in the name of allah, the exalted

dedication

this book is dedicated to you 'o abul-qasim - muhammad-ibn-hassan-askari, 'o "baqia'tallah" (allah's remainder) on the earth and his proof over his servants. i hope to be graced with your acceptance. in reality, the value of presentation is tantamount to the capacity of its giver.

sayyid sadruddin al-sadr.

in his exalted name

this (book) is a collection of a series of traditions which have been narrated from the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.), his progeny and companions - all taken from our sunni brethren sources. it also contains sayings and writings of sunni scholars about the awaited mahdi who is from the progeny of muhammad (s.a.w.a.).

it is hoped that this book remains a means of my remembrance and a vision for others. i have arranged this book by bringing one preface, eight chapters and a conclusion. i ask allah for its success and humbly request him who is the best of the helpers for his favour.

sayyid sadruddin al-sadr.

«the reason for writing this book
and the writer's style»

some of my learned friends joined me in a noble and scholarly gathering. discussions followed concerning the authencity of traditions until it took us to the subject of the 'awaited mahdi' - a subject which we (the twelve imami'ah shias) believe and which constitutes one of the principles of religion.

then, some of those present asked: 'what do our sunni brethrens say in this regard and whether any tradition(s) has been narrated from their sources which is compatible with our traditions or not'?

i replied: 'yes. as per their own research, they are possessing, diffused (mustafiza) and authentic (mustawatir(1) and some among them have also written books in this regard. however, a few of them have spoken about this subject from the view-point of its originality, characteristics and other points which we believe.

yes, to them there exists controversies and (uncertainties') improbabilities which one generation usually inherits from the previous one and they speak about them and mention them in their books or writings with differences only in wordings but similar in meaning.

thereafter one inquired: 'can you write an article with regard to this matter and restrain yourself in your writing to only those traditions which have also appeared in their references and then mention those difficulties and improbabilities (which they are disturbed with) and then give its reply'?

i replied: 'entering into such kind of affair will cause the lines of friendship to tear apart and i do not wish such a split to happen especially at present when we are in need of unity among the muslims.'

then one of them said: 'discussions in matters pertaining to knowledge will not bring any harm if such a discussion proceeds through observing the rules of debate and if one's words do not go beyond the boundaries of courtesy and morals. in fact no one has any right to speak harshly or rebuke the others.

indeed, man is free in his views and doctrines and it is his right to stand by them. however we see in this respect that some have harmed others through their words and hence should bear the responsibility.

thereafter i replied: 'i accept your reasoning and shall enter this field by depending on the strength and power of allah and by observing the customary etiquettes. indeed allah guides to the right path whomever he whishes.

from among the books written by our sunni brothers in this respect which will be made use of, is only a few in my possession. i examined all of them one after the other and how inquiringly i performed my task! in most of them, the traditions about mahdi have not been mentioned in the specific chapters. thus i collected a sufficient number of the traditions needed to serve our objective and arranged them under specific topics.

i wrote every tradition under the specific topics which were related to them and with regard to those traditions which comprised of many points, i have brought each one of those points under the same related topics and then mentioned the severance of the tradition.

let it not remain unsaid that i have narrated the afore-mentioned traditions from the very books which i had (those traditions) in my possession and with regard to those particular books which were not in my possession, i have narrated them by relying on their respective honourable scholars.

furthermore, in narrating the traditions, i have confined myself only to those books which have been printed in sunni printing houses. moreover i have avoided narrating from those books which have been printed in iran such as 'al - bayan - fi - akhbar - saheb - e - zaman', 'al - fusool - al muhimme - fi - ma'rifat - ul - a'imma' and 'tazkerat - ul - ummah - fi - ahwaal a'imma' - except for some points extracted from the book of 'tazkerat - ul - 'aimma'.

similarly i have refrained myself from narrating traditions from our own great scholars and from what has been deposited in our own books and writings for the simple reason that perhaps it may become a cause of suspicion (i.e. they might think that the quoted tradition is false and fabricated). however i have used some references from the book 'al - durar - al musuwia - fi - shar - al - aqa'ed - al - jafaria' written by our master ayatullah abi muhammad sayyid hassan - al - sadr kazemi who has a great right and to whom we owe a lot. i have used his references not with the intention of reasoning and argumentation but only as a means of supporting the subject at hand.

i bear witness to god that i have treated these traditions and the sayings of the past prior people from the view-point of justice only and avoided the path of injustice and deviation. i deemed it necessary upon myself to conform my belief to reason and not adapt reason to whatever i believe. anyone who reads and examines the contents of this book shall agree to what i have said.

indeed, it is incumbent upon everyone, particularly in religious matters, to release oneself from following the track set by others and from delusions or assumptions. one should be on guard against prejudice and bigotry and only the truth should be kept in mind. what is advisable is the truth and if anyone finds it at any place, it shall embrace him.