The textual and Feqh al-Hadith Analysis of Hadiths Explaining the Lineage of Imam Mahdi in Sunni Sources

The lineage of Imam Mahdi (AS) is one of the issues that has been the subject of great controversies between the Shiite and Sunni traditions. The Shiites, based on the hadiths circulated in their narrative circles, contend that the Imam Mahdi (AS) is one of the descendants of the Prophet (pbuh), who has been named after Prophet (pbuh); however, some Sunni scholars have quoted hadiths the content of which is different from the above, claiming that Mahdi is a person has been named after the Prophet and his father's name resembles that of prophet’s. Thus, if these hadiths are seen reliable, the Promised Mahdi in the Sunni traditions is different from the figure introduced by the Infallible Imams as the Imam Mahdi (pbuh). This article deals with the hadiths that explain the lineage of the Mahdi (pbuh) in the Sunni sources. It initially endeavors to corroborate the authenticity of the hadiths according to which Mahdi (pbuh) is one of the progenies of Fatimah, followed by the textual and Feqh al-Hadith analysis of hadiths in which the name of Madi’s (pbuh) father corresponds to that of Prophet’s (pbuh),Accordingly, this group of hadiths are set against the majority of hadiths that have only specified the name of Imam Mahdi (pbuh). It is further demonstrated that hadiths that have merely stated the name of Mahdi (pbuh) without any reference to the name of his father are more reliable and preferable