Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

12) The Verse of Al-Imamah: The Heirs of Ibrahim and Muhammad

One of the greatest blessings of Allah upon Ibrahim and his family, ‘alaihim al-salam, was that He made them Imams of mankind. The Qur’an has informed us about this. For instance, it states concerning Prophet Ibrahim, ‘alaihi al-salam:

وإذ ابتلى إبراهيم ربه بكلمات فأتمهن قال إني جاعلك للناس إماما قال ومن ذريتي قال لا ينال عهدي الظالمين

And when Ibrahim was tried by his Lord with some statements, and he fulfilled them, He said, “I will appoint you an Imam OF MANKIND.” He (Ibrahim) asked, “And of my offspring?” He (Allah) replied, “My Covenant shall not reach the wrongdoers.”1

Often, our brothers from the Ahl al-Sunnah confuse the Imamah mentioned in this verse with al-nubuwwah (prophethood). However, the matter itself is totally clear. Every prophet or messenger, except Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi, was sent only to his people. None of them was ever sent to all of mankind:

وما أرسلنا من رسول إلا بلسان قومه ليبين لهم

We sent not a messenger except with the language of HIS PEOPLE in order that he might clearly explain TO THEM.2

Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) also records:

حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا هشيم أنا سيار عن يزيد الفقير عن جابر بن عبد الله قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم أعطيت خمسا لم يعطهن أحد قبلي بعثت إلى الأحمر والأسود وكان النبي إنما يبعث إلى قومه خاصة وبعثت إلى الناس عامة

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Hushaym - Sayyar - Yazid al-Faqir - Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “I have been given five things which were never given to anyone before me. I have been sent to the red and the black. The prophet used to be sent to HIS PEOPLE ONLY, and I have been sent to all mankind.”3

Al-Arnaut comments:

إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين

Its chain is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs.4

Imam Muslim (d. 261 H) too has this:

حدثنا يحيى بن يحيى أخبرنا هشيم عن سيار عن يزيد الفقير عن جابر بن عبدالله الأنصاري قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم أعطيت خمسا لم يعطهن أحد قبلي كان كل نبي يبعث إلى قومه خاصة وبعثت إلى كل أحمر وأسود

Yahya b. Yahya - Hushaym - Sayyar - Yazid al-Faqir - Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “I have been given five things which were never given to anyone before me. Every prophet was sent to HIS PEOPLE ONLY, while I have been sent to every red person and every black person.”5

So:

As a prophet and messenger, Prophet Ibrahim was sent to his people only.

But as an Imam, his assignment covered all human beings of his time - including even all the contemporary prophets and messengers.

Needless to say, whoever insists that “Imam” means “prophet” must explain how Ibrahim - the Khalil of al-Rahman - was made the prophet of all mankind during his time!

There are a number of other points from the verse that must be noted:

وإذ ابتلى إبراهيم ربه بكلمات فأتمهن قال إني جاعلك للناس إماما قال ومن ذريتي قال لا ينال عهدي الظالمين

And when Ibrahim was tried by his Lord with some statements, and he fulfilled them, He said, “I will appoint you an Imam of mankind.” He (Ibrahim) asked, “And of my offspring?” He (Allah) replied, “My Covenant shall not reach the wrongdoers.”

Firstly, Allah identifies Imamah as His Covenant. This means that it is solely His affair. He Alone decides and defines it. Therefore, it is He Who grants it and makes its appointments. It is NOT their affair. As such, they have no control whatsoever over it. Secondly, it never gets to wrongdoers. Allah will NEVER permit Imamah to get to any wrongdoer till the Day of Resurrection. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (d. 774 H) explains further:

قال الله تعالى} :وإذ ابتلى إبراهيم ربه بكلمات فأتمهن، قال إني جاعلك للناس إماما، قال ومن ذرتي؟ قال لا ينال عهدي الظالمين {لما وفى ما أمره به ربه من التكاليف العظيمة، جعله للناس إماما يقتدون به ويأتمون بهديه .وسأل الله أن تكون هذه الإمامة متصلة بسببه، وباقية في نسبه، وخالدة في عقبه فأجيب إلى ما سأل وسلمت إليه الإمامة بزمام، واستثنى من نيلها الظالمون، واختص بها من ذريته العلماء العاملون

Allah the Most High says: {And when Ibrahim was tried by his Lord with some statements, and he fulfilled them, He said, “I will appoint you an Imam of mankind.” He (Ibrahim) asked, “And of my offspring?” He (Allah) replied, “My Covenant shall not reach the wrong-doers.”}

