There are a number of hadiths that tell us that the assignment of Hujjat or a proof from God continues after the 12th Imam pbuh. We have already discussed the authenticity of the Will of Prophet Muhammad (p) in the following article. The belief about the assignment of 12 infallibles after the 12th Imam pbuh is a sound belief due to frequently narrated hadiths. More than one hundred reports strengthen this belief.
We will share some of the hadiths in this article.
” Prophet Muhammad (p) said to Ali on the night of his death: “O Father of al-Hassan, bring me a pen and paper,” and he dictated his will until he came to a place where he said, “O Ali, there will be twelve Imams after me and after them, there will be twelve Mahdis…”
Ghaybat Al Tousi (Occultation by Al Tousi) page 96, page 150
Bihar Al Anwar (Oceans of Lights) part 53 page 148, page 360
Imam Al-Sadiq pbuh said: “After the Riser there will be 12 Mahdis from the son of Hussein”
Burhan v.3 p.310
Bihar AlAnwar v.53 p.148
Abi Hamza narrated from Abi Abdullah [pbuh] in a long hadith that he said: “O Aba Hamza, from among us 11 Mahdies after the Qa’im from the sons of Al-Hussain (p)”
Al Ghaiba Al-Tosi page 478-479
And about Abu Baseer said: “I told Al Sadiq, Ja’far Bin Mohammad (A.S), “O son of the Prophet, I once heard your father a.s saying that after the Qa’em there shall be twelve Imams”, and then he corrected, “He actually said twelve Mahdis and not twelve Imams. They are from our followers (Shia), who shall call upon people to support us and identify our right.”
Kamal Al Din (Perfectionism of Religion) chapter 2, page 358.
Habbah Al-Arni said: the Prince of the believers [pbuh] went out to Heera and said: “this will be joined to this” and he pointed with his hand to Kofa and Heera “until a cubit in between them will be sold in Dinars, and then in Heera a mosque shall be built which has 500 doors,the caliph (successor) of the Qa’im [May God hasten his relief] shall pray in it, because the mosque of Kofa will be small for them and 12 Imams of justice will pray in it.”
Bihar AlAnwar v.52 p.474
Tahtheeb AlAhkaam by Sheikh Al-Tosi v.3 p.245
“The statement in the prayer of Imam Reza -the right-of Imam Mahdi in the era of emergence “O Allah Give him and his family and his son and his descendants and the nation, and all his subjects what pleases him… until he says: O Allah, bless the rulers of his era and Imams after him and reach to their hopes and make their lives longer and dear their victory.”
Mosbah Al-Motahajid for the Tusi page 409
Dua third day of Shabaan in Mafateeh Al-Jinaan narrated from Imam Al Ritha a.s: “And the successors from his(Imam Hussain) offspring after the Qa’em and his occultation.”
Mafateeh Al Jinaan p.222
Imam Al-Sadiq pbuh said: “Peace be upon you O Master O Hujja son of AlHasan Saaheb Al-Zaman blessings of Allah be upon you and upon your pure benevolent offspring.”
Bihar Al Anwar v.98 p.375
Mustadrak AlWasael v.10 p.369-371 h.12200
Jame Ahadeeth AlShia v.12 p.294-295
Imam Ritha pbuh said: “And peace and blessings upon your guardian(Imam Al Mahdi), and those who bear your promise and the Imams from his sons.”
Bihar AlAnwar v.99 p.114 v.52 p.20
Gaibat AlToosi p.186
Jamal AlIsboo p.301
Imam Jafar pbuh said:”O Allah be for your guardian,the one who rises with your matter Muhammad ibn Hassan, to his fathers peace and blessings in this hour and every hour,a patron,a protector,a leader,a victor,an evidence,and assistant,until you make him on earth be supported and make him enjoy its height and breadth and make for him an offspring Imams that inherit.”
Bihar Al Anwar v.49 p.349
The Dua written in a notebook by Imam Mahdi and given to Yacoob bin Yousef Al-Tharrab Al-Ghassani, narrated in the book of Sheikh Al-Tosi: “In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Intensely Merciful… (he prayed upon all the 12 imams, till Imam Mahdi peace be upon him) :“… O Allah give him and his progeny, and his Shia … what makes him pleased and delighted” … until he says: “O Allah, pray upon your supporter and upon his heirs apparent and the Imams of his sons and make their lives longer…”
Ghaiba by Sheikh Al-Tosi p.273-280
From the Prophet of Allah pbuhap from Abdullah says: “…the Mahdi and the “Mansoor” and for those after them, there will be Imams who are Mahdis and Allah shall perform what He mentioned in His book,and by the tongue of the Prophet by His Strength and Might…”
Sharh AlAkhbar Fe Fatha’el Al’A’ema Al’AT’haar from Numaan v.3 p.400 passed away 363 A.H
From the Prophet (p) that he mentioned the Mahdi pbuh, and what Allah swt will give him from the blessings and conquering by his hand. So it was asked O Messenger of Allah all of that Allah swt will gather for him? He said:Yes. And what hasn’t occured during his lifetime and his days, it shall occur during the times of the Imams after him from his offspring.”
Sharh Al Akhbar v.2 p.39
Reported by Abu Baseer from Imam Jaafer(a.s) phe said:” O Aba Muhammad, as if I can see the Riser in the mosque of AlSahla with his wife and children.” I said: “Would that be his house?” He said: “Yes.”
