Introductory Traditions

Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 1|Chapter 1

Book 1, Chapter 1

Introductory Traditions

15 hadiths

Hadith #1

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: الأئمة من بعدي إثنا عشر، أوّلهم أنت يا علي، وآخرهم القائم الذي يفتح الله—تعالى ذكره—على يديه مشارق الأرض ومغاربها.

The Apostle of Allāh said: “The Divine leaders/Imams after me are twelve in number. You, o’ ʿAlī, are the first of them, and the last of them is the Qāʾim through whose hands Allāh, elevated is His remembrance, will conquer (for Islam) the Earth, from its easternmost to its westernmost reaches.”[1]

[1] The word “Qāʾim” is a term practically synonymous with “Mahdī” with respect to referring almost exclusively to the Twelfth Imam, who is the son of al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī صلوات الله عليهما and the Divine authority from the House of Muḥammad صلوات الله عليهم. Numerous traditions across this book detail his given name, the proper etiquette of referring to him, the signs of his Reappearance after two Occultations, on account of which he is supernaturally both concealed and caused to live an exceptionally long life on account of Divine providence, and some of his deeds during his concealment. I have consistently transliterated the term “Qāʾim” rather than translating it to “Riser” or another conventional translation, for two reasons. The first is that “Riser” fails to capture the Arabic word’s full semantic range, which—as a consequence of originating from the « ق-و-م » root, conveying meanings of “standing”—simultaneously connotes both “rising up” as well as “maintaining” or “upholding” a state of affairs, in this case the truth of Islam in its purest and most authentic form. The other reason for transliterating this word, rather than translating it, is for consistency with my transliteration of « أمير المؤمنين » (which translates to “Commander of the Believers” in English) as “Amīr al-Muʾminīn.”
Author: Haseeb Hassan

Hadith #2

وقالت سيّدة النساء عليها‌ السلام: دخل إليّ رسول الله (ص) عند ولادتي الحسين ... ثمّ قال: يا فاطمة، خذيه [أي الحسين « ع »] فإنّه إمام، ابن إمام، وأبو الأئمة، تسعة من صلبه، أئمة أبرار، والتاسع قائمهم.

The Mistress of the Women said: “The Apostle of Allāh came to me when al-Ḥusayn was born to me…and said: “O’ Fāṭima! Take him [i.e. al-Ḥusayn ], for he is an Imam, the son of an Imam and a forefather of the Imams, nine of them from his loins. They are the righteous Imams, and the ninth of them is the Qāʾim.”

Hadith #3

وقال أمير المؤمنين عليه‌ السلام لابنه الحسين عليه‌ السلام: التاسع من ولدك يا حسين هو القائم بالحقّ.

Amīr al-Muʾminīn said to his son, al-Ḥusayn : “The ninth from your descendants, o’ Ḥusayn, is the Qāʾim with the Truth.”

Hadith #4

وقالت الزهراء عليها‌ السلام: أما والله لو تركوا الحقّ على أهله، واتّبعوا عترة نبيّه، لما اختلف في الله اثنان، ولورثها سلف عن سلف، وخلف بعد خلف، حتى يقوم قائمنا، التاسع من ولد الحسين.

Al-Zahrāʾ said: “By Allāh! Were they to leave the right (of leadership of the Islamic community) to its people and follow the offspring of His Prophet, no two would dispute about Allāh, and one predecessor would inherit from another, and one successor after another, until our Qāʾim, the ninth of al-Ḥusayn’s descendants, would arise.”

Hadith #5

وقال الإمام الحسن عليه‌ السلام: ذاك التاسع من ولد أخي الحسين، ابن سيدة الإماء، يطيل الله عمره في غيبته، ثمّ يظهره بقدرته.

Imam al-Ḥasan said: “That is the ninth of my brother al-Ḥusayn’s descendants, the son of the mistress of the bondswomen, whose lifespan Allāh will extend during his occultation, and then cause him to reappear through His power.”

Hadith #6

وقال الإمام الحسين عليه‌ السلام: منّا اثنا عشر مهدياً، أولهم أمير المؤمنين عليّ بن أبي طالب وآخرهم التاسع من ولدي، وهو الإمام القائم بالحق.

Imam al-Ḥusayn said: “Among us are twelve Divinely guided ones [Mahdīs], the first of whom is Amīr al-Muʾminīn, ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, and the last of whom is the ninth of my descendants. He is the Imam who is the Qāʾim with the Truth.”

