Ibn Matruh al-Qaisi mentioned him, saying he was a man from Hargha, from the Masamida tribes, known as Muhammad bin Tumart al-Marghi. Ibn al-Khatib expresses his doubt about this lineage, stating: "This man belonged to the Ahl al-Bayt... Ibn Matruh and others said he was a man from Hargha, from the Masamida tribes, known as Muhammad bin Tumart, and God knows best." Ibn Abi al-Dinar and Ibn al-Imad followed this path. Modern researchers have also differed on this lineage. Some have allowed for its possibility, while others have gone to doubt or definitively state its falsity and invalidity. If the doubters among the ancients did not provide explanations for their doubts, contenting themselves with hinting at them for the most part, then the modern ones among them tried to provide some reasons that led to its fabrication. These reasons are generally attributed to the fact that the Mahdi fabricated an Arab lineage for himself, ending with Ali bin Abi Talib or the Prophet himself, in order to rely on it, like other Mahdis in their claim to Mahdism, and to be supported by a collection of fabricated hadiths that do not support a Mahdi from outside the Ahl al-Bayt. These scholars believe that the issue of Mahdism led to the fabrication of this lineage to prove it and gain conviction in it, as it would only be a corroborating evidence for a prophetic lineage. They attribute its fame and spread to the fact that historians from the Almohads and the writers of their state exerted great effort in supporting, spreading, and promoting it. It is clear that this criticism directed at the Mahdi's lineage did not follow an objective path, as it deviated from explaining the corruption of the lineage itself to explaining the reason for its fabrication first. (22) See: Ibn Abi al-Dinar, al-Muns, p. 70/4; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat, p. 166. (23) See: Abd Allah Allam, al-Da'wa al-Muwahhidiya bi al-Maghrib, p. 56. (24) See: Abd al-Hamid al-Abadi, al-Mujmal fi Tarikh al-Andalus, p. 166. (25) See: Muhammad al-Annani, Muhammad bin Tumart, p. 126; Provenceal, Islam in the Maghreb and Andalusia, p. 265; Saad Muhammad Hassan, al-Mahdiya fi al-Islam, p. 187; Muhammad Abd Allah Annan, Asr al-Murabitun wa al-Muwahhidun, p. 159-160; Huisy Miranda, Tarikh al-Muwahhidin, p. 5-6. (26) See: Muhammad Abd Allah Annan, Asr al-Murabitun wa al-Muwahhidun, p. 187; Saad Muhammad Hassan, al-Mahdiya fi al-Islam, p. 126; Muhammad al-Annani, Muhammad bin Tumart, p. 9; Huisy Miranda, Tarikh al-Muwahhidin, p. 5-6. 27