Mahdi Will Appear After Return and Death of Caliph

Discussion of the appearance of the Mahdi, a messianic figure who will appear to restore justice to the world, is not a hot topic on Sunni Jihadi forums (in contrast with Shia miliants, who talk about it a lot). So a post today on Eklaas by al-Fata al-Jurani caught my eye. In it, he argues that the Mahdi will not appear until a caliph once again rules Muslims. After the caliph dies, the black banners will be unfurled and the Mahdi will appear. In support of his thesis, he offers two hadith: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Disagreement will occur at the death of a caliph and a man of the people of Medina will come flying forth to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An