Hadith #7

وقال الإمام السجّاد عليه‌ السلام: فينا نزلت هذه الآية ﴿وَجَعَلَهَا كَلِمَةًۢ بَاقِيَةًۭ فِى عَقِبِهِ﴾ والإمامة في عقب الحسين بن عليّ بن أبي طالب (ع) إلى يوم القيامة، وإن للقائم منّا غيبتين.

Imam al-Sajjād said: “It was concerning us that the verse ﴾He made it a lasting word among his posterity﴿ [43:28] was revealed. Divine leadership/Imamate is for the posterity of al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib until the Day of Resurrection, and among us is the Qāʾim who will have two occultations.”

Hadith #8

وقال الإمام الباقر عليه‌ السلام: منّا اثنا عشر محدثاً، السابع من ولدي القائم.

Imam al-Bāqir said: “Among us are twelve interlocutors with the angels,[1] and the seventh of my descendants is the Qāʾim.”

[1] Here, Imam al-Bāqir صلوات الله عليه is referring to the Imāmī theological concept of a « مُحَدَّث », which is synonymous with « حجّة » (Divine authority) insofar as the former is an essential characteristic of the latter. The specific definition of a « مُحَدَّث » is given in an authenticated tradition in al-Kāfī (Vol. 1, Book 4—“The Book of Divine Authority”—chapter 3/60—“The Difference Between the Apostle, the Prophet and the Muḥaddath,” tradition no. 3, p. 102) as below: مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى، عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّد،ٍ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ مَحْبُوب،ِ عَنِ الْأَحْوَلِ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ عليه السلام عَنِ الرَّسُولِ وَالنَّبِيِّ وَالْمُحَدَّثِ، قَالَ: …وَأَمَّا الْمُحَدَّثَ فَهُوَ الَّذِي يُحَدَّثُ فَيَسْمَعُ ، وَلَا يُعَابِنُ وَلَا يَرَى فِي مَنَامِهِ. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from al-Aḥwal, who narrated: “I asked Abā Jaʿfar عليه السلام about the Apostle, the Prophet and the Muḥaddath. He said: …As for the Muḥaddath, it is he who is spoken to (by the angels) so he hears, but he neither beholds nor sees (them) in his dream.” Notice how the definition does not rule out the Muḥaddath responding to the angels. A Muḥaddath’s relationship with them is not one-sided. In fact, there are other reports in the Imāmī corpus that show that a Muḥaddath—or Muḥaddatha—can and does converse with angels, as the following tradition from al-Ṣadūq’s ʿIlal al-Sharāʾiʿ, vol. 1, chapter 146 (“The Reason on Account of Which Fāṭima (ع) is Considered a Muḥaddatha”), tradition no. 1, p. 245, shows: حدثنا أحمد بن الحسن القطان قال: حدثنا الحسن بن على السكري، عن محمد بن زكريا الجوهري، قال: حدثنا شعيب بن واقد، قال: حدثني اسحق ابن جعفر بن محمد بن عيسى (٢) بن زيد بن علي، قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: انما سمّيت فاطمة عليها السلام محّدثة لان الملائكة كانت تهبط من السماء، فتناديها كما تنادي مريم بنت عمران، فتقول: يا فاطمة، ﴿إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاۤءِ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِینَ﴾‬ يا فاطمة ﴿ٱقۡنُتِی لِرَبِّكِ وَٱسۡجُدِی وَٱرۡكَعِی مَعَ ٱلرَّ ٰ⁠كِعِینَ﴾‬، فتحدثهم ويحدثونها. فقالت لهم ذات ليلة: أليست المفضلة على نساء العالمين مريم بنت عمران؟ فقالوا: ان مريم كانت سيدة نساء عالمها، وان الله عز وجل جعلك سيدة نساء عالمك وعالمها، وسيدة نساء الاولين والآخرين. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Qaṭṭān narrated to us, saying: “Al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Sukkarī narrated to us, from Muḥammad b. Zakariyyā al-Jawharī, who said: “Shuʿayb b. Wāqid narrated to us, saying that Isḥāq b. Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā (2) b. Zayd b. ʿAlī narrated to him, narrating that: “I heard Abā ʿAbd Allāh عليه السلام say: “Fāṭima عليها السلام is considered a Muḥaddatha only because the angels descended from heaven, whereupon they would call upon her as they would Maryam bt. ʿImrān. So, they said to her: “O’ Fāṭima, ﴾Allāh has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world’s women﴿! O’ Fāṭima, ﴾be obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in worship]﴿! [3:42-43], so she would converse with them and they with her. One night, she said to them: “Is Maryam bt. ʿImrān not the most favoured of the women of the worlds?,” so they replied: “Indeed, Mary was the mistress of the women of her world (i.e. her time), while Allāh عز وجل has made you the mistress of the women of your world and hers, and the mistress of the women of the first generations and the last.” (2)—In some manuscripts, this is “from ʿĪsā…” rather than “b. ʿĪsā.” This report is admittedly inauthentic on account of its transmitters, but not rejecting reports simply because of their faulty chains of transmission is one of the cardinal rules of (Imāmī) ḥadīth science. I have mentioned this tradition because of the line « فتحدثهم ويحدثونها »—« so she would converse with them and they with her ». In the Arabic, the verb used here originates from the same « ح-د-ث » root that the noun « مُحَدَّث » is based on. Thus, this tradition serves as proof that the Muḥaddath not only hears angels speaking to him but can also respond to them, while maintaining that the Muḥaddath cannot see angels in any capacity. That is why it is appropriate to translate « محدثاً » as it appears in this report—in the plural form—as “interlocutors with the angels.”
Author: Haseeb Hassan

