Imamate Does Not Pass to an Uncle, Paternal or Maternal, or to a Brother

Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 9

Book 2, Chapter 9

Imamate Does Not Pass to an Uncle, Paternal or Maternal, or to a Brother

1 hadith

Hadith #1

سعد، عن أحمد بن محمّد، ومحمّد بن الحسين، عن محمّد بن إسماعيل بن بزيع: عن أبي الحسن الرضا عليه السلام: أنه سئل أو قيل له: أتكون الإمامة في عمّ أو خال؟ فقال: لا، فقال: ففي أخ؟ قال: لا، قال: ففي من؟ قال: في ولدي، وهو يومئذ لا ولد له.

Saʿd, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, and Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn, from Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl b. Bazīʿ, from Abī’l-Ḥasan al-Riḍā , that he was asked, or it was said to him: “Can the Imamate pass to an uncle, paternal or maternal?,” so he replied: “No.” Then, the enquirer said: “So, can it pass to a brother?,” and the Imam replied: “No.” The enquirer said, again: “So, to who?,” and the Imam said: “To my son.” In those days, he did not have a son.[1]

[1] It is established, as per al-Kāfī, that Muḥammad al-Jawād was the only child Imam al-Riḍā صلوات الله عليهما had. That the latter insisted that the Imamate would be passed onto a son he did not yet have implicitly shows the knowledge of future events he inherited from the Apostle of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله as appropriate for an Imam, and additional knowledge passed onto him from the Apostle, from Allāh جل جلاله.
Author: Haseeb Hassan