Bihar AlAnwar v.52 p.376 h.177
Al-Hadrami narrated from Abi Ja’afar [pbuh] saying: I asked him which spot on earth is the most favoured after the Haram of Allah [swt] and the Haram of his Messenger [pbuhf]? He said: “Al-Kofah O Aba Baker, it is the virtuous and purified, in it are the graves of the dispatched prophets, the non-dispatched [prophets] and the honest successors. And in it is the Mosque of Suhail where God has not sent a Prophet unless he prayed inside it, and from it the justice of God appears and in it will be His Riser and the Risers after him, and it is the dwellings of the prophets, successors and the righteous ones.”
Kamel Al-Ziyarat by Ja’afar bin Muhammad bin Qoloweh, page 76
Sheikh AlToosi: AlFathel Ibn Shathan from uthman son of Eissa from Saleh son of Abi AlAswad from Abi Abdullah pbuh he said:He mentioned AlSahla and said: “Verily, it is the house of our Saheb if he arrived with his family.”
Jame Ahadeeth AlShia v.4 p.550
Sayed Ibn Tawoos: “Salam Alaiko Ya Hujjat Allah on his earth..blessings of Allah be upon you and your Household the benevolent and pure…I get closer to Allah by you and your Household…my Master O Saheb AlZaman peace of Allah be upon you and your Household…Peace of Allah be upon you and your pure Household.”
Jamal AlIsboo p.41-42
Bihar AlAnwar v.99 p.215-216
Reading the Zyara of the two Askaris in Thya AlSaliheen it mentions: “O Allah hasten the relief of your Wali(guardian) and the son of your Wali (guardian), and make our relief with their relief Ya Arham AlRahimeen (O Most merciful).”
P.247 Thya AlSaliheen
“O Allah send blessings upon the Mustafa Muhammad and AlMurtatha Ali and AlBatool Fatima AlZahra and the two subs Hasan and Hussain and the Master of the worshippers Ali and AlBaqir Muhammad and AlSadeq Jaafar and AlKathem Musa and AlRitha Ali and AlTaqi Muhammad and AlNaqi Ali and AlZaki AlAskari AlHasan and AlHujja AlQaim and the SUCCESSOR,THE BRAVE IMAM”
Talsam for Tuesday in the Book Thya AlSaliheen
Mufathel ibn Umar from Abi Abdullah a.s:”The companion of the matter has two occultations, one of them will be long,until some of them will say he died,and some of them will say he is killed,and some of them will say he left,until nothing is left from his matter except a small party of his companions and nobody will know about his matter not even his children nor anybody else except the Mawla who will succeed his matter.”
Al-Ghaiba Al-Toosi p.161
Imam Ali (p) said: “A man will come out before the Mahdi from his ahlulbayt (family) in the East, he carries the sword on his shoulder for eight months.”
v.7 p.261 Kanz Al Umal AlMumahedoon by Sheikh AlKorani
From Aban son of Tagleb he said: I heard Aba Abdullah Jaafar son of Muhammad pbuh saying:”If the banner of truth appeared, the people of the East and the West will curse it.You know why?He said:No.He said: This is what the people will see from his Ahlulbayt before his emergence.”
Gaibat Al Numani p.298-299
Prophet of Allah pbuhap said:”If you see the black banners from Khurasan go to them even if you had to crawl over ice for among them is the successor of the Mahdi.”
Malahem Wal Fitan p.53
From Al-Baqer pbuh he said: “There will be for the companion of the matter an occultation in a few of these regions and then he pointed his finger over at Thi Tiwa(Najaf) until before his emergence,the Mawla(Master) that was with him will arrive,and he will then meet with a few companions.”
Kitab Gaibat AlNumani p.187
AlMufathel son of Umar from AlSaadeq pbuh about the matter of the Riser pbuh AlMufathel said:So what will he do in Mecca?He said:He will call them towards wisdom and good advice,so they will obey him and will appoint from among them a man from his Ahlulbayt and will emerge to head to Medina.”
Bihar Al Anwar v.53 p.11
Prince of the believers pbuh said: “I thought about a child from the back of the 11th one from my son, he is the Mahdi that will spread it with justice and tranquility after it has been filled with unjustice and tyranny. There will be about him confusion and an occultation, tribes of people will become misguided and tribes will become guided. I said: O Master how long will this confusion and this occultation be? He said pbuh: 6 days or 6 months or 6 years?”
Gaibat Al Toosi p.164-166
First son: Imam Hassan. Second son: Imam Hussein. Third son: Imam Ali ibn Hussein. Fourth son: Imam Muhammad ibn Ali. Fifth son: Imam Jaafer ibn Muhammad. Sixth son: Imam Musa ibn Jaafer. Seventh son: Imam Ali ibn Musa. Eighth son: Imam Muhammad ibn Ali. Ninth son: Imam Ali ibn Muhammad. Tenth son: Imam Hassan ibn Ali. Eleventh son: Imam Muhammad ibn Hassan. From the back of the 11th son: Who?
None except Ahmed mentioned in the Prophet’s Will
Therefore, the will is Mutawatir Manawi and Qati Al-Sudoor, which means it has a clearcut and authentic source.
- It is very important to note that a person can’t refute the statement of al-Tousi about the narrators of the hadith of the Will of Prophet Muhammad (p) by presenting the statement of the recent clerics. They and all the clerics after al-Tousi, are dependent upon the statement of al-Tousi concerning the narrators, and can’t go against it. Otherwise, even the crumbs between their hands that they call Ilm Al-Rijal (Biographical Evaluation) will be destroyed.