al-Ihtijaj bil-Athar ala man Ankar al-Mahdi al-Muntazar
- Author died
- 1413 AH
- Editions
- al-Ri’āsah al-‘Āmmah li-Idārāt al-Buḥūth al-‘Ilmīyah wa-al-Iftā’ wa-al-Da‘wah wa-al-Irshād
al-Ihtijaj bil-Athar ala man Ankar al-Mahdi al-Muntazar (The Argument from Hadith Reports Against Whosoever Denies the Awaited Mahdi) is a theological and hadith treatise by the Saudi Hanbali scholar Hammud ibn Abdullah al-Tuwayjiri (d. 1413 AH / 1992 CE) written to substantiate the Sunni belief in the emergence of the Mahdi at the end of time and to refute those who reject the hadith reports regarding him .
Background and Purpose
The book was authored as a direct refutation of a treatise titled La Mahdi Yuntazar ba'd al-Rasul Khayr al-Bashar (No Mahdi Is Awaited After the Messenger, the Best of Mankind), published by Abdullah ibn Zayd Al Mahmud, the president of the Sharia Courts of Qatar . In that work, Ibn Mahmud rejected the emergence of the Mahdi, characterized belief in him as mythical, alleged that all hadiths regarding him were fabricated, and criticized earlier traditionists and jurists—including Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Shafi'i, and Ibn Taymiyyah . Al-Tuwayjiri undertook the composition of al-Ihtijaj bil-Athar to expose these errors, to defend the authoritative standing of the prophetic traditions, and to demonstrate that belief in the Mahdi is firmly grounded in authentic narrations .
The author based his critique specifically on the first edition of Ibn Mahmud's treatise, which was printed in Doha in early 1400 AH, noting that a subsequent edition had altered some of the arrangement and phrasing .
Contents and Methodology
Al-Tuwayjiri organizes his response around scriptural texts and the established methods of hadith criticism:
- Scriptural and Prophetic Evidences: The book begins with textual proofs from the Quran and the Sunnah, including the hadith concerning adherence to the sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, refuting the absolute claim that no "guided one" (mahdi) exists after the Prophet ﷺ . Al-Tuwayjiri lists ten authentic hadiths establishing the Mahdi's appearance, detailing the chains of transmission and the evaluations of early hadith masters .
- Classification of Narrations: Al-Tuwayjiri classifies the traditions related to the Mahdi into sound (sahih), fair (hasan), and defective or fabricated reports, relying on assessments by classical authorities such as Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Khattabi, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Aburi, Ibn al-Qayyim, and al-Shawkani .
- The Sunni Creed Regarding the Mahdi: The work clarifies the mainstream Sunni doctrine that the Mahdi is a Hashimite reformer from the progeny of al-Hasan ibn Ali named Muhammad ibn Abdullah, distinct from the Imami Shia doctrine of the hidden twelfth imam in the cellar of Samarra, and refutes the weak narration stating that there is no Mahdi except Jesus .
- Defense of Earlier Scholars: Al-Tuwayjiri answers Ibn Mahmud's accusations against the early imams of hadith and fiqh, collecting Ibn Mahmud's objectionable statements in the conclusion of the work .
Reception and Publication
The work was reviewed and introduced by Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, then the General President of the Administrations of Scholarly Research, Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance in Saudi Arabia, who commended al-Tuwayjiri's defense of the truth and his thorough treatment of the hadiths .
The first edition was published by the author in 1403 AH . A second edition was issued in single-volume form by Maktabat Dar al-Ulayyan al-Hadithah in Buraydah in 1406 AH (spanning 423 pages) .
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