When he fulfilled the huge obligations which his Lord commanded him with, he appointed him the Imam of mankind, whom they must follow, and whose guidance they must copy. He requested Allah that this Imamah be connected with his lineage, and be uninterrupted within his offspring, and be perpetual forever among his offspring. So, what he asked WAS GRANTED, and he was granted full authority of Imamah, and the wrong-doers were excluded from its reach, and it was made exclusive to the righteous scholars among his offspring.6

In other words, Imamah has never ceased on the earth - at least, since the time of Ibrahim. It has remained “uninterrupted”, “perpetual” and “forever”, within the offspring of Ibrahim the Khalil. Therefore, there is always an Imam for all mankind from the offspring of Prophet Ibrahim. In fact, there is one right now! Moreover, Imamah never gets to wrong-doers. Therefore, the Imam from the offspring of al-Khalil is one who never does wrong. With these facts, would it still be wise to insist that Imamah is prophethood? Is nubuwwah “uninterrupted”, “perpetual” and “forever”?

Prof. Ibn Yasin records:

أخرج الطبري بسنده الصحيح عن مجاهد (قال لاينال عهدي الظالمين) قال: لا يكون إماما ظالما

Al-Tabari records with his sahih chain from Mujahid that he said: “(My Covenant shall not reach the wrongdoers) There will never be an Imam who does wrong.”7

Meanwhile, the offspring of Ibrahim al-Khalil, as Allah states, are in two categories only:

سلام على إبراهيم كذلك نجزي المحسنين إنه من عبادنا المؤمنين وبشرناه بإسحاق نبيا من الصالحين وباركنا عليه وعلى إسحاق ومن ذريتهما محسن وظالم لنفسه مبين

Peace be upon Ibrahim. Thus indeed do We reward the good-doers. Verily, he was one of Our believing slaves. And We gave him the glad tidings of Ishaq, a prophet from the righteous. We blessed him (i.e. Ibrahim) and Ishaq, and of their offspring are good-doers and some that are plainly wrongdoers to themselves.8

Of course, anyone who disobeys Allah is someone who wrongs himself:

ومن يتعد حدود الله فقد ظلم نفسه

And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, then indeed he has wronged himself.9

We also read:

ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمون

And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, then such are the wrongdoers.10

Imam Salihi al-Shami (d. 942 H) explains:

معنى قوله تعالى}: ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمون) {البقرة ٢٢٩ (وذلك أن حدود الله هي محارمه ونواهيه

The meaning of the Most High’s Statement: {And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, such are the wrongdoers} {Baqarah: 229), that is, the set limits of Allah are things He has made haram and His prohibitions.11

‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) submits that the scope is far wider than that:

من تعدى بكل عمل وقته الذي حده الله تعالى لذلك العمل فقد تعدى حدود الله وقال تعالى: } ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمون {

Whosoever exceeds, in performing an act, the time set for that act by Allah the Most High, he has transgressed the limits of Allah, and the Most High says: {And whosoever transgresses the limits of Allah, then such are the wrong-doers}.12

And Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 H) seals it:

قوله تعالى } :لا ينال عهدي الظالمين {فكل من أقدم على الذنب كان ظالما لنفسه لقوله تعالى} :فمنهم ظالم لنفسه {

His Statement {My Covenant shall not reach the wrongdoers}: So, whosoever commits a sin, he is a wrongdoer to himself due to His, the Most High’s Statement: {And of them are those who wrong themselves} [35:32]13

So, any descendant of Prophet Ibrahim who delays his Salat, for instance, without any cogent excuse or who does anything haram or prohibited, is a wrongdoer, and - as a result - can never be an Imam. Without any doubt, every sinner breaks a limit set by Allah in order to become one! As such, all sinners among the progeny of Ibrahim are automatically and absolutely disqualified and barred from Imamah.

Allah informs us of some of the Imams from Ibrahim’s immediate offspring:

ووهبنا له إسحاق ويعقوب نافلة وكلا جعلنا صالحين وجعلناهم أئمة يهدون بأمرنا

And We bestowed upon him (i.e. Ibrahim) Ishaq and Ya’qub. Each one We made righteous. And We appointed them Imams, guiding by Our Command.14

We know from this verse that Imams are guides. Secondly, they guide by the Command of Allah. This means three things. One, their Imamah is bestowed by an explicit Decree from Allah. This, of course, is very obvious already. Two, these Imams themselves stick to the Commands of Allah, and never deviate from it. This too is very apparent, since they never wrong themselves. Three, the Imams hold the Command of Allah.

So, their commands are Commands of Allah, and their prohibitions are Prohibitions of Allah. Obedience to them is obedience to Allah, and disobedience to them is disobedience to Allah. Moreover, it is interesting that Allah has used the plural (جعلناهم ) while mentioning the Imams. This clearly is to indicate that Ishaq and Ya’qub were not the only Imams in the immediate lineage of Ibrahim. There were several others that have not been mentioned.

