What is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “The Mahdi is from among us, the People of the House, and Allah will rectify him in one night”?

Al-Halabi : He saysThe questioner : What is the meaning of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): ?

The Shaykh : Yes, “The Mahdi is from among us, the People of the House” means he will be a Qurayshi from the descendants of our Prophet (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him), and he will be righteous so that he can bear the burdens of the call and lead the community to its honor and its future glory. Among the signs of this man, who is promised in the authentic hadiths, is that he is named Muhammad, with the same name as him (peace and blessings be upon him), and his father is named Abdullah, with the same name as his father (peace be upon him); so he is Muhammad ibn Abdullah. Therefore, it was a matter of wisdom and of the greatness of Islam, which knows what will happen in future times, that it presented these descriptions to the Muslims so that they would not be deceived by some callers who exploit these Muhammadan promises and claim [to be the Mahdi]. This has happened in history, where many have claimed to be the Mahdi, claiming that he is the Mahdi promised by the Messenger (peace be upon him) in these authentic hadiths. It may be that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has decreed that it is not true that he is Muhammad ibn Abdullah. A lesson from an event that occurred about a century ago is that a man emerged in a village in India named Qadian. At first, he claimed to be the Mahdi promised in the hadiths of the Messenger (peace be upon him). He exploited these hadiths and brought many people to him, and they believed that he was the Mahdi. The scholars of India and Pakistan rose up against him. At that time, India was one entity, meaning Pakistan had not yet been separated from India. The Muslim scholars there rose up as one man and refuted him with many letters. The name of this claimant was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. As you see, the names of the non-Arabs in India are like this: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. “Mirza” is a title of honor among them. His name is Ghulam Ahmad. As you see, they combine words from the Arabic language, but in any case, the non-Arab accent is apparent. “Ghulam Ahmad” is a possessive construction, but this expression is not common among Arab Muslims. What does “Ghulam Ahmad” mean to them? It means “the servant of Ahmad.” So he is not named Ahmad, but Ghulam Ahmad, meaning the servant of the Messenger (peace be upon him), the servant of Muhammad, who is honored by serving the Messenger. This is their language there in India. When he was confronted with the fact that the name of the promised one is Muhammad, and your name is Ghulam Ahmad, what did he do? He crossed out the word “Ghulam” in his writings, and his name remained what? Ahmad. He is a liar; his name is not Ahmad, his name is Ghulam Ahmad. Then he exploited a verse in the Qur’an: . Al-Ahd is one of his names (peace be upon him), along with Ahmad, Muhammad, al-Mahiy, and many other names found in the authentic hadith. The point is that the smell of his lie began to appear, even to some of his followers. So it was a divine secret that Allah inspired the Prophet to say: . Glory be to Allah! How many Mahdis have come, yet this prophecy has not appeared and will never appear until the true Mahdi, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, comes. At that time, the entire hadith will be fulfilled: . He (peace be upon him) said at the beginning of the hadith: . And in a narration: . This is the establishment of the Mahdi, and it confirms my previous statement. We do not want to wait for the Mahdi. What will he do in these eight years? Will he work on us to rectify us and unify our word, or do we want to be his support? This is the correct logic: we must prepare ourselves and be like soldiers for an expected person, who may be this one or someone before him; Allah knows best. As for relying on the emergence of the Mahdi or the descent of Isa (peace be upon him), this is not part of the creed of Islam. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) inspired His Prophet to inform his community (peace be upon him) of these promises—the emergence of the Mahdi and the descent of Isa—so that they would not despair and say, “That’s it, there is no more salvation, no more honor, no more power on earth.” No, it is before you. But work as He (the Exalted) said: to the end of the verse. Yes, is there anything else?
Al-Halabi : The same question: What is the meaning of his saying: ?

The Shaykh : “He will be rectified” means he will not be prepared psychologically. This is possible for many people when they see that corruption has spread and become widespread; they may withdraw into themselves. So our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) will rectify him in one night. This is similar to, without likening the Prophet (peace be upon him) to anyone, how he used to isolate himself from the disbelievers in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance and isolate himself in the cave between him and his Lord, until Jibril (peace be upon him) came down and said to him, “Read,” and so on. So revelation came to him directly, and thereafter he connected with people and called them to the worship of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Undoubtedly, any reformer cannot help but resemble the Messenger (peace be upon him). So when oppression becomes severe in society, this person may withdraw with his knowledge and character, and so on, as some people think today, even if they do not reach that station. Then Allah will rectify him to be a leader of the community in one night. This does not mean that he will be a sinner and then become righteous, nor does it mean that he will be ignorant and become knowledgeable overnight. No, rather, Allah will rectify him to lead the community. Yes.