What is your opinion regarding the narrations found in the book "Al-Ish'ah li-ma kana wa yakun bayna yadi al-Sa'ah" and the book "Al-Idha'ah"?

The questioner : The questioner says: What is your opinion regarding the narrations found in the book "Al-Ish'ah li-ma kana wa yakun bayna yadi al-Sa'ah" and the book "Al-Idha'ah," concerning the signs indicating the nearness of the emergence of Imam al-Mahdi and the signs of his emergence, which are, as he mentioned: , and the cutting off of the Euphrates waters from Syria and Iraq in the present time? Please inform us, may Allah reward you, in detail about this topic?

The Shaykh : As for the cutting off mentioned, it has no connection to the signs of the Hour, for it is a political conflict that may disappear, if Allah wills. As for the eclipse of the sun and moon, there is no authentic hadith regarding it. As for the other signs mentioned in the question, they are established. Finally, there is no specified time for the emergence of al-Mahdi and the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon them both), and I do not believe that this time is [specified], for there are warnings and signs that enable us to determine the time of al-Mahdi's emergence or 'Isa's descent (peace be upon him). There is no way to claim any of this except by way of speculation and fabrication, and this is not permissible in the religion of Allah.
And I say on this occasion: Many of those who claim to be scholars and to call to Islam may deny the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon him) and the emergence of al-Mahdi (peace be upon him); because, as a reality, unfortunately, they were a cause, due to the Ummah's misunderstanding of these hadiths, for the Muslims' negligence and inaction in performing the duty of establishing Islam as a ruling system in the land of Islam. The reality is that these hadiths do not mean this deviant meaning. It is regrettable that some callers, instead of performing the duty of spreading this belief, which is established in the books of the Sunnah with mass transmission, and instead of explaining to the Ummah the noble purpose of the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in giving this Ummah glad tidings of al-Mahdi's emergence and 'Isa's descent (peace be upon him), what did they do? They denied these authentic hadiths and created confusion among the Muslims who do not have the awareness and education to distinguish correct statements from weak ones.
It is obligatory for every Muslim to study the hadiths according to the methodology of the scholars of hadith, and not according to the methodology of scholars of opinion and pure rational philosophy, for philosophy has no limits, and everyone sees what suits his desire and what suits his culture. The path to knowing what is authentic from the Messenger and what is not is the path of the scholars of hadith from when they were on earth until the Hour occurs, and that is referring to the chains of narration of the hadiths and to the biographies of their narrators.
And it has become clear to every scholar of hadith that these hadiths—the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of al-Mahdi—are authentic hadiths that it is not permissible to deny. Denying them exposes the denier, without doubt, to two harms, the milder of which is bitter: either disbelief, because it is a denial of what is established from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) by mass transmission, or open sinfulness, if he did not perform the duty of research and verification while being a scholar capable of doing so.
This is the first duty: to establish these hadiths because they are authentic, with no doubt or ambiguity. The second duty is to explain to the Ummah that these hadiths do not mean that the Ummah should be negligent and wait for the emergence of al-Mahdi and the descent of 'Isa. Rather, they must all work for the honor of Islam and for the application of Islam. At that time, they will feel that the Ummah needs unity of word above all else, and then a man who leads them to honor and enduring glory.
This man may be al-Mahdi (peace be upon him), or he may be a reformer before his emergence; because the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave this Ummah glad tidings with his saying: . So the reformers, and praise be to Allah, are present and successive at the head of every hundred years. Al-Mahdi may be at the head of the next hundred years, or after two hundred years, or...; because this is the unseen, which no one knows except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). But the Muslims must perform their duty, and then perhaps our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) will send them a reformer who unites their word and establishes their state, and that is not difficult for Allah.
Please proceed.