Among the Israelites, there were equally many Imams chosen by Allah, from the offspring of Ibrahim:

ولقد آتينا موسى الكتاب فلا تكن في مرية من لقائه وجعلناه هدى لبني إسرائيل وجعلنا منهم أئمة يهدون بأمرنا لما صبروا وكانوا بآياتنا يوقنون

And indeed We gave Musa the Book. So be not you in doubt of meeting him. And We made it a guide to the Children of Israel. And We appointed from among them Imams guiding by Our Command, when they (i.e. the Imams) were patient and used to believe with certainty (yaqin) in Our Verses.15

There are two quick questions at this point:

Are there any Imams from the offspring of Ibrahim in our Ummah too?

If there are, who are they?

This hadith of Imam Abu Ya’la (d. 307 H) gives the first hint:

حدثنا الحسن بن إسماعيل أبو سعيد بالبصرة حدثنا إبراهيم بن سعد عن أبيه عن أنس رضي الله عنه قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : الأئمة من قريش

Al-Hasan b. Isma’il Abu Sa’id - Ibrahim b. Sa’d - his father - Anas, may Allah be pleased with him:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “The Imams are from Quraysh.”16

Shaykh Dr. Asad says:

إسناده صحيح

Its chain is sahih17

This hadith is actually mutawatir, as al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) declares:

حديث: "الأئمة من قريش"، النسائي عن أنس، ورواه الطبراني في الدعاء، والبزار والبيهقي من طرق عن أنس .قلت: وقد جمعت طرقه في جزء مفرد عن نحو من أربعين صحابيا

The hadith “The Imams are from Quraysh” is recorded by al-Nasai from Anas, and al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Du’a, and al-Bazzar and al-Bayhaqi also narrated it, through several chains, from Anas. I say: I gathered its chains in a separate volume from forty Sahabah.18

This hadith establishes absolutely that there are Imams in this Ummah from the offspring of Ibrahim who hold the Covenant of Allah and guide the rest of us by His Command. Most importantly, all of these Imams are appointed by Allah, and none of them ever goes against His Laws, before and during his Imamah. A crucial point to note, also, is that all our Imams are from the tribe of Quraysh.

Meanwhile, Quraysh is a large tribe, with several clans. Are the Imams spread across the entire tribe? Or, are they concentrated in a single clan? Our answers are firmly established in this salat:

اللهم بارك على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما باركت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد

O Allah! Bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, in exactly the same manner as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.19

Undeniably, Ibrahim and his offspring were the Imams of their past Ummahs. So, Muhammad and his family are the Imams of their present Ummah. Allah has blessed Muhammad and his family in exactly the same manner as He blessed Ibrahim and his family. Therefore, Muhammad was the Imam of mankind during his lifetime, as Ibrahim was; and the family of Muhammad are the Imams after Muhammad, as the family of Ibrahim were after Ibrahim.

We must not forget also that the family of Muhammad have been “chosen” by Allah above all creation of their times. Let us remind ourselves of this crucial submission by Prof. Ibn Yasin:

} إن الله اصطفى آدم ونوحا وآل إبراهيم وآل عمران على العالمين {

أخرج الطبري وابن أبي حاتم بسنديهما الحسن عن علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس قال: هم المؤمنون من آل إبراهيم وآل عمران: آل ياسين وآل محمد يقول الله عز وجل (إن أولى الناس بإبراهيم للذين اتبعوه)

{Verily, Allah chose Adam, Nuh, the family of Ibrahim and the family of Imran above the worlds}

Al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim record with their hasan chain from ‘Ali b. Abi Talhah from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said, “They are the believers from the family of Ibrahim, the family of ‘Imran, the family of Yasin AND THE FAMILY OF MUHAMMAD. Allah the Most Glorious say: {Verily, the most entitled to Ibrahim are those who followed him}.”20

We must equally remember Hadith al-Thaqalayn, which leaves no doubt about the identity of the supreme guides of humanity after Muhammad:

يا أيها الناس إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا كتاب الله وعترتي أهل بيتي

O mankind! I have left behind over you that which if you hold fast to it you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my offspring, my Ahl al-Bayt.

