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The Hadith of the Twelve Successors ( ar-at, حَدِيْث ٱلْإِثْنَي عَشَر خَلِيْفَة, ḥadīth al-ithnā ʿashar khalīfah) is a widely-reported prophecy, attributed to the Islamic prophet
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, predicting that there would be twelve successors after him. As there were many more rulers after Muhammad, Sunni authors have variously identified these twelve successors with some of these rulers. In Twelver Shia, these successors are instead the Twelve Imams. The last one, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is believed to be in occultation since 874 CE. While the details vary, the belief in the eschatological
Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...
remains popular among all
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources.


Sunni sources


Narration

Several similar variants of the tradition exists in Sunni sources, usually related on the authority of Muhammad's companion Jabir ibn Samura (), but also by other companions, such as
Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud Abdullah ibn Masūd, or Abdullah ibn Masood, or Abdullah Ben Messaoud ( ar, عبد الله بن مسعود, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʽūd; c.594-c.653), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who he is regarded the greatest mufassir of ...
(), Anas ibn Malik (),
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
(), Wa'ila ibn Asqa', Abd Allah ibn Umar (), Abu Huraira (), Salman the Persian (), Aisha (), and
Uthman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
(). The version in the canonical '' Sahih al-Bukhari'' and '' Sahih Muslim'' quotes Muhammad, This version is also cited by Na'im ibn Hammad (),
al-Tirmidhi Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā as-Sulamī aḍ-Ḍarīr al-Būghī at-Tirmidhī ( ar, أبو عيسى محمد بن عيسى السلمي الضرير البوغي الترمذي; fa, , ''Termezī''; 824 – 9 October 892 CE / 209 - 2 ...
(), Ibn Asakir (), to name a few. In particular,
Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...
() narrates it with thirty-four chains of transmitters, all of which are on the authority of Jabir ibn Samura.


Other versions

In some versions, () or () or Imam appear instead of . The version cited by Abu Dawud () adds that the Islamic community would be united during the reign of these twelve successors. Another version predicts that anarchy and turmoil would prevail after their reign. Another version compares these twelve successors to the twelve leaders () of
Banu Israil The Banu Israil or Bani israili are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Their name means "Children of Israel", and the community claims descent from the Jewish community of Madinah. They belong to the Shaikh caste, ...
. Modarressi argues that this hadith was in circulation during the reign of the Umayyad Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (), long before the reported occultation () of the twelfth and final Shia Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi in 260/874.


Identification with the caliphs

In his commentary on ''Sahih al-Bukhari'',
al-Qastallani Shihāb al-Dīn Abu'l-‘Abbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Qasṭallānī al-Qutaybī al-Shāfi‘ī ( ar, أحمد بن محمد ابن أبي بكر ابن عبد الملك بن أحمد بن حسين بن علي القسطلاني ...
() suggests that the hadith refers to twelve (non-consecutive) Muslim rulers, whose relatively stable reign was followed by the unstable rule of al-Walid II (). Though he does not name them, he is likely referring to the four
Rashidun caliphs , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...
(), Mu'awiya I () and his son
Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
(), Abd al-Malik () and his four sons, and Umar II (), according to Kohlberg. His second proposal is that the hadith refers to twelve concurrent claimants to the caliphate who, he claims, competed in the fifth/eleventh century. His third proposal is that the hadith refers to the golden age of Islam that ended with the death of Umar II in 101/720. This means fourteen rulers, rather than twelve. So al-Qastallani removes
Mu'awiya II Mu'awiya ibn Yazid ( ar, معاوية بن يزيد, Muʿāwiya ibn Yazīd; 664 – 684 CE), usually known simply as Mu'awiya II was the third Umayyad caliph. He succeeded his father Yazid I as the third caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid ...
() and Marwan I (), saying that their reigns were too short. He does, however, retain
Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali ( ar, الحسن بن علي, translit=Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; ) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He briefly ruled as caliph from Jan ...
().
Al-Nawawi Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī ( ar, أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف النووي;‎ (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī, was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and ...
() gives a similar explanation in his commentary on ''Sahih Muslim''. With an anti-
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
attitude, al-Fadl ibn Ruzbihan (tenth/sixteenth century) instead identifies the twelve successors as the "five" (rather than four) Rashidun caliphs, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Umar II, and five Abbasid caliphs whom he does not name.


