Due to the widely related and authentic traditions narrated from the Prophet, all Islamic scholars are unanimous on the belief that Imam Mahdi shall indeed appear, reform the world, and destroy all oppression. Hence, there is no difference of opinion in Mahdism; all Muslims have faith in it and consider it an inseparable part of their religious belief. All Shiˈa scholars, without any exception, believe that Imam Mahdi is already born and exists and lives in the present time. However, many Sunni scholars believe that he shall be born in the future, but some of them have related the event of the birth of Imam Mahdi and accepted and recorded this event in their books. A large number of Sunni scholars, including the following have mentioned the Hadiths related to Imam Mahdi in their books:
"Abd al-Razzāq Ṣanˈānī" (211 A.H./826 A.D.) in his book Al-Muṣnaf; "Ibn Abi Shaybah" (235 A.H./849 A.D.) in Al-Muṣannaf fi al-Aḥādith va al-Ᾱthār; "Ahmad bin Ḥanbal" (241 A.H./855 A.D.) in Musnad; "Ibn Mājah" (273 A.H./886 A.D.) in Sunan; "Abū Dāwūd" (275 A.H./888 A.D.) in Sunan; "Tirmidhī" (297 A.H./909 A.D.) in Al-Jāmiˈ al-Ṣaḥīḥ; "Ṭabarāni" (360 A.H./970 A.D.) in Al-Muˈjam al-Kabīr; "Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī" (405 A.H./1014 A.D.) in Al-Mustadrak ˈAla al-Ṣaḥīḥayn; "Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī" (606 A.H./1209 A.D.) in Jāmiˈ al-Usūl fi Aḥādīth al-Rasūl; "Muqaddasi al-Shāfi'ī" (7th century A.H./12th A.D.) in 'Iqd al-Durar fi Akhbār al-Muntaẓar; "Ibn-e Kathīr al-Dameshqi" (774 A.H./1372 A.D.) in Al-Nahāyah fi al-Fitan va al-Malāḥim; "Haythamī" (807 A.H./1404 A.D.) in Majmaˈ al-Zavayid va Manbaˈ al-Fawayid; "Jalāl al-Din Suyūṭī" (911 A.H./1505 A.D.) in Al-Ḥāvī li al-Fatāvī; "Ibn-e Ḥajar al-Hiytami" (974 A.H./1566 A.D.) in Al-Qavl al-Mukhtaṣar fi ˈAlāmāt al-Mahdi al-Muntaẓar; "Muttaqi al-Hindī" (975 A.H./1567 A.D.) in Al-Burhān fī 'Alāmāt Mahdi Ākhir al-Zamān, etc. Source: The Promised Mahdi (In the view of Shiˈa), p. 35