Supreme guides of mankind, of course, are always the Imams:

وجعلناهم أئمة يهدون بأمرنا

And We appointed them Imams, GUIDING by Our Command.21

Notes

1. Qur’an 2:124

2. Qur’an 14:4

3. Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 3, p. 304, # 14303

4. Ibid

5. Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 1, p. 370, # 521 (3)

6. Abu al-Fida Isma’il b. Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya (Dar al-Kutub al-Hadithah; 1st edition, 1388 H) [annotator: Mustafa ‘Abd al-Wahid], vol. 1, p. 232; Abu al-Fida Isma’il b. Kathir al-Dimashqi, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi; 1st edition, 1408 H) [annotator: ‘Ali Shiri], vol. 1, p. 191

7. Prof. Dr. Hikmat b. Bashir b. Yasin, Mawsu’at al-Sahih al-Masbur min al-Tafsir bi al-Mathur (Madinah: Dar al-Mathar li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’ wa al-Taba’at; 1st edition, 1420 H), vol. 1, p. 229

8. Qur’an 37:109-113

9. Qur’an 65:1

10. Qur’an 2:229

11. Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-Huda al-Rashad fi Sirah Khayr al-‘Ibad (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1414 H) [annotators: ‘Adil Ahmad ‘Abd al-Mawjud and ‘Ali Muhammad Ma’ud], vol. 2, p. 289

12. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh al-Albani, Al-Thamar al-Mustatab fi Fiqh al-Sunnah wa al-Kitab (Gharas li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’; 1st edition, 1422 H), p. 70

13. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, ‘Ismat al-Anbiya (1406 H), p. 14

14. Qur’an 21:72-73

15. Qur’an 32:23-24

16. Abu Ya’la Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Muthanna al-Mawsili al-Tamimi, Musnad (Damascus: Dar al-Mamun li al-Turath; 1st edition, 1404 H) [annotator: Dr. Husayn Salim Asad], vol. 6, p. 321, # 3644

17. Ibid

18. Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Talkhis al-Habir (Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1419 H), vol. 4, p. 116, # 1730

19. Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 3, p. 1233, # 3190

20. Prof. Dr. Hikmat b. Bashir b. Yasin, Mawsu’at al-Sahih al-Masbur min al-Tafsir bi al-Mathur (Madinah: Dar al-Mathar li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’ wa al-Taba’at; 1st edition, 1420 H), vol. 1, p. 411

21. Qur’an 21: 73

13) Hadith Al-Thaqalayn: Clarifying The Confusions Of Ibn Taymiyyah (Part 1)

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H) says:

والذي رواه مسلم انه بغدير خم قال إني تارك فيكم الثقلين كتاب الله فذكر كتاب الله وحض عليه ثم قال وعثرتي أهل بيتي أذكركم الله في أهل بيتي ثلاثا وهذا مما انفرد به مسلم ولم يروه البخاري وقد رواه الترمذي وزاد فيه وانهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا علي الحوض

وقد طعن غير واحد من الحفاظ في هذه الزيادة وقال إنها ليست من الحديث والذين اعتقدوا صحتها قالوا إنما يدل على أن مجموع العترة الذين هم بنو هاشم لا يتفقون على ضلالة وهذا قاله طائفة من أهل السنة وهو من أجوبة القاضي أبي يعلى وغيره

والحديث الذي في مسلم إذا كان النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قد قاله فليس فيه إلا الوصية باتباع كتاب الله وهذا أمر قد تقدمت الوصية به في حجة الوداع قبل ذلك وهو لم يأمر باتباع العترة لكن قال أذكركم الله في أهل بيتي وتذكير الأمة بهم يقتضي أن يذكروا ما تقدم الأمر به قبل ذلك من إعطائهم حقوقهم والامتناع من ظلمهم وهذا أمر قد تقدم بيانه قبل غدير خم

As for that which is narrated by (Imam) Muslim, that at Ghadir Khumm he (the Prophet) said: “I am leaving behind over you the two weighty things (al-thaqalayn): the Book of Allah” - and he mentioned the Book of Allah and focused exclusively on it, then he said - “and my offspring, my Ahl al-Bayt. I remind you, by Allah, of my Ahl al-Bayt” three times, this is one of the reports which are documented by (Imam) Muslim alone, and al-Bukhari did not record it. Al-Tirmidhi narrated it, and recorded an additional part for it: “Verily, both shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the Lake-Fount.”

Many of the hadith scientists have criticized this additional part, and he said: “It is not part of the hadith”. As for those who believed in its authenticity, they said, “It only proves that the ‘itrah as a whole, who are the Banu Hashim, will never agree on an error.” This is what a group from the Ahl al-Sunnah say, and it is from the replies of al-Qadhi Abu Ya’la and others.

And the hadith in (Sahih) Muslim - if the Prophet, peace be upon him, really said it - there is nothing in it except a command to follow the Book of Allah (alone); and the command for this matter had already been given before that during the Farewell Hajj, and he did not give a command to follow the offspring (‘itrah).

