When a Sunni Muslim (from Kenya) asked about Imam Mahdi (hgr)’s status, the time and place of his emergence and other issues of Mahdīsm,

the Wahhabi religious center in Saudi Arabia “Rabitah Al-‘Alam al-Islami”  responded like this:

“Mahdi (hgr), Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasani1, is Alawi and Fatimi (pbu th).

And he is the promised and awaited Mahdi (hgr)!!

He will emerge in the Last Era

He will emerge from the west.

The people will swear allegiance to him in Hijaz and in honored Mecca; between the Rukn and the Maqam2..

Mahdi (hgr) is the last of twelve Rashidun Caliphs3.

[And] this is what the Prophet (pbuh&h) had announced [before] and was [also] mentioned in the Sunni sources.

Many of the Prophet’s companions have narrated the traditions about Imam Mahdi,

including: Uthman bin Afwān, ʿAlī ibn Abi Talib, Talhah ibn ‘Abdullah, Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, ′Abd Allah ibn al-′Abbas, ʻAmmār ibn Yāsir, ‘Abdullah ibn Mass’oud, Abū Sa’id al-Khadri, ṯuʿbān, etc.

Some Islamic scholars have written featured books on Mahdi (hgr),

such as: Abu Naim, Ibn Hajar, Shawkani, Idriss Iraqi, etc.

Some of the great and scholars have stated in their writings that,

the traditions that are related to Imam Mahdi (hgr) is Mutawātir4 and there is in no way to deny them…

Only Ibn Khaldun considered them as unknown, fictitious and false…

Therefore, the belief in Imam Mahdi (hgr)’s emergence is obligatory for all Muslims.

And it is of the congregation and Sunni beliefs.

No one will deny it except the ignorant, unaware of Islam and heretic  ones.
 

۱- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasani was a descendant of Imam al-Hasan (pbuh). He was the first ‘Alawi who revolted against Abbasid.

۲-Maqām Ibrāhīm (pbuh) [Ibrāhīm (pbuh)’s standing place] is a stone where the footprint of prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) is marked. Al-Ḥajar al-Aswad (Arabic: The Black Stone) is an ancient Islamic sacred stone. It is located in the eastern corner of the Ka’bah (aka. al-Rukn al-Aswad, or al-Rukn al-Hajari), 1.5 meters above the earth

۳- Rāshidūn Caliphs were caliphates established after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&h). It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs (successors) of Muhammad after his death in 632 CE (AH 11). These caliphs were collectively known in Sunni Islam as the Rashidun, or “Rightly Guided” caliphs (al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn). This term is not used in Shia Islam as Shia Muslims do not consider the rule of the first three caliphs as legitimate.

۴- Mutawātir reports are used by theologians and jurists to establish the truth of prophecy and the validity of all transmitted knowledge.

The quarterly of Intizar Mo’oud, N.23, P.142