Khilafat and Mujaddidiyyat — Page 19
19 In one Hadith, the task of the Mahdi has been described thus: He shall purify Islam from all innovations and shall present to the world its bright face in the real form, replete with spiritual beauty. But the world would have become so accustomed with the dust covered face of Islam that he will be accused of introducing a new religion which they will not consider as Islam. But the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be on him) has said that the Mahdi will present Islam, rectified of all innovations, although the people will assert that he has fabricated his own new religion. We have come across hundreds of such Hadiths regarding the Mahdi and Messiah, especially in new books which have recently come into the market, beautifully printed in Iran. With great labour they have collected these narratives and preserved them. Mujaddids in Each Century On the other hand, as I have stated earlier, the Hadith regarding the appearance of Mujaddid at the end of each century is found only in two or three books. I have not come across any Hadith in any book, however, which describes any specific signs for any Mujaddid. There is not a single saying of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be on him) mentioning any such signs for a Mujaddid, nor has the Holy Quran made any mention of it. When I pondered over this Tradition, I discovered that this tradition is devoid of the concept that a Mujaddid would appear at the head of each century. This Hadith says that Mann ( ) would appear at the head of each century which means such vicegerents of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) would come who