Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2

Section Thirty-Six

The traditions that indicate he will manifest the affairs of Allah, make the religion of truth victorious, destroy innovations and falsehood, will be assisted with Allah’s help, will be helped with Allah’s angels, will spread Islam on earth and will rule it, and Allah will give life to the earth after its death

Comprised of 51 traditions

668. Kitāb Faḍl b. Shādhān[^1]: Narrated to us Faḍālat b. Ayyūb, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Abd-Allah b. Sinān, who said:

My father asked Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, about the Just Sultan (al-sultān al-`ādil). He said, “He is the one whom Allah has made his obedience compulsory upon the Jinn and the humans—all of them—after the Prophets and the Messengers. There will be a sultan after a sultan until they terminate at the twelfth sultan.”

A person from his companions requested, “Describe them for us, O Son of Allah’s Messenger!” He replied, “They are those about whom Allah, the Exalted, has said, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those who have authority amongst you.’[^2] They are those that during the rule of the last of them, Jesus, peace be on him, will descend, and pray behind him. He is the one who will slay the Anti-Christ (al-Dajjāl). Through him, Allah will conquer the Easts and the Wests of the earth. His government will remain until to the Day of Judgment.”

669. Kamāl al-dīn[^3]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. `Iṣām, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Ya`qūb al-Kulainī, from al-Qāsim b. al-`Alā, from Ismā’īl b. `Alī al-Qazwīnī, from `Alī b. Ismā’īl, from `Aṣim b. Ḥamīd al-Ḥannāṭ, from Muḥammad b. Muslim al-Thaqafī who said:

I heard Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on him, say, “The Qā’im is from us. He will be helped with awe and assisted with victory. The earth’s [distances] will be shortened for him, treasures will be manifested for him, and his kingdom will extend to the East and the West. Through him, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will make his religion victorious over all other religions even if the polytheists detest it. Then, there will not remain a ruin on earth but that he will repair it. The Spirit of Allah, Jesus, son of Mary, peace be on him, will descend and pray behind him.”

I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! When will your Qā’im emerge?” He replied, “When men will make themselves look like women and women will make themselves look like men. Men will fulfill [their sexual desires] using men and women using women. Women will mount on saddles, false testimonies will be accepted, the testimonies of the just will be rejected, bloodshed, adultery, and loans with interest will be regarded as normal, the wicked will be respected for fear of their tongue, al-Sufyānī will emerge from Syria, al-Yamānī will come from Yemen, the desert will sink in the earth at al-Baidā’, a youth from the family of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who will be called Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan—al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (the Pure Soul)—will be killed between the Rukn and the Maqām (at Ka`ba). A cry will be heard from the sky that ‘the truth is with him and with his followers.’ It is then that our Qā’im will appear. When he appears, he will lean his back towards the Ka`ba and 313 men will gather around him. The first thing that he will say will be this verse, ‘The remnant of Allah is better for you if you are believers.’[^4]

Then, he will say, ‘I am the Remnant of Allah on His earth; His Caliph and His Proof upon you.’ No Muslim will salute him except by these words, ‘Peace be on you, O Remnant of Allah (baqiyyat Allāh) on His earth.’ When the `iqd—meaning ten thousand men—gather around him, he will rise. Then, there will not remain anything being worshipped on earth other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He—from the idols or any other thing—except that it will catch fire and be destroyed. This will occur after a long occultation so that Allah [tests] and recognizes those who obey Him regarding the unseen and believe in Him.”

670. Kamāl al-dīn[^5]: Abū Ṭālib al-Muẓaffar b. Ja`far b. al-Muẓaffar al-`Alawī al-Samarqandī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mas`ūd, from his father, from Muḥammad b. Naṣīr, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, [from Ḥammād b. `Īsā], from `Amr b. Shimr, from Jābir b. Yazīd al-Ju`fī, from Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī who heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, say:

Dhū l-Qarnain was a righteous servant whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, appointed as a proof upon His servants. He called his people towards Allah and ordered them to fear Him but they struck his temple. Consequently, he went into occultation for some time until they said, “He has died, or perished, or to which land has he gone?”

After some time, he reappeared and returned to his people but they struck his other temple. Amongst you is the one who will follow his custom. Surely, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, gave power to Dhū l-Qarnain on earth and gave him a means for everything and he conquered the East and the West. Allah, Blessed and High be He, will implement this custom in the Qā’im from my descendants. He will conquer the East and the West of the earth.