Rather, he said, “I remind you, by Allah, of my Ahl al-Bayt.” The remembrance of them by the Ummah means that they must remember what had previously been commanded before that, in terms of giving them their rights and refraining from oppressing them. And this matter had already been explained before Ghadir Khumm.1

He also says:

وأما قوله وعترتي أهل بيتي وأنهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض فهذا رواه الترمذى وقد سئل عنه احمد بن حنبل فضعفه وضعفه غير واحد من أهل العلم وقالوا لا يصح وقد أجاب عنه طائفة بما يدل على أن أهل بيته كلهم لا يجتمعون على ضلالة قالوا ونحن نقول بذلك كما ذكر القاضي أبو يعلي وغيره

As for his statement “and my offspring, my Ahl al-Bayt. Verily, both shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the Lake-Fount”, this is recorded by al-Tirmidhi. Ahmad b. Hanbal was asked about it, and he declared it dha’if, and many of the people of knowledge equally classified it as dha’if and said, “It is not authentic”. A group have also replied it with that which proves that his Ahl al-Bayt altogether do not agree on an error. They said “We too say that” as al-Qadi Abu Ya’la and others mentioned.2

The arguments of our Shaykh, in simplified forms, are:

There are only two versions of Hadith al-Thaqalayn: that of Sahih Muslim and the other of Sunan al-Tirmidhi.

The version of al-Tirmidhi was declared dha’if by Ahmad and the other people of knowledge.

The version of Sahih Muslim is doubtful too, which is why Ibn Taymiyyah says about it: “if the Prophet really said it”.

The version in Sahih Muslim only commands the Ummah to follow the Qur’an alone. It contains no order to follow the Ahl al-Bayt.

So, no one is obliged to follow the Ahl al-Bayt.

The ‘itrah of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi, are all of Banu Hashim, including all those who are not from his offspring.

These submissions of our dear Shaykh - as usual - contain several levels of misleading information. First and foremost, every single version of the hadith is sahih as we have proved so far - whether that of Sahih Muslim, or Sunan al-Tirmidhi or others. None of them is dha’if. So, even if Ahmad b. Hanbal and some other Sunni ‘ulama had declared some versions of the hadith as dha’if, they would have made such statements in error. Meanwhile, errors of scholars are not followed in Islam, nor are they accepted as hujjah. All the various versions of Hadith al-Thaqalayn have been narrated through sahih or hasan chains. As such, there is no doubt about their authenticity.

Secondly, as Ibn Taymiyyah himself admits, the Prophet had described the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt as “the Two Weighty Things” (thaqalayn). This, of course, was primarily to stress the significance of following them both! Let us remind the esteemed reader of the words of Imam Ibn al-Athir (d. 606 H), a leading classical Sunni hadith linguist, in this regard:

] إني تارك فيكم الثقلين : كتاب الله وعترت] سماهما ثقلين لأن الأخذ بهما والعمل بهما ثقيل ويقال لكك خطير نفيس ثقل فسماهما ثقلين إعظاما لقدرهما وتفخيما لشأنهما

[I am leaving among you the Two Weighty Things: the Book of Allah and my offspring], he named them both thaqalayn because holding fast to them both and following them are weighty (responsibilities). And every priceless weighty thing is called thaqal. Therefore, he named them thaqalayn to highlight their significance and to extol their importance.3

So, it is absolutely proved from that term - thaqalayn - alone that the Messenger was forcefully commanding his entire Ummah to follow both the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt after him. The conclusion of Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah is, therefore, a clear misrepresentation of the true instruction of the Prophet of Islam.

Thirdly, our Shaykh has defined the ‘itrah of the Prophet as being the whole of Banu Hashim. This obviously converts the meaning of the word from “offspring” to “clan”. However, this contradicts the default, customary definition of the term. Ibn Manzur, the ace Sunni lexicographer, submits on the word “‘itrah”:

والعامة تظن أنها ولد الرجل خاصة وأن عترة رسول الله، صلى الله عليه وسلم، ولد فاطمة، رضي الله عنها، هذا قول ابن سيده

The common masses claim that it (i.e. ‘itrah) refers to the offspring of the man alone, and that the ‘itrah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, are the offspring of Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her. This was the statement of Ibn Sayyiduh.4

Of course, the Messenger of Allah was certainly speaking in the language of the common masses to all of humanity!

