Question:
As-Salam Alaykum Mawlana
In the following video, Shaykh Nazim states that the Mahdi is the son of al-Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (RA):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBhcbP636E&feature=related
Is this accurate and what is the actual position of the Ahl al-Sunnah on this issue?
Was-Salam
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
May Allah bless you always. Two Youtube recordings have been posted on this issue:
(i) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBhcbP636E&feature=related
(ii) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBhcbP636E&feature=related
In the first recording Mawlana Shaykh Nazim identifies the “holders of black flags” in the famous Mahdi-supporters’ hadith as both Sunni and Shi`i. He says:
[Questioner:] “Who are they?”
[Mawlana:] “Ahl as-Sunnah countries, comprising Asia; and not just [the Sunni world]: non-Arabs (he means Shi`is) are [also] waiting, but their belief is different from ours: they say that he is the son of `Askari.”
So he does not say that the latter are from Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama`a – contrary to the subtitles given – but quite the contrary: “their belief is different from ours”, i.e. their Shi`i beliefs are different from our Sunni beliefs.
Those who believe that the Mahdi is the son of al-`Askari are not from Ahl as-Sunna wal-Jama`a. Rather, this is what the questioner puts into Mawlana’s mouth in the second video but Mawlana does not confirm it other than saying: “Of course, it must be: all of us are `askar al-Mahdi,” i.e. soldiers of al-Mahdi. Then the questioner comes back again and insists: “Is it OK to say he is the son of Hasan al-`Askari?” and by that time Mawlana is fed up with him and is waving “enough, next” with his hand.
In neither recording does Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) “state that the Mahdi is the son of al-Imam al-Hasan al-Askari.” As Mawlana indicated, Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama`a do not hold such a belief but rather:
(i) as the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) said, “His name will match my name and his father’s name will match my father’s name” (Sunan Abi Dawud), i.e. “Muhammad ibn `Abdullah,” not “Muhammad ibn al-Hasan”; and
(ii) he will be a descendant of Sayyidina al-Hasan as stated verbatim by Sayyidina `Ali (Sunan Abi Dawud), not of Sayyidina al-Husayn like al-`Askari (Allah be well-pleased with all of them).
As for Mawlana’s saying “it is OK” when the brother insisted asking about the belief of the Shi`is in the second recording, it means “it is OK for you” because that is what the brother is itching to follow and Mawlana knows he will not change his belief. That brother’s Youtube descriptions show he was misled by Shi`i publications claiming that this is what Naqshbandi masters believed whereas our Golden Chain masters did not hold such beliefs. And Allah knows best.
May Allah Most High grant us adab with his Awliya, right belief, and
beneficial knowledge.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
