Further discussion of some of the hadiths that speak of the Mahdi
Question

                I have a hadith of which I would like to find out the extent of its soundness. It was narrated from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “At the end of time my ummah will suffer a great calamity, such as has never been heard of, such that the earth, vast as it is, will become straitened for them, and the earth will be filled with oppression and injustice, and the believer will not be able to find any refuge from injustice. Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will send a man from my family who will fill the earth with fairness and justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice. The inhabitants of heaven and earth will be pleased with him, and the earth will not keep any of its seeds inside it, but it will bring them forth, and the heaven will not keep any drop of water but Allah will send down abundant rain upon them. That will last for seven or eight or nine years, during which the living will wish that the dead were with them because of what Allah will bestow upon the people of the earth of His abundant blessings.”
Praise be to Allah.
	This hadith was narrated in full by al-Haakim in his 
	Mustadrak (8438) where he (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

	Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tameemi informed 
	me: Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ibraaheem ibn Haydar al-Himyari in Kufah said: 
	al-Qaasim ibn Khaleefah told us: Abu Yahya ‘Abd al-Hameed ibn ‘Abd 
	ar-Rahmaan al-Himmaani told us: ‘Umar ibn ‘Ubaydullah al-‘Adawi told us, 
	from Mu‘aawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri 
	(may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings 
	and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “At the end of time my ummah will 
	suffer a great calamity, such as has never been heard of, such that the 
	earth, vast as it is, will become straitened for them, and the earth will be 
	filled with oppression and injustice, and the believer will not be able to 
	find any refuge from injustice. Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, 
	will send a man from my family who will fill the earth with fairness and 
	justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and injustice. The 
	inhabitants of heaven and earth will be pleased with him, and the earth will 
	not keep any of its seeds inside it, but it will bring them forth, and the 
	heaven will not keep any drop of water but Allah will send down abundant 
	rain upon them. That will last for seven or eight or nine years, during 
	which the living will wish that the dead were with them because of what 
	Allah will bestow upon the people of the earth of His abundant blessings.” 

	Al-Haakim said, immediately after narrating it: 

	This hadith has a saheeh isnaad, although they (al-Bukhaari 
	and Muslim) did not narrate it. 

	But its isnaad includes ‘Umar ibn ‘Ubaydullah, who is unknown 
	(majhool) and no one classed him as trustworthy (thiqah).

	Concerning ‘Abd al-Hameed al-Himmaani, Ibn Ma‘een said: He 
	was trustworthy, but he was feeble-minded. He was classed as da‘eef by 
	Ahmad, Ibn Sa‘d and al-‘Ijli. 

	See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (6/120) 

	Al-Qaasim ibn Khaleefah is a Shi‘i whose status is not known. 
	No one classed him as trustworthy. See: al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel 
	(7/109). 

	Concerning al-Hasan ibn Ibraaheem ibn Haydar, we have not 
	found any biography for him. 

	Therefore adh-Dhahabi rejected al-Haakim’s classification of 
	the isnaad of this hadith as saheeh, by saying: Its isnaad is muzlim (lit. 
	gloomy). End quote. 

	So this complete version of the hadith cannot be proven as 
	narrated. It was also classed as da‘eef by al-Albaani in Takhreej al-Mishkaat 
	(3/184). 

	It was also narrated by the following:

	Ma‘mar in his Jaami‘ (20770), and via him by al-Baghawi 
	in Sharh as-Sunnah (15/85);

	Nu‘aym ibn Hammaad in al-Fitan (1038);

	Al-‘Aqeeli in ad-Du‘afa’ (4/259) from Abu Haroon al-‘Abdi, 
	from Mu‘aawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri, 
	in a marfoo‘ report. 

	Abu Haroon al-‘Abdi was accused of lying. He was classed as a 
	liar by Hammaad ibn Zayd, Ibn ‘Aliyyah, Ibn Ma‘een, al-Jawzjaani,, and 
	others. Shu‘bah said: Being brought  forward to have my neck struck is 
	dearer to me than narrating from him. 

	See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (7/413) 

	Parts of the hadith were narrated via different isnaads: 

	With regard to the beginning of it, Abu Nu‘aym narrated in 
	Tareekh Asbahaan (1/112) from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab that he said: The 
	Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “At the 
	end of time my ummah will suffer a great deal from their rulers, and no one 
	will be saved from that except a man who knows and practices the religion of 
	Allah in his words, in his heart and in his deeds…” 

	This hadith was mentioned by al-Albaani in ad-Da‘eefah 
	(6725), where he said: It is da‘eef. 

	With regard to the emergence of the Mahdi, who will fill the 
	earth with fairness and justice, this is proven in many hadiths, among the 
	most famous of which is that which was narrated by Ahmad (11313) and al-Haakim 
	(8669) from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: 
	The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The 
	Hour will not begin until the earth is filled with oppression, injustice and 
	transgression, then there will emerge from my family one who will fill it 
	with fairness and justice, as it was filled with injustice and 
	transgression.” 

	Classed as saheeh by al-Haakim according to the conditions of 
	the two shaykhs (al-Bukhaari and Muslim), and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him. 
	Al-Albaani said in as-Saheehah (4/40): It is as they said: 

	See the hadiths about the Mahdi in the answer to question no.
	1252 

	With regard to the words “The inhabitants of heaven and earth 
	will be pleased with him”, they are mentioned in the hadith of Abu Sa‘eed 
	that was narrated by Ahmad (11326) with a da‘eef isnaad. See: ad-Da‘eefah 
	(1588). 

	With regard to the words “and the earth will not keep any of 
	its seeds inside it, but it will bring them forth, and the heaven will not 
	keep any drop of water but Allah will send down abundant rain upon them. 
	That will last for seven or eight or nine years”, there is a corroborating 
	report in the hadith of Abu Sa‘eed that was narrated by al-Haakim (8673), 
	where the wording is: “At the end of my ummah the Mahdi will emerge; Allah 
	will send rain for him and the earth will bring forth its vegetation; wealth 
	will be distributed equally, livestock will increase and the ummah will 
	become great, and that will continue for seven or eight years.” 

	Classed as saheeh by al-Haakim, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with 
	him. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Saheehah (711). 

	Ahmad (11163) narrated it via Zayd ibn Abi’l-Hawaari from 
	Abu’s-Siddeeq an-Naaji, from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri in a marfoo ‘ report, the 
	wording of which is as follows: 

	“The Mahdi will emerge among my ummah (and remain for) five 
	or seven or nine years” – Zayd was not sure – then he said: “The sky will 
	send down abundant rain, and the earth will not withhold any of its 
	vegetation, and wealth will be abundant.” 

	Zayd is da‘eef. 

	With regard to the words “the living will wish that the dead 
	were with them because of what Allah will bestow upon the people of the 
	earth of His abundant blessings”, we have not seen these words in any 
	report.                                                             
	

	And Allah knows best.