Even then, the “offspring” in Hadith al-Thaqalayn are only a few people, and not everyone who is descended from the Prophet. As ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) records, he identified those intended as his offspring in the ahadith as his khalifahs:

إني تارك فيكم خليفتين: كتاب الله حبل ممدود ما بين السماء والأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي وإنهما لن يتفرقا حتى يردا علي الحوض

I am leaving behind over you TWO KHALIFAHS: the Book of Allah - a rope stretching between the heaven and the earth - and my offspring, my Ahl al-Bayt. Verily, both shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the Lake-Fount.5

Then, the ‘Allamah comments:

صحيح

Sahih6

Therefore, anyone who is not a khalifah from the progeny of Muhammad - however pious or knowledgeable he or she is - is excluded from the “offspring” in the ahadith. This automatically excludes all females from the loins of the Messenger. A female can never be a legitimate khalifah in Islam. Moreover, even the number of these male khalifahs from the Ahl al-Bayt is only twelve, as declared by the Prophet himself.

Therefore, only twelve people from the bloodline of Muhammad are included in Hadith al-Thaqalayn. Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) has this authentic hadith:

حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا مؤمل بن إسماعيل ثنا حماد بن سلمة حدثنا داود بن هند عن الشعبي عن جابر بن سمرة قال سمعت النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول يكون لهذه الأمة اثنا عشر خليفة

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Mumal b. Isma’il - Hammad b. Salamah - Dawud b. Hind - al-Shu’bi - Jabir b. Samurah:

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: “There will be for this Ummah TWELVE KHALIFAHS.”7

Shaykh al-Arnaut says:

حديث صحيح

It is a sahih hadith.8

So, any other khalifah apart from these twelve is NOT “for” this Ummah. He is only an impostor. This riwayah is extremely significant.

Ahmad again documents:

حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا هاشم ثنا زهير ثنا زياد بن خيثمة عن الأسود بن سعيد الهمداني عن جابر بن سمرة قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم أو قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يكون بعدي اثنا عشر خليفة كلهم من قريش

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Hashim - Zuhayr - Ziyad b. Khaythamah - al-Aswad b. Sa’id al-Hamdani - Jabir b. Samurah:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying, or the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “THERE WILL BE AFTER ME TWELVE KHALIFAHS, all of them from Quraysh.”9

Al-Arnaut comments:

حديث صحيح

It is a sahih hadith10

There will no be more than twelve khalifahs after the Rasul. This hadith is explicit and emphatic.

Another point to note is that the khilafah of the twelve from Quraysh, from the Prophet’s offspring, shall remain continuous, unbroken and uninterrupted till the Last Hour. Imam Muslim (d. 261 H) records in this regard:

حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد وأبو بكر بن أبي شيبة قالا حدثنا حاتم (وهو ابن إسماعيل) عن المهاجر بن مسمار عن عامر بن سعد بن أبي وقاص قال كتبت إلى جابر بن مرة مع غلامي نافع أن أخبرني بشيء سمعته من رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال فكتب لي سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يوم جمعة عشية رجم الأسلمي يقول (لا يزال الدين قائما حتى تقوم الساعة أو يكون عليكم اثنا عشر خليفة كلهم من قريش )

Qutaybah b. Sa’id and Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaybah - Hatim b. Isma’il - al-Muhajir b. Musmar - ‘Amir b. Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas:

I sent a letter to Jabir b. Samurah through my servant, Nafi’, to inform me of something he heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. So, he wrote in reply back to me: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying on a Friday, on the eve of the stoning of al-Aslami, saying: ‘The religion will never cease to stand until the establishment of the Hour or as long as there are twelve khalifahs over you, all of them from Quraysh.’”11

In simpler words, the rule of the twelve khalifahs will remain uninterrupted as long as Islam, as a religion, “stands” on the surface of the earth. Meanwhile, Islam will never fall until the Hour. So, the rule of the twelve khalifah will last continuously till al-Qiyamah. The very moment their rule ceases, Islam will collapse.

The same point is emphasized in this hadith of Imam Ibn Abi ‘Asim (d. 287 H):

ثنا الحسن بن علي، ثنا سنيد بن داود، عن حجاج، عن ابن جريج، حدثني محمد بن طلحة، عن معاوية بن أبي سفيان أنه قال وهو على المنبر أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسل قال:لا يزال والي من قريش

Al-Hasan b. ‘Ali - Sunayd b. Dawud - Hajjaj - Ibn Jurayj - Muhammad b. Talhah - Mu’awiyah b. Abi Sufyan, who said while on the pulpit:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “There will never cease to be a wali from Quraysh.”12

Al-Albani comments:

حديث صحيح

A sahih hadith.13

The authority of the wali is called al-wilayah. A reference is made to this, in an hadith of Imam Muslim:

حدثنا ابن أبي عمر حدثنا سفيان عن عبدالملك بن عمير عن جابر بن سمرة قال سمعت النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول (لا يزال أمر الناس ماضيا ما وليهم اثنا عشر رجلا) ثم تكلم النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم بكلمة خفيت علي فسألت أبي ماذا قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم؟ فقال ( كلهم من قريش)

Ibn Abi ‘Umar - Sufyan - ‘Abd al-Malik b. ‘Umayr - Jabir b. Samurah:

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: “The affairs of humanity will never cease to continue as long as twelve men rule them by wilayah.” Then, the Prophet, peace be upon him said a sentence which was not clear to me. So, I asked my father: “What did the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say?” He replied, “All of them will be from Quraysh.”14

This hadith, which is extremely crucial, establishes the following points:

The authority of the twelve men is over all of humanity.

