Hadith of the Twelve Successors
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The Hadith of the Twelve Successors is a famous Hadith in Islam.
Contents |
[edit] Sunni view
Here is a link [1] to a partial listing of Sunni interpretaitions as detailed by a Shia website. It omits the interpretation of Imam Nawawi, one of the most prominent jurisprudents and exegetes of hadith.
The link below is Imam Nawawi's interpretation, which summarizes well the Sunni position. It states that the hadith does not specify linguistically that there will only be 12 Caliphs nor that they will succeed one another successively, and that of a surety, the Muslim nation will be rightly guided by these 12 Caliphs whenever they lead from the day the statement was made until the Day of Judgment.
In Sharh fiqh Akbar we read [2]:
- "Rasulullah (s) said that the Deen shall remain strong as long as these twelve Khalifas are at the helm, and the twelve are Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, 'Ali, Mu'awiya, Yazid, Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Walid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Sulayman bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Yazid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Hasham bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan"
shias assert that the listing of these names is a fabrication in sunni narrations as firstly the prophet spoke of 12 successors and to attribute these successors to the sunni calipite would not make sense as the caliphite continued for centuries and there were hundreds if not thousands of Caliphs. secondly both shias and sunnis believed in the emergence of the Mahdi- the messiah like figure who the prophet said will restore justice on earth. Both sunnis and shias know that the Mahdi is from the Prophets Progeny and both Sunni and shia narrations record the prophet saying that the Mahdi will be the last of the 12 sucessors. shias therefore discredit the idea that the prophet gave the above list of names, for one reason that the Mahdi does not appear on the list. it is said that this is consistent of the prophets proclamation as recoreded in all other narration. there are other sunni narrations (hadiths) such as Faraid al-symtayn (mentioned below) that confirm the shia position.
[edit] Shia view
It is one of the many hadiths used by the Shia to justify the belief in Shia Imams.
Shi'a further argue that the "Twelve Successors" must have come in succession, as implied by the title "Successors" (Arabic: Caliph).
See [3]
[edit] Sunni sources
[edit] Sahih Bukhari
- Narrated Jabir bin Samura: I heard the Prophet saying, "There will be twelve Muslim rulers (who will rule all the Islamic world)." He then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said, "All of them (those rulers) will be from Quraish." [4]
[edit] Sahih Muslim
- It has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I joined the company of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) with my father and I heard him say: This Caliphate will not end until there have been twelve Caliphs among them. The narrator said: Then he (the Holy Prophet) said something that I could not follow. I said to my father: What did he say? He said: He has said: All of them will be from the Quraish. [5]
[edit] Sunan Abu Dawud
- It has been reported on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say: The affairs of the people will continue to be conducted (well) as long as they are governed by twelve men. Then the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) said words which were obscure to me. I asked my father: What did the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say? He said: All of the (twelve men) will be from the Quraish. [6]
- It has been narrated on the authority of Amir b. Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas who said: I wrote (a letter) to Jabir b. Samura and sent it to him through my servant Nafi', asking him to inform me of something he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He wrote to me (in reply): I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say on Friday evening, the day on which al-Aslami was stoned to death (for committing adultery): The Islamic religion will continue until the Hour has been established, or you have been ruled over by twelve Caliphs, all of them being from the Quraish. also heard him say: A small force of the Muslims will capture the white palace, the police of the Persian Emperor or his descendants. I also heard him say: Before the Day of Judgment there will appear (a number of) impostors. You are to guard against them. I also heard him say: When God grants wealth to any one of you, he should first spend it on himself and his family (and then give it in charity to the poor). I heard him (also) say: I will be your forerunner at the Cistern (expecting your arrival). [7]
[edit] Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
- "There shall be twelve Caliphs for this community, all of them from Quraish." [8]
[edit] Yanabi al-Muwadda
In Yanabi al-Muwadda chapter 3, page 99, volume number 76, their name is explicitly told [9]
[edit] Fara'id al-Simtayn
Al-Juwayni reports that Ibn Abbas remarked that Muhammad said,
- "I am the chief of the Prophets and Ali ibn Abi Talib is the chief of successors, and after me my successors shall be twelve, the first of them being Ali ibn Abi Talib and the last of them being Al Mahdi." [10]
Al-Juwayni has also mentioned another tradition from Ibn Abbas that he narrates from Muhammad:
- "Certainly my Caliphs and my legatees and the Proofs of Allah upon his creatures after me are twelve. The first of them is my brother and the last of them is my (grand) son."
- He was asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who is your brother?"
- He said, "Ali ibn Abi Talib"
- Then they asked, "And who is your son?"
- The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied, "Al Mahdi, the one who will fill the earth with justice and equity like it would be brimming with injustice and tyranny. And by the One Who has raised me as a warner and a give of good tidings, even if a day remains for the life of this world, the Almighty Allah will prolong this day to an extent till he sends my son Mahdi, then he will make Ruhullah 'Isa ibn Maryam (a.s.) to descend and pray behind him (Mahdi). And the earth will be illuminated by his radiance. And his power will reach to the east and the west."
