Certain Ahādīth prophesy the appearance of Imam Mahdī before the Day of Judgment finally come. I have been told that there is nothing in the Holy Qur’ān and the Sunnah that indicates the arrival of such a person. Can we say that this should not clearly be taken a part of the Islamic beliefs and that all these Ahādīth are fabricated?

There are only two basic sources of religious knowledge – the Holy Qur’ān and the Sunnah. In general, the former contains religious beliefs and the latter encompasses practices that we need to observe. Nothing can be added to the list of the beliefs listed in the Qur’ān and the practices instituted as the Sunnah. Therefore it would not be right to say that belief in the coming of Mahdī is part of the Islamic faith. Moreover the Ahādīth which contain the prophecy of the coming of Mahdī are not that reliable. Two great Muslim scholars Ibn Khaldūn and Allama Tamannā ‘Imādī have examined these Ahādīth regarding their purport and mode of transmission involved. They found all such reports baseless.