The birth of Imam Mahdi from the viewpoint of Sunni scholars
Due to the widely related and authentic traditions narrated from the Prophet, all Islamic scholars are unanimous regarding the belief that Imam Mahdi shall indeed appear and reform the world and destroy all oppression. Hence, there is no difference of opinion in the above- mentioned matter; and all Muslims have faith in it and consider it to be an inseparable part of their religious belief. All Shiite scholars, without any exception, believe that Imam Mahdi is already born and exists in the present time. However, a number of Sunni scholars say that he shall be born in the future, but some of them have related the event of the birth of Imam Mahdi and have accepted and recorded this event in their books. For instance:
(1) Muhammad bin Talhah Shāfeī writes, “Abu al-Qāsim Muhammad bin al-Hassan (Imam Mahdi) was born in the year 258 A.H. (873 A.D.) in Samarra. His father’s name was al-Hassan. Among the titles [of this last Imam] are: al-Hujjah (a proof from God), al-Khalaf al-Sālih (the righteous offspring) and al-Muntazhar (the awaited one).” Following this statement he has related several traditions on the subject of al-Mahdi, with the concluding statement: “These hadith-reports confirm the existence of Imam al-Hassan al-‘Askarī’s son, who is in concealment and will appear later.”
(Matālib al-Su’ūl (1287 A.H. edition), p. 89)
(2) Muhammad bin Yūsuf, following his entry on the death of Imam Hassan al-‘Askarī, says, “He did not have any child beside Muhammad. It is said that he is the same as the Awaited Imam (whose title Mahdi).”
(Kifāyat al-Tālib, p. 312)
(3) Ibn-e- Sabbāgh Mālikī writes, “Section Twelve, on the life of Abū al-Qāsim Muhammad, al-Hujjah, al-Khalaf al-Sālih, the son of Abū Muhammad al-Hassan (the eleventh Imam). He is the twelfth Imam of the Shia.” Then he has recorded the history of the Imam and has related the traditions about him.
(Al-Fusūl al-Muhimmah (Second edition), p. 273 and 286)
(4) Yūsuf bin Qazūghli, after writing his account of the life of Imam Hasan al-‘Askarī, says, “His son’s name is Muhammad, and his patronymic is Abu ‘Abdullah and Abū al-Qāsim. He is the Proof of God’s existence, the Master of the Age, the Qāim, and the Muntazhar. The Imamate has come to an end with him.”
(Tadhkirah Khawās al-Ummah, p. 363)
(5) Shablanjī in the book entitled Nūr al-Absār, writes, “Muhammad is the son of Hassan al-‘Askarī. His mother was a slave-girl by the name of Narjis. His cognomen is Abū al-Qāsim. The Twelver Shia knows him as: al-Hujjah, al-Mahdi, al-Khalaf al-Sālih, al-Qāim, al-Muntadhar, and Master of the Age…”
(Nūr al-Absār (Cairo edition), p. 342)
(6) Ibn Hajar, following the biography of Imam Hassan al-‘Askarī, writes, “He has not left a son besides Abū al-Qāsim, who is known as Muhammad and al-Hujjah. That boy was five years old when his father died.”
(Al-Sawāiq al-Muhriqah, p. 206)
(7) Muhammad Amin al-Baghdādī writes, “Muhammad, who is also known as Mahdi, was five years old at the time of his father’s death.”
(Sabāik al-Dhahab, p. 78)
(8) Mīr Khawand writes, “Muhammad was the son of Hassan. His cognomen is Abū al-Qāsim. The Imamiyah acknowledge that he is the Hujjah, the Qāim, and the Mahdi.”
(Rawdāt al-Safā, vol. 3, p. 143)
(9) Sha’rānī says, “Mahdi is the son of Imam Hassan al-‘Askarī. He was born on the fifteenth night of Shaʿbān, 255 A.H. He is alive and will remain so until he will emerge with Jesus. Now it is 957 A.H. He is, thus, 703 years old.”
(Al-Yawāqīt wa al-Jawāhir (1351 A.H. edition), vol. 2, p. 143)
(10) Shaʿrānī, quoting Ibn ‘Arabī’s Futūhāt Makkīyyah, section 366, writes, “When the earth will be filled with tyranny and injustice Mahdi will rise and will fill the earth with justice and equity. He will be among the descendants of the Prophet and from the line of Fatima. He is from the descendants of Imam Husayn, and his father is Imam Hassan al-‘Askarī,...”
(Al-Yawāqīt wa al-Jawāhir (1351 A.H. edition), vol. 2, p. 143)
(11) Khājah Parsā in his book Fasl al-Khitāb writes: “Muhammad, the son of Hassan al-‘Askarī, was born on the fifteenth night of Sha’bān, 255 A.H. (870 A.D.) His mother’s name was Narjis. His father died when he was five years of age. From that time until now he is in occultation. He is the awaited Imam of the Shia. His existence is well established among his companions, trusted associates and family...”
(As cited in Yanābī' al-Mawaddah, vol. 2, p. 126)
(12) Abū al-Fallāh al-Hanbalī says, “Muhammad is the son of Hassan al-‘Askarī... His cognomen is Abū al-Qāsim and the Shia knows him as al-Khalaf al-Sālih, al-Hujjah, al-Mahdi, al-Muntazhar, and Sāhib al-Zamān (the Master of the Age.)”
(Shadharāt al-dhahab (Beirut edition) vol. 2, p. 141)
(13) Muhammad bin ‘Ali al-Hamaw says, “Abū al-Qāsim Muhammad al-Muntazhar was born in the year 259 A.H. (874 A.D) in Samarra.”
(Tā'rikh mansūrī, microfilm copy of the Moscow manuscript folio number 114)
In short, besides all these above mentioned Sunni scholars there are numerous others who have recorded the birth of Imam Hasan al-‘Askari’s son. What is important is that many of them confess that the cognomen or the title of the mentioned son is Mahdi. Add to it that many of them confess that he is the Promised Savior who will emerge in a day.
(See the references compiled in the volume Kashf al-Astār by Husayn bin Muhammad Taqī al- Nūrī and Kifāyat al-muwahhidīn by Tabarsī, especially volume 2)
Source: “Imam al-Mahdi, The Just Leader of Humanity”
