Al-Mahdi, Muhammad ibn-e-Abdullah will be an ordinary man from the family of the last Prophet Hadrat Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, born to an ordinary woman raised by ordinary man and living an ordinary life with the people of his time.

Al-Mahdi will be an Imam (mujaddid) and a Caliph, among other Caliphs who ruled Muslims with justice. However, what differentiates Al-Mahdi from other Caliphs is that he will meet Isaa Ibn-e-Maryam (Jesus son of Mary) Alaiyehis salaam (PBUH).

Also, Issa (Jesus), the Prophet of Allah, will pray behind Al-Mahdi. Allah will give Al-Mahdi the ability to righteously rule the Muslim nation in the span of a night. He will fill the earth with justice, as it was filled with injustice. He will lead the Muslim nation to the second conquering of Constantinople and possibly Rome.

A Caliphate That Follows the Guidance of the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam:

The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam mentioned that just before the end of this world, the Muslim nation will be ruled by a Caliphate that will follow the guidance sent with the Messenger of Allah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam.

Hudhaifah bin Al-Yaman reported that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said:

"Prophethood (meaning Muhammad (SAW) himself) will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain, then Allah will raise it up whenever he wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood remaining with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, He will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a reign of violently oppressive [The reign of Muslim kings who are partially unjust] rule and it will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, there will be a reign of tyrannical rule and it will remain for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, Allah will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Then, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood."

Then Hudhaifah said, "The Prophet stopped speaking."

The reason behind mentioning this Hadith here is to state that Al-Mahdi will live in the last period of rightly guided Caliphs that the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam mentioned himself sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam.

In this Hadith, the Messenger of Allah divided the history of the Muslim nation until the Day of Judgement into the following Five (5) stages:

1. The reign of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW):

remained during the time of The Prophet Hadrat Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam



2. A Caliphate that rules according to the guidance revealed to the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam:

   This period is called the reign of the rightly guided Caliphs, starting with ^1.Hazrat Abu Bakr Radi Allaho anhu , then ^2.Hazrat Umar ibn-ul-Khattab Radi Allaho anhu, then ^3.Hazrat Uthman ibn-e-Affan Radi Allaho anhu and ending with the martyr of ^4.Hazrat Ali bin Abi Talib Radi Allaho anhu, may Allah be pleased with them all.

   Some scholars included the short reign of Hazrat Hasan bin Ali Radi Allaho anhu, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam.

   These are the thirty (30) years which the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam stated comprised the reign of the rightly guided Caliphs:

   The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam said:

   "The Caliphate will remain in my nation after me for thirty years. Then, it will be a monarchy after that."
   

   [Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others, Sahih Al-Jami` ' As-Saghir no. 3341].

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3. The reign of unjust rule:

   This reign contains some injustice to a varying degree between one king and another. This period started after Hadrat Hasan bin Ali radi Allaho Anhu and includes the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluks and until the fall of the Great Ottoman Empire in the twentieth century.

   This period includes all states that ruled in the Muslim World during those centuries. However, we exclude the reign of those rulers whose rule was similar to the rule of the rightly guided Caliphs, such as the reign of Hadrat Abdullah bin Zubayr Radi Allaho Anhu and Hadrat Umar bin Abdul-Aziz Rahmatulla Aleyh. These two⁽²⁾ are considered among the just Caliphs from among the tribe of Quresh who ruled or will rule the Muslim nation.

4. The reign of the tyrannical rule:

   This period started in the end of the Great Ottoman empire and continues. We ask Allah that He saves us from the evils of this period and that we witness its end soon. (Aameen)

   This reign includes all the regimes that ruled the Muslim World, whether imperial, party oriented, governments controlled by the disbelievers, like those after World War I, populist or republic, which all sought to deprive Allah from His right as the Only Legislator and the only Soverign in all matters of life and religion.

   When the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam mentioned the periods that this nation will experience, he categorized them according to the type of government, whether unjust, or that which follows the guidance of the Prophet, or autocratic and tyrannical, as we experience today.

5. The return of a Caliphate that rules following the guidance and on the pattern of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam:( Khilafah 'Ala Minhaj-in-Nubuwah)

   This period requires the Muslims to be prepared and strive for its imminent coming, by spreading the knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah. This is because nothing can resurrect this nation except that which resurrected its ancestors. Until this final period comes, the religion will become a stranger, the same way it started in Makkah, a stranger to its masters and slaves, the powerful and the weak, its women, and its children.

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"It is He (Allah) Who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, that he (MuhammadSAW) may proclaim (dominate) it (Islam) over all religion." [Al-Tauba:33, Al-Fatah:28, As-Saff:9]

"And We have not sent thee (O MuhammadSAW) save as a bringer of good tidings and a warner unto all mankind; but most of mankind know not." [As-Sabah(34):28]

"And We sent thee (O MuhammadSAW) not, but as a Mercy for all creatures." [Al-Anbiya (The Prophets)(21):107]