Twelver sources


Before occultation

Perhaps the earliest Shia versions of this hadith appear in the ''Kitab Sulaym ibn Qays'', attributed to Sulaym ibn Qays, who might have been a companion of Ali. One version therein is related on the authority of Ali, Abd Allah ibn Ja'far (), and Salman the Persian, among others. Shortly before he died in 11/632, Muhammad is reported to have told his companions at
Ghadir Khumm The Ghadīr Khumm ( ar, غَدِير خُم) refers to a gathering of Muslims to attend a sermon delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on 16 March 632 CE (18 Dhu al-Hijjah 10 AH). The gathering is said to have taken place at the Ghadir K ...
,


Neglect

Sulaym's statement did not garner much attraction until the late third/ninth century among Imamites, who went on to form the Twelver community after the occultation of their twelfth Imam in 260/874. In particular, this hadith is absent from the works of the contemporary Imamite Muhammad ibn al-Haan al-Saffar (), Sa'd ibn Abd Allah al-Ash'ari, and Ibn Qiba. This was the case, Modarressi argues, because the Imamite community in the first decades of the occultation likely expected their twelfth Imam to reemerge soon and the line of the Imams to continue as before. It was probably sometime after 295/908 that the community realized that there might not be a manifest Imam for the foreseeable future, Modarressi writes. Only then the number of Imams became a central issue.


After occultation

Al-Kulayni Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Iṣḥāq al Kulaynī ar Rāzī ( Persian: ar, أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد ٱبْن يَعْقُوب إِسْحَاق ٱلْكُلَيْنِيّ ٱلرَّازِيّ; c. 250 AH/864 CE ...
() and Ibn Babawahy () are among the first Imamite traditionists who include in their works such hadiths that set the number of the Imams at twelve. In particular, al-Kulayni has a chapter in his canonical '' Kitab al-Kafi'' about the number of Imams. As for Sulaym's hadith above, al-Kulayni, al-Nu'mani, and al-Tusi () all cite it while al-Mas'udi questions its authenticity. Another version of the hadith, cited by Ibn Babawahy on the authority of Ali, identifies the twelfth successor as Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is often referred to as al-Qa'im () in the Twelver hadith literature. This version ascribes to Muhammad,


Identification with the Twelve Imams

Noting that there have been many more (temporal) rulers after Muhammad, the Twelver authors identify the twelve successors in this hadith with their Twelve Imams. The Twelver Sobhani adds that the dignity of Islam rests on these twelve successors, and this alone disqualifies the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, in his view. As for Mahdi, the belief in this eschatological figure remains popular among all Muslims, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources.


Zaydi sources

Variants of this hadith also appear in Zaydi Shia sources. Abu Sa'id Abbad al-Asfari () quotes Muhammad in his ''Kitab Akhbar al- Mahdi,''


See also

* List of hadiths *
Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...
** Muhammad al-Mahdi **
At-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim Al-Ṭayyib Abūʾl-Qāsim ibn Al-Manṣūr ( ar, ٱلطَّيِّب أَبُو ٱلْقَاسِم ابْن ٱلْمَنْصُوْر) was, according to the Tayyibi Isma'ili- Musta'li sect of Isma'ilism, the twenty-first Imam and the last Ca ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * {{Cite encyclopedia , year=2022 , title=Al-Mahdī , encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam , publisher=Brill Reference Online , editor-last=Bearman , editor-first=P. , edition=Second , author-last=Madelung , author-first=W. Hadith