The True Nature of the Mahdi — Page 1
Beliefs Concerning the Mahdi It is necessary that I should enlighten the Honour- able British Government about the belief regarding the Promised Mahdi that is held by the Wahabi sect whose followers call themselves the Ahl-e-Hadith, and whose self-proclaimed leader is Maulvi Abu Saeed Muhammad Husain of Batala; and also my and my community's be- lief [regarding the Mahdi]. For, the root cause of this entire dispute, and that of their enmity towards me, is that I do not believe in the Mahdi in whom they be- lieve. It is for this reason that they consider me a disbe- liever; and in my view they are in the wrong. Hence, I write below my belief about the Mahdi as against that of theirs. Although, this belief, which is held by the Ahl-e- Hadith-who in fact are called Wahabis-can be found in hundreds of their magazines and books, yet I deem it appropriate to mention some aspects of this belief from the books of Nawwab Siddiq Hasan Khan. For, Maulvi Muhammad Husain-the leader of Wahabis-believes that Siddiq Hasan Khan is the Mujaddid )مجدد( of this century (see Ishaat-us-Sunnah) and his books constitute the guidance of a Mujaddid. And according to him it is 1