Testimony of the Holy Quran — Page 66
T E S T I MON Y OF T HE HOLY Q U R AN 66 those a ha d i th that are much more authentic and trustworthy than this hadith should be accepted first; e. g. those a ha d i th of S a hih al-Bukh a r i foretelling the appearance of Khulaf a ’ in the Latter Days, especially that khal i fah about whom it is recorded in S a hih al-Bukh a r i that, for him, a voice will descend from heaven: ٰذا ھ ّ ْفَۃ ُ الل ِّٰ الْمَھْدِي ي ِ خَل [This is God’s Khalifah, the Guided One]. Now con - sider the status and credibility of this hadith—which is recorded in the most authentic of books after the Book of Allah. On the other hand, the hadith that has been presented by the critic has been criticized by the ulema on many grounds and its authenticity has been questioned. Has this critic not pondered over the proph - ecies regarding the appearance of certain Khulaf a ’ in the Latter Days that ‘a ha rith 1 will come; the Mahdi will appear; a heavenly khal i fah will come. Are they recorded in the books of a ha d i th or in some other book? It is established from a ha d i th that there are three periods [after the Holy Prophet s as ]: first, the period of the Rightly Guided Khilafat; then, a period of great chaos when tyrant kings would rule. Then there would be the final period, which would resemble the period of Prophethood, so much so that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said that the first and last period of my ummah bear great resemblance to each other; these two periods are like a rain filled with such goodness and blessings that no one knows whether the first part is more blessed or the latter. 1. Lit. ‘a cultivator of land’, or ‘one who gathers’. A title for the Latter Days Messenger. [Publisher]