Imamate is not Rightfully Invested except In the Descendants of al-Ḥusayn to the Exclusion of the Descendants of al-Ḥasan عليهما السلام

Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 5

Imamate is not Rightfully Invested except In the Descendants of al-Ḥusayn to the Exclusion of the Descendants of al-Ḥasan عليهما السلام

حمزة بن القاسم، قال: حدّثنا بكر بن عبداللّه بن حبيب، قال: حدّثنا تميم بن بهلول قال: حدّثنا علي بن حسّان الواسطي، عن عبدالرحمان بن كثير الهاشمي، قال: قلت لأبي عبداللّه عليه السلام: جعلت فداك، من أين جاء لولد الحسين عليه السلام الفضل على ولد الحسن عليه السلام، وهما يجريان في شرع واحد؟ فقال: لا أراكم تأخذون به، انّ جبرئيل عليه السلام نزل على محمّد صلّى الله عليه وآله—وما ولد الحسين عليه السلام بعد—فقال: يولد لك غلام تقتله أُمتك من بعدك! فقال: يا جبرئيل، لا حاجة لي فيه. فخاطبه ثلاثاً، ثمّ دعا عليّاً عليه السلام، فقال له: انّ جبرئيل عليه السلام يخبرني عن الله تعالى أنّه يولد لك غلام تقتله أُمّتك من بعدك، (فقلت: لا حاجة لي فيه). فقال عليّ عليه السلام: لا حاجة لي فيه يا رسول الله، فخاطب عليّاً ثلاثاً، ثمّ قال: إنّه يكون فيه وفي ولده الإمامة والوراثة والخزانة. فأرسل الى فاطمة عليها السلام: انّ الله يبشّرك بغلام تقتله أُمّتي من بعدي! قالت فاطمة عليها السلام: لا حاجة لي فيه. فخاطبها فيه ثلاثاً، ثمّ أرسل إليها: لابدّ من أن يكون، ويكون فيه الإمامة والوراثة والخزانة. فقالت له: رضيت عن الله. فعلقت وحملت بالحسين عليه السلام، فحملته ستّة أشهر، ثم وضعته، ولم يعش مولود—قطّ—لستّة أشهر غير الحسين عليه السلام، وعيسى بن مريم، فكفّلته اُمّ سلمة. وكان رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وآله يأتيه في كل يوم فيضع لسانه في فم الحسين، فيمصّه حتّي يروى، فأنبت الله لحمه من لحم رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وآله، ولم يرضع من فاطمة عليها السلام ولا من غيرها لبناً قطّ. فأنزل الله تعالى فيه: ﴿وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ ثَلَـٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚحَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةًۭ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـٰلِحًۭا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ﴾. فلو قال: ﴿وَأَصْلِحْ لِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ﴾ لكانوا كلهم أئمة، ولكن خصّ هكذا.

Ḥamza b. al-Qāsim said: “Bakr b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥabīb narrated to us, saying: “Tamīm b. Bahlūl narrated to us, saying: “ʿAlī b. Ḥassān al-Wāsiṭī narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Kathīr al-Hāshimī, who narrated: “I said to Abī ʿAbd Allāh : “May I be made your sacrifice, where did it come from that the offspring of al-Ḥusayn have merit over the offspring of al-Ḥasan , even though they both proceed, genealogically, from the same standing?,”[1] so he replied: “I do not see you accepting this (without question). Indeed, Jibraʾīl descended upon Muḥammad , saying to him when al-Ḥusayn had not yet been born: “A boy will be born to you who your community will murder after you!” He replied: “O’ Jibraʾīl, I have no desire for him.”[2] He addressed him in this manner thrice. He then called for ʿAlī and said to him: “Jibraʾīl has informed me, from Allāh , that “a boy will be born to you who your community will murder after you” (so I said: “I have no desire for him”).” So, ʿAlī said: “I have no desire for him, o’ Apostle of Allāh.” He addressed ʿAlī in this manner thrice, and then said: “The Imamate, the inheritance and the treasury will be invested in him and his descendants.”[3] So, he sent to Fāṭima : “Indeed, Allāh gives you glad tidings of a boy, whom my community will murder, after me!” Fāṭima responded: “I have no desire for him.”[4] He addressed her in this manner thrice, and then sent to her: “It must come to pass, and there will be invested in him and his descendants the Imamate, the inheritance and the treasury.” She replied to him: “I am satisfied by (the decision of) Allāh.” So, she conceived and carried al-Ḥusayn , and her carrying him was for six months, and then his birth, and no child ever survived birth after being carried for only six months except al-Ḥusayn and ʿĪsā b. Maryam. After that, Umm Salama took charge of his care, and the Apostle of Allāh would come to him every day and put his tongue in al-Ḥusayn’s mouth, whereupon the baby would suck it until he was satiated. Hence, Allāh caused his flesh to grow from the flesh of the Apostle of Allāh , and he never suckled milk from Fāṭima or anybody else. Allāh thus revealed in regard to him: ﴾His gestation and weaning take thirty months. When he comes of age and reaches forty years, he says, ‘My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which please You, and invest [certain of] my descendants with righteousness’﴿ [46:15]. Had He said: ﴾‘Invest my descendants with righteousness’﴿, they would all have been Imams, but instead He specified it in this manner.”[5]

[1] The corresponding Arabic here contains the word « شرع », which may seem like a strange choice given its legal connotations, as it is, after all, the origin of the word “sharīʿa,” which refers to the system of Islamic laws in their totality. However, Arabic speakers, whether by nativity or educational acquisition (such as myself), are also familiar with the Arabic word for street—« شارع »—which shares the same root, « ش-ر-ع ». This is because the root originally connoted “a path to water.” The intended meaning here is that al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn عليهما السلام are on equal footing, with no distinction made except that al-Ḥasan is more virtuous and was the Imam first on account of being al-Ḥusayn’s elder, so why would their respective descendants, who descend from two men who are in equal standing, be differentiated with one more meritorious than the other?
Author: Haseeb Hassan
[2] This is not the infallible Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله objecting to Allāh’s determination, or even an instance of “leaving the more worthy option” (ترك الأولى). Allāh’s Apostle صلى الله عليه وعلى آله was merely saying that he would rather not see his grandson al-Ḥusayn صلوات الله عليه be slaughtered as he eventually was, and the Prophet is well within his rights to say as much.
Author: Haseeb Hassan
[3] The “treasury” refers to the totality of the sacred knowledge and accoutrements of the Imamate.
Author: Haseeb Hassan
[4] Refer to footnote 2. Whatever is true of the Apostle of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله is true of Fāṭima صلوات الله عليها in this context.
Author: Haseeb Hassan
[5] The original Arabic wording of the specified passage in Sūrat al-Aḥqāf, verse 15, is actually: ﴿وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ﴾ ﴾…invest [certain of] my descendants with righteousness…﴿ [46:15]. The typo, a missing ﴾لِى﴿ in the verse as presented here is in the published edition of this book being referred to, so I have kept it as such. This does not take away from the Imam’s point.
Author: Haseeb Hassan