Question 389 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 4

Supporters Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send His prayers upon Muhammad and his family, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. Ahmed Alhasan (a) is the successor and messenger of Imam al-Mahdi (a) to all people. He is the one mentioned in the will of the Messenger of Allah (s), which he dictated to Ali (a) on the night of his death, and in which he mentioned his successors through to the last successor and the first of the Mahdis, Ahmed (a). Brother, I would like to explain to you an extremely important matter: the fact that the Messenger (s) made a will is among the established principles of the law. We all know that the words of Allah Most High were sent down to the Messenger of Allah (s): ‘Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My blessing upon you …’ (^[191]). How, then, can it be said that the Messenger (s) died without making a will, when the will is a divine custom that has continued among the prophets and messengers (a) from Adam (a) until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it? Thus, the fact that the Messenger (s) left a will is testimony to the perfection of the religion, since the will-to state the least-is part of the religion. Allah, Glorious is He, says: ‘It is prescribed for you, when death approaches any of you and he leaves wealth, that he make a bequest for parents and near relatives according to what is right-a duty upon the pious’ (^[192]). Thus, whoever says that the Messenger of Allah (s) died without making a will attacks the Messenger (s)-Allah forbid. The Messenger of Allah (s) must therefore have made a will. So where is his will and his document, about which he said that after its writing the nation would never go astray? As for those who said that the Mahdi (a) is Muhammad ibn Abdullah, they are mistaken. They relied upon a narration from the Messenger of Allah (s) in which he says-according to its meaning-‘The Mahdi's name is my name and his father's name is my father's name.’ In the Quran, the Messenger's name is Ahmed, according to what was stated by Jesus (a): ‘and bringing good news of a messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmed’ (^[193]). His well-known name is also Muhammad (s). Therefore, if the Mahdi (a) comes and his name is Ahmed, that is no basis for rejecting him. The Messenger (s) also said: ‘I am the son of the two sacrifices’ (^[194]). The first sacrifice is Ishmael (a), and the second sacrifice is Abdullah (a). It was narrated from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, from the Messenger of Allah (s): ‘The Mahdi to whom allegiance is pledged between the Corner and the Station has three names: Ahmed, Abdullah, and al-Mahdi; these are his three names’ (^[195]). In this narration, the Mahdi's name is Ahmed, not Muhammad, and one of his names is Abdullah. Thus, the meaning of the first narration, ‘and his father's name is my father's name,’ may be that his father's name is Ishmael. That is, the Mahdi (a) mentioned, brother, in your books may be Ahmed ibn Ishmael (a). There are many proofs and demonstrations for the truth of this blessed call, but there is not enough room to mention them in this answer. If you wish to learn more, brother, you should visit the Supporters' websites and investigate further. Praise be to Allah alone, alone, alone. The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him upon the earth) Mr. Zaki al-Ansari 15 Ramadan 1430 AH