Who can legitimately claim to be the Mahdi?

Muhammad taught that Israelites (whom Romans called “Palestinians”) were sent prophets in succession in keeping with their covenant. Similarly, Ishmaelites would be ruled by caliphs (lit. successors) in succession (Ibn Majah 24:119). This video explains how the Mahdi is the legal successor of Muhammad. Indeed, the scriptures can be read from a purely secular perspective as the law of royal succession.

Note that ummi can also refer to a gentile. Muhammad correspondingly claimed to be the “Apostle to the Gentiles” instead of Paul of Tarsus (Qur’an 7:157, Muslim 43:190 & Romans 11:13) and to have been inspired with an epistle (risala) from the Holy Spirit (Qur’an 16:102), namely the Qur’an (lit. recitation): a compendium of the Law and Prophets in the angelic tongue (Bava Metzia 86b:16), as opposed to glossolalia (Acts 2:4). Paul’s and Muhammad’s followers consequently accused each other of being possessed acolytes of the False Prophet and Messiah (Qur’an 68:1-6).

0:21 Who are Arabs?
0:54 Who are Ishmaelites?
2:05 Who is Muhammad?
4:07 Who is the Mahdi?
5:03 Spurious claimants
8:24 Legitimate claimants