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Sharee‘ah rules not taken from visions and dreams

Question

Does the awaited Mahdi already exist? One of the scholars on a TV channel interpreted a dream as evidence of the birth of Al-Mahdi. Is this interpretation true?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The emergence of Al-Mahdi, his name, his description, the place from where he will emerge, and the incidents that will occur during his time are established in the authentic Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

The arguments and different opinions revolving around his birth, and the vision that is mentioned in the question, do not result in any significant benefit. They waste time and distract Muslims from doing other actions that are better for them in their life and religion. How many a time did such interest in dreams and visions lead to corruption in beliefs, soothsaying, religious innovations and superstitions, even though scholars have already established that visions and dreams are not a source for extracting Sharee‘ah (Islamic law) rulings. The sources of rulings under Sharee‘ah are the Quran and the Sunnah. In addition, Muslims are required to fulfill their obligation in supporting their religion, defending it and sacrificing for it, whether or not Al-Mahdi emerges.

Allaah Knows best.

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