Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2

Section Thirteen

The traditions that indicate he is the seventh descendant of (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on him

Comprised of 121 traditions

543. Kifāyat al-athar[^1]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, may God have mercy on him, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Shādhān b. Ḥabbāb al-Azdī al-Khallāl in Kūfa, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Wāḥid, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn al-`Arabī [or al-`Arafī or al-`Uranī] al-Ṣūfī, from Yaḥyā b. Ya`lā al-Aslamī, from `Amr b. Mūsā al-Wajīhī, from Zaid b. `Alī, peace be on him, who recounts:

I was with my father, (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, when Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī entered. While he was talking with him my brother Muḥammad came from one of the rooms. Jābir fixed his gaze at him, then stood up and went towards him and said, “O boy, come!” He obliged. Jābir requested again, “Go back,” and he went back. Jābir remarked, “Characteristics like the characteristics of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family! What is your name, son?” He replied, “Muḥammad.” Jābir said, “Whose son are you?” He replied, “I am the son of `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib.”

Jābir said, “Then, you must be al-Bāqir!” Then, Jābir bent over him and began kissing his forehead and hands. Then he said, “O Muḥammad! The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has conveyed salutations to you.” He replied, “May the best of salutations be upon the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and also upon you, O Jābir, for conveying the salutations.”

Jābir then returned to his prayer-mat and started talking to my father, saying, “One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said to me, ‘O Jābir! When you meet my son, al-Bāqir, convey my salutations to him because his name is like mine and he is the most similar of people to me. His knowledge is my knowledge and his judgment is my judgment. Seven of his descendants are infallible trustees and righteous Imams and the seventh is their Mahdī, who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness.’ Then, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, recited, ‘And We made them Imams who guide with Our Command and We revealed to them good deeds, establishment of prayers, and paying the poor-rate (zakāt) and they worshipped Us.’”

544. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī : Informed me `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, from

Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Rāzī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Kūfī, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from `Abd al-Razzāq, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Fuḍail al-Rassān, from Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī who narrates:

One day, I was with (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir. When the people around him dispersed, he said to me, “O Abū Ḥamza! From the inevitable things that Allah will not change is the rising of our Qā’im. Whoever has doubts about what I am saying will meet Allah while he does not believe in Him and denies Him.” He continued, “My father and my mother be sacrificed for him whose name will be my name and his epithet will be my epithet and he will be my seventh descendant. My father be sacrificed for the one who will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice.

O Abā Ḥamza! Whoever reaches [his era] but does not submit to him, then, it is as if he has not submitted to Muḥammad and `Alī, Allah’s blessings be on them. Allah will prohibit him from entering Paradise and his dwelling place will be in fire and how bad is the abode of the oppressors!”

A matter which is clearer, more illuminating, more lucid and brighter than this—for those who Allah has guided and is beneficent to—thank God, is His saying which is an unambiguous verse from His Book: “Verily, the number of months (al-shuhūr) with Allah are twelve months in the Book of Allah, the day He created the skies and the earth; from these, four are sacred. This is the established religion, so do not be unjust to yourselves during these [months].” Having knowledge about these months like Muḥarram, Ṣafar, Rabī` al-Awwal, etc. and the sacred ones from them like Rajab, Dhu l-Qa`da, Dhu l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram, cannot be called “an established religion.” Because the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, and all the other nations and people—whether those in favor and the opponents [of Islam]—were aware of these months and they counted them with their names.

[In this verse,] months (shuhūr) refers to the infallible Imams, peace be on them, who will establish the religion of Allah. The sacred ones from these are Amīr al-Mu’minīn, whose name Allah, the Exalted, has derived from His Name al-`Alī, just as He has derived for the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, a name from His Name, al-Maḥmūd. Three others from his descendants bear the name `Alī: `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, `Alī b. Mūsā, and `Alī b. Muḥammad. These names have become sacred because they have been derived from the Name of Allah, the Exalted. And Allah’s blessings be on Muḥammad and his noble family who are sacred because of him.

545. Ithbāt al-waṣiyya[^2]: Al-Ḥimyarī, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from al-Naḍr b. Suwayd, from Yaḥyā al-Ḥalabī, from `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza who said:

I was with Abū Baṣīr and with us was a slave of (Imam) Abū Ja`far. He narrated to us that he heard, (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, say, “From us are twelve muḥaddaths[^3]. The Qā’im is the seventh after me.” Abū Baṣīr stood up and declared, “I testify that I have been hearing Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, saying this since forty years ago.”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 235, 242–308, 550, 551, 554–571, 608, 612, 641, 786–807, 859, 973, 974, 1216, and 1230.

[^1]: Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 40, pp. 301–303, no. 3; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, p. 360, no. 230, with the following chain of narrators: “Abū l-Mufaḍḍal al-Shaibānī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Shādhān, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Wāḥid, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn al-`Uranī, from Yaḥyā b. Ya`lā, from `Umar b. Mūsā, from Zaid.”

[^2]: Ithbāt al-waṣiyya, p. 204; Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 4, pp. 96–97; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 45, p. 395, no. 11.

[^3]: A muḥaddath is a person whom the angels speak with. This does not mean that the person whom the angels speak with is a prophet. This can be inferred from verses 19:17–19 of the Holy Quran that mention the story of Mary, peace be on her, speaking with one of God’s angels—Ed.