The Twelve Imams
QUESTION:
Where did the twelve Imams come from?
Why should the number of Imams be twelve and twelve only?
ANSWER:
IN FACT, the answer is right inside the Sihah ahadith books (like al-Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, ... etc.). There are numerous Sunni collections of traditions which all recorded the following authentic traditions from the Holy Prophet Mohammad (s).
"There will be twelve commanders (Amir)" ... "All of them will be from Quraish."[1]
"The matter (life) will not end, until it is passed by twelve Caliphs" ... "All of them will be from Quraish." [2]
"The affairs of people will continue to be conducted (well) as long as they are governed by the twelve men." [3]
"Islam will continue to be triumphant until there have been twelve Caliphs." [4]
"The Islamic religion will continue until the Hour (day of resurrection), having twelve Caliphs for you, all of them will be from Quraish." [5]
"There shall be twelve Caliphs for this community, all of them from Quraish." [6]
"Twelve Caliphs, (like) the number of the Chiefs of Bani Israel." [7]
"There will be after me twelve Amir (Prince/Ruler), all of them from Quraysh." [8]
"This religion remains standing until there are twelve vicegerents over you, all of them agreeable to the nation, all of them from Quraysh." [9]
"Islam will continue to be triumphant until there have been twelve Caliphs" ... "All of them are from Quraysh." [10]
"This nation will always remain straight in its affairs, and triumphant against the enemies, till twelve Caliphs will be among them; all of them from Quraysh. Then there will be discord and confusion." [11]
"There will be twelve upright Imams for this nation. Those who try to disgrace them will not succeed; all of them shall be from the Quraysh." [12]
"The affair of the people will continue as long as twelve men rule over them." [12]
"This religion will remain till twelve Imams from Quraysh (will pass), then when they expire the earth will swallow its inhabitants."[12]
"The affair of this nation will always be apparent till the twelve Imams will rise, all of them from the Quraysh." [12]
"There will be Caliphs after me, whose number is like those of the companions of Musa." [13]
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The Meaning of this Tradition:
In some Traditions, the power of Islam is referred to as being a pawn in the twelve caliphs and in others, the survival and life of religion are in the hands of a group of them until the Day of Resurrection and all are from the Quraysh. In some, all of them are mentioned as being of the Bani Hashim. However, this Tradition does not conform to any sect except the Shia (Twelvers) sect because its explanation is very clear according to Shi'ism where the Sunnis ulama are at an impasse trying to explain it.
Does it refer to the first four caliphs and then the Umayyid and Abbascid caliphs?
Whereas we know that the number of the first caliphs were twelve, but they did not end with the Umayyids or the Abbascids and the number twelve does not conform to anything. In addition, among the Umayyid there are people like Yazid and among the Abbascids, people like Mansur Dawaniq, Harun al-Rashid, the oppression, arrogance and crimes of whom no one can deny and it is not possible that they be considered to be the caliphs of the Prophet and among the honor of Islam. No matter how much we simplify the criteria, they clearly do not include them. And beyond these, the number twelve only can apply to the Shia's Imams.
The famous scholar, Sulayman ibn Abrahim al-Qaduzi al-Hanafi said in his book Yanabi'a al-Muwaddah: "Some of the scholars have said that, 'The Tradition which mentions the rule of the caliphs after the Prophet are twelve people is famous and it has been recorded in many places. That which we can surmise is that, after the passing of time, what the Prophet of Allah was referring to was twelve successors from the ahl al-bayt and his family because it is not possible that this Tradition refer to the first caliphs because they are only four people and it does not conform to the Umayyids because they were more than twelve people and all of them, other than Amr ibn Abdal Aziz were oppressors and also, they were not from the Bani Hashim and the Holy Prophet said, "All twelve are from the Bani Hashim." When Abdal Malik ibn Umar records from Jabir ibn Sahrah and how the Prophet quietly said who they were from, he bore witness to what he said because some people were not happy about the caliphate of the Bani Hashim and the Tradition does not conform to the Bani Abbas, either, because they were more than twelve people and beyond this, they did not conform to the verse, "No reward do I ask of you except the love of those near of kin..." (42:23) Thus, the Tradition only can relate to the twelve Imams of the ahl al-bayt and the family of the Prophet. It refers to those whose knowledge is higher than that of any others, whose piety is unquestioned and from all points of view, are more knowledgeable and who gained their knowledge from the Prophet of Islam. That which confirms this view is the Tradition of Thaqalayn and many other Traditions which have come from the Prophet. [14]
I would like to remind you that "Caliph" means successor/deputy. The successor of the Prophet (or the preceding Caliph) should come immediately after the demise of the Prophet (or the preceding Caliph). If there is any gap between the successors, the word "successor" does not make any sense. So successors should come right after the other without any gap. Also as the Prophet (s) suggested in the above traditions, those twelve Caliphs will cover till the day of resurrection. As you may know, the Followers of Ahlul-Bayt of the Holy Prophet (s) refer to these 12 Caliphs as of their 12 Imams starting with Imam Ali (a) and ending with Imam al-Mahdi (a) the leader of our time. They are Caliphs because Allah made them Caliphs (They are vice-regents of Allah on the earth). With the passage of time and through historical events, we know that by the above traditions the Holy Prophet (s) meant the twelve Imams from his Ahlul-Bayt who are the descendants of the Prophet since we have no other 12 pure candidates in the history of Islam upon whose righteousness all Muslims agree. It is interesting to know that even the enemies of Shia have NOT been able to find any fault in the virtues of the twelve Imams of Shia. Moreover these twelve Imams came one after another without any gap. It is now clear that the only way to interpret the previously mentioned traditions which are narrated in Sihah Books is to accept that it refers to the Twelve Imams from the Prophet's Ahlul-Bayt, because they were, in their times, the most knowledgeable, the most illustrious, the most God-fearing, the most pious, the best in personal virtues, and the most honored before Allah; and their knowledge was derived from their ancestor (the Prophet) through their fathers. These are the Ahlul-Bayt whose sinlessness, flawlessness, and purity is confirmed by the holy Quran (the last sentence of verse 33:33).
