The Coming of Imaam Mahdi is one of the signs of Qiyamah as is the belief of the Ahlus-Sunnah and he has yet to appear. Abdullah-bin-Masood has reported that the Prophet said, “The world will not pass away before the Arabs are ruled by a man (referring to Mahdi) of my family whose name will be the same as mine.” (Abu Daud)
- Signs that will precede the Mahdi
- The Battle in Mina
- The Euphrates Will Disclose Mountain of Gold
- The emergence of the suffyani
- The Emergence of Haris-Al-Harrath and Mansur
However, many people in the past falsely claimed to be Imaam Mahdi. One of these false claimants was Mohd-bin-Tomart, a tyrant who spread corruption and even buried some of his companions because they didn’t believe that he was the Mahdi described by the Ahadith of Prophet . Some believe it was Mohd-bin-al Askari who disappeared at the age of 5 and went into hiding and has been hiding for 10 centuries. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (The Cursed) was also one of those who claimed to be the Mahdi as well as many other people.
Besides those mentioned there were many others who claimed the office of Mahdi, the most recent being somebody from Manchester who claimed the position for himself.
It should be noted that none of the above or anybody else who claimed to be the Mahdi in the past fulfilled the conditions laid down by the Prophet. A list of some of the signs which will precede Imaam Mahdi and some that describe him have been gathered in this book so that we Muslims are not misled to believe in somebody claiming to be the Mahdi who in reality is a blatant liar.
Source : Inter Islam