There will neither remain a waterhole nor a spot from the land or the mountains that Dhū l-Qarnain tread on but that the Qā’im will set foot on it. Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will bring out for him the treasures of the earth and its mines and He will help him with awe. Through him, He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness.

671. Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī[^6]: From Rifā`at b. Mūsā who heard (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, say about the verse “And to Him submits whatever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly[^7]”: “When the Qā’im, peace be on him, rises, there will not remain a land but that the testimony, ‘There is no god but Allah and that surely Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah,’ will be called out in it.”

672. Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī[^8]: From Zurāra, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, who said:

My father was asked about the sayings of Allah, “And fight against all the polytheists just as they all fight against you”[^9] and “Until there remains no fitna and religion becomes exclusively for Allah.”[^10] He replied, “The interpretation of this verse has not occurred yet. When our Qā’im rises, those who will have reached his time will see the occurrence of the interpretation of this verse. The religion of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, will reach wherever that night reaches [i.e. everywhere]. There will remain no polytheism [or polytheist] on the face of earth just as Allah has stated.”

673. Yanābī` al-mawadda[^11]: From Zain al-`Ābidīn and from al-Bāqir, [peace be on them]: “When the Qā’im, peace be on him, rises, Allah will make Islam victorious over all religions.”

674. Yanābī` al-mawadda[^12]: From Abū Baṣīr, from Ja`far al-Ṣādiq, may Allah be satisfied with him: “When the Qā’im rises, the believers will rejoice because of the victory from Allah.”

675. Tafsīr `Alī b. Ibrāhīm al-Qummī[^13]: Regarding the interpretation of the verse, “Or He who answers the distressed one when he calls Him and removes the badness, and He will make you the successors on earth,”[^14] narrated to me my father, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Faḍḍāl, from Ṣāliḥ b. `Uqba, from Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, who said: “This verse was revealed concerning the Qā’im from the family of Muḥammad, peace be on them. By Allah, he is the distressed one. When he prays beside the Maqām [of Ibrāhīm] two units of prayers (rak`atain) and invokes Allah, He will answer him and will remove the badness and make him the successor on earth.”

676. Mā nazala min al-Quran fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām[^15]: Through his chains of narrators [from Ḥumaid b. Ziyād, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. Samā`a, from Ibrāhīm b. `Abd al-Ḥamīd], from `Abd al-Ḥamīd, from Muḥammad b. Muslim, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, “Or He who answers the distressed one when he calls,”[^16] he, peace be on him, said: “This verse was descended about the Qā’im, peace be on him. When he emerges, he will wear a turban and will pray beside the Maqām [of Ibrāhīm]. He will plead to his Lord, then, none of his flags will return [defeated].”

677. Mā nazala min al-Quran fī Ahl al-Bait `alayhim al-salām[^17]: Narrated to us Yūsuf b. Ya`qūb, from Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Muqrī, from Nu`aim b. Sulaimān, from Laith, from Mujāhid, from ibn `Abbās, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, “So that He makes it victorious over all religions even if the polytheists detest it,”[^18] he said:

This will not happen until there remains no follower of Judaism, Christianity, or any other religion except Islam; until the sheep[s], the wolf[s], the cow[s], the lion[s], the men, and the snake[s] are all safe and secure; until the rat does not nibble at the sack; until jizya is imposed; the cross is broken; and the pig is killed. [This] is the saying of Allah, the Exalted, “So that He makes it victorious over all religions even if the polytheists detest it.” All this will happen when the Qā’im, peace be on him, rises.

678. Kamāl al-dīn[^19]: Through this chain of narrators [meaning `Alī b. Ḥātim, from Ḥumaid b. Ziyād, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Samā`a], from Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Maithamī, from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from Mu’min al-Ṭāq, from Salām b. al-Mustanīr, from Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, concerning the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He,

“Know that Allah will give life to the earth after its death” (Quran Surah Hadid 57:17)

He said, “Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will give life to it through the Qā’im, peace be on him, after it has died. Its death means the disbelief (kufr) of its inhabitants and a disbeliever (kāfir) is [regarded as] a dead person.”

679. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī[^20]: Narrated to us Abū Sulaimān Aḥmad b. Haudha, from Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq al-Nahāwandī, from `Abd-Allah b. Ḥammād al-Anṣārī, from `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza, who said:

(Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, said, “When the Qā’im, Allah’s blessings be on him, rises, the angels [present during the Battle of] Badr—which are five thousand—will descend. One-third will be on white horses, one-third on black and white horses, and one-third on al-ḥuw horses.” I asked, “What is al-ḥuw?” He answered, “Red.”

680. `Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā[^21]: In a tradition recorded by him from Muḥammad b. `Alī Mājīlawayh, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from al-Rayyān b. Shabīb, from al-Riḍā, peace be on him, who said [in a part of it]:

O son of Shabīb! If you [want to] cry for anything, then cry for al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him. Because he was slaughtered like sheep are slaughtered and with him were killed eighteen of his family members whose kind could not be found anywhere on earth. The seven skies and the earths cried for his death. Four thousand angels descended on the earth to help him but they were not given permission. They remain by his grave—disarrayed and dusty—until the Qā’im, peace be on him, rises. Then, they will assist him and their slogan will be, ‘[Let us] avenge the blood of al-Ḥusayn,’ (yā lathārāt al-ḥussain).

681. `Uyūn al-mu`jizāt[^22]: It has been narrated from one of the knowledgeable [Imams] from the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, that

Allah, the Exalted, sent down four thousand angels to [assist] al-Ḥusayn. These were the same angels that had descended on the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, on the day of (the Battle of) Badr. He was asked to choose between being victorious against his enemies and meeting his grandfather. He chose meeting his grandfather. So, Allah, the Exalted, ordered the angels to stand by his grave while they are disarrayed and dusty, awaiting the rising of the Qā’im from his descendants—the Master of the Time, peace be on him. The following traditions also prove the above concept: 161, 205, 243, 324–332, 337–339, 342, 343, 346, 373, 419, 423, 432, 435, 525, 529, 536, 538, 548, 553, 719, 807, 936, 1105, 1138, 1177, 1195, and 1199.

[^1]: Kifāyat al-muhtadī (al-Arba`īn), under no. 39; Kashf al-ḥaqq (al-Arba`īn), no. 34.

[^2]: Quran 4:59.

[^3]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 32, pp. 330–331, no. 16; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, chap. 25, pp. 191–192, no. 24. I say: We already mentioned a similar tradition in the first section under no. 327 from Imam Abū `Abd-Allah al-Sadiq, peace be on him, which mentioned: “His name is Muḥammad b. Muḥammad and his title is al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.”

[^4]: Quran 11:86.

[^5]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 38, p. 394, no. 4; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 12, chap. 8, pp. 194–195, no. 19. I say: Apparently, Muḥammad b. Naṣīr—the narrator from Muḥammad b. `Īsā—refers to Muḥammad b. Naṣīr al-Kashī, the highly reliable and extremely learned scholar. He should not be confused in such traditions and reliable narrations with Muḥammad b. Naṣīr al-Numayrī.

[^6]: Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 1, p. 182, no. 81; al-Maḥajja, Verse 4, p. 5; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 421, which says: “When the Qā’im—the Mahdī—rises.”

[^7]: Quran 3:83.

[^8]: Tafsīr al-`Ayyāshī, vol. 2, p. 56, no. 48; Majma` al-bayān, vol. 4, p. 543, with very minor differences and the addition of the following at its end: “just as Allah, the Exalted, states, ‘They will worship only Me [and] will associate nothing with Me’” (Quran 24:55); Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 55, no. 41; al-Maḥajja, verses 21 and 25; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 423.

[^9]: Quran 9:36.

[^10]: Quran 8:39.

[^11]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 423, citing al-Maḥajja.

[^12]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 426, citing al-Maḥajja.

[^13]: Tafsīr `Alī b. Ibrāhīm al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 129; al-Maḥajja, verse 73, p. 165.

[^14]: Quran 27:62.

[^15]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, p. 399.

[^16]: Quran 27:62.

[^17]: Ta’wīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira, p. 663; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 71, p. 423 (short version); Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 61, no. 59.

[^18]: Quran 9:33.

[^19]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 58, p. 668, no. 13.

[^20]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 244, no. 44.

[^21]: `Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, chap. 28, pp. 233–234, no. 58.

[^22]: `Uyūn al-mu`jizāt, p. 70.