pilgrims in
the Kaabah, threw their bodies in the Zamzam well
and broke the Kaaba's door. He carried the black
stone with him to Hajr (the capital of Bahrain), and it
remained with the Qaraamitah for 22 years.
Muhammad ibn Toomart (485-524H) Maghrib,
North Africa. He was a liar and an oppressor, who
took power by force. He put some of his followers
inside graves and asked them to tell the people that he
was the Mahdi. He would then destroy the graves at
night whilst they were still inside, burying them alive
so that his deceit would be safe.' [Al-Manaar al-Muneef fis-
Saheeh wad-Da'eef by Ibn al-Qayyim (153). Quoted from al-Ashqar]
Timirtash bin an-Nauwain Jawbaan (d. 728H): Al-
Hafidh Ibn Hajr says, 'He was a courageous assassin
except that he had less intelligence so he claimed
being the mahdi..' [Durar al-Kaaminah (2/53)]
Ahmed ibn Abdullah bin Haashim al-Maltham
(658-740H): His actions showed him to be a liar, or
afflicted by satanic activities, or suffering from mental
illness. Originally from the land of the Turks, his
family settled in Cairo, where he studied Shafiee Fiqh
and accompanied 'Taqi ud-Din bin Daqiq Al-Eid' for
10 years. In 689H, he claimed to be the Mahdi due a
dream of his Meraaj through the seven heavens
during which he was bestowed Mahdiship by Allah.
He swore about many such dreams in his books but
later backed down saying he was a Mahdi only in the
literal sense (i.e. just a guide to the people). He is also
known to claim Messengership, but later disowned
this claim saying he meant only an ordinary
messenger (i.e. a daee) sent to warn the people. Only
Allah knows in what state he died.
Sayyid Muhammad Yusuf ibn Sayyid Khan
Hussaini Jaunpuri (847-910H) Jaunpur, India: He
claimed lineage to Ahlul-Bayt through Moosa
Kaadhim and studied under a soofi shaikh. His
preoccupation with meditations led him to
abandoned his family and wandered in deserts and
mountains, and upon his return, he claimed to be the
Mahdi. [See, Nuzhat al-khawatir wa bahjat al-Masami wa al-
Nawazir, (7/324-6)]
Abu Raj'aa Shahjahaanpuri said, '(Jaunpuri)
changed his father's name to Abdullah and his
mother's name to Amina and publicized them, and he
compiled a book of principles for the madhhab…,
from them are, (1) He is the promised Mahdi and is
superior to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmaan and Ali, rather
he is superior to Adam, Nuh and Ibraheem, Moosa,
Eesa…' (and from the principle are) He is equal in
position to the Prophet Muhammad r. Whatever he
opposes from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah in
statement and action, was incorrect (before)...' [See, al-
Mukhtar al-Masoon min A'laam al-Quroon (2/876-877)]
His deviant beliefs are mentioned in Al-Qaul
al-Mahmood [An Introduction to Mahdavi Beliefs by
Hazrat Syed Ali Yadullahi]. It mentions, 'In his
character, Imam Mahdi is equal to Prophet
Muhammad, except for Prophet-hood and
messenger-ship …. As the vice-regent of Allah, Imam
Mahdi (AHS) is better than Abu Bakr Siddiq, the first
Caliph of Prophet Muhammad.’
The beliefs taught by Jaunpuri to his
followers have been narrated after his death by Syed
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Khundmir and is referred to as, 'Aqida-e-Sharifa.'
According to it, anyone who refused to believe in the
Mahdiship of Jaunpuri, was declared by him to be a
disbeliever in Allah, the Qur'aan and the Messenger.
[This was also mentioned by Ali al-Muttaqi (author of 'Kunzul-
Ummal) in his refutation, 'Ar-Radd ala man Hakama wa-Qada
anna al-Mahdi qad jaa wa-Madaa'. He also said in 'al-Burhan fi
alamaat Mahdi Aakhir az-Zamaan (p.6)', “Their killing of the
scholars is enough proof of the falsehood of their belief, it is a
proof of absence of proof for their beliefs, and their failure to
establish their beliefs.]
Jaunpuri claimed, 'all elucidations,
explanations and commentaries of Qur'aan, not in
conformity with his own statements and
interpretations were not correct.' [Aqida-e-Sharifa] With
this he allowed himself complete freedom to apply
unrelated Qur'aanic verses to himself and his
followers. 'If a person cited the traditions (Hadeeth) of
Prophet Muhammad to argue his point, the Imam
(i.e., Jaunpuri) used to say that there was great
contradictions among various traditions and it was
difficult to correct them. The Imam said a tradition
was correct if it is in conformity with the Qur'aan and
the events (taking place around the Imam).' [Aqida-e-
Sharifa]
This argument of the inability to distinguish
between authentic and fabricated narrations
generally enumerates from modernists and Hadeeth-
rejecters, who for most part deny the Mahdi, as he is
not mentioned in the Qur'aan. It is thus strange that
Jaunpuri sheds doubts about hadeeth-verification,
for if Hadeeth cannot be verified as authentic or not,
then on what basis did Jaunpuri stake his claim in
the first place?
Jaunpuri realized that he will never be able to
fulfill the most well-known quality of the Mahdi as
mentioned in the mutawaatir Hadeeth that the Mahdi
will fill the earth with justice and fairness after it had
been filled with injustice and wrongdoing. [Sunan Abi
Dawud], therefore he interpreted this Hadeeth different
from its apparent meaning and said, “In reply, the
Imam said all believers believed accepted and obeyed
him.” i.e. by the acceptance of the Mahdiship by his
followers, justice and fairness was established !!!
His soofi education caused him to adopt
many of soofism's heresies as beliefs and practices
for his sect; like his saying that “the desire to see Allah
was obligatory on every man and woman, one should
not be a true believer until he or she had seen Allah
through physical eyes or in a dream”. He also stressed
on soofi idea like renouncing the world,
accompanying ascetics and seclusion from society.
Muhammed Ahmed bin Abdullah Sudani (1259-
1302H): He established the Mahdist Movement,
which still exists as a political party in Sudan. He
claimed to be from Ahl al-Bayt, to received revelation
and to have spoken to the Prophet * in person, who
allegedly inform him of being the Mahdi. He railed the
people and played a role in freeing the Sudan from
colonial occupation.
Muhammed ibn Abdullah al-Qahtani (d. 1400H):
Juhaimaan's Companion. [Details in article on the
Khawaarij]
References: Al-Mahdi by Dr. Muhammad Ahmed Isma’eel
al-Muqaddam, History of Islam by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi
Compiled by Sajid A Kayum
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