Hadith #9

وقال الإمام جعفر الصادق عليه‌ السلام: الإمام من بعدي موسى، والخلف المأمول المنتظر م ح م د ابن الحسن بن علي بن محمد بن علي بن موسى.

Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq said: “Mūsā is the Imam after me, and the awaited and hoped-for successor, M-Ḥ-M-D, is the son of al-Ḥasan, the son of ʿAlī, the son of Muḥammad, the son of ʿAlī, the son of Mūsā.”

Hadith #10

وقال الإمام الكاظم عليه‌ السلام: القائم الذي يطهّر الأرض من أعداء الله، ويملأها عدلاً كما ملئت جوراً، هو الخامس من ولدي.

Imam al-Kāẓim said: “The Qāʾim, who will scour the earth clean of the enemies of Allāh and fill it with justice as it had been filled with iniquity, is the fifth of my descendants.”

Hadith #11

وقال الإمام الرضا عليه‌ السلام: القائم ... ذاك الرابع من ولدي.

Imam al-Riḍā said: “The Qāʾim…that is the fourth of my descendants.”

Hadith #12

وقال الإمام الجواد عليه‌ السلام: القائم ... هو الثالث من ولدي.

Imam al-Jawād said: “The Qāʾim…is the third of my descendants.”

Hadith #13

وقال الإمام الهادي عليه‌ السلام: إن الإمام بعدي الحسن ابني، وبعد الحسن ابنه القائم.

Imam al-Hādī said: “Indeed, the Imam after me is my son, al-Ḥasan, and after al-Ḥasan his son, the Qāʾim.”

Hadith #14

وقال الإمام العسكري عليه‌ السلام: ابني م ح م د هو الإمام والحجّة بعدي، من مات ولم يعرفه مات ميتة جاهلية.

Imam al-ʿAskarī said: “My son, M-Ḥ-M-D, is the Imam/Divine leader and authority after me. Whoever dies without having recognised him dies a death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.”

Hadith #15

وقال الإمام الغائب المنتظر عجّل الله فرجه الشريف: أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، وأنّ جدي محمداً رسول الله، وأنّ أبي أمير المؤمنين، ثم عدّ إماماً إماماً إلى أن بلغ إلى نفسه، ثم قال: اللهم أنجز لي ما وعدتني، وأتمم لي أمري، وثبّت وطأتي، واملأ الأرض بي عدلاً وقسطاً.

The occulted, awaited Imam—may Allāh hasten the noble Deliverance he will bring—said: “I bear witness that there is no god besides Allāh, Who is One, without any associate of His, and that my grandfather, Muḥammad, is the Apostle of Allāh, and that my father is the Commander of the Believers.”[1] He then counted the Imams, one after the other, until he reached himself. He then said: “O’ Allāh! Accomplish for me what You have promised me, bring my affair to completion, make firm my foothold and fill the Earth with justice and equity through me.”