As long as human affairs continue on the earth, then one of these twelve men is exercising wilayah over them.

There is always a wali from Quraysh over humanity as a whole at every point in time.

Human affairs on our planet will end with the wilayah of the twelve men only.

Another key fact about these twelve men is that they are all kings. They are all royal khalifahs, in a dynastic system. Imam Ahmad here presents the relevant hadith:

حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا يونس بن محمد ثنا حماد يعنى بن زيد ثنا مجالد عن الشعبي عن جابر بن سمرة قال خطبنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم بعرفات فقال لن يزال هذا الأمر عزيزا منيعا ظاهرا على من ناوأه حتى يملك اثنا عشر كلهم قال فلم أفهم ما بعد قال فقلت لأبي ما بعد كلهم قال كلهم من قريش

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Yunus b. Muhammad - Hammad b. Zayd - Mujalid - al-Sha’bi - Jabir b. Samurah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, delivered a sermon to us at ‘Arafat and said, “This affair will never cease to be strong, invincible and victorious over whoever opposes it as long as twelve (people) rule by kingdom. All of them….”

(Jabir said): I did not understand what was said after that. So, I said to my father, “What did he say after ‘all of them…’?”. He replied, “All of them will be from Quraysh.”15

Al-Arnaut says:

حديث صحيح

A sahih hadith16

Imam Ibn Hibban (d. 354 H) here documents a mutaba’ah for Mujalid:

حدثنا إبراهيم بن نصر العنبري بسمرقند قال ثنا على بن خشرم قال ثنا عيسى بن يونس عن عمران القبي عن الشعبي عن جابر بن سمرة قال سمعت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول في حجة الوداع لا يزال أمر هذه الأمة عاليا على من ناواها حتى يملك اثنا عشر خليفة

Ibrahim b. Nasr al-Anbari - ‘Ali b. Khashram - ‘Isa b. Yunus - ‘Imran al-Qubi - al-Sha’bi - Jabir b. Samurah:

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying during the Farewell Hajj: “The affair of this Ummah will never cease to be victorious over whoever opposes it as long as twelve khalifahs rule by kingdom.”17

Meanwhile, Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H) has recorded an interesting shahid:

حدثنا أحمد بن منيع حدثنا زيد بن حباب حدثنا معاوية بن صالح حدثنا أبو مريم الأنصاري عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم الملك في قريش

Ahmad b. Mani’ - Zayd b. Hubbab - Mu’awiyah b. Salih - Abu Maryam al-Ansari - Abu Hurayrah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “THE KINGDOM is in Quraysh.”18

‘Allamah al-Albani comments:

صحيح

Sahih19

Imam Ahmad has written it too:

حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي حدثنا زيد بن الحباب حدثنا معاوية بن صالح قال حدثني أبو مريم انه سمع أبا هريرة يقول قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم الملك في قريش

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) - my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) - Zayd b. al-Hubbab - Mu’awiyah b. Salih - Abu Maryam - Abu Hurayrah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “THE KINGDOM is in Quraysh.”20

Assessing the sanad, al-Albani says:

وهذا إسناد صحيح رجاله ثقات رجال مسلم غير أبي مريم وهو الأنصاري وهو ثقة كما في التقريب

This chain is sahih. Its narrators are thiqah (trustworthy), narrators of (Sahih) Muslim, apart from Abu Maryam, and he is al-Ansari, and he is thiqah (trustworthy) as stated in al-Taqrib.21

Then, he adds:

قلت: زيد ثقة صدوق كما في " الميزان " وقد رفعه، وهي زيادة يجب قبولها كما تقرر في المصطلح

I say: Zayd is thiqah (trustworthy), saduq (very truthful) as stated in al-Mizan, and he has narrated it in a marfu’ manner. It is a ziyadah which must be accepted as it has been repeatedly mentioned in al-Mustalah.22

In another hadith, the Prophet interchanged “kingdom” and “khilafah”. Imam Ibn Abi ‘Asim records:

ثنا أبو صالح هدبة بن عبد الوهاب، حدثنا النضر بن شميل، ثنا شعبة، عن حبيب بن الزبير، عن عبد الله بن أبي الهذيل قال: كنا نجالس عمرو ابن العاص نذاكره الفقه فقال رجل من بكر لتنتهين قريش أو ليجعلن الله هذا الأمر في جمهور من جماهير العرب فقال عمرو بن العاص: كذبت سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: الخلافة في قريش إلى قيام الساعة

Abu Salih Hudbah b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab - al-Nadhr b. Shumayl - Shu’bah - Habib b. al-Zubayr - ‘Abd Allah b. Abi al-Hudhayl:

We were sitting with ‘Amr b. al-‘As, discussing al-fiqh. Then, a man from Bakr, said, “If Quraysh do not desist, Allah will place this affair in another group among Arabs.” So, ‘Amr b. al-‘As replied, “You lied! I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: ‘The khilafah is in Quraysh till the establishment of the Hour.’”23

And ‘Allamah al-Albani says:

إسناده جيد

Its chain is good.24

Ibn Abi ‘Asim further documents:

حدثنا أبو بكر، ثنا عفان، ثنا سكين بن عبد العزيز، عن أبي المنهال سيار بن سلامة قال: دخلت مع أبي على أبي برزة وأنا غلام فقال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: الأئمة من قريش

Abu Bakr - ‘Affan - Sikkin b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz - Abu al-Minhal Sayyar b. Salamah:

I went with my father to Abu Barzah while I was a still boy, and he (Abu Barzah) said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘The Imams are from Quraysh.’”25

Al-Albani comments:

حديث صحيح إسناده حسن

It is a sahih hadith. Its chain is hasan.26

We know from all these authentic ahadith that each true khalifah is a royal king, a wali, and an Imam. By extension, we also see that the khilafah is kingdom, wilayah and Imamah. Notably, since the khilafah is kingdom, it necessarily follows that it is both hereditary and dynastic in nature.

Notes

1. Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Halim b. Taymiyyah al-Harrani, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (Muasassat Qurtubah; 1st edition, 1406 H) [annotator: Dr. Muhammad Rashad Salim], vol. 7, p. 318

2. Ibid, vol. 7, pp. 394-395

3. Abu Sa’dat al-Mubarak b. Muhammad, Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari, al-Nihayah fi Gharib al-Hadith wa al-Athar (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-‘Ilmiyyah; 1399 AH) [annotator: Tahir Ahmad al-Zawi and Mahmud Muhammad al-Tanahi], vol. 1, p. 216

4. Abu al-Fadhl Jamal al-Din Muhammad b. Mukram b. Manzur al-Afriqi al-Misri, Lisan al-‘Arab (Beirut: Dar Sadir; 1st edition), vol. 4, p. 536

5. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh b. Tajati b. Adam al-Ashqudri al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami’ al-Saghir wa Ziyadatuhu (Al-Maktab al-Islami), vol. 1, p. 482, # 2457

6. Ibid

7. Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 106, # 21051

8. Ibid

9. Ibid, vol. 5, p. 92, # 20890

10. Ibid

11. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 1453, # 1822 (10)

12. Abu Bakr b. Abi ‘Asim, Ahmad b. ‘Amr b. al-Dhahhak b. Mukhlid al-Shaybani, Kitab al-Sunnah (al-Maktab al-Islami; 1st edition, 1400 H) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 2, p. 533, # 1126

13. Ibid

14. Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 3, p. 1452, # 1821 (6)

15. Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 96, # 20944

16. Ibid

17. Abu Hatim Muhammad b. Hibban b. Ahmad al-Tamimi al-Busti, Kitab al-Thiqat (Hyderabad: Majlis Dairat al-Ma’arif al-‘Uthmaniyyah; 1st edition, 1393 H), vol. 7, pp. 241-242, # 9878

18. Abu ‘Isa Muhammad b. ‘Isa al-Sulami al-Tirmidhi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 5, p. 727 # 3936

19. Ibid

20. Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 2, p. 364, # 8746

21. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh b. Tajati b. Adam al-Ashqudri al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah wa Shayhun min Fiqhihah wa Fawaidihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma’arif li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’; 1st edition, 1415 H), vol. 3, p. 72, # 1084

22. Ibid

23. Abu Bakr b. Abi ‘Asim, Ahmad b. ‘Amr b. al-Dhahhak b. Mukhlid al-Shaybani, Kitab al-Sunnah (al-Maktab al-Islami; 1st edition, 1400 H) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 2, p. 527, # 1109

24. Ibid

25. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 532, # 1125

26. Ibid