Al-Juwayni also narrates from his chain of narrators that Muhammad informed:
- "I and Ali and Hasan and Husayn and nine of the descendants of Husayn are the purified ones and the infallible." [11]
[edit] Sunan al-Tirmidhi
- "There will be after me twelve Amir (Prince/Ruler), all of them from Quraysh." [12]
[edit] Kanz al-Ummal
- "This religion will remain till twelve Imams from Quraysh (will pass), then when they expire the earth will swallow its inhabitants."[13]
"The affair of this nation will always be apparent till the twelve Imams will rise, all of them from the Quraysh."
[edit] Mutliple sources
- "Twelve Caliphs, (like) the number of the Chiefs of Bani Israel." [14]
- "Islam will continue to be triumphant until there have been twelve Caliphs" ... "All of them are from Quraysh." [15]
- "There will be Caliphs after me, whose number is like those of the companions of Musa." [16]
[edit] Bible
Genesis 17:20:
- And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. [17]
In Shia view, God promised twelve rulers (Arabic: Imam), and when God says "rulers" or "kings" or the like, he always means prophets, imams, ie people with divine authority, since God is not interested in secular power. In the same manner, "great nation" means Ummah and not kingdom. Further in the bible:
Genesis 25:16:
- These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. [18]
Verse 17:20 was quoting God, while 25:16 was the narration of a Bible author. Further, 25:16 contains a specifier, "twelve tribal rulers", not contained in 17:20, "twelve rulers". In Shi'a view, when Bible authors refer to "rulers", they refer to Kings or other with secular power, and not prophets or Imams or the like. Hence, even if the specifier "tribal" was not used, Genesis 25:16 would still not be the fullfilment of Genesis 17:20. In other words, in Shi'a view, God would not bother to promise people secular power.
The famous Sunni scholar Ibn Kathir states:
- We see the following prophecy in the Taurat which is in the hands of the Jews and the Christians (Genesis 17:20:): "Indeed Allah, the Exalted, has given Ibrahim (a.s.) the glad tidings of Isma'il, and he has bestowed a favour and multiplied it and placed in his progeny twelve mighty (personalities)." [19]
Ibn Kathir also says:
- Ibn Taymiyya said: "And these are the same, regarding whom the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has given the glad tidings in the tradition of Jabir ibn Samurah and stated their number; indeed this is with regard to the Imams and the Hour will not come till they last. And many of those who accepted Islam from among Jews think they are the same Imams of the Rafidi ( the name Salafis call the Shi'a)." [20]
[edit] Qur'an
The Qur'an, quoting Abraham:
- "O Our Lord! Surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near Thy Sacred House, Our Lord! That they keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; haply they may be grateful." [21]
[edit] Shia sources
In a shia narration, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir says:
- "We are the remnant of progeny. And that was the prayer of Ibrahim (a.s.) regarding us." [22]
[edit] See also
- List of hadith
- Shia view on Ali ibn Abi Talib
- Mahdi
- Islam in the Bible
[edit] References
- ^ a link
- ^ page 70 'Dhikr Fadail Uns Bad un Nabi' [1]
- ^ [2], [3]
- ^ Sahih Bukhari 89.329
- ^ Sahih Muslim 20.4477
- ^ Sunan Abu Dawud 20.4478
- ^ Sunan Abu Dawud 20.4483
- ^ Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal [v5 p106]
- ^ And then i was Guided [4]
- ^ ref
- ^ Fara'id al-Simtayn, pg 160.
- ^ #Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Arabic) Chapter of Fitan, 2:45 (India) and 4:501 Tradition # 2225 (Egypt)
- ^ Kanz al-Ummal , 13:27
- ^
- Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal v1 p398 and p406.
- Mustadrak al-Hakim, 4:501
- Al-Dhahabi, Talkhis al-Mustadrak 4:501. I
- Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Fath al-Bari 16:339.
- Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami, Majma al-Zawa'id 5:190.
- Ibn Hajar Al-Haythami, Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa, vol 12.
- Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, Vol 10.
- Jami' al-Saghir 1:75.
- Kanz al-Ummal, 13:27
- Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic) Kitab al-Mahdi 2:421 and 3:106
- Ibn Hajar Al-Haythami, Fath al-Bari 16:338.
- Mustadrak al-Hakim 3:167.
- Tarikh ibn Kathir, 6:248.
- Kanz al-Ummal, 13:27.
- Al-Haskani, Shawahid al-Tanzil, 1:455, Tradition No. 626.
- ^ New International Version
- ^ New International Version
- ^ Tarikh ibn Kathir Vol 6 Page 249-250
- ^ Tarikh ibn Kathir 250
- ^ Sura Ibrahim 14 : 37
- ^ [5]
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