Also the above mentioned traditions of the Prophet (s) which are considered to be authentic by the Sunnis, proves beyond doubt that the concept of "Twelve Imams" can NOT be a Twelver Shi'a concoction! It is amazing that despite the acknowledgment of al-Bukhari and Muslim and other prominent Sunni scholars about the twelve Imams, the Sunnis always stop at the four Caliphs! More interestingly, there are Sunni reports in which the Messenger of Allah named these twelve members of his Ahlul-Bayt one by one starting with Imam Ali (a) and ending with Imam al-Mahdi (a).
The Name of The Twelve Imams
It should be noted that in some of the Traditions which have reached us from the Sunnis, the names of the twelve Imams have clearly appeared and their names specified!
Al-Juwayni [15] reports that Abdullah ibn Abbas remarked that the Messenger of Allah (s) 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." Al-Juwayni has also mentioned another tradition from Ibn 'Abbas that he narrates from the Messenger of Allah (s): "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) 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 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 the Messenger of Allah (s) informed: "I and Ali and Hasan and Husayn and nine of the descendants of Husayn are the purified ones and the infallible." [16]
Shaykh Sulayman al-Qanduzi, a famous Sunni scholar, in his book Yanabi'a al-Muwaddah said: "A Jewish man named Na'thal, went to the Prophet (s) and among the questions he asked who woul d succeed him. The Prophet (s) said, specifying them, "After me, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and then my two sons, Hasan and Husayn and after Husayn, nine Imams will follow from his children." The Jewish man said, Name them. The Prophet (s) said: "When Husayn leaves this world, his son, 'Ali, and after him, his child Muhammad and after Muhammad, his son Ja'far and after Ja'far, his son Musa and after Musa, his son 'Ali and after 'Ali, Muhammad. After Muhammad, his child, 'Ali and after 'Ali, Hasan and after Hasan, his child Muhammad al-Mahdi. These are the twelve Imams." [17]
Another Tradition [18] is quoted from Kitab Manaqib with their titles and it indicates that Imam Mahdi is in occultation and then he will arise and replace the oppression and tyranny which exists upon the earth with justice.
References
[1]Sahih al-Bukhari 9:329 (Arabic-English version)
[2] Sahih Muslim, Arabic version, Kitab al-Imaarah, 1980 Edition Pub. in Saudi Arabia, v3, p1452, Tradition #5 Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter DCCLIV (titled: The People are subservient to the Quraish and the Caliphate is the Right of the Quraish), v3, p1009, Tradition #4477.
[3] Ibid p1010, Tradition #4478
[4] Ibid p1010, Tradition #4480
[5] Ibid p1010, Tradition #4483
[6] Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v5 p106:
[7] Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, v1 p398 and p406. Al-Hakim al-Nisaburi, Mustadrak , 4:501 Al-Dhahabi, Talkhis 4:501. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari 16:339. Ali b. Abu Bakr al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id 5:190. Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa, vol 12. Al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, Vol 10. Jami' al-Saghir 1:75. Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, 13:27.
[8] Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Arabic) Chapter of Fitan, 2:45 (India) and 4:501 Tradition # 2225 (Egypt)
[9] Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic) 2:421, Kitab al-Mahdi. Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic) 3:106, Kitab al-Mahdi.
[10] Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic) 2:421, Kitab al-Mahdi. Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic) 3:106, Kitab al-Mahdi. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari 16:338. Al-Hakim al-Nisaburi, Mustadrak al-Sahihayn 3:167.
[11] Muntakhab Kanz al-'Ummal 5:321. Ibn Kathir, Ta'rikh, 6:249. Al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, Vol 10. Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal ,13:26. Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa Vol 28.
[12] Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal , 13:27
[13] Ibn Kathir, Ta'rikh, 6:248. Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, 13:27. Al-Haskani, Shawahid al-Tanzil, 1:455, Tradition No. 626.
[14] Yanabi'a al-Muwaddah, p. 446
[15] Al-Dhahabi says in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 4, p. 298, that Sadruddin Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin al-Hamawayh al-Juwayni al-Shafi'i was a great scholar of Hadith. Also see his biographical note in Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Durar al-kaminah, vol. 1, p. 67.
[16] Al-Juwayni, Fara'id al-Simtayn, pg 160.
[17] Yanabi'a al-Muwaddah, p. 431.
[18] Yanabi'a al-Muwaddah, p. 442.
For More Details:
Twelve Successors of the Holy Prophet (s)
Imamate: Vicegerency of the Prophet (s)
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