bismillahir rehmanir raheem asalamo alaykum In ahadith the Majority armies that would follow mahdi would have these signs 1)From the East 2) From Khorasan 3) From Bani Ishaq/Bani Israel /Al e Haroon (all have same meaning). Now I read one of you fatwa in which u said that the Romans would become Muslims n conquer Constantinople But Romans do not live in the East and they are not from Khorasan and they are also not from Bani ISHAQ. Among Muslims only the PATHANS are considered to be from the lost tribes of Israel and also they live in the East and also in the Khorasan. For references please check http://armyofmahdi.googlepages.com/home and also for the reference about Pathans being from the Bani Israel please check v http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Pathan v http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnai_Israel v http://www.dangoor.com/74069.html v http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Afghanistan.html v http://www.kulanu.org/pathan/israeliteorigins.html It is strange that when there are Muslims who belong to the Bani Israel race and even then its described that Romans would convert and become Muslims n conquer Constantinople. My Question is that why not PATHANS are told to be those people even they have all the signs and why Roman are told be those even they are non muslims and also they are NOT FROM BANI ISRAEL Please check http://armyofmahdi.googlepages.com/home for all the reference from ahadith about this topic asalamo alaykum wa rehmatullahay wa barkatuhu

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 is His slave and Messenger.

It is not beneficial to think about the identity of the army who will bring victory to Al-Mahdi and think about which race they are. Rather it is more appropriate for a Muslim to think about how to support the Religion of Allaah wherever he is and at any time, as this is the responsibility of the nation at all times. Among the most important factors by which the nation would gain (or regain) victory is by returning to its religion and acting according to the Law of Allaah in all aspects of life and seek help from Allaah.

We are not aware whether or not the origin of the Pathans is from the children of Israel; it is enough to say that they are Muslim people.

With regard to the narrations which state that the people of the black flag are from Khurasaan; some scholars spoke about it, and it is a confirmed fact that this army will be from the children of Is-Haaq. Imaam Muslim reported this in a narration that is mentioned in Fatwa 82172 which you referred to in your question.

An-Nawawi when interpreting the narration, said quoting Al-Qaadhi 'Iyaadh : “All the narrations reported by Imaam Muslim state that they are from the children of Is-Haaq. Some of them [scholars] said that they are from “the children of Ismaa’eel”, as the context of the narration suggests, because it is the Arabs who are intended in the narration”. This means that the narrations did not all agree that these people are from the children of Is-Haaq.

To conclude, saying that the army of Al-Mahdi will be from certain people is of no benefit as we already mentioned, because this army could be composed from groups from different people, and what is mentioned in the narration is the predominant view. However, it is more appropriate for a Muslim to be concerned about what benefits him in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.

Allaah Knows best.