Q. Please make clear the correct position on the identity of Hadrat Mahdi (rad) according to the elders of the Naqshbandiyya.
A. Hadrat Mahdi (rad) is the Twelfth Imam. He is the son of Imam Hasan al-Askari (rad). His name is Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Rida (rad). He was born in the month of Ramadan in the year 255 A.H. according to Kashifi, and in the year 257A.H., according to Mawlana ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami in the city of Sur man Rai (Samara, Iraq). Both Mawlana Jami and Mawlana Husayn Kashifi were attached to the Naqshbandi silsila through venerable Khwaja Ubayd Allah al-Ahrar, one of the Grand Masters of the Naqshbandi Way. Hadrat Mahdi’s mother’s name was Malika Nargis (radi Allahu anha). According to Mawlana Jami, his kunyat is Abul Qasim, and his titles include “Imam bil-Hujjah, al-Mahdi, al-Muntadhar and Sahib uz-Zaman“. The Rawdha tul-Shuhada of Mawlana Husayn Kashifi also lists “al-Qaim” as one of the titles of the Twelfth Imam.
If you are able to read Urdu, please review the following scans from Rawdha tul-Shuhada by Mawlana Husayn Waiz Kashifi and the abridged translation of Shawahid an-Nabuwat by Mawlana ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, translated by Mufti Muhammad Ashraf Raza Qadiri titled Sawaneh Bara Imam from the Musanif of Allamah ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami. Here are the scans:
