The best of people are those of my era, then those after, then those after them

Chapter Seven

Shia Ithna ‘Ashariyyah and the Beliefs of the Saba’iyyah

We spoke in detail about the Saba’iyyah and their chief ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ previously. We are forced to repeat their mention as well as the ideologies they held and the beliefs they spread among people which were firmly opposed, refuted, and contended with all force and might by ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his pure offspring—may Allah’s pleasure be upon them. Despite this, these crept into the minds of those who claimed to be their partisans and associates in the name of love for the Ahlul Bayt, whereas the Ahlul Bayt are exonerated and absolved of them.

We are coerced to repeat it to confirm and determine that the Shia—especially the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah who consider themselves balanced and deceive many unwary people—are nothing but the heirs of this sect [the Saba’iyyah] who were misguided and led others astray. Nothing is found in their possession besides the estate which the Saba’iyyah left to cause disunity and division among the Muslims and to distance people from authentic, sound beliefs which were revealed from the sky and brought by Jibril and conveyed by Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the Book of Allah (the Qur’an), and the established Sunnah of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam—which are free from their mention.

We attempt to be absolutely fair in this chapter. We will not obligate them with that which they have not embraced and we will not attribute to them what they have not documented in their books—as has been our practice by the grace of Allah and observed by the reader in this book and other books of ours.

To avoid citing texts which we quoted aforetime, we will condense the beliefs and ideologies which ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ would propagate and the Saba’iyyah would disseminate. We will then match these beliefs and ideologies with the current beliefs and ideologies of the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia and see whether they exist in them or not.

Traits of the Saba’iyyah

Firstly, the Saba’iyyah forming a secret Judaic group in the name of Islam under the banner of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’.

Secondly, publicising love, loyalty, association, and friendship with ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his children and joining their partisans.

Thirdly, harbouring malice and hatred for the Sahabah of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam coupled with dissociating from, criticising, declaring transgressors, and excommunicating Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman—the Khulafa’ of the Nabi of Allah in his Ummah, the three rightly guided successors.

Fourthly, urging people to rebel against ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu and accusing him of unfounded allegations to create disunity and division among the united Muslim Ummah, inciting uprisings against the governors, and spoiling the reputation of particularly those who led decisive battles and were victorious.

Fifthly, disseminating ideologies of the Jews, Christians, and Magians among the Muslims which have absolutely no close or distant connection to Islam. The Book revealed from the sky to Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam has no mention of it and the teachings of the Messenger who speaks with revelation is absolved of it. For example: their belief in Wasiyyah [of non-prophets], Wilayah, Infallibility, Return, Eternal existence, the angel of the earth, Transmigration, Incarnation, Divinity of the creation and them assuming the Qualities of Allah, Nubuwwah and the descent of revelation continuing after Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

These are the ideologies of the Saba’iyyah which we have selected from the texts of the Shia and their Imams; the beliefs which ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and his cronies invited to and promoted among Muslims. We cited texts and snippets in detail in chapter two when discussing ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and the Saba’iyyah. This is the synopsis of their beliefs and crimes.

First Trait

Now, we place dots on the letters asserting: Firstly, the Jews forming groups under the leadership of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and provoking fitnah—we do not need to establish this by citing anything after previously establishing it from the Imams of the Shia with clear texts in Shia books on sects, narrators, history, and critique—apart from the Ahlus Sunnah.

Second Trait

Secondly, publicising love, loyalty, and association with ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his children. This is what the Shia have made their shi’ar (mark of distinction). They vigorously affirmed this and fabricated narrations in the name of ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his progeny, to the extent that they transformed the entire religion into befriending ‘Ali and his children minus faith in Qur’an and Sunnah; in fact, minus faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and His Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, fulfilling their commands and abstaining from prohibitions, carrying out righteous actions, and striving to inculcate noble qualities, praiseworthy attributes, and virtuous character. They have spoken extensively on this and have appalling ideas.

They report that Abu Jafar declared:

هل الدين إلا الحب

Is religion naught but love?[1]

Religion is only love; not Salah, Zakat, Hajj, Fasting and other forms of worship which Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala has commanded, not commanding righteousness and forbidding evil, not abstaining from rebellion and immorality, not observing guidelines in monetary dealings, not adhering to correct behaviour with family, relatives, neighbours and the community, not duties and obligations, not fulfilling responsibilities and abstaining from prohibitions. Religion is just love.

Love is faith. They attribute to Abu Jafar Muhammad al Baqir—the alleged fourth Imam:

حبنا إيمان وبغضنا كفر

Loving us is faith and hating us is disbelief.[2]

Faith is not believing in Allah, the Messengers, the leader of the Ambiya’ and seal of the Prophets, the book revealed to him, and the teachings he disseminated among his Companions and students—because Messengers were not sent and Books were not revealed except to invite to loving and associating with ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his progeny.

The senior Shia Exegetist al Bahrani quotes in the introduction of his major Tafsir book from one of the companions of ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu, Habbah al ‘Urani who says:

قال أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام إن الله عز وجل عرض ولايتي على أهل السموات وعلى أهل الأرض أقرّ بها من أقرّ بها وأنكرها من أنكرها أنكرها يونس فحبسه في بطن الحوت حتى أقرّ بها

Amir al Mu’minin rahimahu Llah said, “Certainly, Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—presented my friendship to the inhabitants of the heaves and the earth. Whoever approved, approved and whoever rejected, rejected. Yunus rejected so Allah detained him in the belly of the fish until he approved.”[3]

He quotes from al Basa’ir on the strength of Muhammad ibn Muslim:

سمعت أبا جعفر عليه السلام يقول إن الله أخذ ميثاق النبيين على ولاية عليّ وأخذ عهد النبيين على ولاية عليّ

I heard Abu Jafar rahimahu Llah saying, “Indeed, Allah took the pledge of the Prophets for the Wilayah of ‘Ali and He took the covenant of the Prophets for the Wilayah of ‘Ali.”[4]

This is not the end of it. Rather, it is greater. It appears in Kanz al Fawa’id—quoting from the writing of Sheikh al Tusi from the book Masa’il al Buldan—from Jabir al Ju’fi—from a disciple of Amir al Mu’minin rahimahu Llah who reports:

دخل سلمان على علي فسأله عن نفسه فقال يا سلمان أنا الذي دعيت الأمم كلها إلى طاعتي فكفرت فعذبت في النار وأنا خازنها عليهم حقاً أقول يا سلمان إنه لا يعرفني أحد حق معرفتي إلا كان معي أخذ الله على الناس الميثاق لي فصدق من صدق وكذب من كذب قال سلمان لقد وجدتك يا أمير المؤمنين في التوراة كذلك وفي الإنجيل كذلك بأبي أنت وأمي يا قتيل كوفة أنت حجة الله الذي تاب به على آدم وبك أنجى يوسف من الجب وأنت قصة أيوب وسبب تغير نعمة الله عليه فقال أمير المؤمنين أتدري ما قصة أيوب قال الله أعلم وأنت يا أمير المؤمنين قال لما كان عند الانبعاث للمنطق شك أيوب في ملكي فقال هذا خطب جليل وأمر جسيم فقال الله يا أيوب أتشك في صورة أقمته أنا إني ابتليت آدم بالبلاء فوهبته له وصفحت عنه بالتسليم عليه بإمرة المؤمنين فأنت تقول خطب جليل وأمر جسيم فوعزتي وجلالي لأذيقنك من عذابي أو تتوب إليّ بالطاعة لأمير المؤمنين ثم أدركته السعادة بي يعني أنه تاب وأذعن بالطاعة لعلي عليه السلام

Salman entered the presence of ‘Ali and asked him about himself.

‘Ali answered, “O Salman! I am the one to whose obedience all nations were invited but they disbelieved and were punished in the fire. I am the keeper of it over them truly. I say, O Salman, that none recognises me as I ought to be recognised except that he will be with me. Allah took the covenant from the people for me. Those who believed, believed while those who belied, belied.”

Salman said, “I have found your mention, O Amir al Mu’minin, in the Tawrah and Injil likewise. May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O martyr of Kufah! You are the authority of Allah through which He relented to Adam, and through you He saved Yusuf from the depth, and you are the story of Ayub, and the reason behind the favour of Allah changing for him.”

Amir al Mu’minin said, “Do you know the story of Ayub?”

“Allah knows best and you, O Amir al Mu’minin.”

He explained, “When the time came for him to speak, Ayub had misgivings of my dominion and submitted, ‘This is a major affair and a colossal matter.’ Allah said, ‘O Ayub, do you doubt the image I have appointed? I tested Adam with a test and gave it to him. I forgave him by him submitting to ‘Ali the affair of the believers. And you say that it is a major affair and a colossal matter. By My honour, I will make you taste My punishment unless you repent to Me with obedience to Amir al Mu’minin.’ Fortune than seized him through me, i.e., he repented and announced obedience to ‘Ali rahimahu Llah.[5]

In addition, it appears in Sara’ir Ibn Idris from Jami’ al Bazanti—from Sulaiman ibn Khalid who reports that he heard Abu ‘Abdullah rahimahu Llah saying:

ما من نبي ولا من آدمي ولا من إنسي ولا جني ولا ملك في السماوات والأرض إلا ونحن الحجج عليهم وما خلق الله خلقاً إلا وقد عرض ولايتنا عليه واحتج بنا عليه فمؤمن بنا وكافر جاحد حتى السموات والأرض

There is no nabi, no human, no jinn, and no angel in the heavens and earth except that we are authorities over them. Allah did not create any creation except with presenting our Wilayah to them and authority over them. Some believed in us while others disbelieved and rejected, even the heavens and the earth.[6]

The complete report appears in Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub from Muhammad ibn al Hanafiyyah from Amir al Mu’minin rahimahu Llah who said:

عرض الله أمانتي على السموات السبع بالثواب والعقاب فقلن ربنا لا تحملنا بالثواب والعقاب لكننا نحملها بلا ثواب ولا عقاب وإن الله عرض ولايتي وأمانتي على الطيور فأول من آمن بها البزاة البيض والقنابر وأول من جحدها البوم والعنقاء فلعنهما الله من بين الطيور فأما البوم فلا تقدر أن تطير بالنهار لبغض الطير له وأما العنقاء فغابت في البحار لا ُترى وإن الله عرض أمانتي على الأرض فكل بقعة آمنت بولايتي جعلها طيّبة زكيّة وجعل نباتها وثمرها حلواً عذباً وجعل ماءها زلالاً وكل بقعة جحدت إمامتي وأنكرت ولا يتي جعلها سبخاً وجعل نباتها مرّاً وعلقماً وجعل ثمرها العوسج والحنظل وجعل ماءها ملحاً أجاجاً

Allah presented my trust to the seven heavens in lieu of reward and punishment. They submitted, “O our Rabb, do not burden us with reward and punishment. Rather, we will bear it without reward or punishment.”

Allah presented my Wilayah and trust to the birds and the first to believe in it were the white falcons and larks whereas the first to reject it were the owls and griffons, and they were subsequently cursed by Allah amid all birds. As for the owl, it is not able to fly during the day due to the birds’ hatred for it while the griffon disappeared in the seas and is not seen.

Allah presented my trust to the earth. Each land which believed in my Wilayah, Allah made it pure, nourishing, made its produce and fruit sweet and pleasant, and made its water cool whereas every land that rejected my Imamah and denied my Wilayah, Allah made it a salt marsh, made its produce sour and bitter, made its fruit the boxthorn and colocynth, and made its water salty and bitter.[7]

Al Kulayni reports in his authentic book from Abu ‘Abdullah Jafar, the sixth Imam in their sight, that he said:

ولايتنا ولاية الله التي لم يبعث نبيا قط إلا بها

Our Wilayah is the Wilayah of Allah with which every Nabi was sent.[8]

He reports from his father Abu Jafar, Muhammad al Baqir:

والله إن في السماء لسبعين صفا من الملائكة لو اجتمع أهل الأرض كلهم يحصون عدد كل صف منهم ما أحصوهم وإنهم ليدينون بولايتنا

By Allah, there are seventy rows of angels in the sky. If all the inhabitants of the earth were to gather to count the number [of angels] in each row, they would not be able to enumerate them. They all adhere to our Wilayah.[9]

He reports another statement of his:

إن الله أخذ ميثاق شيعتنا بالولاية لنا وهم ذر

Indeed, Allah took the covenant from our partisans of Wilayah when they were souls.[10]

Finally, al Kulayni reports from his infallible Imam—from Abu al Hassan who said:

ولاية علي عليه السلام مكتوبة في صحف جميع الأنبياء

The Wilayah of ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam is documented in the scriptures of all the Ambiya’.[11]

It is reported from Salim al Hannat who said:

قلت لأبي جعفر عليه السلام أخبرني عن قول الله تبارك وتعالى نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ قال هي الولاية لأمير المؤمنين عليه السلام

I asked Abu Jafar rahimahu Llah, “Inform me of Allah’s—the Blessed and Lofty—statement: The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down upon your heart that you may be of the warners in a clear Arabic language.”

He explained, “It is the Wilayah of Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam.”[12]

سُئل أبو جعفر عن قول الله عز وجل وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ أَقَامُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِم مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ قال الولاية

Abu Jafar was questioned about Allah’s—the Mighty and Majestic—statement, “And if only they had upheld [the law of] the Tawrah, the Injil, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord [i.e. the Qur’an].”

“It refers to Wilayah,” he stated.[13]

His son Jafar states:

ولاية أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام إِنَّ هٰذَا لَفِي الصُّحُفِ الْأُولىٰ صُحُفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسىٰ

The Wilayah of Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam, Indeed, this is in the former scriptures, the scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa.[14]

Al Kulayni narrates from al Sumali:

عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال أوحى الله إلى نبيّه صلى الله عليه وآله فَاسْتَمْسِكْ بِالَّذِي أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ عَلىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ قال إنك على ولاية عليّ وعليّ هو الصراط المستقيم

It is reported from Abu Jafar ‘alayh al Salam who said: Allah revealed to His Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “So adhere to that which is revealed to you. Indeed, you are on a Straight Path.”

He explained, “You are on the Wilayah of ‘Ali and ‘Ali is upon the Straight Path.”[15]

If any servant does not believe in ‘Ali’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu Wilayah, Allah will not ask him about anything and will command that he be taken to Hell.

Al Bahrani, the Shia Exegetist, writes:

إن الله لم يبعث نبيا قط إلا بعد ما أقر بالولاية لأهل البيت وإن بعثة الأنبياء كانت لذلك أيضا

Certainly, Allah did not send any Nabi except after he acknowledged Wilayah of the Ahlul Bayt. The sending of Ambiya’ was for this reason as well.[16]

This Wilayah is the reason behind entry into Jannat and salvation from Hell; not righteous actions and good deeds. Whoever befriends ‘Ali and his children is from the inhabitants of Jannat while the others will enter Hell, even if they prayed and fasted. They report from Abu Jafar who said:

سواء على من خالف لنا أهل البيت لا يبالي صلى أو صام أو زنى أو سرق إنه في النار إنه في النار

Whoever opposes us, the Ahlul Bayt, no consideration will be given to whether he prayed or fasted, committed adultery or stole; he will be in Hell; he will be in Hell.[17]

They attribute falsehood to Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam claiming that he told ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu:

من أحبك كان مع النبيين في درجتهم يوم القيامة ومن مات يبغضك فلا يبالي مات يهوديا أو نصرانيا

Whoever loves you will be with the Prophets in their rank on the Day of Qiyamah. Whoever dies harbouring hatred for you, no care will be given whether he dies a Jew or Christian.[18]

Al Saduq—who is actually a liar—narrates:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يا علي إن الله تعالى قد غفر لك ولأهلك ولشيعتك ومحبي شيعتك ومحبي محبي شيعتك فابشر

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam declared, “O ‘Ali, undoubtedly Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala has forgiven you, your household, your Shia, the lovers of your Shia, and the lovers of the lovers of your Shia. So be of cheer.”[19]

Al ‘Ayyashi writes in his Tafsir from Abu ‘Abdullah Jafar who said:

المؤمنون بعلي هم الخالدون في الجنة وإن كانوا في أعمالهم مسيئة

Those who believe in ‘Ali will reside in Jannat forever even if they have evil actions.[20]

حب علي حسنة لا تضر معها سيئة وبغضه معصية لا تنفع معها حسنة

Loving ‘Ali is a good action with which no evil may harm[21] and his hatred is a sin with which no good deed will benefit.[22]

Finally, they fabricate in the name of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said:

سمعت الله عز وجل يقول علي بن أبي طالب حجتي على خلقي ونوري في بلادي وأميني على علمي لا أدخل النار من عرفه وإن عصاني ولا أدخل الجنة من أنكره وإن أطاعني

I heard Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—declaring: ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is My authority over My creation, My light in My lands, and My trustee over My knowledge. I will not enter into Hell one who recognises him even if he disobeys Me and I will not enter into Jannat whoever rejects him even if He obeys Me.”[23]

The essence is quite clear: Obedience to Allah is not obedience and disobedience of Allah is not disobedience as long as love and loyalty to ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his progeny is missing. This is exactly what the malicious Jews planned to distance the Ummah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam from the heavenly Shari’ah which does not differentiate between individuals and has sent the standard of honour and glory upon actions and righteousness, as sounded by the Most Majestic speaker:

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.[24]

وَأُزْلِفَتِ الْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَبُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِلْغَاوِينَ

And Paradise will be brought near [that Day] to the righteous. And Hellfire will be brought forth for the deviators.[25]

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (١) الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ (٢) وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ (٣) وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَاةِ فَاعِلُونَ (٤) وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ (٥) إِلَّا عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ (٦) فَمَنِ ابْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ (٧) وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ (٨) وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ (٩) أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْوَارِثُونَ (١٠) الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (١١)

Certainly, will the believers have succeeded. They who are during their prayer humbly intent. And they who turn away from ill speech. And they who are observant of Zakat. And they who guard their private parts except from their wives or those their right hand possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed. But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors. And they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive. And they who carefully maintain their prayers. Those are the inheritors. Who will inherit al Firdaws. They will abide therein eternally.[26]

فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ

So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.[27]

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى

And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.[28]

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى (٥) وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى (٦) فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى (٧) وَأَمَّا مَنْ بَخِلَ وَاسْتَغْنَى (٨) وَكَذَّبَ بِالْحُسْنَى (٩) فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَى (١٠) وَمَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُ مَالُهُ إِذَا تَرَدَّى (١١)

As for he who gives and fears Allah and believes in the best [reward], We will ease him toward ease. But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best [reward], We will ease him toward difficulty. And what will his wealth avail him when he falls?[29]

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ (٣٨) إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (٣٩) فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (٤٠) عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (٤١) مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ (٤٢) قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ (٤٣) وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ (٤٤) وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ (٤٥) وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ (٤٦) حَتَّى أَتَانَا الْيَقِينُ (٤٧) فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ (٤٨)

Every soul, for what it has earned, will be retained. Except the companions of the right, [who will be] in gardens, questioning each other about the criminals, [and asking them], “What put you into Saqar?”

They will say, “We were not of those who prayed, nor did we used to feed the poor, and we used to enter into vain discourse with those who engaged [in it], and we used to deny the Day of Recompense. Until there came to us the certainty [i.e., death].” So there will not benefit them the intercession of [any] intercessors.[30]

Yes, the Shari’ah does not differentiate between individuals on basis of their lineage and status. Hence, it did not consider Abu Lahab entering Jannat owing to him being the uncle of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Rather, it declared emphatically that he is an inmate of Hell. In fact, it is coupled with curse in the Book which remains forever. Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala declares:

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ (١) مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ (٢) سَيَصْلَى نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ (٣) وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ (٤) فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ (٥)

May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained. He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame. And his wife [as well], the carrier of firewood. Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fibre.[31]

The true and tolerant Shari’ah did not discriminate against Bilal radiya Llahu ‘anhu and others due to them being Abyssinian, non-Arab, non-Qurashi, and non-Makki. He came to Makkah as someone’s slave. Rather, he was sounded glad tidings of Jannat on the tongue of the one who spoke through revelation as his actions made him worthy of the same.

They were the ones who considered belief in Allah, the Messenger, and the Book revealed to him coupled with righteous actions in accordance to the commandments of Allah and the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam the basis for entry into Jannat. They stood at night in worship and fasted during the days. They raised the banners of Jihad. Help descended upon them from above the sky and the angels of Allah and armies of the Most Gracious supported them. They are the one who saw Jannat under the shade of swords, fighting to establish the truth and demolish falsehood and make the religion of Allah reign supreme over all other religions. They are the ones responsible for humbling the kings and rulers of the nations and the tyrants and oppressors of the earth. The Jewish remnants, Christian armies, and Magians armed forces failed before them.

Efforts were made to distance them and their successors from this lively Shari’ah, which brings life to the dead and revives the souls. The enemies intended to demolish this advancing Ummah by turning them away from their religion and distancing them from the genuine teachings of Islam, viz. iman, action, effort, struggle, and Jihad. They thus said: There is no need to bear all these difficulties and hardships to enter Jannat and please Allah. Rather, sufficient is to love certain individuals and befriend them. They were thus somewhat triumphant in their wicked plots and some innocent, negligent people fell in their traps, deceived by names of individuals who were nothing but righteous bondsmen of Allah and practicing believers. Instead of their primary focus being a bondsman questioned firstly about his salah so he might pray and struggle to gain proximity to Allah by bowing, prostrating, and standing before Him. They said that Abu al Hassan rahimahu Llah—their eight Imam said:

أول ما يسأل عنه العبد حبنا أهل البيت

The first aspect a bondsman will be questioned on will be loving us, the Ahlul Bayt.[32]

In this manner, they gave Wilayah more importance than Salah, Zakat, and all other acts of virtue. It is reported in al Kafi by al Kulayni from Abu Jafar, who said:

بني الإسلام على خمس على الصلاة والزكاة والصوم والحج والولاية ولم يناد بشيء كما نودي بالولاية

Islam is based on five pillars, viz. Salah, Zakat, Fasting, Hajj, and Wilayah. There was no call to anything like the call to Wilayah.[33]

In essence, it is the objective. They lied against Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam of him saying:

أتاني جبريل عليه السلام وقال يا محمد ربك يقرئك السلام ويقول فرضت الصلاة ووضعتها عن المريض وفرضت الصوم ووضعته عن المريض والمسافر وفرضت الحج ووضعته عن المقل المدقع وفرضت الزكاة ووضعتها عن من لا يملك النصاب وجعلت حب عليّ بن أبي طالب عليه السلام ليس فيه رخصة

Jibril ‘alayh al Salam approached me and submitted, “O Muhammad, your Rabb sends greetings of peace to you and states: I have ordained Salah and waived it from the ill. I ordained Fasting and waived it from the ill and traveller. I ordained Hajj and waived it from the one who does not have the funds. I ordained Zakat and waived it from one who does not possess the nisab. I have commanded loving ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib ‘alayh al Salam without any concession.”[34]

They thus made it the barometer to determine belief and disbelief as is evident from these narrations, as we highlighted just now.

As regards those contemporary Shia[35] who assert that belief in Wilayah is not necessary and without believing in it, one is not cast out of the fold of Islam, this is nothing but deception and pretence. Such words are not uttered except in missionary books to catch unwary, simple Muslims in their trap. They do not believe this as mentioned previously and clearly stated by their Imams.

Sayedal Bahrani has quoted from a number of Shia Imams that this Jewish belief concocted and conceived by ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’, the Jew, to abolish the Shari’ah and distance Muslims from it is the basis of faith and salvation; the one who rejects it is not a believer. We cite here from Shia Imam and senior, al Mufid, who documents in Kitab al Masa’il:

اتفقت الإمامية على أن من ينكر إمامة إمام وجحد ما أوجبه الله تعالى له من فرض طاعته فهو كافر ضال مستحق الخلود في النار

The Imamiyyah are unanimous that one who rejects the Imamah of an Imam and denies the obligatory obedience Allah ordained upon him for the Imam is a disbeliever, deviant, deserving of eternity in Hell.

He continues:

وقال لا يجوز لأحد من أهل الإيمان أن يغسّل مخالفاً للحق في الولاء ولا يصلي عليه

It is not permissible for any believer to wash the rejecter of the truth of Wilayah and he should not pray Salat al Janazah upon him.[36]

Similar verdicts are reported from Ibn Babawayh al Qummi, al Tusi, Mulla Baqir al Majlisi, SayedSharif al Murtada, and many others.

Third Trait

Hatred and malice towards the Companions of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, criticising them, picking out their faults, and swearing them has become an intrinsic part of Shi’ism. Very seldom is any of their books found without it being filled with disapproval and condemnation. In fact, they have special chapters dedicated to declaring the Companions of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam transgressors and disbelievers. None of the Shia mention them except by insulting them in the beginning and cursing them at the end. We presented plenty examples of this in our book al Shia wa al Sunnah in chapter one. We discussed this in detail in our book al Shia wa Ahlul Bayt in chapter two. We do not wish to repeat what we documented there to avoid prolongation. The reader may kindly refer to these two books for a clearer understanding. We suffice on what the Imam of the current Shia, SayedKhomeini, who writes in Kashf al Asrar. Despite him being a politician—politics demands some form of leniency, tolerance, dissimulation, flattery, and consideration for others—he writes with much emphasis and clarity:

إن أبا بكر وعمر وعثمان لم يكونوا خلفاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بل وأكثر من ذلك أنهم غيروا أحكام الله وحللوا حرام الله وظلموا أولاد الرسول وجهلوا قوانين الرب وأحكام الدين

Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman were not successors of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Rather, they changed the rulings of Allah, permitted what Allah prohibited, oppressed the children of the Messenger, and were ignorant of the regulations of the Lord and the decrees of religion.[37]

Thereafter, he spells out his belief and the Shia’s belief in Imamah. He writes under the chapter: Why was the name of the Imam not mentioned clearly in the Qur’an[38]:

ولقد ظهر مما ذكر أن الإمامة أصل من الأصول المسلمة الإسلامية بحكم العقل والقرآن وأن الله قد ذكر هذا الأصل المسلم في عديد من مواضع القرآن فيمكن أن يسأل سائل مادام هذا فلماذا لم يذكر اسم الإمام في القرآن لكي لا تقع خلافات وحروب حوله كما وقعت فالجواب على ذلك بوجوه وقبل حل هذا الإشكال نريد أن نقول جهراً إن كل الخلافات التي حلت بين المسلمين في جميع أمورهم وشئونهم لم تقع بينهم إلا من أثر السقيفة ولو لم يكن ذلك اليوم لم يكن بين المسلمين خلاف في القوانين السماوية فنقول لو ذكر اسم الإمام في القرآن فرضاً لم يكن يرفع النزاع بين المسلمين لأن الذين لم يدخلوا الإسلام إلا طمعاً في الرئاسة وتجمعوا وتحزبوا لنيلها لم يكونوا مقتنعين بنصوص القرآن وآياته ولم يكونوا منتهين عن أطماعهم وأغراضهم بل كان من الممكن أن يزدادوا في مكرهم ويصلوا إلى هدم أساس الإسلام لأن الطامعين في الرئاسة والطالبين لها لو رأوا مقصودهم لا يحصل باسم الإسلام لشكلوا آنذاك حزباً معارضاً للإسلام ومخالفه وآنذاك لم يكن لعلي بن أبي طالب أن يسكت فكان من نتيجة ذلك أن يحصل النزاع والخلاف الذي يقلع جذرة الإسلام ويقطع دابره وعلى ذلك كان ذكر اسم علي بن أبي طالب في القرآن خلاف مصلحة أصل الإمامة وأيضاً لو كان اسم الإمام مذكوراً في القرآن لم يكن مستبعداً من الذين لم تكن علاقتهم بالإسلام والقرآن غير الدنيا والرئاسة الذين جعلوا القرآن وسيلة لإجراء نياتهم الفاسدة لم يكن مستبعداً منهم أن يحذفوا تلك الآيات من القرآن ويحرفّوا كتاب الله ويبعدوه عن أنظار الناس إلى الأبد وأيضاً لو لم يحدث من هذا شيء على الفرض والتقدير لم يكن من غير المتوقع من ذلك الحزب الطامع الحريص على الرئاسة أن يختلقوا حديثاً كاذباً على رسول الله أنه قال قبيل وفاته إن الله خلع عليّ بن أبي طالب من منصب الإمامة وجعل الأمر شورى بينكم ولا ينبغي لأحد أن يقول لو ورد ذكر ذلك الإمام في القرآن لما استطاع الشيخان أن يخالفاه ولو خالفاه فرضاً لم يقبله المسلمون وقاموا ضدهما فنحن نقول إنه لا ينبغي القول بهذا لأننا نعرف أنهما خالفا صريح القرآن جهراً وعلناً والناس لم يردوا عليهما بل قبلوا مخالفتهما للقرآن

It is manifest from the aforementioned that Imamah is one of the accepted Islamic fundamentals by the instruction of logic and Qur’an. Moreover, Allah has mentioned this recognised fundamental in plenty places of the Qur’an. It is possible for someone to ask, “When this is the case, why then was the name of the Imam not mentioned in the Qur’an so that no differences and fights occur regarding him as had occurred.”

This may be answered in a few ways. Before answering this objection, we intend to openly declare: all the disagreements that occurred between the Muslims in all matters and affairs did not take place except as a result of the Day of Saqifah. Had that day not taken place, there would be no disagreement between the Muslims in heavenly ordains.

We answer: had the Imam’s name been mentioned in the Qur’an hypothetically, this would not have removed disagreement between the Muslims as those who never entered Islam except avaricious for leadership and who rallied and joined forces to attain it were not content with the clear texts and verses of the Qur’an and were not to desist from their desires and motives. In fact, probably they would have increased their schemes and reached the level of demolishing the basis of Islam altogether. Those avaricious of leadership—had they realised that their objective was not being obtained in the name of Islam, they would have formed a group to contend and oppose Islam at the time. In such an instance, it would not be possible for ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib to remain silent. The result would be disagreement and conflict which would uproot the seed of Islam and break its backbone. In such a case, the appearance of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s name in the Qur’an is contrary to the exigency of the fundamental of Imamah.

Furthermore, had the Imam’s name appeared in the Qur’an, it is not far-fetched from those whose connection to Islam and Qur’an was not save for the world and leadership and who made the Qur’an a means to execute their corrupt motives; it is not far-fetched for them to delete these verses from the Qur’an and adulterate the Book of Allah and distance it from people’s sight forever.

In addition, if hypothetically speaking, none of this happened, it is not improbable from this group avaricious and greedy for leadership to fabricate a hadith and attribute it falsely to Rasulullah that he said prior to his demise that Allah removed ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib from the station of Imamah and ordained the affair through mutual consultation.

It is not befitting for anyone to say: Had the Imam’s mention appeared in the Qur’an, it was not proper for Sheikhayn (Abu Bakr and ‘Umar) to oppose it. Had they opposed it hypothetically, the Muslims would not have accepted it and would have challenged them. We say: It is not proper to say this as we know that they opposed clear texts of the Qur’an publicly and openly, yet the people did not challenge them. Instead, they accepted their opposition to the Qur’an.[39]

He then presents plenty examples of what he supposes will establish Sayyidina Abu Bakr and ‘Umar’s radiya Llahu ‘anhuma opposition to the Qur’an under the heading: Abu Bakr’s opposition to Qur’anic texts and ‘Umar’s opposition to the Lord’s Qur’an.[40]

At the end, after listing these alleged contradictions, he says:

ويعلم بهذا كله مخالفة أبي بكر وعمر القرآن في حضور المسلمين ولم يكن هذا الأمر ذا بال عندهم بل كانوا هم معهما وفي حزبهما مناصرين مساعدين لهما في نيل المقصود ويعرف بهذا كله أنه لو ورد ذكر الإمام في القرآن لم يكونوا تاركين للرئاسة لقول الله عز وجل ولا معطين له أي اهتمام وكما أن أبا بكر الذي كان خداعه ظاهراً وزائداً استطاع أن يحرم ابنة رسول الله من ارثها الثابت بالقرآن والعقل باختلاق حديث مكذوب لم يكن مستبعداً من عمر أن يقول بأن الله أو جبريل أو الرسول أخطئوا في ذكر اسم الإمام في القرآن وآياته ولذلك لا يُنظر إليه ولا يُعمل به وآنذاك قام حزب السنة وتابعوه على قوله وتركوا القرآن مهجورا كما أنهم تابعوه في جميع التغييرات التي أتى بها في دين الإسلام ورجحّوا قوله على القرآن وآياته وقدموه على أحاديث رسول الإسلام وأقواله

From all of this, Abu Bakr’s and ‘Umar’s opposition to the Qur’an in the presence of Muslims is identified, but this was nothing important to them. Instead, they were with them and part of their group as supporters and assistants to obtain the objective. From all of this, it is learnt that had the Imam’s name appeared in the Qur’an, they would still not have discarded leadership in compliance with Allah’s—the Mighty and Majestic—instruction and would not have given importance to it. Just as Abu Bakr—whose deception was apparent and overwhelming—was able to deprive Allah’s Messenger’s daughter from her inheritance—established in the Qur’an and through logic—by fabricating a false hadith, it is not unlikely for ‘Umar to assert that Allah, or Jibril, or the Messenger erred in mentioning the Imam’s name in the verses of the Qur’an; hence it is not considered or practiced upon. At such a time, the group of the Sunnah would have supported and followed his statement and discarded the Qur’an openly just as they followed him in all other adulterations he brought to the religion of Islam and preferred his statement over the verses of the Qur’an and the ahadith, statements of the Messenger of Islam.[41]

There are plenty others of this type.

This is the Shia belief about Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and the Companions of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam—may Allah be pleased with them and them with Him. We have quoted from a public political figure who is considered the agent of the Absent Imam according to the Shia and the reformer of the Ummah according to some Sunnis, in accordance to what he inherited from the Saba’iyyah and ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’. From it, the belief of other Shia can be determined, who are not involved in politics, have not assumed worldly and religious responsibility, and have no authority over lands inhabited by plenty Sunnis; people who do not need to show any consideration or dissimulation.

Fourth Trait

Their criticism of ‘Uthman Dhu al Nurayn radiya Llahu ‘anhu coupled with cursing him and his governors does not need any elucidation, especially after the detailed account given in chapter one and two which contains censures and condemnations quoted from Shia books with references to volume and page number. Whoever wishes to learn more of this should refer to it and our books al Shia wa al Sunnah and al Shia wa Ahlul Bayt.

Appropriate to mention is that none of the books of the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia—be it on Tafsir, Hadith, History, Sirah, Narrators, Beliefs, etc.—are free from the very condemnations the Saba’iyyah repeated against ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu, his rule, and his governors. There is no difference between the Saba’iyyah and the Shia, except the additions which the Shia of today have selected and were not known during the days of the Saba’iyyah.

Fifth Trait

Wasiyyah, Ghaybah, and Raj’ah—innovated and propagated by ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’—and other beliefs contradictory to Islam, alien to Muslims, and promoted by the Jews and Magians like awarding creation the qualities of the creator, divinity of bondsmen, incarnation, ittihad (embodiment), transmigration, nubuwwah continuing after Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, revelation descending on someone, revelation of a book, etc., are the very beliefs transmitted to the Shia of today, especially the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia.

The senior Shia master of narrators, al Mamaqani, declares in Tanqih al Maqal:

إن ما كان يُعد يومئذ غلواً صار يُعد الآن من ضروريات المذهب

What was considered extremism in those days is considered to be from the fundamentals in the religion today.^[42]

What al Mamaqani affirms is correct as these matters were not recognised by the primary Shia in the early years of Shi’ism. The later Shia adopted them from the Saba’iyyah and determined them as their beliefs, filling their books and treatises with them.

Wasiyyah

They claim that ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu was the wasi of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and concoct plenty fabrications for this. Al Kulayni reports a narration from Jafar in al Kafi:

كان حيث طلقت آمنة بنت وهب وأخذها المخاض بالنبي صلى الله عليه وآله حضرتها فاطمة بنت أسد امرأة أبي طالب فلم تزل معها حتى وضعت فقالت أحداهما للأخرى هل ترين ما أرى قالت هذا النور الذي قد سطع ما بين المشرق والمغرب فبينما هما كذلك إذ دخل عليهما أبو طالب فقال لهما مالكما من أي شيء تعجبان فأخبرته فاطمة بالنور الذي رأت فقال لها أبو طالب ألا أبشرك فقالت بلى فقال أما إنك ستلدين غلاماً يكون وصي هذا المولود

When Aminah bint Wahb began experiencing labour pains with the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Fatimah bint Asad—the wife of Abu Talib—attended her. She remained with her until she gave birth. One of them told the other, “Do you see what I see?”

She said, “This is light which has illuminated everything between the East and West.”

Meanwhile, Abu Talib entered their presence and said to them, “What is the matter? What are you amazed at?”

Fatimah informed him of the light she saw.

Abu Talib told her, “Should I not give you glad tidings?”

“Definitely,” she responded.

He went on, “Harken, you will give birth to a boy who will be the Wasi of this child.”^[43]

They fabricated a report on the consequence of the revelation of Allah’s subhanahu wa ta ‘ala statement:

وَأَنْذِرْ عَشِيْرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِيْنَ

And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.^[44]

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam invited them. They ate yet only their fingers left imprints on the food, whereas they were about forty men. They drank from a large cup which sufficed them. After they were satiated, he told them:

إني والله ما أعلم شاباً من العرب جاء قومه بأفضل مما جئتكم به فأيكم يؤازرني على أمري هذا على أن يكون أخي ووصي وخليفتي فيكم فسكتوا جميعاً فقام عليّ (ع) وقال أنا يا رسول الله أؤازرك عليه فأخذ رسول الله (ص) برقبته وقال إن هذا أخي ووصيي وخليفتي فيكم فاسمعوا له وأطيعوا فقاموا يضحكون ويقولون لأبي طالب قد أمرك أن تسمع لابنك وتطيع

“By Allah, I do not know any youth from the Arabs who has brought to his nation something superior to what I have brought you. Whoever supports me in this affair will become my brother, wasi, and khalifah among you.”

The entire crowd remained silent. ‘Ali stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I will be your support over it.”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam caught hold of his neck and said, “This is my brother, wasi, and khalifah among you, so listen and obey him.”

The people stood up laughing and telling Abu Talib, “He has ordered you to listen to and obey your son.”^[45]

They uttered the very words of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and attributed falsehood to Abu Jafar Muhammad al Baqir accusing him of saying:

وأيم الله لقد نزل الروح والملائكة بالأمر في ليلة القدر على آدم وأيم الله ما مات آدم إلا وله وصي وكل من جاء بعد آدم من الأنبياء قد أتاه الأمر فيه ووضع له وصياً من بعده وأيم الله إن كان النبي ليؤمر فما يأتيه من الأمر في تلك الليلة من آدم إلى محمد صلى الله عليه وآله أن أوصي إلى فلان

By the oath of Allah, the soul and angels descended with the matter on the Night of Decree upon Adam. By the oath of Allah, Adam did not pass away except after having a Wasi. The matter came to all the Ambiya’ who came after Adam in that night and a Wasi was designated for them after their demise. By the oath of Allah, there is no Nabi—from Adam to Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam—to be commanded but the matter comes to him on that night to appoint someone a Wasi.^[46]

It is reported that Jafar said:

أوصى موسى عليه السلام إلى يوشع بن نون وأوصى يوشع بن نون إلى ولده هارون فلم تزل الوصية في عالم بعد عالم حتى دفعوها إلى محمد صلى الله عليه وآله فلما بعث الله عز وجل محمداً صلى الله عليه وآله أسلم له العقب من المستحفظين وكذبه بنو إسرائيل ودعا إلى الله عز وجل وجاهد في سبيله ثم أنزل الله عز وجل ذكره عليه أن أعلن فضل وصيك فقال رب إن العرب قوم جفاة لم يكن فيهم كتاب ولم يُبعث إليهم نبي ولا يعرفون فضل نبوات الأنبياء عليهم السلام ولا شرفهم ولا يُؤمنون بي إن أنا أخبرتهم بفضل أهل بيتي فقال الله جل ذكره ولا تحزن عليهم وقل سلام فسوف تعلمون فذكر من فضل وصيه ذكراً فوقع النفاق في قلوبهم فعلم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله ذلك ما يقولون فقال الله جل ذكره يا محمد ولقد نعلم أنك يضيق صدرك بما يقولون فإنهم لا يكذبونك ولكنك الظالمين بآيات الله يجحدون ولكنهم يجحدون بغير حجة لهم وكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يتألفهم ويستعين ببعضهم على بعض ولا يزال يخرج لهم شيئاً في فضل وصيه حتى نزلت هذه السورة فاحتج عليهم حين علم بموته ونعت إليه نفسه فقال الله جل ذكره فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانْصَبْ وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ يقول إذا فرغت فانصب علمك وأعلن وصيك فأعلمهم فضله علانية فقال صلى الله عليه وآله من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه اللهم وال من والاه وعاد من عاداه ثلاث مرات ثم قال لأبعثن رجلاً يحب الله ويحبه الله ورسوله ليس بفرار يعرّض بمن رجع ويجبّن أصحابه ويجبّنونه وقال صلى الله عليه وآله عليّ سيد المؤمنين وقال عليّ عمود الدين وقال هذا هو الذي يضرب الناس بالسيف على الحق بعدي وقال الحق مع عليّ أينما مال

Musa ‘alayh al Salam appointed Yusha’ ibn Nun as Wasi. Yusha’ ibn Nun appointed his son Harun as Wasi. Wasiyyah continued in every knowledgeable individual until they handed it to Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. When Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—sent Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the progeny from the entrusted embraced Islam while the Banu Isra’il belied him. He invited to Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—and waged war in His path. Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—then revealed to him His word to announce the superiority of his Wasi. He submitted, “O my Rabb, the Arabs are a harsh nation. They had no scribes among them; and no Nabi was sent to them. They are not aware of the superiority and nobility of the Nubuwwah of the Ambiya’ ‘alayhim al Salam. They will not believe me if I inform them of the superiority of my family.”

Allah—whose mention is sublime—announced, “Do not grieve over them. Say peace, you will soon come to know.”

He mentioned a portion of the superiority of his Wasi and hypocrisy entered their hearts. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came to learn of what they were saying. Allah, whose mention is sublime, announced, “O Muhammad, we know that your heart is constrained over what they say. For indeed, they do not belie you. However, the oppressors deny the verses of Allah. However, they deny without having proof.”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would try to unite them and seek help from some over others. He continued mentioning aspects of the superiority of his Wasi until this Surah was revealed. He asserted as proof over them once he knew of his demise and sounded his own obituary. Allah, whose mention is sublime, said: So, when you have finished [your duties], then stand up. And to your Lord direct [your] longing.

He explains: When you are free, then appoint your authority and announce your Wasi. Notify them of his superiority publicly. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam thus announced thrice, “Whoever’s mawla (friend) I am, ‘Ali is his mawla. O Allah, befriend the one who befriends him and declare war on the one who harbours enmity for him.” He added, “I will most definitely send a man who loves Allah and who is loved by Allah and His Messenger. He is not a deflector who insinuates, those who retreat and accuses his friends of cowardice and vice versa.” He salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “‘Ali is the leader of the believers.” He said, “‘Ali is the pillar of Din.” He said, “He is the one to bring people upon the truth with the sword after me.” He said, “Truth is with ‘Ali wherever he goes.”^[47]

It is reported that Jafar said:

إن الوصية نزلت من السماء على محمد كتاباً لم ينزل على محمد صلى الله عليه وآله كتاب مختوم إلا الوصية فقال جبرائيل عليه السلام يا محمد هذه وصيتك في أمتك عند أهل بيتك فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله أي أهل بيتي يا جبرائيل قال نجيب الله منهم وذريته ليرثك علم النبوة كما ورثه إبراهيم عليه السلام وميراثه لعلي عليه السلام وذريتك من صلبه قال وكان عليه خواتيم قال ففتح علي عليه السلام الخاتم الأول ومضى لما فيها ثم فتح الحسن عليه السلام الخاتم الثاني ومضى لما أمر به فيها فلما توفي الحسن ومضى فتح الحسين عليه السلام الخاتم الثالث فوجد فيها أن قاتل فاقتل و ُتقتل واخرج بأقوام للشهادة لا شهادة لهم إلا معك قال ففعل عليه السلام فلما مضى دفعها إلى علي بن الحسين عليه السلام قبل ذلك ففتح الخاتم الرابع فوجد فيها أن أصمت وأطرق لما حجب العلم فلما توفي ومضى دفعها إلى محمد بن علي عليه السلام ففتح الخاتم الخامس فوجد فيها أن فسّر كتاب الله وصدّق أباك وورّث ابنك واصطنع الأمة وقم بحق الله عز وجل وقل الحق في الخوف والأمن ولا تخش إلا الله ففعل ثم دفعها إلى الذي يليه

Indeed, the Wasiyyah descended from the sky upon Muhammad in the form of a book. No sealed book was revealed upon Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam except the Wasiyyah. Jibril ‘alayh al Salam said, “O Muhammad, this is your Wasiyyah in your Ummah by your Ahlul Bayt.”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Which of my Ahlul Bayt, O Jibril?”

He explained, “Allah will select from them and their progeny—so they inherit from you the knowledge of Nubuwwah as he inherited Ibrahim ‘alayh al Salam and his inheritance—’Ali ‘alayh al Salam and your progeny from his loins.”

He continues: It had stamps upon it. ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam opened the first stamp and proceeded to carry out what it contained. Then Hassan ‘alayh al Salam opened the second stamp and proceeded to do what he was commanded therein. After Hassan passed on, Hussain ‘alayh al Salam opened the third stamp and found therein the command to fight, to slay and be slain, and to take out nations for testimony as they have no testimony except with you. He complied. When he passed on, he handed it to ‘Ali ibn al Hussain ‘alayh al Salam before this who opened the fourth stamp and found therein the command to remain quiet and bow your head in silence as knowledge has been concealed. When he passed on, he gave it to Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam who opened the fifth stamp. He found the command to commentate on the Book of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala, verify his father, make his son inherit him, commission the Ummah, establish the right of Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—to speak the truth whether in fear or safety, and not to fear except Allah. He done this. He then passed it to the one after him.[48]

Finally, he reports from Abu Jafar:

لما قضى محمد نبوته واستكمل أيامه أوحى الله تعالى إليه أن يا محمد قد قضيت نبوتك واستكملت أيامك فاجعل العلم الذي عندك والإيمان والاسم الأكبر وميراث العلم وآثار علم النبوة في أهل بيتك عند علي بن أبي طالب فإني لن أقطع العلم والإيمان والاسم الأكبر وميراث العلم وآثار علم النبوة من العقب من ذريتك كما لم أقطعها من ذريات الأنبياء

Once Muhammad completed his Nubuwwah and finished his days, Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala revealed to him, “O Muhammad, you have completed your Nubuwwah and finished your days. Place the knowledge you have, the faith, the al Ism al Akbar (greatest name), the inheritance of knowledge, and the effects of prophetic knowledge among your household—by ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib—for I have not discontinued knowledge, faith, the greatest name, the inheritance of knowledge, and the effects of prophetic knowledge from your progeny just as I did not discontinue it from the progenies of the Ambiya’.[49]

This is exactly what ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and the Saba’iyyah affirmed: Yusha’ ibn Nun was the Wasi of Musa and ‘Ali is the Wasi of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and that ‘Ali’s Imamah is an obligation from Allah—the Mighty and Majestic.[50]

Al Ghaybah (The Occultation)

The Shia adopted the ideologies of Ghaybah (Occultation) and Raj’ah (Return) from the Saba’iyyah after the evolution of Shi’ism and the cessation of the primary Shia. They claimed these regarding all the alleged Imams from ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu to the fictitious missing Imam who was never born. We have listed their views regarding each of their Imams. Here, we suffice on what the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia say about their fictitious missing Imam. They assert: Hassan al ‘Askari had a son—coupled with their diverse views on this topic which was detailed in the previous chapter. They assert that he disappeared from sight. He has two occultations: the minor occultation and the major occultation.

They attribute falsehood to Jafar that he said:

للقائم غيبتان إحداهما قصيرة والأخرى طويلة الغيبة الأولى لا يعلم بمكانه فيها إلا خاصة شيعته والأخرى لا يعلم بمكانه فيها إلا خاصة مواليه

The Imam has two occultations. One is short while the second is long. In the Minor Occultation, only his elite partisans know of his location. In the Major, none knows his location except his elite friends.[51]

They report from him:

لصاحب هذا الأمر غيبتان إحداهما يرجع منها إلى أهله والأخرى يقال هلك في أي واد سلك قلت كيف نصنع إذا كان كذلك قال إذا ادعاها مدع فاسألوه عن أشياء يجيب فيها مثله

“The man in authority has two occultations. In the first of them, he will return to his family. In the second, it will be said that he died in one of the valleys he treaded.”

I asked, “How do we act when this is the case?”

He explained, “When anyone claims this, ask him about aspects which his like may answer.”[52]

The same is related from his father.

أما غيبته الصغرى منهما فهي التي كانت فيها سفراؤه موجودين وأبوابه معروفين لا تختلف الإمامية القائلون بإمامة الحسن بن علي فيهم منهم أبو هاشم داود بن القاسم الجعفري ومحمد بن علي بن بلال وأبو عمرو عثمان بن سعيد السمان وابنه أبو جعفر محمد بن عثمان وعمر الأهوازي وأحمد بن إسحاق وأبو محمد الوجناني وإبراهيم بن مهزيار ومحمد بن إبراهيم في جماعة أخرى ربما يأتي ذكرهم عند الحاجة إليهم في الرواية عنهم وكانت مدة هذه الغيبة أربعاً وسبعين سنة وكان أبو عمرو عثمان بن سعيد العمري باباً لأبيه وجده من قبل وثقة لهما ثم تولى الباقية من قبله وظهرت المعجزات على يده ولما مضى لسبيله قام ابنه محمد مقامه رحمهما الله بنصه عليه ومضى على منهاج أبيه في آخر جمادى الآخرة من سنة أربع أو خمس وثلاثمائة وقام مقامه أبو القاسم الحسين بن روح من بني نوبخت بنص أبي جعفر محمد بن عثمان عليه وأقامه مقام نفسه ومات في شعبان سنة ست وعشرين وثلاثمائة وقام مقامه أبو الحسن علي بن محمد العمري بنص أبي القاسم عليه وتوفي لنصف من شعبان سنة ثمان وعشرين وثلاثمائة

In the Minor Occultation, his ambassadors were present and his doors were known. The Imamiyyah who believe in the Imamah of Hassan ibn ‘Ali do not disagree over them. Among them were Abu Hashim Dawood ibn al Qasim al Jafari, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Bilal, Abu ‘Amr ‘Uthman ibn Sa’id al Samman, his son Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman, ‘Umar al Ahwazi, Ahmed ibn Ishaq, Abu Muhammad al Wajnani, Ibrahim ibn Mahzayar, and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim among others, probably they will be mentioned when the need arises in narrating from them. The time frame of this occultation was 74 years.

Abu ‘Amr ‘Uthman ibn Sa’id al ‘Amri was a door for his father and grandfather from before and their trusted agent. The rest then assumed responsibility from his side and miracles manifested at his hands. When he passed on, his son Muhammad took his place with his appointment. He followed the method of his father at the end of Jumada al Akhirah 304/305 AH. Abu al Qasim Hussain ibn Rawh from the Banu Nawbakht took his place with the appointment and nomination of Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman. He passed away in Sha’ban 326 AH. Abu al Hassan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al ‘Amri took his place by the appointment of Abu al Qasim. He passed away in the middle of Sha’ban 328 AH.[53]

It is reported from Abu Muhammad Hassan ibn Ahmed al Mukattab that he said:

كنت بمدينة السلام في السنة التي توفي فيها علي بن محمد السمري فحضرته قبل وفاته بأيام فخرج وأخرج إلى الناس توقيعاً نسخته بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم يا علي بن محمد السمري أعظم الله أجر إخوانك فيك فإنك ميت ما بينك وبين ستة أيام فاجمع أمرك ولا توص لأحد يقوم مقامك بعد وفاتك فقد وقعت الغيبة التامة فلا ظهور إلا بعد أن يأذن الله تعالى ذكره وذلك بعد طول الأمد وقسوة القلوب وامتلاء الأرض جوراً وسيأتي شيعتي من يدعي المشاهدة ألا فمن يدعي المشاهدة قبل خروج السفياني والصيحة فهو كذاب مفتر ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم قال فانتسخنا هذا التوقيع وخرجنا من عنده فلما كان اليوم السادس عدنا وهو بنفسه فقيل له من وصيك قال لله أمر هو بالغه فقضى فهذا آخر كلام سُمع منه ثم حصلت الغيبة الطولى التي نحن في أزمانها والفرج يكون في آخرها بمشيئة الله تعالى

I was in the city of peace in the year ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al Samarri passed away. I attended him few days prior to his demise. He exited and took out a signed letter with the contents: “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, and Most Merciful. O ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al Samarri! May Allah amplify the reward of your brothers for you. You will die within the next six days. Resolve upon your plan and do not appoint anyone to replace you after your death. The Major Occultation is about to occur. There will be no emergence until Allah—His mention is exalted—allows. This will take place after the passing of a long period, the hardening of hearts, and injustice filling the earth. My partisans who claim to see me will soon come. Harken! Whoever claims to see me before the emergence of al Sufyani and the Screech is a liar, fabricator. And there is no power and strength except with Allah, the High, and the Great.”

We transcribed this letter and left his presence. On the sixth day, we returned to him and he was alive.

He was asked, “Who is your Wasi?”

He said, “The affair belongs to Allah and He will bring it to completion.”

He then passed away. This was the last words heard from him.

The Major Occultation took place in which we are currently. The opening will happen at the end of it by the Will of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala.[54]

Where is the Missing Imam?

As regards where their Missing Imam resides and what he does, they say that he lives in:

• The basement of Samarra’ as reported by al Qutb al Rawandi:

أن العباسيين بعثوا عسكراً فلما دخلوا الدار سمعوا من السرداب قراءة القرآن فاجتمعوا على بابه وحفظوه حتى لا يصعد ولا يخرج وأميرهم قائم حتى يصل العسكر كلهم فخرج من السكة على باب السرداب ومر عليهم فلما غاب قال الأمير انزلوا عليه فقالوا أليس هو قد مر عليك فقال ما رأيت وقال ولمَ تركتموه قالوا إنا حسبنا أنك تراه

The Abbassids sent an army. When they entered the house, they heard the recitation of the Qur’an from the basement. They gathered at the door and protected it so that no one may climb or escape. Their leader stood until the entire army reached. He [the Imam] left from the road at the door of the basement and passed by them. When he disappeared, the leader said, “Go down to him.”

They said, “Did he not just pass you?”

He said in surprise, “I did not see.”

He asked, “Why did you leave him?”

They said, “We thought that you saw him.”[55]

• Madinah.[56]
• Makkah. [57]
• Radwa—the mountain regarding which they claim that Muhammad ibn al Hanafiyyah went missing by as transmitted from Sayedal Himyari, the poet of the Shia:

تغيب لا يرى فيهم زمانا برضوى عنده عسل وماء

Absent, no era are they seen in; at Radwa, surrounded by honey and water.^[58]

• Dhu Tuwa as al Nuri al Tabarsi claims:

أن للشيعة دعاءً مشهوراً رووه عن الأئمة عليهم السلام يُعرف بدعاء الندبة أمروا بقرآءته في الأعياد الأربعة وفيه ما يُخاطب به إمام زمانه الحجة عليه السلام ليت شعري استقرت بك النوى بل أي أرض تقلك أو ثرى أبرضوى أم بغيرها أم بذي طوى

The Shia have a famous supplication they narrate from the Imams rahimahumu Llah called Du’a’ al Nadbah. They are commanded to recite it on the four celebrations. In it, they address the Imam of the time, the Authority: I wish I knew the remoteness where you live. Rather, any earth or land bearing you, or Radwa or anywhere else or Dhu Tuwa.[59]

• Yemen in a valley called Shamrukh.[60]
• Al Jazirah al Khadra’[61]

Al Jaza’iri has mentioned a lengthy startling incident. He speaks of an island—the width of its cities is a one-year journey.

لا يوجد في أهل تلك الخطط والضياع غير المؤمن الشيعي الموحد القائل بالبراءة والولاية سلاطينهم أولاد إمامهم يحكمون بالعدل وبه يأمرون ولو جمع أهل الدنيا لكانوا أكثر منها على اختلاف الأديان والمذاهب

In these districts and villages, none is present besides believing Shia monotheists who believe in Bara’ah and Wilayah. Their rulers are the sons of their Imam who judge with justice and command the same. If the residents of the world are gathered with their different religions and creeds, the people of the island will outnumber them.[62]

• Jabalqa’ or Jabalsa’
• As well as other nonsense.

Activites of the Imam during the Occultation

With regards to his activities, they claim:

He attends the Hajj and sees them but they do not see him.[63]

They report that the female servant of Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdah reports:

كنت واقفة مع إبراهيم على الصفا فجاء عليه السلام حتى وقف على إبراهيم وقبض على كتاب مناسكه وحدثه بأشياء

I was standing with Ibrahim on Safa. He alayh al-salam came and stood beside Ibrahim. He grabbed the book on rituals and mentioned few things to him.[64]

Another—Abu ‘Abdullah al Salih—lies:

رآه عند الحجر الأسود والناس يتجاذبون إليه وهو يقول ما بهذا أمروا

He saw him at the Black Stone while the people were pulling at him. He was submitting, “They were not commanded with this.”[65]

Another says:

شاهدت سيماء (اسم رجل من أتباع السلطان) آنفا بسرّ من رأى وقد كسر باب الدار فخرج عليه وبيده طبرزين فقال له ما تصنع في داري فقال سيماء إن جعفراً زعم أن أباك مضى ولا ولد له فإن كانت دارك فقد انصرفت عنك فخرج عن الدار

I witnessed Sima’ (one of the followers of the Sultan) just now at Surra Man Ra’a breaking the door of the house. He [the Absent Imam] came out to him holding a battle-axe and said to him, “What are you doing in my house?”

Sima’ said, “Jafar believes that your father passed away without any children. If it is your house, then it has moved away from you.”

He thus left the house.[66]

Another relates:

كنت حاجاً مع رفيق لي فوافينا إلى الموقف فإذا بشاب قاعد عليه إزار ورداء وفي رجليه نعل صفراء قومت الإزار والرداء بمائة وخمسين ديناراً وليس عليه أثر السفر فدنا منا سائل فرددناه فدنا من الشاب فسأله فحمل شيئاً من الأرض وناوله فدعا له السائل واجتهد في الدعاء وأطال فقام الشاب وغاب عنا فدنونا من السائل فقلنا له ويحك ما أعطاك فأرانا حصاة ذهب مضرسة قدرناها عشرين مثقالاً فقلت لصاحبي مولانا ونحن لا ندري ثم ذهبنا في طلبه فدرنا الموقف كله فلم نقدر عليه فسألنا كل من حوله من أهل مكة والمدينة فقالوا شاب علوي يحج في كل سنة ماشياً

I was performing Hajj with a friend of mine. We came to the Mawqif and saw a youngster sitting, wearing a lower and upper garment and a yellow sandal. I estimated the lower and upper garment to be worth 150 gold coins. He had no trace of travel on him. A beggar approached us and we snubbed him. He then approached the youngster and asked him. The youngster picked up something from the ground and gave it to him. The beggar supplicated for him earnestly and for a long while. The youngster stood up and disappeared from our sight.

We approached the beggar and asked him what the youngster gave him. He showed us a square gold stone, which we estimated to be twenty mithqal. I told my friend, “Our master was by us and we were totally unaware.” We then hastened to find him and circled the entire Mawqif but did not locate him. We asked everyone around from the residents of Makkah and Madinah and they described him as, “An ‘Alawi youth who performs Hajj on foot every year.”[67]

They narrate and attribute to ‘Ali al Rida who said:

لا يرى جسمه ولا يسمى اسمه

His body cannot be seen and his name cannot be taken.[68]

They report that Hassan al ‘Askari said:

إنكم لا ترون شخصه ولا يحل لكم ذكره باسمه قيل كيف نذكره فقال قولوا الحجة من آل محمد

“You will not see his form and it is not permissible for you to mention his name.”

He was asked, “How should we mention him?”

“Say: the proof from the family of Muhammad,” he explained.[69]

Al Irbili says:

إنه حي موجود يحل ويرتحل ويطوف في الأرض ببيوت وخيم وخدم وحشم وإبل وخيل وغير ذلك

He is alive and existent. He travels and moves about the land with houses, tents, servants, camels, horses, etc.[70]

He then relates an incident reported by Shams al Din al Hirqali[71]:

حكى لي والدي أنه خرج فيه وهو شاب على فخذه الأيسر توثة (بثرة متقيحة) مقدار قبضة الإنسان وكانت في كل ربيع تشقشق ويخرج منها دم وقيح ويقطعه ألمها عن كثير من أشغاله وكان مقيماً بهرقل فحضر الحلة يوماً ودخل إلى مجلس السعيد رضي الدين على بن طاووس رحمه الله وشكا إليه ما يجده منها وقال أريد أن أداويها فأحضر له أطباء الحلة وأراهم الموضع فقالوا هذه التوثة فوق العرق الأكحل وعلاجها خطر ومتى قطعت خيف أن يُقطع العرق فيموت فقال له السعيد رضي الدين قدس روحه أنا متوجه إلى بغداد وربما كان أطباؤها أعرف وأحذق من هؤلاء فاصحبني فأصعد معه وأحضر الأطباء فقالوا كما قال أولئك فضاق صدره فقال له السعيد إن الشرع قد فسح لك في الصلاة في هذه الثياب وعليك الاجتهاد في الاحتراس ولا تغرر بنفسك فالله تعالى قد نهى عن ذلك ورسوله فقال له والدي إذا كان الأمر على ذلك وقد وصلت إلى بغداد فأتوجه إلى زيارة المشهد الشريف بسرّ من رأى على مشرفه السلام ثم أنحدر إلى أهلي فحسن ذلك فترك ثيابه ونفقته عند السعيد رضي الدين وتوجه قال فلما دخلت المشهد وزرت الأئمة عليهم السلام ونزلت السرداب واستغثت بالله تعالى وبالإمام عليه السلام وقضيت بعض الوقت في السرداب وبت في المشهد إلى الخميس ثم مضيت إلى دجلة واغتسلت ولبست ثوباً نظيفاً وملئت إبريقا كان معي وصعدت أريد المشهد فرأيت أربعة فرسان خارجين من باب السور وكان حول المشهد قوم من الشرفاء يرعون أغنامهم فحسبتهم منهم فالتقينا فرأيت شابين أحدهما عبد مخطوط وكل واحد منهم متقلد بسيف وشيخاً بيده رمح والآخر متقلد بسيف وعليه فرجية ملونة فوق السيف وهو متحنك بعذبته فوقف الشيخ صاحب الرمح يمين الطريق ووضع كعب في الأرض ووقف الشابان عن يسار الطريق وبقي صاحب الفرجية على الطريق مقابل والدي ثم سلموا عليه فردّ عليهم السلام فقال له صاحب الفرجية أنت غداً تروح إلى أهلك فقال نعم فقال له تقدم حتى أبصر ما يوجعك قال فكرهت ملامستهم وقلت في نفسي أهل البادية ما يكادون يحترزون من النجاسة وأنا قد خرجت من الماء وقميصي مبلول ثم إني بعد ذلك تقدمت إليه فلزمني بيده ومدني إليه وجعل يلمس جانبي من كتفي إلى أن أصابت يده التوثة فعصرها بيده فأوجعني ثم استوى في سرجه كما كان فقال لي الشيخ أفلحت يا إسماعيل فعجبت من معرفته باسمي فقلت أفلحنا وأفلحتم إن شاء الله قال فقال لي الشيخ هذا هو الإمام فتقدمت إليه فاحتضنته وقبلت فخذه ثم أنه ساق وأنا أمشي معه محتضنه فقال ارجع فقلت لا أفارقك أبداً فقال المصلحة رجوعك فأعدت عليه مثل القول الأول فقال الشيخ يا إسماعيل ما تستحي يقول لك الإمام مرتين ارجع وتخالفه فجبهني بهذا القول فوقفت فتقدم خطوات والتفت إلي وقال إذا وصلت بغداد فلا بد أن يطلبك أبو جعفر يعني الخليفة المستنصر رحمه الله فإذا حضرت عنده وأعطاك شيئاً فلا تأخذه وقل لولدنا الرضى ليكتب لك إلى علي بن عوض فإنني أوصيه يعطيك الذي تريد ثم سار وأصحابه معه فلم أزل قائماً أبصرهم إلى أن غابوا عني وحصل عندي أسف لمفارقته فقعدت إلى الأرض ساعة ومشيت إلى المشهد فاجتمع القوم حولي وقالوا نرى وجهك متغير أوجعك شيء قلت لا قالوا أخاصمك أحد قلت لا ليس عندي مما تقولون خبر لكن أسألكم هل عرفتم الفرسان الذين كانوا عندكم فقالوا هم من الشرفاء أرباب الغنم فقلت لا بل هو الإمام عليه السلام فقالوا الإمام هو الشيخ أو صاحب الفرجية فقلت هو صاحب الفرجية فقالوا أريته المرض الذي فيك فقلت هو قبضه بيده وأوجعني ثم كشف رجلي فلم أر لذلك المرض أثراً فداخلني الشك من الدهش فأخرجت رجلي الأخرى فلم أرَ شيئاً

My father related to me that as a youth, an ulcerous boil the size of a fist surfaced on his left thigh. During every autumn, it would burst and secrete blood and pus. The pain prevented him from many activities. He lived in Hirqal. He came to Hillah one day and entered the gathering of Sa’id Radi al Din ‘Ali ibn Ta’us rahimahu Llah and complained to him of his pain saying, “I want to treat it so summon the physicians of Hillah and show them the spot.” They explained, “This boil is above the medial vein and its treatment is dangerous. When severed, there is a fear of the vein bursting leading to his death.”

Sa’id Radi al Din—may his secret be sanctified—advised him, “I am journeying to Baghdad. Probably, the physicians there are more aware and skilled than these, so accompany me.” He joined him and went to the physicians who told him what these physicians had. He thus lost hope.

Sa’id told him, “Indeed, the Shari’ah has given you leeway to perform salah in these clothes. You should endeavour for prudence. Do not deceive yourself, as Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and His Messenger have prohibited this.”

My father told him, “When the affair has reached this point and I have now reached Baghdad, I will head to visit the sacred shrine at Surra Man Ra’a—may peace be upon his elevated place—and then return to my family.” This appeased his liking. He thus left his clothes and spending by Sa’id Radi al Din and headed [towards the sacred shrine].

He continues: I entered the shrine, visited the Imams rahimahumu Llah and descended into the basement. I implored Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and the Imam rahimahu Llah and passed some portion of the night in the basement and slept in the shrine until Thursday. I then proceeded to the Tigris and bathed and wore clean clothes. I filled a pitcher that I had and then ascended towards the shrine.

I saw four horsemen leaving the door of the enclosure. Around the shrine were a group of noblemen shepherding their sheep. I thought the four were part of the group [of shepherds]. We met and I saw two youngsters—one of whom was a branded slave—each of them girded a sword. An old man with a spear in his hand, while the fourth girded a sword, donned a coloured throbe above the sword, with the tail of his turban hanging between his shoulders. The senior man, with the spear, stood at the right of the road and placed the knob in the ground. The two youngsters stood at the left of the road while the man wearing the throbe stood on the road facing my father.

They greeted him and he replied to them with peace. The man with the throbe asked him, “You are returning tomorrow to your family?”

“Yes,” he replied.

He told him, “Come, so I may see what is troubling you with pain.”

My father says: I disliked interacting personally with them and thought to myself that the Bedouins do not avoid impurity properly, and meanwhile I had just come out of the water and my garment is still wet. Nonetheless, I went forward towards him. He caught me with his hand and pulled me towards him. He then began touching my right side from my shoulder until his hand touched the boil. He squeezed it with his hand and it pained. He then mounted his saddle as he was.

The senior man addressed me, “You have triumphed, O Ismail.” I was surprised that he knew my name.

I said, “We have triumphed and you have triumphed, Allah willing.”

The senior man told me, “This is the Imam.”

I went up to up, embraced him, and kissed his thigh. He then rode while I walked with him, clutching to him. He told me to return and I said, “I will never separate from you.”

He said, “Exigency is in your return.”

I repeated what I said the first time.

The senior man said, “O Ismail, are you not ashamed that the Imam told you twice to return and you opposing him.”

He confronted me with this statement. I thus stopped.

He moved few steps forward and then turned to me saying, “When you reach Baghdad, undoubtedly, Abu Jafar—i.e. Khalifah al Mustansir—will summon you. When you appear before him and he gives you something, do not take it. Tell our child al Rida to write for you to ‘Ali ibn ‘Awd as I have advised him to give you what you want.” He and his companions then departed. I just stood and watched them until they disappeared from my sight. I was grief-stricken at his separation and sat on the ground for a while before walking to the shrine.

Those in charge gathered around me and said, “We see your face has changed. Did something harm you?”

“No,” I replied.

They asked, “Did someone fight with you?”

I said, “No. I do not have any information of what you are saying. However, let me ask you if you recognise the horsemen that were by you.”

They said, “They are from the noblemen, owners of the sheep.”

I said, “No, rather he is the Imam.”

They said, “Was the Imam the senior man or the one wearing the throbe.”

“The one wearing the throbe,” I replied.

They said, “Did you show him the sore you have?”

I said, “He pressed it with his hand and it pained.”

I then opened up my leg and found absolutely no trace of that boil. I was extremely astonished and shocked so I checked my other leg and found nothing.[72]

كما حكى أن أبا عطوة كان به أدرة وكان زيدي المذهب وكان ينكر على بنيه الميل إلى مذهب الإمامية ويقول لا أصدقكم ولا أقول بمذهبكم حتى يجيء صاحبكم يعني المهدي فيبرئني من هذا المرض وتكرر هذا القول منه فبينا نحن مجتمعون عند وقت عشاء الآخرة إذا أبونا يصيح ويستغيث بنا فأتيناه سراعاً فقال ألحقوا صاحبكم فالساعة خرج من عندي فخرجنا فلم نرَ أحداً فعدنا إليه وسألناه فقال أنه دخل إليّ شخص وقال يا عطوة فقلت من أنت فقال أنا صاحب بنيك قد جئت لأبرئك مما بك ثم مد يده فعصر قروتي ومشى ومددت يدي فلم أر لها أثراً قال لي ولده وبقي مثل الغزال ليس به قلبه واشتهرت هذه القصة وسألت عنها غير ابنه فأخبر عنها فأقرّ بها والأخبار عنه عليه السلام في هذا الباب كثيرة وأنه رآه جماعة قد انقطعوا في طرق الحجاز وغيرها فخلصهم وأوصلهم إلى حيث أرادوا

He also reports that Abu ‘Utwah had a scrotal hernia. He was a Zaidi and would warn his sons of inclining towards the Imamiyyah and would say, “I will not believe you and believe your creed until the Mahdi comes and cures me of this ailment.” He would continuously repeat this.

Once, we were gathered at ‘Isha’ time when our father shouted and called for our help. We rushed to him. He said, “Catch your man as he left my presence just now.”

We went out but saw no one. We returned to him and asked him what had happened.

He said, “A man entered my presence and said, ‘O ‘Utwah.’ ‘Who are you,’ I asked. He said, ‘I am the leader of your sons. I came to cure you of your ailment.’ He then stretched his hand and squeezed my testes and walked away. I stretched my hand and saw no trace of it.”

His son told me, “He was left like a gazelle without any fodder.”

This story became popular and I asked someone besides his son about it who attested to its reality.

The narrations from him in this chapter are plenty. A group who lost their way in the roads to Hijaz etc., saw him and he rescued them and transported them to where they wished.[73]

This is their Absent Imam and these are the stories and fairytales they narrate of his absence.

Al Raj’ah (The Return)

The Shia Ithna ‘Ashariyyah believe in Raj’ah in conformity with the belief of ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’. The only difference is that the latter affirmed it for ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu while the former affirm it for their Absent Imam. Notable to mention is that this belief is one which spread to all Shia sects in various ages, as discussed in previous chapters, besides the primary and original Shia.

The Shia Ithna ‘Ashariyyah have not sufficed on believing that their absent, missing Imam will return. Rather, they went a step further by affirming that he will return with others, viz. the Shia, the Imams, and their enemies—according to their fancies. There are innumerable fabrications and false reports asserting this. Numerous books have been authored particularly on this subject. We select from the laughable fairytales and the sad stories a few reports to establish our assertion and to affirm the reality of what the Shia actually believe in and to what extent they take vengeance from Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam nation, tribe, Companions, wives, Ummah, the Shari’ah he brought from Allah—the Mighty and Majestic, the Qur’an revealed upon him, and the authority he awarded his followers and believers.

The Shia belief they inherited from the Jews and Jewish activists, ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and his cronies, and transmitted from generation to generation. Their senior scholar and the seal of their muhaddithin, Mulla Baqir al Majlisi, author of Bihar al Anwar, after citing many reports on Raj’ah says:

اعلم يا أخي أني لا أظنك ترتاب بعد ما مهدّت وأوضحت لك بالقول في الرجعة التي أجمعت عليها الشيعة في جميع الأعصار واشتهرت بينهم كالشمس في رابعة النهار وكيف يشك مؤمن بأحقية الأئمة الأطهار فيما تواترت عنهم من مائتي حديث صريح رواها نيف وأربعون من الثقات العظام والعلماء الأعلام في أزيد من خمسين من مؤلفاتهم

Realise, O brother! I do not think that you will have any reservations after I presented and verified to you the belief in Raj’ah upon which the Shia of all generations unanimously agree and which is as evident to them like the sun in midday. How can a believer in the reality of the pure Imams doubt that which has been transmitted with tawatur from them in two hundred explicit ahadith narrated by over forty reliable, senior scholars and authorities in more than fifty books.^[74]

The Shia narrate from Hussain ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib radiya Llahu ‘anhuma that he affirmed:

لو لم يبق من الدنيا إلا يوم واحد لطوّل الله ذلك اليوم حتى يخرج رجل من ولدي فيملأها قسطاً وعدلاً كما مُلئت جوراً وظلما

If only one day remains of the world, Allah will lengthen that day until a man from my progeny will emerge and fill the world with justice and equality just as it was filled with injustice and oppression.^[75]

They fabricate in the name of the Nabi of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said:

القائم من ولدي اسمه اسمي وكنيته كنيتي وشمائله شمائلي وسنته سنتي يقيم الناس على ملتي وشريعتي يدعوهم إلى كتاب الله ربي من أطاعه أطاعني ومن عصاه عصاني ومن أنكر غيبته فقد أنكرني ومن كذبه فقد كذبني ومن صدقه فقد صدقني إلى الله أشكو المكذبين لي في أمره والجاحدين لقولي في شأنه والمضلين لأمتي عن طريقته وسيعلم الذين ظلموا أي منقلب ينقلبون

The Qa’im is from my progeny. His name resembles mine; his agnomen resembles mine; his characteristics resemble mine, and his practice resembles mine. He will set up people on my religion and Shari’ah, inviting them to the Book of Allah, my Rabb. Whoever obeys Him, obeys me and whoever disobeys him disobeys me. Whoever denies his occultation has denied me. Whoever belies it has belied me while whoever believes in it believes in me. I complain to Allah of those who bely me regarding him and reject my words concerning him, those who lead my Ummah astray from his path. And the oppressors will soon come to know by what kind of return they will be returned.^[76]

Who will the Mahdi be?

The Shia attribute falsehood to Hassan ibn ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu claiming that when he reconciled with Muawiyah, people entered his presence and some blamed him for his Bay’ah to which he said:

ويحكم ما تدرون ما علمت والله الذي عملت خير لشيعتي مما طلعت عليه الشمس أو غربت ألا تعلمون أني إمامكم ومفترض الطاعة عليكم وأحد سيدي شباب أهل الجنة بنص رسول الله عليّ قالوا بلى قال أما علمتم أن الخضر لما خرق السفينة وقتل الغلام وأقام الجدار كان ذلك سخطاً لموسى إذ خفى عليه وجه الحكمة في ذلك وكان عند الله تعالى ذكره حكمة وصواباً أما علمتم أنه ما منا أحد إلا ويقع في عنقه بيعة لطاغية زمانه إلا القائم الذي يصلي روح الله عيسى بن مريم خلفه فإن الله عز وجل يخفي ولادته ويغيب شخصه لئلا يكون لأحد في عنقه بيعة إذا خرج ذلك التاسع من ولد أخي الحسين بن سيدة الإماء يطيل الله عمره في غيبته ثم يظهره بقدرته في صورة شاب دون أربعين سنة ذلك ليعلم أن الله على كل شيء قدير

 “Woe to you! You do not know what I do. By Allah, what I concluded is superior for my Shia than what the sun rose over or set upon. Do you not know that I am your Imam, my obedience is obligatory upon you, and I am one of the leaders of the youth of Jannat by the explicit declaration of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in my favour?”

They said, “Definitely.”

He continued, “Are you not aware that when Khadir broke the ship, killed the boy, and erected the wall, it enraged Musa as he was unaware of the wisdom behind it, whereas in the sight of Allah, whose mention is lofty, it was wise and correct? Do you not know that there is none among us except that the Bay’ah to a tyrant of his time will be around his neck, except the Qa’im—behind whom the soul of Allah, ‘Isa ibn Maryam, performs salah. Certainly, Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—will conceal his birth and conceal his person so that no one might have a Bay’ah around his neck when he emerges as the ninth [generation] from the progeny of my brother Hussain, son of the queen of the women. Allah will lengthen his life in his occultation and then manifest him through His power in the form of a young man under forty years. This, so that he knows that Allah has power over everything.^[77]

They report a similar narration from Jafar:

من أقرّ بجميع الأئمة وجحد المهدي كان كمن أقرّ بجميع الأنبياء وجحد محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم نبوته فقيل له يا ابن رسول الله فمن المهدي من ولدك قال الخامس ولد السابع يغيب عنكم شخصه ولا يحل لكم تسميته

Whoever attests to all the Imams and rejects the Mahdi is like one who attests to all the Ambiya’ and rejects the Nubuwwah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

He was asked, “O son of the Messenger of Allah, who is the Mahdi from your progeny?”

He explained, “The fifth, son of the seventh, his person will disappear from your sight and it is not permissible for you to mention his name.”^[78]

His Rank and Position

They narrate from ‘Ali ibn al Hussain concerning his position and rank:

في القائم منا سنن من ستة من الأنبياء عليهم السلام سنة من نوح وسنة من إبراهيم وسنة من موسى وسنة من عيسى وسنة من أيوب وسنة من محمد فأما من نوح فطول في العمر وأما من إبراهيم فخفاء الولادة واعتزال الناس وأما من موسى فالخوف والغيبة وأما من عيسى فاختلاف الناس فيه وأما من أيوب فالفرج بعد البلوى وأما من محمد فالخروج بالسيف والقائم منا تخفى على الناس ولادته حتى يقولوا لم يُولد بعد ليخرج حين يخرج وليس لأحد في عنقه بيعة ومن ثبت على موالاتنا في غيبته أعطاه الله أجر ألف شهيد مثل شهداء بدر

The Qa’im has six characteristics of the Ambiya’ ‘alayhim al Salam: the quality of Nuh, the quality of Ibrahim, the quality of Musa, the quality of ‘Isa, the quality of Ayub, and the quality of Muhammad. The one of Nuh is a lengthy lifespan, of Ibrahim is a concealed birth and withdrawal from people, of Musa is fear and occultation, of ‘Isa is people differing over him, of Ayub is an opening after trial, and of Muhammad is emergence with the sword. The birth of our Qa’im will be concealed from people so that people will claim that he was not born yet, so that he might emerge when he emerges without any Bay’ah around his neck. Whoever remains firm upon our loyalty during his occultation, Allah will award him the reward of a thousand martyrs like the martyrs of Badr.^[79]

Al No’mani reports in al Ghaybah that their Mahdi will rest his back to the Bayt al Haram declaring:

أنا بقية من آدم وذخيرة من نوح ومصطفى من إبراهيم وصفوة من محمد

I am the remnant from Adam, the treasure from Nuh, the chosen from Ibrahim, and the elite from Muhammad.^[80]

He says:

أنا بقية الله وخليفته وحجة عليكم

I am the remnant of Allah, His Khalifah, and His proof against you.^[81]

Jibril will be in front of him.^[82]

They claim:

نظر موسى بن عمران في السفر الأول إلى ما يُعطى قائم آل محمد من التمكين والفضل فقال رب اجعلني قائم آل محمد فقيل له إن ذاك من ذرية أحمد ثم نظر في السفر الثاني فوجد فيه مثل ذلك فقال مثله فقيل له مثل ذلك ثم نظر في السفر الثالث فرأى مثله فقال مثله فقيل مثله

Musa ibn ‘Imran looked in the first scripture at the authority and superiority awarded to the Qa’im of the family of Muhammad.

Musa submitted, “O my Rabb, make me the Qa’im of Muhammad’s family.”

He was told, “He is from the progeny of Ahmed.”

He then looked at the second scripture and found the same. He thus made the same request and was given the same reply. He then looked at the third scripture and saw the same, requested the same, and received the same reply.^[83]

When will he return?

Al Kulayni reports in al Kafi from al Asbagh ibn Nubatah who recalls:

أتيت أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام فوجدته متفكراً ينكت في الأرض فقلت يا أمير المؤمنين مالي أراك متفكراً تنكت الأرض أرغبة منك فيها فقال لا والله ما رغبت فيها ولا في الدنيا يوماً قط ولكني فكرت في مولود يكون من ظهري الحادي عشر من ولدي هو المهدي الذي يملأ الأرض عدلاً وقسطاً كما مُلئت جوراً وظلما تكون له غيبة وحيرة يضل فيها أقوام ويهتدي فيها آخرون فقلت يا أمير المؤمنين وكم تكون له الحيرة والغيبة قال ستة أيام أو ستة أشهر أو ست سنين قلت وإن هذا لكائن فقال نعم كما أنه مخلوق وأنى بهذا الأمر يا أصبغ أولئك خيار هذه الأمة مع خيار أبرار هذه العترة

I approached Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam and found him in deep thought, scratching up the ground.

I said, “O Amir al Mu’minin, why do I see you in deep thought scratching up the earth? Do you have desire for it?”

He said, “No. By Allah, I have no desire for it and have never desired the world for a single day. However, I am thinking about a baby from my loins, the eleventh generation of my progeny. He is the Mahdi who will fill the earth with justice and equality as it was filled with injustice and tyranny. He will have Occultation and confusion. Many nations will go astray over him while others will find guidance.”

I asked, “O Amir al Mu’minin, how long will he be in confusion and Occultation?”

He said, “Six days, six months, or six years.”

I asked, “This will occur?”

He said, “Yes, just as he is created. It is high time that you are aware of this matter, O Asbagh! They are the cream of this Ummah with the elite of the righteous of this family.”^[84]

He narrates from Abu Jafar al Baqir:

يا ثابت إن الله تعالى قد كان وقت هذا الأمر في سبعين فلما أن قتل الحسين صلوات الله عليه اشتد غضب الله تعالى على أهل الأرض فأخره إلى أربعين ومائة فحدثناكم فأذعتم الحديث فكشفتم قناع الستر ولم يجعل الله له بعد ذلك وقتاً عندنا ويمحو الله ما يشاء ويثبت وعنده أم الكتاب

O Thabit, indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala had set the time for this matter, 70. After Hussain—may salutations be upon him—was martyred, Allah’s subhanahu wa ta ‘ala anger^[85] increased upon the inhabitants of the earth and He postponed it to the year 140. We narrated to you and you publicised the hadith and thus opened the veils. Allah did not set a time thereafter according to us. Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.

He narrates from his son, Jafar:

وقد كان لهذا الأمر وقت كان في سنة أربعين ومائة فحدثتم به وأذعتموه فأخره الله عز وجل

This matter had a stipulated time, the year 140. We narrated it to you and you publicised it, hence Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—postponed it.^[86]

They report from Abu Jafar:

ليس بين القائم عليه السلام وقتل النفس الزكية أكثر من خمس عشرة ليلة

Between the Qa’im ‘alayh al Salam and the killing of al Nafs al Zakiyyah is not more than fifteen nights.^[87]

He also reports a narration from his son Jafar who says:

إذا هدم حائط مسجد الكوفة مما يلي دار ابن مسعود فعند ذلك زوال ملك القوم وعند زواله خروج القائم

When the wall of Kufah’s Masjid, adjacent to Ibn Mas’ud’s house, is demolished, this will summon the fall of the kingdom of the nation and at their fall will be the emergence of the Qa’im.^[88]

It is a fact that al Nafs al Zakiyyah was killed and thousands of nights passed just as the wall of Kufah’s Masjid was demolished and hundreds of years passed. However, the alleged man did not emerge.

They report from Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar who said:

قال لي أبو عبد الله عليه السلام يا أبا إسحاق إن هذا الأمر قد أخر مرتين

Abu ‘Abdullah ‘alayh al Salam told me, “O Abu Ishaq, this matter has been delayed twice.^[89]

In this manner, Shia entertain vain hopes of the emergence of their Qa’im and the return of their Mahdi. Their seventh Imam, Musa ibn Jafar, acknowledges this. Al Kulayni reports in his al Kafi and al No’mani in his al Ghaybah^[90] so that the Shia do not renounce Shi’ism. Here is the text:

عن يقطين أنه قال لابنه علي بن يقطين ما بالنا قيل لنا فكان وقيل لكم فلم يكن يعني أمر بني العباس فقال له علي إن الذي قيل لكم ولنا من مخرج واحد غير أن أمركم حضر (وقته) فأعطيتم محضه فكان كما قيل لكم وإن أمرنا لم يحضر فعللنا بالأماني ولو قيل لنا أن هذا الأمر لا يكون إلا إلى مائتي سنة أو ثلاثمائة سنة لقست القلوب ولرجع الناس عن الإسلام ولكن قالوا ما أسرعه وما أقربه تألفاً لقلوب الناس وتقريباً للفرج

Yaqtin reports that he told his son, ‘Ali ibn Yaqtin, “What is the matter with us? We were promised and it occurred, i.e., the authority of the Banu al ‘Abbas, and what you were promised did not materialise, i.e., the Return.”

‘Ali told him, “What was told to you and us was from the same source, except that your matter’s time has come and you were given it pure. Hence, what you were promised materialised. Our matter did not come to pass and we entertain distant hopes. Hence, if we are told that this matter will not happen until the next two hundred or three hundred years, hearts would harden and majority of people will renounce Islam. They instead claimed that it is very close and near, to win people’s hearts and to draw closer the relief.”^[91]

Al Jaza’iri reports from al Majlisi that he would view the time of his emergence the days of the Safawid Empire, citing three ahadith as proof. This is his text[92]:

اعلم أنه قد وردت أخبار مجملة وقد نقلها الأصحاب على إجمالها ولم يتعرضوا لبيان معناها وذلك أنها أخبار متشابهة يجب علينا الإذعان لها من باب التسليم ولما انتهت النوبة إلى شيخنا المحقق رئيس المحدثين وخاتمة المجتهدين المولى المجلسي صاحب كتاب بحار الأنوار أدام الله أيام إفاداته وأجزل في الآخرة مثوباته وسعادته توجه إلى إيضاحها وتفسيرها وطبق بعضها على وقت تعيين ظهور الدولة الصفوية أعلى الله منار بنيانها وشيّد رفيع أركانها وطبق البعض الآخر على تعيين وقت ظهور مولانا صاحب الزمان عليه ألف سلام فلننقل تلك الأخبار على وجهها ثم نذكر ما أفاده سلمه الله تعالى من البيان والإيضاح الحديث الأول ما رواه الشيخ الأجلّ المحدّث محمد بن إبراهيم النعماني في كتاب الغيبة بسنده إلى أبي خالد الكابلي عن الباقر عليه السلام أنه قال كأني بقوم قد خرجوا بالمشرق يطلبون الحق فلا يعطونه فإذا رأوا ذلك وضعوا سيوفهم على عواتقهم فيُعطون ما سألوا فلا يقبلونه حتى يقوموا ولا يدفعونها إلا إلى صاحبكم قتلاهم شهداء قال أدام الله أيامه أنه لا يخفى على أهل البصائر أنه لم يخرج من المشرق سوى أرباب السلسلة الصفوية وهو الشاه إسماعيل أعلى الله مقامه في دار المقامة وقوله عليه السلام لا يدفعونها إلا إلى صاحبكم المراد به القائم عليه السلام فيكون في هذا الحديث إشارة إلى اتصال دولة الصفوية بدولة المهدي عليه السلام فهم الذين يسلمون الملك له عند نزوله بلا نزاع وجدال الحديث الثاني ما رواه النعماني أيضاً في ذلك الكتاب بإسناد معتبر إلى الصادق عليه السلام قال بينا أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام يحدّث في الوقائع التي تجري بعده إلى ظهور المهدي عليه السلام فقال له الحسين عليه السلام يا أمير المؤمنين في أي وقت يطّهر الله الأرض من الظالمين فقال عليه السلام لا يكون هذا حتى تراق دماء كثيرة على الأرض بلا حق ثم إنه عليه السلام فصل أحوال بني أمية وبني العباس في حديث طويل اختصره الراوي فقال أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام إذا قام القائم بخراسان وغلب على أرض كوفان وملطان وتعدى جزيرة بني كاوان وقام منها قائم بجيلان وأجابته الأبر والديلم وظهرت لولدي رايات الترك متفرقات في الأقطار والحرمات وكانوا بين هنات وهنات إذا خربت البصرة وقام أميرالأمرة فحكى عليه السلام حكاية طويلة ثم قال إذا جهزت الألوف وصفت الصفوف وقتل الكبش الخروف هناك يقوم الآخر ويثور الثائر ويهلك الكافر ثم يقوم القائم المأمول والإمام المجهول له الشرق والفضل وهو من ولدك يا حسين لا ابن مثله يظهر بين الركنين في ذر يسير يظهر على الثقلين ولا يترك في الأرض الأدنين طوبى لمن أدرك زمانه ولحق أوانه وشهد أيامه قال ضاعف الله أيام سعادته جزيرة بني كاوان جزيرة حول البصرة وأهل الأبر جماعة في قرب أسترآباد والديلم هم أهل قزوين وما والاها والحرمات الأمكنة الشريفة قوله هنات وهنات أي حروب عظيمة ووقائع كثيرة في وقت خراب البصرة والمراد بالقائم المأمول هو المهدي عليه السلام والمراد بالركنين ركنا الكعبة وهو الركن والحطيم الذي هو محل خروجه عليه السلام وقوله ذر يسير المراد به الجماعة القليلة وهم شهداء بدر وقوله يظهر على الثقلين يعني به أنه عليه السلام يغلب على الجن والإنس سميا به لأنهما يثقلان الأرض بالإستقرار فوقها أو لأنهما أشرف المخلوقات السفلية والعرب تسمى الشريف ثقلاً لحلمه ورزانته وقيل إنما سميا به لأنهما قد ثقلا بالتكليف فهما ثقلان بمعنى مثقلان وقوله الأدنين جمع أدنى وهم أراذل الناس وأدناهم والمراد بهم الظالمون الكافرون ثم قال سلمه الله تعالى الظاهر أن المراد بأهل الخروج من خراسان هم أمراء الترك مثل جنكيزخان وهولاكوخان والمراد بالخارج من جيلان هو الشاه المؤيد الشاه إسماعيل ومن ثم أضافه عليه السلام إلى نفسه وسماه ولده والمراد بأمير الأمرة إما ذلك السلطان المذكور أو غيره من السلاطين الصفوية وقوله وقتل الكبش الخروف الظاهر أنه إشارة إلى المرحوم صفي الدين ميرزا فإن أباه وهو المرحوم الشاه عباس الأول قد قتله وقوله يقوم الآخر المراد به المرحوم الشاه صفي فإنه أخذ دمه وأول من قتله هو الذي باشر قتل أبيه صفي ميرزا وقوله عليه السلام ثم يقوم القائم المأمول إشارة أيضاً إلى اتصال الدولة الصفوية بالدولة المهدوية على صاحبها السلام الحديث الثالث رواه الشيخ الأجلّ محمد بن مسعود العياشي وهو من ثقات المحدّثين في كتاب التفسير عن أبي لبيد المخزومي عن الباقر عليه السلام بعدما ذكر ملك شقاوة بني العباس قال يا أبا لبيد إن حروف القرآن المقطعة لعلماً جماً إن الله تعالى أنزل ألم ذلك الكتاب فقام محمد صلى الله عليه وآله حتى ظهر نوره وثبتت كلمته وولد يوم ولد وقد مضى من الألف السابع مائة سنة وثلث سنين ثم قال وتبيانه في كتاب الله في الحروف المقطعة إذا عددتها من غير تكرار وليس من الحروف المقطعة حرف ينقضي إلا وقيام قائم من بني هاشم عند انقضائه ثم قال الألف واحد واللام ثلاثون والميم أربعون والصاد تسعون فذلك مائة وواحد وستون ثم كان بدء خروج الحسين بن علي عليه السلام ألم الله فلما بلغت مدته قام قائم ولد العباس عند المص ويقوم قائمنا عند انقضائها بالر فافهم ذلك وعه واكتمه قال ذلك المحقق أيده الله تعالى قوله عليه السلام من الألف السابع المراد به من ابتداء خلق أبينا آدم عليه السلام ثم قال أيده الله تعالى إن هذا الحديث في غاية الإشكال وقد ذكرنا له وجوهاً في كتاب بحار الأنوار ولنذكرهنا وجهاً واحداً ولكنه مبني عل تمهيد مقدمة وهي أن المعلوم من كتب الحساب المعتبرة أن حساب أبجد له اصطلاحات مختلفة ومناط حساب هذا الحديث على اصطلاح أهل المغرب وقد كان شائعاً بين العرب في الأعصار السابقة وهو هذا صعفض قرست ثخذ ضغش فالصاد عندهم ستون والضاد تسعون والسين ثلثمأة والظاء ثمانمأة والغين تسعمأة الشين ألف وباقي الحروف على موافقة المشهور إذا عرفت هذه المقدمة فاعلم أن تاريخ ولادة نبينا صلى الله عليه وآله يظهر من جميع فواتح السور ولكن باسقاط الحروف المكررة مثلاً ألم والر وحم وغيرها من المكررات لا يُؤخذ منه الحساب إلا واحد وكذلك الحروف المبسوطة مثل ألف را لا يُحسب منه إلا ثلاثة وكذا لام را ونحو ذلك وحينئذ فألف لام ميم ألف لام ميم صاد ألف لام را ألف لام ميم را كاف ها يا عين صاد طا ها طا سين يا سين صاد حا ميم عين سين قاف قاف نون إذا عددت حروفها تكون مئة وثلثاً من وقت خلق أبينا آدم عليه السلام إلى وقت ولادة النبي صلى الله عليه وآله يكون على وفق هذا الحديث ستة آلاف سنة ومئة وثلاثون (ثلث سنين ظ) والأول من كل ألف سنة تاريخ وأول كل سابع من آلاف مائة وثلاث يكون قد مضت وعدد هذه الحروف أيضاً يكون مأة وثلاثة على ما عرفت فيكون ألم الذي في أول سورة البقرة إشارة إلى مبعث نبينا صلى الله عليه وآله وقوله عليه السلام وليس حرف ينقضي إلا وقيام قائم من بني هاشم عند انقضائه واضح على هذا وذلك أول دولة بني هاشم ابتداؤها من عبد المطلب ومن ظهور دولة عبد المطلب إلى ظهور دولة نبينا صلى الله عليه وآله إحدى وسبعين سنة تقريباً عدد ألم بحساب أبجد على ترتيب القرآن بعد ألم البقرة وألم آل عمران وهو إشارة إلى خروج الحسين عليه السلام فإنه من ابتداء رواج دولة النبي صلى الله عليه وآله إلى وقت خروج الحسين عليه السلام إحدى وسبعون سنة تقريباً وأيضاً بحسب ترتيب سور القرآن ألمص وهو إشارة إلى خروج بني العباس فإنهم من بني هاشم أيضاً وإن كانوا غير محقين في أمر الخروج وبحساب أبجد على طريق المغاربة مئة وواحد وثلاثون ومن أول بعثة النبي صلى الله عليه وآله إلى وقت ظهور دولتهم مئة وواحد وثلاثون وإن كان إلى زمان بيعتهم أكثر ويحتمل أن يكون ابتداء هذا التاريخ من وقت نزول سورة الأعراف فيكون مطابقاً لوقت بيعتهم وعلى حساب ألمص على طريق المغاربة يبني الحديث المروي في كتاب معاني الأخبار وسنذكره إن شاء الله تعالى وأما كون قيام القائم عليه السلام مبنياً على حساب ألر فالذي يخطر بخاطري أن الرقد وقع في القرآن في خمسة مواضع وينبغي لبيانه كما تعرض لبيان ألم ومجموعة ألف ومئة وخمس وخمسون سنة تقريباً من سنة تحرير هذه الرسالة وهو سنة ألف وثمان وسبعون من الهجرة فيكون قد بقى من وقت خروجه عليه السلام (سبعة وسبعون ظ) خمس وستون سنة لما كان مبدأ هذه التواريخ من أوائل البعثة هذا محصل كلامه سلمه الله تعالى

Know that mujmal (condensed) reports have come and scholars have reported them condensed without attempting to elucidate on their meaning. This is because they are mutashabih (not clearly intelligible) reports—it is obligatory upon us to submit to them with obedience. When came the turn of our senior scholar, the researcher, the chief of the muhaddithin, the seal of the mujtahidin, the honourable, al Majlisi, author of Bihar al Anwar—may Allah maintain the days of his benefit and increase his reward and fortune in the Hereafter—he focused on explaining them. He applied some of them to the time determining the emergence of the Safawid Empire—may Allah raise the buildings upon its foundations and erect high their pillars—and applied others to specifying the time of the emergence of our master, the man of the time—upon him thousand peace. Allow us to transmit these reports verbatim followed by quoting the explanation he presented—may Allah protect him.

Narration One: The Muhaddith Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al No’mani in Kitab al Ghaybah through his chain to Abu Khalid al Kabili—from al Baqir ‘alayh al Salam who states:

كأني بقوم قد خرجوا بالمشرق يطلبون الحق فلا يعطونه فإذا رأوا ذلك وضعوا سيوفهم على عواتقهم فيُعطون ما سألوا فلا يقبلونه حتى يقوموا ولا يدفعونها إلا إلى صاحبكم قتلاهم شهداء

As if I am by a nation who emerged from the East seeking the truth and are not given the same. When they realised this, they placed their swords off their shoulders and were subsequently given what they asked for; however, they did not accept it until they stood up and they do not give it except to your companion. Their murdered are martyrs.

He (al Majlisi) explains, “It is not hidden from people of insight that no one emerged from the East besides the leaders of the Safawiyyah chain, viz. Shah Ismail—may Allah raise his status in the abode of eternity. The meaning of, “they do not give it except to your man,” refers to the Qa’im ‘alayh al Salam. This hadith has indication to the merging of the Safawid Empire with the State of the Mahdi ‘alayh al Salam. They will surrender kingdom to him without any fight and conflict when he emerges.”

Narration Two: Al No’mani reports in this book with a reliable chain from al Sadiq ‘alayh al Salam:

بينا أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام يحدّث في الوقائع التي تجري بعده إلى ظهور المهدي عليه السلام فقال له الحسين عليه السلام يا أمير المؤمنين في أي وقت يطّهر الله الأرض من الظالمين فقال عليه السلام لا يكون هذا حتى تراق دماء كثيرة على الأرض بلا حق ثم إنه عليه السلام فصل أحوال بني أمية وبني العباس في حديث طويل اختصره الراوي فقال أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام إذا قام القائم بخراسان وغلب على أرض كوفان وملطان وتعدى جزيرة بني كاوان وقام منها قائم بجيلان وأجابته الأبر والديلم وظهرت لولدي رايات الترك متفرقات في الأقطار والحرمات وكانوا بين هنات وهنات إذا خربت البصرة وقام أميرالأمرة فحكى عليه السلام حكاية طويلة ثم قال إذا جهزت الألوف وصفت الصفوف وقتل الكبش الخروف هناك يقوم الآخر ويثور الثائر ويهلك الكافر ثم يقوم القائم المأمول والإمام المجهول له الشرق والفضل وهو من ولدك يا حسين لا ابن مثله يظهر بين الركنين في ذر يسير يظهر على الثقلين ولا يترك في الأرض الأدنين طوبى لمن أدرك زمانه ولحق أوانه وشهد أيامه

Amir al Mu’minin was speaking on occurrences which will transpire after him until the emergence of the Mahdi ‘alayh al Salam. Hussain ‘alayh al Salam said to him, “O Amir al Mu’minin, at what time will Allah cleanse the earth from the oppressors?”

‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam explained, “This will not happen until much blood is shed on the earth unjustly.”

Thereafter, he ‘alayh al Salam gave a detailed account of the Banu Umayyah and Banu al ‘Abbas in a lengthy hadith which the narrator condensed. Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam said, “The Qa’im will rise up in Khorasan and overpower the lands of Kufah and Multan and cross the Island of Banu Kawan. A man will stand up in Jilan and the Abr and Jaylam will answer his call, and the banners of the Turks will be raised for my child, spread out in countries and holy places. They will be between great wars. Basrah will become desolate and the leader of authority will stand up.” He then gave a lengthy story.

Then he said, “Thousands will be mobilised, rows will be formed, and the ram will kill the lamb. Then the other will rise up, one will spring up, and the disbeliever will be destroyed. At this point, the awaited Qa’im and unknown Imam will emerge, who possesses nobility and virtue. He is from your progeny, O Hussain. There is no son like him. He will emerge between the two rukns (corners) in a small group, he will overpower mankind and jinnkind and will not leave on earth the lowly. Glad tidings to the one who finds his time, meets his time, and witnesses his days.”

He (al Majlisi) explains, “The Island of Banu Kawan is the Island around Basrah. The people of Abr are a group close to Astarabad. Daylam are the people of Qazwin and surrounding areas. Al hurumat refer to the sacred places. Hanat Hanat signifies great wars and plenty happenings at the time of Basrah’s desolation. The purport of the awaited Qa’im is the Mahdi ‘alayh al Salam. The meaning of the two rukns is the two corners of the Ka’bah, i.e., the Rukn and Hatim—which is the place of his emergence. The meaning of dharr yasir is a small group to the number of martyrs at Badr. The meaning of he will conquer Thaqalayn (lit. two heavy), i.e., he will conquer jinn and man—they are named this as they weigh down the earth by staying upon it or because they are the most exalted of lower creations. The Arabs call a noble person thaqal due to his tolerance and composure. It is said that they are named such as they are burdened with obligations; hence, they are thaqalan meaning muthqalan (burdened). The word al adnin is the plural of adna i.e., the downtrodden people. This refers to the oppressors, disbelievers.”

He then explains, “Apparent is that the purport of those who will emerge from Khorasan are the leaders of the Turks like Genghis Khan and Halaku Khan. The meaning of the one to rebel from Jilan is Shah, the assisted, Shah Ismail. That is why he ‘alayh al Salam attributed him to himself and called him his son. The purport of Amir al Amrah is either the above-mentioned Sultan or some other Sultan of the Safawids. The meaning of qatal al kabsh al khuruf [the ram will kill the lamb] apparently is indication to the Marhum Safi Mirza as his father, Marhum Shah ‘Abbas the first, killed him. His words: another will stand, the purport is Marhum Shah Safi, as he took vengeance and is the first to kill his father. He is the one to carry out the killing of his, Safi Mirza’s, father. His words: then the Qa’im who is anticipated will stand is also indication to the linking of the Safawid Empire with the Mahdawiyyah Empire—may peace be upon him.”

Narration Three: Eminent senior scholar Muhammad ibn Mas’ud al ‘Ayyashi, from the reliable muhaddithin, narrates in Kitab al Tafsir—from Abu Labid al Makhzumi—from al Baqir ‘alayh al Salam after mentioning the kingdom of the miserable Banu al ‘Abbas. He says:

يا أبا لبيد إن حروف القرآن المقطعة لعلماً جماً إن الله تعالى أنزل ألم ذلك الكتاب فقام محمد صلى الله عليه وآله حتى ظهر نوره وثبتت كلمته وولد يوم ولد وقد مضى من الألف السابع مائة سنة وثلث سنين ثم قال وتبيانه في كتاب الله في الحروف المقطعة إذا عددتها من غير تكرار وليس من الحروف المقطعة حرف ينقضي إلا وقيام قائم من بني هاشم عند انقضائه ثم قال الألف واحد واللام ثلاثون والميم أربعون والصاد تسعون فذلك مائة وواحد وستون ثم كان بدء خروج الحسين بن علي عليه السلام ألم الله فلما بلغت مدته قام قائم ولد العباس عند المص ويقوم قائمنا عند انقضائها بالر فافهم ذلك وعه واكتمه

O Abu Labid, indeed the huruf muqatta’ah [isolated letters at the beginning of certain chapters] of the Qur’an contain great knowledge. Certainly, Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala revealed Alif Lam Mim. This is the book. Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam stood up until his light manifested and his word was established and he was born the day he was born. Of the seventh millennium, 103 years passed. He then said: Its explanation in the Book of Allah in the huruf muqatta’ah, when you count it without repetition. There is no letter of the huruf muqatta’ah which ends except that the rising of a Qa’im of the Banu Hashim is at its end.

He then explained: Alif is one. Lam is thirty. Mim is forty. Sad is ninety. This adds to 161. Then came the beginning of Hussain ibn ‘Ali’s ‘alayh al Salam rebellion: Alim Lam Mim Allah. When his time reached, a Qa’im stood up, the son of al ‘Abbas at Alim Lam Mim Sad. Our Qa’im will stand at its end at Alif Lam Ra. Understand this, remember it, and conceal it.

Al Majlisi states: His words from the seventh millennium—the purport is from the inception of the creation of our father Adam ‘alayh al Salam. Indeed, this hadith is extremely complex. We have mentioned few explanations in Bihar al Anwar. We will mention one explanation here. However, it is based on an introduction. It is common from the reliable books of math that the abjad counting has various processes. The basis of the count of this hadith is the technique of the Moroccans. This was widely popular among the Arabs in previous eras. It is: hadha sa’fad qarsat thakhadh zaghash. Sad according to them is sixty. Dad is ninety. Sin is three hundred. Za’ is eight hundred. Ghayn is nine hundred. Shin is one thousand. The remaining letters are in conformity with the popular count.

After understanding this introduction, realise that the date of our Prophet’s birth salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam becomes apparent from the beginning of all Surahs; however, with deleting repeated letters: For example, Alif Lam Mim and Alif Lam Ra and Ha Mim etc. Only one will be considered in the count. Similarly, the opened letters like Alif and Ra, only three will be counted. Even Lam and Ra etc. In this instance, Alif Lam Mim Alif Lam Mim Sad Alif Lam Ra Alif Lam Mim Ra Kaf Ha Ya ‘Ayn Sad Ta Ha Ta Sin Ya Sin Sad Ha Mim ‘Ayn Sin Qaf Qaf Nun. When you count the letters, it adds to 103. From the time of the creation of our father Adam ‘alayh al Salam until the time of the Nabi’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam birth will be—according to this hadith—six thousand, one hundred, and thirty years (three years. Za.) The first of each alif is a year in history. The first of every seventh alif is a hundred and three years which have passed. The total of these letters is also a hundred and three as you have recognised. Hence, the Alif Lam Mim in the beginning of Surah al Baqarah is indication to the deputation of our Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

His saying: There is no letter which ends except it is a rising of a Qa’im from the Banu Hashim at its end is evident. This is the first state of the Banu Hashim and its inception from ‘Abdul Muttalib. From the emergence of the state of ‘Abdul Muttalib to the emergence of the state of our Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is seventy-one years approximately. The number of Alif Lam Mim in the count of Abjad on the sequence of the Qur’an after Alif Lam Mim of al Baqarah and the Alif Lam Mim of Al ‘Imran. This is indication to the rebellion of Hussain ‘alayh al Salam for it is from the inception of the movement of the state of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam until the time of the rebellion of Hussain ‘alayh al Salam is seventy-one years approximately. Moreover, according to the sequence of the Surahs of Qur’an, Alif Lam Mim Sad is indication to the emergence of the Banu al ‘Abbas as they are from the Banu Hashim as well, even though they were not true in the matter of emergence. With the Abjad count on the method of the Moroccans, it is a hundred and thirty-one. From the inception of the deputation of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to the time of the emergence of their state is a hundred and thirty-one, even though until the time of their Bay’ah is more.

It is possible that the beginning of this history is from the time of the revelation of Surah al A’raf, which will then be in accordance to the time of their Bay’ah and on the count of Alim Lam Mim Sad on the method of the Moroccans. The hadith reported is based on the book Ma’ani al Akhbar. And we will soon mention it, Allah willing.

As regards the rising of the Qa’im being based on the count of Alif Lam Ra, what comes to mind is that Alif Lam Ra appears in the Qur’an in five places. It is appropriate to count with the indication that he ‘alayh al Salam did not venture to explain it as he attempted to explain Alif Lam Mim. The total is one thousand, one hundred, and fifty-five years (1 155) approximately. The time of the writing of this treatise is the year 1 078 AH. Thus, what remains until his ‘alayh al Salam emergence is sixty-five (seventy-seven. Za) since the inception of these dates is the inception of his Nubuwwah. This is the gist of his explanation, may Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala keep him safe.^[93]

Sixty-five years and seventy-seven years have passed and much more than this, yet the time for the return of the Qa’im has not arrived. It is not for a non-existent being to be found.

How beautifully was it said:

The time has yet not come for the basement to give birth to the one you postulated with your imagination as a human. There is dust over your minds, as you have assumed a third to the griffon and ghoul.

How will he return and where will he return?

The Shia believe that Jafar said:

ينادى باسم القائم في يوم ستة وعشرين من شهر رمضان ويقوم في يوم عاشوراء وهو اليوم الذي قتل فيه الحسين بن علي (ع) لكأني به يوم السبت العاشر من المحرم قائماً بين الركن والمقام جبرئيل بين يديه ينادي بالبيعة له فتسير شيعته من أطراف الأرض تطوي لهم طياً حتى يبايعوه فيملأ الله به الأرض عدلاً كما مُلئت جوراً وظلماً

The name of the Qa’im will be announced on the twenty-sixth day of the month of Ramadan. He will stand on the Day of ‘Ashura’. It is the very day on which Hussain ibn ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam was martyred. As if I am standing before him on Saturday, the 10^th of Muharram, standing between the Rukn and Maqam. Jibril before him calling to his Bay’ah. His Shia from the corners of the earth will travel and the earth will be folded for them until they pledge allegiance to him. Allah will fill the earth through him with justice as it was filled with injustice and tyranny.^[94]

They explain how the Shia will gather for the Qa’im, saying:

إذا أذن الإمام دعا الله باسمه العبراني فأتيحت (فانتخب) له صحابته الثلاثمائة والثلاثة عشر قزع كقزع الخريف فهم أصحاب الألوية منهم من يفقد عن فراشه ليلاً فيصبح في مكة ومنهم من يُرى يسير في السحاب نهاراً يُعرف باسمه واسم أبيه وحليته ونسبه قلت جعلت فداك أيهم أعظم إيماناً قال الذي يسير في السحاب نهاراً وهم المفقودون وفيهم نزلت هذه الآية أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يَأْتِ بِكُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا

“When the Imam is permitted, Allah will announce his Hebrew name^[95], his companions—three hundred and thirteen in number—will be selected like the tattered clouds of autumn. They are the men carrying flags. Some of them will go missing from their beds at night and wake up in Makkah. Some will be seen moving in the clouds during the day—recognised by their name, the name of their father, their dress, and their lineage.”

I said, “May I be sacrificed for you, which of them has greater faith?”

He explained, “The one who moves in the clouds during the day. They are missing [from their beds]. Concerning them, the verse was revealed: Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together.^[96]

Al Tusi, leader of the Shia, says:

ينادي منادي من السماء باسم القائم فيسمع من بين الشرق والغرب فلا يبقى راقد إلا استيقظ ولا قائم إلا قعد ولا قاعد إلا قام على رجليه فزعاً من ذلك الصوت وهوصوت جبرئيل الروح الأمين

A caller from the sky will announce the name of the Qa’im. It will be heard from the East to the West. Everyone who is asleep will wake up, every one standing will sit, every one sitting will stand on his two legs, shocked by that sound, the sound of Jibril al Ruh al Amin.^[97]

Al No’mani adds:

فلا يبقى شيء من خلق الله فيه إلا سمع الصيحة فتوقظ النائم ويخرج إلى صحن داره وتخرج العذراء من خدرها ويخرج القائم مما يسمع وهو صيحة جبرئيل

No creation of Allah will remain except he will hear the cry. The one sleeping will wake up and depart to the courtyard of his house, the virgin will emerge from her veil, and the Qa’im will emerge from what was heard—the cry of Jibril.^[98]

They report from Mufaddal ibn ‘Umar who said:

قلت لجعفر بن الباقر ففي أي بقعة يظهر المهدي قال لا تراه عين وقت ظهوره إلا رأته كل عين وذلك أنه يغيب آخر يوم من سنة ست وستين ومئتين ولا تراه عين أحد حتى يراه كل أحد ثم يظهر في مكة ووالله يا مفضل كأني أنظر إليه داخل مكة وعليه بردة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وعلى رأسه عمامته وفي رجليه نعل رسول الله المخصوفة وفي يده عصا النبي صلى الله عليه وآله يسوق بين يديه أعنزاً عجافاً حتى يصل بها نحو البيت حتى لا يعرفه أحد قال المفضل يا سيدي كيف يظهر قال يظهر وحده ويأتي البيت وحده إلى الكعبة ويجن عليه الليل وإذا نامت العيون وغسق الليل نزل جبرئيل وميكائيل والملائكة صفوفاً فيقول له جبرئيل يا سيدي قولك مقبول وأمرك جار فيمسح يده على وجهه ويقول الحمد لله الذي صدقنا وعده وأورثنا الأرض نتبوء من الجنة حيث نشاء فنعم أجر العاملين ويقف بين الركن والمقام ويصرخ صرخة يا معشر نقبائي وأهل خاصتي ومن خلقهم الله لظهوري على وجه الأرض ايتوني طائعين فترد صيحته عليهم وهم في تجائرهم وعلى فرشهم في شرق الأرض وغربها فيسمعونه في صيحة واحدة في أذن كل رجل فيجيئون نحوه ولا يمضي لهم إلا كلمحة بصر حتى يكونوا كلهم بين يديه بين الركن والمقام فيأمر الله عز وجل بنور فيصير عموداً من الأرض إلى السماء يستضيء به كل مؤمن على وجه الأرض ويدخل عليه نور في جوف بيته فتفرح نفوس المؤمنين بذلك وهم لا يعلمون بظهور قائمنا ثم يصبحون وقوفاً بين يديه وهم ثلثمائة وثلاثة عشر رجلاً بعدة أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يوم بدر

I asked Jafar ibn al Baqir, “In which land will the Mahdi emerge?”

He said, “No eye will see him at his emergence until every eye sees him. This is due to the fact that he will go missing at the end of the day of the year 266 AH and no one’s eye will see him until everyone sees him. He will then emerge in Makkah. By Allah, O Mufaddal, it is as if I see him entering Makkah wearing the mantle of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with his turban on his head, his repaired sandal on his feet, and his staff in his hand. He will be driving lean goats in front of him until he reaches close to the House, and none shall recognise him.”

Mufaddal said, “O my master, how will he emerge?”

He explained, “He will emerge alone and approach the House, the Ka’bah, alone and night will fall. When the eyes sleep and the night darkens, Jibril, Mika’il and the angels will descend upon him in rows. Jibril will say to him, ‘O my master, your statement is accepted and your command practiced.’ He will pass his hand over his face saying, ‘All praise belongs to Allah who fulfilled His promise and awarded us the earth, we may move about in Jannat wherever we wish. How excellent is the reward of the doers [of good].’ He will stop between the Rukn and Maqam and shout, ‘O gathering of my leaders, my people of distinction, and those Allah created for my emergence on the face of the earth, come to me in obedience.’

His shout will reach them while they are engaged in their dealings and in their beds in the East and West of the earth. They will hear him as one scream in the ears of every person and rush in his direction. Only the time equivalent to the batting of an eyelid will pass over them and they all will be before him between the Rukn and Maqam. Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—will command light and it will become a pillar from the earth to the sky from which every believer on the surface of the earth will benefit. Light will enter upon him in his home and the souls of the believers will be delighted with this, while they will not be aware of the emergence of our Qa’im. Suddenly, they will wake up standing before him, three hundred and thirteen in number—the number of Companions of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam on the Day of Badr.”^[99]

He will call out while resting his back to the Ka’bah:

يا معشر الخلائق ألا من أراد أن ينظر إلى آدم وشيث فها أنا ذا آدم وشيث ألا من أراد أن ينظر إلى إبراهيم وولده إسماعيل فها أنا ذا إبراهيم وإسماعيل ألا من أراد أن ينظر إلى عيسى وشمعون فها أنا ذا عيسى وشمعون ألا من أراد أن ينظر إلى محمد وأمير المؤمنين فها أنا ذا محمد وأمير المؤمنين ومن أراد أن ينظر إلى الحسن والحسين فها أنا ذا الحسن والحسين ألا من أراد أن ينظر إلى الأئمة من ولد الحسين فها أنا ذا الأئمة أجيبوا مسألتي فإني أنبئكم بما نبئتم به أو لم تنبئوا به ومن كان يقرأ الكتب والصحف فليسمع مني ثم يبتدئ بالصحف التي أنزلها الله لآدم وشيث فتقول أمة آدم وشيث هذه والله الصحف حقاً ولقد رأينا ما لم نعلمه فيها وما كان أسقط منها وبدّل وحرّف ثم يقرأ صحف نوح وصحف إبراهيم حقا ثم يقرأ التوراة والإنجيل والزبور فيقول أهل التوراة والإنجيل والزبور هذه والله التوراة الجامعة والإنجيل الكامل وإنها أضعاف ما ترى فيها ثم يتلو القرآن فيقول المسلمون هذا والله القرآن وما حرف وما بدل

“O gathering of creation! Harken, whoever wishes to see Adam and Shith; behold it is I, Adam and Shith. Harken, whoever wishes to see Ibrahim and his son Ismail; behold it is I, Ibrahim and Ismail. Harken, whoever wishes to see ‘Isa and Sham’un; behold it is I, ‘Isa and Sham’un. Harken, whoever wishes to see Muhammad and Amir al Mu’minin; behold it is I, Muhammad and Amir al Mu’minin. Harken, whoever wishes to see Hassan and Hussain; behold it is I, Hassan and Hussain. Harken, whoever wishes to see the Imams from the progeny of Hussain; behold it is I, the Imams. Answer my question for I will inform you of what you have been informed and what you have not been informed. Whoever reads the books and scriptures should listen from me.”

He will then begin with the scriptures Allah revealed to Adam and Shith. The Ummah of Adam and Shith will say, “By Allah, this is the scriptures definitely. And we have indeed seen what we did not know of in it and what was deleted, changed, or altered.” He will then read the scriptures of Nuh and the scriptures of Ibrahim truthfully. He will then read the Tawrah, Injil, and Zabur. The adherents of the Tawrah, Injil and Zabur will admit, “By Allah, this is the comprehensive Tawrah and complete Injil and it is manifold over what you see in it.” He will then recite the Qur’an and the Muslims will admit, “By Allah, this is the Qur’an, he did not alter or change.”^[100]

He will appear in the form of a pleasing youth, 32 years old. They lie against Jafar that he said:

لو قد قام القائم لأنكره الناس لأنه يرجع إليهم شاباً مؤنقاً لا يثبت عليه إلا من قد أخذ الله ميثاقه في الذر الأول

If the Qa’im has to emerge, the people will reject him as he will return to them as a pleasing youth. Only those will be firm upon him from whom Allah took the covenant in the first scattering.

In a narration:

القائم يعمر عمر الخليل عشرين ومائة سنة يدري به ثم يغيب غيبة في الدهر ويظهر في صورة شاب مؤنق ابن اثنتين ثلاثين سنة

The Qa’im will live the age of al Khalil, 120 years. He will then go missing for a period of time and emerge in the form of a pleasing youth, 32 years.^[101]

The first to pledge allegiance to him will be Jibril. Al Tabarsi and others narrate:

أن جبرائيل يأتيه ويسأله ويقول له إلى أي شيء تدعو فيخبره القائم فيقول جبرئيل فأنا أول من يبايع ثم يقول له مد كفك فيمسح على يديه

Jibril will approach him and ask, “To what do you call?”

The Qa’im will inform him. Jibril will submit, “I am the first to pledge allegiance to you.” He will then tell him to stretch his hand and pass his hand over his.^[102]

Al Bahrani writes:

أن جبرئيل ينزل على الميزاب في صورة طائر أبيض حتى يكون أول من خلق الله جبرئيل

Jibril will descend upon the Mizab (the gutter) in the form of a white bird. The first of Allah’s creation [to pledge allegiance] will be Jibril.^[103]

This, despite their reports:

أتى جبرئيل (ع) إلى رسول الله (ص) فقال السلام عليك يا محمد هذا آخر يوم أهبط فيه إلى الدنيا وعن عطاء بن يسار أن رسول الله (ص) لما حضر أتاه جبرئيل فقال يا محمد الآن أصعد إلى السماء ولا أنزل إلى الأرض أبداً وعن أبي جعفر (ع) قال لما حضرت النبي الوفاة إلى أن قال فعند ذلك قال جبرئيل يا محمد هذا آخر هبوطي إلى الدنيا إنما كنت أنت حاجتي فيها

Jibril approached Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to visit him. He said, “Peace be upon you, O Muhammad. This is the final day I will descend to the world.”

‘Ata’ ibn Yasar reports that when Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was about to pass away, Jibril came to him and said, “O Muhammad, now I will ascend to the sky and I will never ever descend to earth.”

Abu Jafar narrates, “When death approached the Nabi… Jibril said upon this, “O Muhammad, this is my last descent to the world. Only you were my need in this world.”^[104]

Not only Jibril. Other angels will also descend. Al Jaza’iri relates from Jafar who said:

إن القائم يسند ظهره إلى الحرم ويمد يده فترى بيضاء من غير سوء فيقول هذه يد الله ويكون أول من يقبل يده جبرئيل ثم يبايعه الملائكة ثم نجباء الجن ثم نقباء المؤمنين

Indeed, the Qa’im will support his back to the Haram and stretch his hand out. It will be seen as white, bright without any ailment. He will state, “This is Allah’s hand.” The first to accept his hand will be Jibril. Thereafter, the angels will pledge allegiance to him, then the chiefs of the Jinn, then the leaders of the believers.^[105]

This is supported by what al Mufid, al Tabarsi, Ibn al Fattal, al Bahrani, al No’mani, and others narrate, lying against Muhammad al Baqir:

كأني بالقائم على نجف الكوفة قد سار إليه من مكة في خمسة آلاف من الملائكة جبرئيل عن يمينه ميكئيل عن شماله والمؤمنون بين يديه وهو يفرق الجنود في البلاد

As if I can see the Qa’im over Najaf, Kufah. He travelled to it from Makkah among five thousand angels with Jibril to his right and Mika’il to his left. The believers will be in front of him. He will be distributing armies in the cities.^[106]

Forget 5 000 …

ينحط عليه ثلاثة عشر ألف ملك وثلاثمائة وثلاثة عشر ملكاً قلت كل هؤلاء الملائكة قال نعم الذين كانوا مع نوح في السفينة والذين كانوا مع إبراهيم حين ألقى في النار والذين كانوا مع موسى حين فلق البحر لبني إسرائيل والذين كانوا مع عيسى حين رفعه الله إليه وأربعة آلاف ملك كانوا مع النبي صلى الله عليه وآله مسومين وألف مردفين وثلاثمائة وثلاثة عشر ملائكة بدريين وأربعة آلاف هبطوا يريدون القتال مع الحسين (ع) فلم يُؤذن لهم في القتال وكل هؤلاء في الأرض ينتظرون قيام القائم عليه السلام إلى وقت خروجه عليه صلوات الله والسلام

13 313 angels will descend upon him.

I asked, “Will all these be angels?”

He said, “Yes, those who were with Nuh in the ship, with Ibrahim when he was thrown in the fire, with Musa when he split the sea for the Banu Isra’il, and with ‘Isa when Allah raised him to Himself. Four thousand angels were with the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam marked, and a thousand behind, and three hundred and thirteen angels of Badr. Four thousand descended intending to fight alongside Hussain ‘alayh al Salam but were not permitted to fight. All of these are on the earth awaiting the time of the Qa’im’s ‘alayh al Salam emergence—upon him are the salutations and peace of Allah.^[107]

Al No’mani relates a similar report in Kitab al Ghaybah.^[108] He adds to this that the one to carry his flag that day will be Jibril and his pillar will be from the pillars of the Throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala.^[109]

The four thousand who descended intending to fight alongside Hussain, but were not granted permission, remain by his grave with disheveled hair and covered in dust until the Day of Qiyamah. Their leader is an angel called Mansur. He welcomes everyone who visits him and sees off everyone who bids farewell to him. He visits every ill person and prays upon everyone who passes away.^[110]

What will he do after his return?

From the awful, disgusting, malicious lies of the Shia inherited from the Jews and Magians whose power was demolished and whose sovereignty and kingdom was razed to the ground by the Arab Muslims and at the hands of their leaders from Quraysh; due to their intense jealousy and malice, they say that the very first thing the Qa’im will carry out is the massacre and crucifixion of the Quraysh—the living and dead among them and place his sword on the necks of the Arabs. Abu Jafar rahimahu Llah says:

لو يعلم الناس ما يصنع القائم إذا خرج لأحب أكثرهم ألا يروه مما يقتل من الناس أما أنه لا يبدأ إلا بقريش فلا يأخذ منها إلا السيف ولا يعطيها إلا السيف حتى يقول كثير من الناس هذا ليس من آل محمد ولو كان من آل محمد لرحم

If people knew about the killing of people carried out by the Qa’im when he emerges, majority will wish they did not see him. Harken, he will not begin except with the Quraysh. He will take nothing from them except the sword and give nothing to them except the sword, until many people will say, “He is not from Muhammad’s family. Had he been from Muhammad’s family, he would have shown clemency.”^[111]

Al Mufid and al Tabarsi report from Jafar who says:

إذا قام القائم من آل محمد أقام خمسمائة من قريش فضرب أعناقهم ثم أقام خمسمائة فضرب أعنقاهم ثم خمسمائة أخرى حتى يفعل ذلك ست مرات قلت ويبلغ عدد هؤلاء هذا قال نعم منهم ومن مواليهم

When the Qa’im from Muhammad’s family emerges, he will resurrect five hundred Quraysh and behead them. He will then resurrect another five hundred and behead them. Then another five hundred. He will carry this out six times.

I asked, “The number of these will add up to this?”

“Yes,” he replied, “from them and their freed slaves.”^[112]

أنه سيف قاطع بين العرب وعلى العرب شديد ليس شأنه إلا السيف ولا يستتيب أحدا

He is an unsheathed sword upon the Arabs and he will be severe against them. He will have no duty except execution. Moreover, he will not request repentance from anyone.^[113]

They report similar from Jafar:

إذا خرج القائم لم يكن بينه وبين قريش إلا السيف ما يأخذ منها إلا السيف وما يستعجلون بخروج القائم وما هو إلا السيف والموت تحت ظل السيوف

When the Qa’im emerges, there will be nothing between him and the Quraysh except the sword. He will not take from them except the sword. Why are they hastening the emergence of the Qa’im? It is nothing but the sword. Death is under the shade of swords.^[114]

Just look at the malice and rancour for the Arabs in general and the Quraysh in particular. Does any doubt remain after this of the Shia’s Judaism and Mazdeism, the foundation of Judaism, and the Persian essence sketching out their beliefs and ideologies.

Al Majlisi documents in al Bihar from Jafar:

إن القائم يسير في العرب في الجفر الأحمر قال (أي الراوي وهو رفيد مولى ابن هبيرة) قلت جعلت فداك وما في الجفر الأحمر قال فأمرّ أصبعه على حلقه قال هكذا يعني الذبح

“Certainly, the Qa’im will travel among the Arabs in al jafr al ahmar.”

The narrator—Rafid, freed slave of Ibn Hubayrah—asked, “May I be sacrificed for you, what is meant by al jafr al ahmar?”

He passed his finger over his neck saying, “Like this,” i.e. slaughter.^[115]

In another report, he says:

إنه يخرج موتوراً غضباً أسفاً يجرد السيف على عاتقه ثمانية أشهر يقتل هوجاء فأول ما يبدأ ببني شيبة فيقطع أيديهم ويعلقها في الكعبة وينادي مناديه هؤلاء سرّاق الله ثم يتناول قريشاً فلا يأخذ منها إلا السيف ولا يعطيها إلا السيف

He will emerge with rancour, fury, and distress. He will place his sword bare on his shoulder for eight months, killing recklessly. He will begin with the Banu Shaybah and sever their hands and hang them on the Ka’bah. His announcer will call out, “These are the thieves from Allah.” He will then focus on the Quraysh. He will not take from them except the sword and not give to them except the sword.^[116]

He will Resurrect the Dead and Kill the Companions of the Nabi

He will not suffice on killing the living. This amount of human blood will not satiate his thirst. He will resume with the dead—according to their fabrications and lies. He will resurrect them and kill them. They report that he will resurrect Yazid ibn Muawiyah and his aides and kill them exactly identical.^[117] They did not stop here. They went further and claimed:

لو قام قائمنا رد بالحميراء (أي أم المؤمنين الصديقة بنت الصديق رضي الله عنهما) حتى يجلدها الحد وينتقم لابنة محمد صلى الله عليه وآله

When the Qa’im will emerge, he will resurrect Humaira’ (i.e., Umm al Mu’minin al Siddiqah bint al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhuma) and lash her, taking vengeance for Muhammad’s daughter salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.^[118]

They stooped further into the abyss of blame, despicableness, and rancour towards the flag bearers of Islam, the publicisers of its word, the ambassadors of its message, and the demolishers of the civilisations of the Jews and the might of the Magians, to a level which the intellect cannot comprehend and no human will be pleased. They claimed:

إن القائم قال ألا أنبئك بالخبر أنه إذا فقد الصبي وتحرك المغربي وسار العماني وبويع السفياني يأذن الله لي فأخرج بين الصفا والمروة في ثلاثمائة وثلاثة عشر رجلاً سواء فأجيء إلى الكوفة وأهدم مسجدها وأبنيه على بنائه الأول وأهدم ما حوله من بناء الجبابرة وأحج بالناس حجة الإسلام وأجيء إلى يثرب وأهدم الحجرة وأخرج من بها وهما طريان فآمر بهما تجاه البقيع وآمر بالخشبتين يصلبان عليهما فتورق من تحتها فيفتتن الناس بهما أشد من الفتنة الأولى فينادي مناد من السماء أبيدي ويا أرض خذي فيومئذ لا يبقى على وجه الأرض إلا مؤمن قد خلص قلبه الإيمان قلت يا سيدي ما يكون بعد ذلك قال الكرة الكرة الرجعة

The Qa’im declared, “Should I not inform you of goodness? When the child will go missing, the Maghribi (Moroccan) will shake, the Omani will move, and the Sufyani will be given allegiance, Allah will permit me to emerge between Safa and Marwah among three hundred and thirteen men, equal. I will come to Kufah and demolish the Masjid before constructing it on its original foundation. I will demolish all the infrastructure of the tyrants. I will perform the Hajj of Islam with the people. I will then come to Yathrib and demolish the room and remove whoever is in it. They will be fresh. I will order that they be crucified on two poles facing al Baqi’. It will sprout from underneath them and people will be trialed greater than their first trial. A caller will announce from the sky, ‘Exterminate, and O earth, swallow.’ On that day, only a believer in whose heart iman has entered sincerely will remain on the face of the earth.”

I submitted, “O my master, what will happen after this?”

He said, “The return, the return.”^[119]

Al Jaza’iri asserts with detail and clarity[120]:

إن بقاع الأرض تفاخرت ففخرت الكعبة على بقعة كربلاء فأوحى الله عز وجل إليها أن اسكتي يا كعبة وما تفخري على كربلاء فإنها البقعة المباركة التي قال فيها لموسى عليه السلام إني أنا الله وهي موضع المسيح وأمه وقت ولادته وإنها الدالية التي غسل بها رأس الحسين بن علي عليهما السلام وهي التي عرج منها محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وقال له المفضل يا سيدي يسير المهدي إلى أين قال إلى مدينة جدي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فإذا وردها كان له فيها مقام عجيب يظهر فيه سرور المسلمين وخزي الكافرين فقال المفضل ياسيدي ماهو ذاك قال يرد إلى قبر جده فيقول يامعشر الخلائق هذا قبر جدي فيقولون نعم يا مهدي آل محمد فيقول ومن معه في القبر فيقولون صاحباه (مصاحباه) وضجيعاه أبوبكر وعمر فيقول عليه السلام وهو أعلم الخلق من أبو بكر وعمر وكيف دفنا من بين الخلق مع جدي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وعسى أن يكون المدفون غيرهما فيقول الناس يا مهدي آل محمد ما هاهنا غيرهما وإنهما دفنا معه لأنهما خليفتاه وآباء زوجتيه فيقول هل يعرفهما أحد فيقولون نعم نحن نعرفهم بالوصف ثم يقول هل يشك أحد في دفنهما هنا فيقولون لا فيأمر بعد ثلاثة أيام ويحفر قبرهما ويخرجهما فيخرجان طريين كصورتهما في الدنيا فيكشف عنهما أكفانهما ويأمر برفعهما على دوحة يابسة نخرة فيصلبهما عليها فتتحرك الشجرة وتورق وترفع ويطول فرعها فيقول المرتابون من أهل ولايتهما هذه والله الشرف حقاً ولقد فزنا بمحبتهما وولايتهما فينشر خبرهما فكل من بقلبه حبة خردل من محبتهما يحضر المدينة فيفتنون بهما فينادي مناد المهدي عليه السلام هذان صاحبا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فمن أحبهما فليكن في معزل ومن أبغضهما يكن في معزل فيتجزأ الخلق جزئين موال ومعاد فيعرض على أوليائهما البراءة منهما فيقولون يا مهدي ما كنا نبرأ منهما وما كنا نعلم أن لهما عند الله هذه الفضيلة فكيف نبرأ منهما وقد رأينا منهما ما رأينا في هذا الوقت من نضارتهما وغضاضتهما وحياة الشجرة بهما بل والله نبرأ منك وممن آمن بك وممن لا يؤمن بهما وممن صلبهما وأخرجهما وفعل ما فعل بهما فيأمر المهدي عليه السلام ريحاً فتجعلهم كأعجاز نخل خاوية ثم يأمر بإنزالهما فينزلان فيحييهما بإذن الله ويأمر الخلائق بالاجتماع ثم يقص عليهم قصص فعالهم في كل كور ودور حتى يقص عليهم قتل هابيل بن آدم وجمع النار لإبراهيم وطرح يوسف في الجب وحبس يونس في بطن الحوت وقتل يحيى وصلب عيسى وعذاب جرجيس ودانيال وضرب سلمان الفارسي وإشعال النار على باب أمير المؤمنين وفاطمة والحسين عليهما السلام وإرادة إحراقهم بها وضرب الصديقة الكبرى فاطمة الزهراء بسوط ورفس بطنها وإسقاطها محسنا وسم الحسن وقتل الحسين عليه السلام وذبح أطفاله وبني عمه وسبي ذراري رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وإراقة دماء آل محمد وكل دم مؤمن وكل فرج نكح حراماً وكل رباء أُكل وكل خبث وفاحشة وظلم منذ عهد آدم إلى قيام قائمنا كل ذلك يعدده عليهما ويلزمهما إياه ويعترفان به ثم يأمر بهما فيقتص منهما في ذلك الوقت مظالم من حضر ثم يصلبهما على الشجرة ويأمر ناراً تخرج من الأرض تحرقهما والشجرة ثم يأمر ريحاً فتنسفهما في اليّم نسفاً قال المفضل يا سيدي هذا آخر عذابهما قال هيهات يا مفضل والله ليردّن وليحضرّن السيد الأكبر محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم والصديق الأعظم أمير المؤمنين وفاطمة والحسن والحسين والأئمة عليهم السلام وكل من محض الإيمان محضاً وكل من محض الكفر محضاً وليقتصن منهما بجميع المظالم ثم يأمر بهما فيقتلان في كل يوم وليلة ألف قتلة ويردان إلى أشد العذاب

Verily, the lands of the earth boasted over one another and the Ka’bah bragged over the land of Karbala’. Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—revealed to it, “Remain quiet, O Ka’bah, and do not brag over Karbala’ as it is the blessed land concerning which He told Musa ‘alayh al Salam, ‘Undoubtedly, I am Allah,’ it is the area of al Masih and his mother when he was born, and it is the waterwell with which Hussain ibn ‘Ali’s rahimahu Llah head was washed, and it is the land from which Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam ascended.”

Mufaddal said to him, “O master, to where will Mahdi travel?”

He answered, “To the city of my grandfather, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. When he arrives there, he will have an amazing station there, from which the believers’ happiness and the disbelievers’ disgrace will become manifest.”

Mufaddal said, “O my master, what is that?”

He said, “He will come to the grave of his grandfather and call out, ‘O gathering of creation, this is the grave of my grandfather.’

They will say, ‘Yes, O Mahdi of Muhammad’s family.’

He will ask, ‘Who is with him in the grave?’

They will say, ‘His two companions (associates. Kha) and his Companions Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.’

He will say and he is the most knowledgeable of creation, ‘Who is Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and how were they buried from all the creation with my grandfather, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam? Maybe, some other than them are buried.’

People will say, ‘O Mahdi of Muhammad’s family, no one is here besides them. They were buried alongside him as they are his successors and the fathers of his two wives.’

He will say, ‘Does anyone doubt their burial here?’

They will answer in the negative. He will command after three days for their graves to be dug up. He will exhume them, and they will be fresh like their form in the world. He will remove their shrouds and command they be crucified on a tall dry tree. The tree will shake and sprout and rise, and its branches will extend. Those who doubt his Wilayah will say, ‘This, by Allah, is true glory and we were successful in loving and associating with them.’ This news will spread and those who had a mustard’s seed amount of love for them will arrive in Madinah and fall into trial due to them.

Mahdi’s announcer will announce, ‘These are the associates of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Whoever loves them should move one side while those who hate them should move to another side.’ The creation will be divided into two groups, lovers and haters. Their friends will be presented with the opportunity to declare innocence from them. They will submit, ‘O Mahdi, we did not exempt ourselves from them and we were not aware that they had such a virtue in the sight of Allah, so how can we dissociate from them especially when we see what we see, viz. their freshness, purity, and the tree’s life due to them. Instead, by Allah, we dissociate from you, those who believe in you, those who do not believe in them, those who crucified them and exhumed their bodies, and did what they did.’

Mahdi ‘alayh al Salam will command a wind to blow and turn them into fallen hollow trunks of date palms. He will then command that the two be brought down. They will be brought down and he will give life to them by the permission of Allah and command the creation to gather. He will then relate to them the incidents of their actions in every era and time. He will narrate to them the killing of Habil ibn Adam, gathering fire for Ibrahim, throwing Yusuf into the deep well, detaining Yunus in the belly of the fish, murdering Yahya, crucifying ‘Isa, punishing Jirjis and Daniyal, thrashing Salman al Farisi, burning the door of Amir al Mu’minin, Fatimah, and Hussain ‘alayhim al Salam and intending to burn them, striking al Siddiqah al Kubra Fatimah al Zahra’ ‘alayh al Salam with a lash, kicking her stomach, and her miscarrying Muhsin, poisoning Hassan, killing Hussain ‘alayh al Salam, slaughtering his children and cousins, imprisoning Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam progeny, shedding Muhammad’s family’s blood, every believer’s blood shed unlawfully, every womb married unlawfully, every interest consumed, and every evil, immorality, and oppression committed from the time of Adam to the emergence of our Qa’im. He will repeat this to them and charge them and they will acknowledge. He will command and revenge will be taken from them at that time for the grievances of those present. He will then crucify them on the tree and command a fire to emerge from the earth and burn them and the tree. He will then command a wind which will blow their ashes into the sea.

Mufaddal asked, “O my master, is this the last of their punishment?”

He explained, “Never, O Mufaddal. By Allah, they will be resurrected and the great master, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will be present as well as the greatest Siddiq, Amir al Mu’minin coupled with Fatimah, Hassan, Hussain, and all the Imams ‘alayhim al Salam coupled with every sincere believer and every sincere disbeliever and revenge will be taken from them for all the oppressions. Then a command will be passed for them to be killed every day and night a thousand times and they will be returned to the worst of punishment.”^[121]

His Oppression and Harshness

They report from Jafar regarding his harsh nature:

بينا رجل على رأس القائم يأمره وينهاه إذ قال أديروه فيديروه إلى قدامه فيأمر بضرب عنقه فلا يبقى في الخافقين شيء إلا خافه

A person will stand at the Qa’im’s head commanding him and forbidding him. He will say, “Turn him around.” They will turn him around to stand in front of him. He will command that the man be executed. Nothing of the world will remain except fearful of him.^[122]

أنه يقتل المولّي ويجهز الجريح

He will kill the one who flees and finish the wounded.^[123]

They mention in a narration:

بعث الله محمدا صلى الله عليه وآله رحمة وبعث القائم نقمة

Allah sent Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as a mercy and the Qa’im as a punishment.^[124]

He will Invite to a New Shari’ah and New Book

From the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia’s beliefs is that their alleged, assumed, missing, absent Imam will invite people to a new book and new matter. They report many narrations on this topic. One narration is related by al No’mani from Abu Jafar—the fifth infallible Imam by the Shia—who said:

يقوم القائم بأمر جديد على العرب شديد ليس شأنه إلا السيف ولا يستتيب أحدا

The Qa’im will establish a new affair (religion). He will be stern upon the Arabs. He will only judge with the sword. He will not seek repentance from anyone.^[125]

He reports that Abu Jafar was asked:

أيسير بسيرة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم قال هيهات يا زرارة ما يسير بسيرته قلت جعلت فداك لم َ قال إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله سار في أمته بالمن كان يتألف الناس والقائم يسير بالقتل بذاك أمر في الكتاب الذي معه أن يسير بالقتل ولا يستتيب أحدا

“Will he adopt the way of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam?”

“Never, O Zurarah,” he replied, “he will not tread his path.”

I said, “May I be sacrificed for you, why?”

He explained, “Certainly, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam behaved with kindness towards his Ummah, he would be pleasant with people. The Qa’im will kill wholesale. He has been commanded such in the book with him, to kill wholesale and not to seek repentance from anyone.”^[126]

He also reports:

فوالله لكأني أنظر إليه بين الركن والمقام يبايع الناس بأمر جديد شديد وكتاب جديد وسلطان جديد من السماء

By Allah, it is as if I am seeing him between the Rukn and Maqam accepting Bay’ah from the people upon a new stern Shari’ah, a new Book, and a new authority from the sky.^[127]

Al Majlisi narrates a similar report.^[128]

They report that Abu ‘Abdullah was asked:

كيف سيرته فقال يصنع كما صنع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يهدم ما كان قبله كما هدم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله أمر الجاهلية ويستأنف الإسلام من جديد

“What will his behaviour be?”

He explained, “He will do what Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did. He will demolish what was before him just as Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam demolished the matter of ignorance and he will start a new Islam.”^[129]

These narrations are explicit in their meaning and expose how the scandalous Jews wickedly infiltrated those who attribute themselves to Islam. These narrations clarify another narration documented by al No’mani, al Majlisi, and others from Abu Jafar:

لو قد خرج القائم من آل محمد عليهم السلام لنصره الله بالملائكة المسومين والمردفين والمنزلين والكروبيين ويكون جبرئيل أمامه وميكائيل عن يمينه وإسرافيل عن يساره والرعب يسير مسيرة شهر أمامه وخلفه وعن يمينه وشماله والملائكة المقربون حذاه وأول من يتبعه محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وفي رواية يتبعه وفي أخرى يبايعه وعليّ الثاني ومعه سيف مخترط يفتح الله له الروم والديلم والسند والهند وكابل شاه والخرز يا أبا حمزة لا يقوم القائم عليه السلام إلا على خوف شديد وزلازل وفتنة وبلاء يصيب الناس وطاعون قبل ذلك وسيف قاطع بين العرب واختلاف شديد بين الناس وتشتت في دينهم وتغير من حالهم حتى يتمنى المتمني الموت صباحاً ومساءاً من عظم ما يرى من كَلَب الناس وأكل بعضهم بعضا وخروجه إذا خرج عند الإياس والقنوط فيا طوبى لمن أدركه وكان من أنصاره والويل كل الويل لمن خافه وخالف أمره وكان من أعدائه ثم قال يقوم بأمر جديد وسنة جديدة وقضاء جديد على العرب شديد ليس شأنه إلا القتل ولا يستتيب أحداً ولا تأخذه في الله لومة لائم

When the Qa’im from Muhammad’s family will emerge, Allah will aid him with the angels with marks of distinction, following one another, sent down, archangels. Jibril will be ahead of him, Mika’il to his right, and Israfil to his left. Awe will travel the distance of a month ahead of him, behind him, to his right, and to his left. The close angels will be opposite him. The first to follow him—another narration has the words: pledge allegiance to him—will be Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ‘Ali will be second. He will have an unsheathed sword. Allah will allow him to conquer Rome, Daylam, Sind, Hind, Kabilshah, and Khazr.

O Abu Hamzah, the Qa’im will not emerge except after extreme fear, earthquakes, trials and tribulations which will afflict people, and a plague before him, as well as a decisive war between the Arabs, extreme conflict between people, the scattering of their religion, the changing of their condition until one will wish death in the morning and evening due to the severity of the madness he will see of people and them devouring one another. He will emerge when there will be despondency and hopelessness.

Glad tidings to the one who meets him and supports him. Utter destruction to the one who opposes him and his affair and is his enemy.

He continued: He will emerge with a new Shari’ah, a new Sunnah, and a new judgement. He will be stern against the Arabs. He will only be concerned with killing. He will not seek repentance from anyone. The criticism of the critic will not affect him.”^[130]

This is the reality of the matter. This is the reality of the Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia who claim that they are moderate Shia and deny their attribution to ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’—the Jew—and their origin being from Persian Magians who hate Islam and rebel against the Islamic Ummah, criticising their predecessors and luminaries and cursing their leaders and elite. We have established this from their books and through their texts.

Return of the Imams with the Return of the Qa’im

The Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia do not only believe in the return of the Qa’im. They believe that their Imams will return to the world just as their Qa’im will, they will reside here, rule here, and take revenge from their enemies by killing them.

Al Majlisi reports from Jafar who stated:

أول من تنشق الأرض عنه ويرجع إلى الدنيا الحسين بن علي وإن الرجعة ليس بعامة وهي خاصة لا يرجع إلا من محض الإيمان محضاً أو محض الكفر محضاً

The first from whom the earth will split open and who will return to the world is Hussain ibn ‘Ali. Raj’ah is not general, instead specific. Only those will return who had sincere faith or sincere disbelief.^[131]

They report from his father al Baqir:

إن أول من يرجع إلى الدنيا لجاركم الحسين بن علي عليه السلام فيملك حتى يقع حاجباه على عينيه من الكبر

The first to return to the world is your neighbor, Hussain ibn ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam. He will rule over the world until his eyebrows will cover his eyes out of old age.^[132]

With Hussain, seventy of his companions who were killed with him will return.^[133]

أن الحسين يرجع إلى الدنيا مع خمسة وسبعين ألفاً من الرجال ويملك الدنيا كلها بعد وفاة المهدي عليه السلام ثلاث مائة وتسع سنين

Hussain will return to the world with 75 000 men and rule over the entire world for 309 years after Mahdi’s ‘alayh al Salam demise.^[134]

Yazid ibn Muawiyah and his aides will return with him so that Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his supporters may take revenge from them.^[135]

Seventy Prophets and Messengers—among whom will be Ismail ‘alayh al Salam—will support Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his supporters in taking revenge and vengeance from Yazid and his armies. Al Jaza’iri narrates a false story saying: It appears in many reports from Burayd al ‘Ijli that he asked al Sadiq ‘alayh al Salam about Allah’s subhanahu wa ta ‘ala words regarding Ismail that he was truthful in promise; which Ismail is this; is he the son of Ibrahim? Al Sadiq replied:

لا بل هو إسماعيل بن حزقيل بعثه الله إلى جماعة فكذبوه وسلخوا جلده ووجهه ورأسه فبعث الله عليهم ملك العذاب وهو سطاطائيل فأتى إلى إسماعيل وقال إن الله أرسلني إليك بما تأمر في عذابهم فقال إسماعيل عليه السلام لا حاجة لي في عذابهم فأوحى الله سبحانه إليه إن كان لك حاجة إليّ فاطلبها فقال يا رب إنك أخذت علينا معاشر الأنبياء أن نوحّدك ونقر بنبوة محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وبإمامة الأئمة عليهم السلام وأخبرت الخلائق بما يفعل الظالمون بولده الحسين ووعدت الحسين عليه السلام بالرجوع إلى الدنيا ليأخذ ثأره وينتقم من ظالميه فحاجتي إليك يا رب أن ترجعني في زمانه لأجل آخذ ثأري وقتل من قتلني فقبل الله حاجته وجعله من الذين يرجعون في زمان الحسين عليه السلام وفي رواية أخرى أن الحسين عليه السلام يرجع إلى الدنيا مع خمسة وسبعين ألفاً من الرجال

No, instead he is Ismail ibn Hizqil whom Allah sent to a group but they belied him and peeled the skin off his face and head. Allah thereupon sent the angel of punishment, Satata’il, against them. He approached Ismail and said, “Certainly, Allah sent me to you to command whatever punishment upon them.”

Ismail submitted, “I am not in need of them being punished.”

Allah, glorified be He, sent revelation to him, “If you have any need by Me, then seek it.”

He submitted, “O my Rabb, You took a pledge from us, the Ambiya’, to believe in You alone and to attest to the Nubuwwah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the Imamah of the Imams ‘alayhim al Salam. You informed the creations of what the oppressors will do to his son, Hussain, and you promised Hussain ‘alayh al Salam of his return to the world to take vengeance and revenge from his oppressors. My need, O my Rabb, is to return me in his time to take my revenge and to kill those who killed me.” Allah accepted his plea and determined him one of those who will return in the time of Hussain ‘alayh al Salam. In another narration: Hussain ‘alayh al Salam will return to the world accompanied by seventy-five thousand men.^[136]

They assert:

إن الأئمة الإثني عشرية كلهم يرجعون إلى الدنيا في زمن القائم مع جماعتهم

The Twelve Imams will all return to the world in the time of the Qa’im along with their followers.^[137]

‘Ali and the Nabi will return

Not only will Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhu and his partisans, Muawiyah, Yazid, and his click, and seventy thousand Ambiya’ of the previous generations return, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu will also return. Al Majlisi narrates from Bukayr ibn A’yan who says:

قال لي من لا أشك فيه يعني أبا جعفر عليه السلام أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعليا سيرجعان

One whom I do not doubt, i.e., Abu Jafar ‘alayh al Salam told me that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and ‘Ali will soon return.^[138]

They report from Jafar:

قال رسول الله (ص) لقد سرى بي ربي عز وجل فأوحى إليّ من وراء حجاب ما أوحى وكلمني بما كلم به وكان مما كلمني به يا محمد عليّ آخر من أقبض روحه من الأئمة

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “My Rabb—the Mighty and Majestic—took me at night on a journey. He revealed to me behind a veil what He revealed and spoke to me what He spoke. One of the things He stated was, ‘O Muhammad, ‘Ali will be the last of the Imams whose soul I will seize.’”^[139]

This is not all. Graver, severer, and bitterer than this is their report from Jafar:

لم يبعث الله نبياً ولا رسولاً إلا ردهم جميعاً إلى الدنيا حتى يقاتلوا بين يدي علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام

Allah did not depute any Nabi or Messenger except that He will return them to the world until they will fight before ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib ‘alayh al Salam.^[140]

Another report:

لا يبعث الله نبياً ولا رسولاً إلا رُد إلى الدنيا من آدم فهلم جرا حتى يقاتل بين يدي علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام

Allah did not send any prophet or messenger except that he will return them to the world, from Adam onwards, and they will fight before ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib ‘alayh al Salam.^[141]

Among them will be the leader of the Prophets and the chief of the Messengers.

Al Jaza’iri narrates from al Baqir:

إن علياً رضي الله عنه خطب خطبة ذات يوم فحمد الله فيها وقال فيها ما قال ومنه وقد أخذ الله الميثاق مني ومن نبيه لينصرن كل منا صاحبه فأما أنا فقد نصرت النبي صلى الله عليه وآله بالجهاد معه وقتلت أعداءه وأما نصرته لي وكذا نصرة الأنبياء عليهم السلام فلم تحصل بعد لأنهم ماتوا قبل إمامتي وبعد هذا سينصرونني في زمان رجعتي ويكون لي ملك ما بين المشرق والمغرب ويخرج الله لنصرتي الأنبياء من آدم إلى محمد يجاهدون معي ويقتلون بسيوفهم الكفار الأحياء والكفار الأموات الذين يحييهم الله تعالى وأعجب وكيف لا أعجب من أموات يحييهم الله تعالى يرفعون أصواتهم بالتلبية فوجاً فوجا لبيك يا داعي الله ويتخللون أسواق الكوفة وطرقها حتى يقتلون الكافرين والجبارين والظالمين من الأولين والآخرين حتى يحصل لنا ما وعدنا الله تعالى

‘Ali delivered a sermon one day. He praised Allah and mentioned few things of which was: Allah has definitely taken a pledge from me and His Nabi that each of us shall certainly help his friend. As for me, I helped the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam by fighting alongside him and killing his enemies. As for him assisting me and the assistance of the Ambiya’ ‘alayhim al Salam, it has not yet occurred as they passed away prior to my Imamah. After this, they will help me in the time of my return. I will have kingdom over the area between the East and West. Allah will resurrect the Ambiya’ from Adam to Muhammad for my assistance and they will wage war alongside me and kill with their swords the living disbelievers and dead disbelievers to whom Allah will give life. I am amazed—and why should I not be amazed—at the dead to whom Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala will give life, raising their voices with the talbiyah in droves, “We are at your presence, O caller of Allah,” moving through the market places and roads of Kufah until they will slay the disbelievers, tyrants, and oppressors from the first to the last of them and we will finally obtain what Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala promised us.^[142]

They go further by stating:

ليس أحد من المؤمنين قتل إلا سيرجع حتى يموت ولا أحد من المؤمنين مات إلا سيرجع حتى يقتل

Every believer who was killed shall definitely return and die and every believer who died will certainly return and be martyred.^[143]

Al Tabarsi and al Mufid write:

إذا آن قيام القائم مطر الناس في جمادى الآخرة وعشرة أيام من رجب مطراً لم ير الناس مثله فينبت الله به لحوم المؤمنين في أبدانهم في قبورهم فكأني أنظر إليهم من قبل جهينة ينفضون رؤسهم من التراب

When the time for the emergence of the Qa’im arrives, rain—the like of which people never seen before—will fall on the people during Jumada al Akhirah and ten days of Rajab. Through it, Allah will cause the believers’ flesh to grow on their bodies in their graves. It is as if I see them approaching from Juhaynah, wiping sand from their heads.^[144]

Al Mufid reports:

يخرج إلى القائم من ظهر الكوفة سبعة وعشرون رجلاً خمسة عشر من قوم موسى الذين كانوا يهدون بالحق وبه يعدلون

Twenty-seven men will emerge for the Qa’im from the back of Kufah, fifteen of whom will be from Musa’s nation who would guide with the truth and judge by it.^[145]

The Creature of the Earth

The Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shia believe that the creature of the earth that will emerge before the advent of Qiyamah and speak to people will be ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu. They report from Jafar:

أتى رسول الله (ص) إلى أمير المؤمنين (ع) وهو نائم في المسجد وقد جمع رملاً ووضع رأسه عليه فحركه برجله ثم قال قم يا دابة الله فقال رجل من أصحابه يا رسول الله أيسمي بعضنا بعضا بهذا الاسم فقال لا والله ما هو إلا له خاصة وهو الدابة التي ذكر الله في كتابه وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ ثم قال يا علي إذا كان آخر الزمان أخرجك الله في أحسن صورة ومعك ميسم تسم به أعداءك

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam approached Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam who was asleep in the Masjid. He had gathered sand and placed his head upon it. The former shook him with his foot saying, “Get up, O Dabbah (creature) of Allah.”

One of his Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah, may we use this name for one another?”

“No,” he answered, “by Allah, it is for him exclusively. He is the Dabbah (creature) which Allah mentioned in His book: And when the word [i.e. decree] befalls them, We will bring forth for them a Dabbah al Ard (creature from the earth) speaking to them, [saying] that the people were, of Our verses, not certain [in faith].”

He then said, “O ‘Ali, at the end of time, Allah will extract you in the best form. You will possess a brand with which you will brand your enemies.”^[146]

‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu will not have only one return. Rather, he will have several returns. They report that he declared in one of his sermons:

إن لي رجعة بعد رجعة وحياة بعد حياة أنا صاحب الرجعات وصاحب الصولات

I will have a return after a return, a life after a life. I am the one to return multiple times and the possessor of assaults.^[147]

There are plenty similar reports.

One of their bizarre Shia beliefs is that after their Qa’im, there will be another twelve Mahdis. They report from Jafar from his forefathers from ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu:

قال رسول الله (ص) في الليلة التي كانت فيها وفاته يا أبا الحسن أحضر صحيفة ودواة فأملى رسول الله وصيته حتى انتهى إلى هذا الموضع فقال يا علي إنه سيكون بعدي إثنا عشر إماماً ومن بعدهم إثنا عشر مهدياً فأنت أول الإثني عشر إماماً وساق الحديث إلى أن قال وليسلمها الحسن (يعني الإمام العسكري عليه السلام) إلى ابنه محمد المستحفظ من آل محمد صلى الله عليه وعليهم فذلك اثنا عشر إماماً ثم يكون من بعده اثناعشر مهدياً فإذا حضرته الوفاة فليسلمها إلى ابنه أول المهديين له ثلاثة أسامي اسم كاسمي واسم أبي وهو عبد الله و أحمد والاسم الثالث المهدي وهو أول المؤمنين

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said on the night before he passed away: “O Abu al Hassan, bring a book and inkpot.”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam then dictated his bequest until he reached this point.

He said, “O ‘Ali, there will be twelve Imams after me followed by twelve Mahdis. You are the first of the twelve Imams.” The hadith continues until he says, “Hassan [i.e., al ‘Askari] will award it to his son Muhammad, the protected, from the family of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. These are twelve Imams. They will be followed by twelve Mahdis. When death approaches him, he should hand it over to his son, the first of the Mahdis. He will have three names: my name and my father’s name and that is ‘Abdullah; Ahmed, and the third is al Mahdi. And he is the first of the believers.”^[148]

Al Tusi reports that they are eleven. Abu Hamzah narrates from Abu Jafar who said:

يا أبا حمزة إن منا بعد القائم أحد عشر مهديا

O Abu Hamzah, after the Qa’im there will be eleven Mahdis from us.^[149]

Al No’mani’s narration indicates towards this. He reports from Abu Jafar:

والله ليملكن رجل منا أهل البيت ثلاثمائة وثلاث عشرة سنة ويزداد تسعا قال قلت له ومتى يكون ذلك قال بعد موت القائم عليه السلام قلت له وكم يقوم القائم عليه السلام في عالمه حتى يموت فقال تسع عشرة سنة من يوم قيامه إلى يوم موته

“By Allah, a man from us, the Ahlul Bayt, will rule as king for three hundred and thirteen years and add nine.”

I asked him, “When will this happen?”

He explained, “After the Qa’im’s ‘alayh al Salam death.”

I asked him, “How long will the Qa’im ‘alayh al Salam live in the world until he dies?”

“Nineteen years from the time of his emergence to the time of his death.”^[150]

This is supported by the Shia supplication they make for al Mahdi, in the end of which they pray:

اللهم صل على ولاة عهده والأئمة من بعده وبلغهم آمالهم وزد في آجالهم وأعز نصرهم وتمم لهم ما أسندت إليهم من أمرك لهم وثبت دعاتهم واجعلنا لهم أعوانا وعلى دينك أنصارا

O Allah, send salutations upon the executives of his covenant and the Imams after him. Make their hopes a reality and increase their lifespans. Support them with might, complete Your affair you promised them, make their callers steadfast, and make us supporters for them and assistants of your Din.^[151]

Finally, we relate the narration documented by Shia Muhaddith Ni’mat Allah al Jaza’iri from Jafar who said:

إن الشيطان لما قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِي إِلىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنظَرِينَ إِلىٰ يَوْمِ الْوَقْتِ الْمَعْلُومِ فيخرج الشيطان مع جميع عساكره وتوابعه من يوم خلق آدم إلى يوم الوقت المعلوم وهو آخر يوم رجعة يرجعها أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام فقال الراوي كم لأمير المؤمنين عليه السلام من رجعة فقال إن له رجعات ورجعات وما من إمام في عصر من الأعصار إلا ويرجع معه المؤمنون في زمانه والكافرون فيه حتى يستولي أولئك المؤمنون على أولئك الكافرين فينتقمون منهم فإذا جاء الوقت المعلوم ظهر أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام مع أصحابه وظهر الشيطان مع أصحابه فيتلاقى العسكران على شط الفرات في مكان اسمه الروحا قريب الكوفة فتقع بينهم حرب لم يقع في دنيا من أولها وآخرها وكأني أرى أصحاب أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام قد رجعوا منهزمين حتى تقع أرجلهم في الفرات فعند ذلك يرسل الله سحابة مملوءة من الملائكة يتقدمها النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وبيده حربة من نور فإذا نظر الشيطان أدبر فاراً فيقول له أصحابه إلى أين تفر ولك الظفر عليهم فيقول إني أرى مالا ترون إني أخاف من عقاب رب العالمين فيصل النبي صلى الله عليه وآله ويضربه ضربة بالحربة بين كتفيه فيهلك بتلك الضربة هو وجميع عساكره فعند ذلك يُعبد الله على الإخلاص ويرتفع الكفر والشرك ويملك أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام الدنيا أربعين ألف سنة ويُولد لكل واحد من شيعته ألف ولد من صلبه في كل سنة ولد وعند ذلك يظهر البستانان عند مسجد الكوفة الذي قال الله تعالى مد هامّتان وفيهما من الاتساع مالا يعلمه إلا الله تعالى

Shaitan said, “My Rabb, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected.”

[Allah] said, “So indeed, you are of those reprieved until the Day of the time well-known.”

Shaitan will emerge with all his armies and followers from the day Adam was created until the Day of the time well-known, which is the final return of Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam.

The narrator asked, “How many times will Amir al Mu’minin return?”

He explained, “He will return over and over again. There is no Imam in any era except he will return with the believers and disbelievers of his time until those believers will overpower those disbelievers and take revenge from them. When the well-known time arrives, Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam will emerge with his partisans and Shaitan will emerge with his cronies. The two armies will meet on the bank of the Euphrates at a place called al Rawha, close to Kufah. A battle will ensue which never took place in the history of the world and will never take place again. It is as if I see the partisans of Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam returned defeated until their feet will plunge into the Euphrates. At this time, Allah will send a cloud filled with angels led by the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam who will be holding a spear of light. When Shaitan will see this, he will flee on his heels. His cronies will call out to him, ‘Where are you fleeing when you overpowering them?’ He will shout, ‘Indeed, I see what you do not see. Indeed, I fear the punishment of the Lord of the worlds.’ The Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will arrive and attack him with the spear between his shoulders which will cause him and all his armies to die.

At this point, Allah will be worshipped sincerely and disbelief and polytheism will cease. Amir al Mu’minin will reign as king of the world for forty years. A thousand children will be born to each of his partisans from his loins, a child each year. Two gardens will emerge by the Masjid of Kufah concerning which Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala said, ‘Dark green [in colour].’ They will have such vastness which only Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala knows.”^[152]

This is the last of the fabrications and ideologies of the Shia we selected from plenty of their books. They have abundant books dedicated to this topic.

Al Hulul (Incarnation), al Tanasukh (Transmigration) and Attributing Divine Qualities to the Creation

So that the discussion does not stretch, we will report one report which contains ‘Ali’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu sermon, according to them. All of their beliefs of incarnation, transmigration, and the creation having divine qualities are included in it. Allah is far beyond what they say, with great sublimity. Al Jaza’iri reports this sermon in his famous book on the authority of Muhammad al Baqir:

إن أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام خطب خطبة ذات يوم فحمد الله وأثنى عليه بالوحدانية وقال إن الله سبحانه تكلم بكلمة فصارت نوراً فخلق منه نور النبي ونوري ونور الأئمة وتكلم بكلمة أخرى فصارت روحاً فأسكنها في ذلك النور وذلك النور مع تلك الروح ركبها في أبداننا معاشر الأئمة فنحن الروح المصطفاة ونحن الكلمات التامات ونحن حجة الله الكاملة على الخلق فنحن نوراً أخضر حيث لا شمس ولا قمر ولا ليل ولا نهار ولا مخلوق ولا مخلوقات وكنا نسبح الله ونقدسه قبل خلق الخلق فأخذ الله لنا العهد من أرواح الأنبياء على الإيمان بنا وعلى نصرتنا وهذا معنى قوله سبحانه وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ فقال عليه السلام يعني الإيمان بمحمد صلى الله عليه وآله ونصرة وصيّه وهذه النصرة قد صارت قريبة وقد أخذ الله الميثاق مني ومن نبيه لينصرن كل منا صاحبه فأما أنا فقد نصرت النبي صلى الله عليه وآله بالجهاد معه وقتلت أعداءه وأما نصرته لي وكذا نصرة الأنبياء عليهم السلام فلم تحصل بعد لأنهم ماتوا قبل إمامتي وبعد هذا سينصرونني في زمان رجعتي ويكون لي ملك ما بين المشرق والمغرب ويخرج الله لنصرتي الأنبياء من آدم إلى محمد يجاهدون معي ويقتلون بسيوفهم الكفار الأحياء والكفار الأموات الذين يحييهم الله تعالى وأعجب وكيف لا أعجب من أموات يحييهم الله تعالى يرفعون أصواتهم بالتلبية فوجاً لبيك لبيك يا داعي الله ويتخللون أسواق الكوفة وطرقها حتى يقتلون الكافرين الجبارين والظالمين من الأولين والآخرين حتى يحصل لنا ما وعدنا الله ثم تلا هذه الآية وَعَدَ اللهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا قال عليه السلام يعني يعبدونني ولا يتقون من أحد لأن لي رجعة بعد رجعة وحياة بعد حياة أنا صاحب الرجعات وصاحب الصولات وصاحب الإنتقامات وصاحب الدولة العجيبة أنا حصن الحديد وأنا عبد الله وأخو رسوله وأنا أمين الله على علمه وصندوق سرّه وحجابه وصراطه وميزانه وكلمته أنا أسماء الله الحسنى وأمثاله العليا وآياته الكبرى أنا صاحب الجنة والنار أسكن أهل الجنة في جنتهم وأهل النار في نارهم وأنا الذي أزوّج أهل الجنة وإليّ مرجع هذا الخلق في القيامة وعليّ حسابهم وأنا المؤذن على الأعراف وأنا الذي أظهر آخر الزمان في عين الشمس وأنا دابة الأرض التي ذكرها الله في الكتاب أظهر آخر الزمان ومعي عصا موسى وخاتم سليمان أضعه في وجه المؤمن والكافر فتنقش فيه هذا مؤمن حقا وهذا كافر حقا وأنا أمير المؤمنين وإمام المتقين ولسان المتكلمين وخاتم أوصياء النبيين ووارثهم وخليفة الله على العالمين وأنا الذي علمني الله علم البلايا والمنايا وعلم القضاء بين الناس وأنا الذي سخّر لي الرعد والبرق والسحاب والظلمة والنور والرياح والجبال والبحار والشمس والقمر والنجوم أيها الناس اسألوني عن كل شيء

Amir al Mu’minin delivered a sermon one day. He praised and glorified the oneness of Allah. He continued: Indeed, Allah the glorified spoke a word which transformed into light. He created from it the Nabi’s light, my light, and the light of the Imams. He then spoke another word which transformed into a soul. He placed it in this light. The light with the soul was placed into our bodies, the group of Imams. We are thus the soul selected and we are the perfect words and we are the absolute authorities of Allah over the creation.

We were green light when there was no sun or moon, no night or day, and no creations. We would glorify Allah and announce His purity before the creation of the creation. Allah took a covenant for us from the Ambiya’s souls to believe in us and support us. This is the meaning of His words:

And [recall], when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, [saying], “Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you [must] believe in him and support him.”

He explained: i.e., belief in Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and assisting his Wasi. This assistance has drawn close. Allah has taken a covenant from me and from His Nabi that each of us must certainly help the other. I assisted the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam by fighting alongside him and killing his enemies. His assistance of me and the assistance of the Ambiya’ ‘alayhim al Salam has still not taken place as they passed away before my Imamah. After this, they will soon help me in the time of my return. I will have sovereignty over everything between the East and West. Allah will resurrect the Ambiya’—from Adam to Muhammad—to assist me and fight alongside me. They will slay with their swords the living disbelievers and dead disbelievers to whom Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala will give life. I am amazed—and why should I not be amazed—at the dead to whom Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala will give life, raising their voices with the talbiyah in droves, “We are at your service. We are at your service, O caller to Allah.” They will pass through the markets and pathways of Kufah until they will kill the tyrant, oppressive disbelievers from the first to the last of them. We will then obtain what Allah promised us.

He then recited this verse: Allah has promised those who believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me.^[153]

He explained: They worship Me and do not fear anyone as I will have one return after another and one life after another. I am the man of many returns, the man of assaults, the man of vengeances, and the owner of an amazing dominion. I am the fort of iron. I am the servant of Allah and brother of His Messenger. I am Allah’s trusted one over His knowledge, the chest of His secrets, His veil, His path, His scale, and His word. I am the beautiful names of Allah, His lofty metaphors, and His great signs. I am the owner of Paradise and Hell. I will place the residents of Jannat in their respective Jannat and the inmates of Hell in their respective Hell. I will get the people of Jannat married. To me is the return of this creation on Qiyamah and upon me is their reckoning.

I am the announcer on the A’raf. I will be manifest at the end of time in the eye of the sun. I am the Dabbat al Ard (creature of the earth) whom Allah spoke of in the Book and I will emerge at the end of time. I will have Musa’s staff and Sulaiman’s ring which I will place on the faces of the believers and disbelievers leaving a mark: This is a genuine believer and this is a genuine disbeliever. I am the leader of the believers, the chief of the righteous, the tongue of the speakers, the seal of the successors of the prophets and their heir, and Allah’s successor over the worlds. Allah taught me the knowledge of afflictions, destinies, and the knowledge of judging between people. Allah has made the thunder, lightning, clouds, darkness, and light subservient to me coupled with the winds, mountains, seas, sun, moon, and stars. O people ask me about everything.^[154]

This narration and its like—and Shia books are replete with them—imitates the statement of the disbelievers of aforetime. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded.

Such beliefs and ideologies form the foundation of Ithna ‘Ashariyyah Shi’ism. The Imamiyyah and Jafariyyah believe in them; and they are considered the moderate Shia. The seeds of these warped ideologies were planted by ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ and propagated and shared by the Saba’iyyah among hundreds of various Shia. Had it not been for the fear of prolongation, we would have quoted more narrations contained in their reliable, trusted, authentic books. Nonetheless, we feel that the amount mentioned is sufficient for one who desires to ascertain and determine the truth and the one who desires clear-sightedness and guidance. And Allah guides whom He wills to the straight path.

We conclude this discussion on citing views of some orientalists on the connection of the Shia with the Saba’iyyah or in explicit words: foreign ideologies inserted among Muslims whether these ideologies are Jewish or Persian which have absolutely no connection, neither distant nor close, to Islam.

The orientalist Dozy states:

The Shi’ites were basically a Persian sect, and it is here that the difference between the Arab race, which loves freedom, and the Persian race, accustomed to slavery, can be clearly seen. For the Persians, the principle of the election of the successor of the Prophet was something unheard of and incomprehensible. They only knew the principle of heredity. They therefore thought that Muhammad having left no son, his son-in-law Ali should have succeeded him and that sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the caliphs except Ali were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience was due. The hatred they felt for the government and for Arab domination confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast covetous glances at the riches of their masters. Accustomed, moreover, to seeing in their kings descendants of the minor deities, they transferred this idolatrous respect to Ali and his posterity. Absolute obedience to the imam of Ali’s race was, in their eyes, the most important duty; if one fulfilled it, one could unscrupulously interpret all the others allegorically and transgress them. The imam was everything to them; he was God made man. Slavish submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their System.^[155]

Orientalist Müller expresses himself in a similar way; he adds:

Long before Islam, under the influence of Indian ideas, the Persians adopted the view that the Shahanshah was an embodiment of the divine spirit which, passing from father to son, inhabited the ruling tribe.^[156]

The German Orientalist, who is sympathetic to the Shia, Wellhausen writes:

That the Shi’ite ideas appealed to the Iranians is beyond doubt, but it does not prove that they stemmed from them. The tradition speaks against it. According to the tradition, the pronounced Shi’ism also existed in Arab circles, from where it passed to the mawali and became part of them. Those who danced around the holy chair are called the Sabaiyya (Tab. II, pp. 703, 704); they were, however, not mawali, but Arabs, especially from the tribes of Nahd, Kharif, Thawr, Shakir and Shibam.

Because of their peculiar religion, these Sabaiyya had a poor relationship with the rest of their tribes, especially the Shibam with the Hamdan. They had a very intimate relation with Mukhtar, for whom they went through fire and for whom they betrayed their cousins. There is story of a bitana (clique, special group) of Arab Shi’ites, which used to gather in the houses of two distinguished women. Names of individual members are mentioned, including Ibn Nawf al Hamdani, who competed in prophesying with his master. He was a prophet at the holy chair, which was also used for foretelling. An uncle of the poet A’sha Hamdan was impressed by it. The custodian (sadin) of the chair was first Musa, a son of the famous Abu Musa al Ash’ari, and then Hawshab al Bursumi. The milieu is quite Yemenite. The chair is said to have been produced as a relic of Ali by Mukhtar’s orders, but other different and more credible reports contradict this. In any case, it was in the possession of the Yemenites and its origin would be found with them too. It was not an arbitrary invention, but a piece of paganism like the black stone; originally a chair of God and then chair of Ali, because Ali was deified. As is well known, such empty divine chairs are common, although they are usually not made of wood.

The origins of the Sabaiyya go back to the time of Ali and Hassan. They are derived from Abdullah b. Saba. As his strange name suggests, he was also a Yemenite, coming from the capital San’a. He is also said to have been a Jew. This leads one to the Jewish origin of the sect.^[157]

He continues:

But in fact, Shi’ite dogmatism, the founder of which is considered to be Ibn Saba, seems to come from Jews rather than Iranians. I will occasionally highlight signs of this in the following attempt to present it, without, however, attaching more importance to the whole question than it deserves.

By his earliest followers, Ali was ranked with his predecessors in the caliphate. He was on par with Abu Bakr, Umar and even Uthman as long as he [Uthman] ruled fairly. Only as the continuer of this legitimate caliphate was he opposed to the Umayyad usurpers. His right to rule derived from the fact that he belonged to the aristocracy of the companions, was installed in the position of authority by them, and received the homage from Medina; it did not derive, or at least not directly, from his membership of Muhammad’s family. But this family itself seems to have claimed a right of inheritance to the rule from the outset, and after Ali’s death his sons were put forward by the opposition to the Umayyads as legitimate pretenders. Initially, however, it was only a claim to the caliphate. The claim to prophecy must be distinguished from this. The claim that the prophecy did not end with Muhammad but lived on in Ali and his sons was the last step.

The idea of the monarchic prophet as the sovereign representative of God’s rule on earth has passed from the Jews to Islam. Per Orthodox Islam, Muhammad was the last prophet, so after his death, the impersonal law, a very inferior substitute indeed, took the place of prophecy. That was a noticeable gap, and this is where the Shi’ite dogmatism stepped in. The principle on which it was based was that prophecy, the personal and living representation of divine authority, necessarily belongs to the theocracy and lives on in it. Before Muhammad there was a long line of successive prophets, just as the Jews believe in an ακριβης διαδοχη των προφητων [exact succession of the prophets], and as before, based on Deutronomy 18, Moses never lacked such a successor. And this series does not end after Muhammad. Every prophet already had his successor at his side during his lifetime (this ζευγος [pair] is also Jewish), like Moses had Joshua, so Muhammad had Ali, through whom the office is then propagated. The name prophet, however, is not applied to Ali and his sons—they are called wasi or mahdi and generally imam—but in fact, as knowers of the unseen [ghayb] and incarnations of the divine sovereign authority, they are same as prophets.^[158]

Finally, he says:

The idolatry in the name of the holy family was given a kind of philosophical substructure through the doctrine of rebirth, i.e. palingenesis (raj’a) or metempsychoses (tanasukh al arwah). At death the spirits move from one body into another; it is a continuous resurrection in the natural course of the world, which differs from the unique one at the end of the world. This doctrine, however, gets its practical meaning mainly through its focus on the Spirit of God, which inhabits the prophets. When one prophet dies, it passes into another. There is only one prophet at a time, but a thousand prophets one after the other. However, through the divine spirit that is reborn in each of them, they all are identical, and in reality it is the only one true prophet that keeps coming back. In this sense, the return of Muhammad (in the Alids) is also asserted and is based on the Qurʾanic verses 28:85, 82:8. One is strongly reminded of the most likely Jewish (albeit heretical Jewish) view presented in the Pseudo-Clementines: the Holy Spirit takes on a human form by uniting with Adam and appears as the true prophet successively in different forms and is destined to rule the eternal kingdom. See Gieselers KG. (4th ed.), 1, p. 283.

Those coming later, it seems, understood the raj’a differently. They understood the term antithetically. They assumed a periodic disappearance (ghayba) of the true imam and then labeled his reappearance as ‘the return’. The original meaning of the raj’a is, however, clear from its synonymy with metempsychosis; Sayedalso believed in his own raj’a and was brought up with it [i.e. indoctrinated with the concept in childhood] (Agh. 7, p. 8). It is further evident from the fact that Kuthayyir saw all the children of Hassan and Hussain as little prophets because he believed in the raj’a (Agh. 8, p. 34), and especially from the fact that Muhammad himself was thought to be returning, namely in the heirs of his blood and prophecy.^[159]

He then quotes what Abu Hamzah al Khariji said in his sermon on the pulpit in Madinah Munawwarah about the Shia, quoting from al Aghani:

They claim to adhere to the book of God, but openly oppose it with their own little discoveries and do not come to a thorough insight into the Qurʾan, nor to an in-depth knowledge of the law, nor to investigation of the pure truth. They obscure everything with their party interests. Their religion consists of clinging to a clan, whom they obey in everything that is told to them whether it is wrong or right, the wrong way or the true way. They expect a new era through the return of the dead and believe in a resurrection before the Last Day. They attribute the knowledge of the unseen [ghayb] to a creature, a person who does not even know what is in his own house, behind his clothes and inside his body. They reproach the authorities for their crimes, but commit them themselves when they gain power, and they do not know how to avoid them, ignorant in religion as they are. They entrust their religion to an Arab family and claim that their client relationship with these patrons exempts them from good works and relieves them from the punishment of wrongdoing.^[160]

Similar is caliph Hisham’s view in a letter to Yusuf b. Umar (Tab. I, pp. 1682). The Shi’ites’ worship of God was worship of men, and this resulted in Caesaropapism. They protested against the Imamate of existing powers, but their legitimate Imamate of prophetic blood was nothing better. It led to contempt for the law. The Imam stood above the mere letters [law] and knew the unseen; whoever adhered to him and obeyed him was relieved of his own responsibility.^[161]

It is necessary to quote what Ahmed Amin wrote in his book Fajr al Islam about the Shia, even though we quoted a portion previously[162]:

والحق أن التشيع كان مأوى يلجأ إليه كل من أراد هدم الإسلام لعداوة أو حقد ومن كان يريد إدخال تعاليم آبائه من يهودية ونصرانية وزرادشتية وهندية ومن كان يريد استقلال بلاده والخروج على مملكته كل هؤلاء كانوا يتخذون حب أهل البيت ستاراً يضعون وراءه كل ما شاءت أهواءهم فاليهودية ظهرت في التشيع بالقول في الرجعة وقال الشيعة إن النار محرمة على الشيعي إلا قليلاً كما قال اليهود لن تمسنا النار إلا أياماً معدودات والنصرانية ظهرت في التشيع في قول بعضهم إن نسبة الإمام إلى الله كنسبة المسيح إليه وقالوا إن اللاهوت اتحد بالناسوت في الإمام وإن النبوة والرسالة لا تنقطع أبداً فمن اتحد به اللاهوت فهو نبي وتحت التشيع ظهر القول بتناسخ الأرواح وتجسيم الله والحلول ونحو ذلك من الأقوال التي كانت معروفة عند البراهمة والفلاسفة والمجوس من قبل الإسلام وتستر بعض الفرس بالتشيّع وحاربوا الدولة الأموية وما في نفوسهم إلا الكره للعرب ودولتهم والسعي لاستقلالهم قال المقريزي واعلم أن السبب في خروج أكثر الطوائف عن ديانة الإسلام إن الفرس كانوا ذوي سعة وعلو يد على جميع الأمم وجلالة الخطر في أنفسها بحيث إنهم كانوا يسمون أنفسهم الأحرار والأسياد وكانوا يعدون سائر الناس عبيدًا لهم فلما امتحنوا بزوال الدولة عنهم على أيدي العرب وكان العرب عند الفرس أقل الأمم خطرًا تعاظمهم الأمر وتضاعفت لديهم المصيبة وراموا كيد الإسلام بالمحاربة في أوقات شتى وفي كل ذلك يظهر الله الحق فرأوا أن كيده على الحيلة أنجع فأظهر قوما منهم الإسلام واستمالوا أهل التشيع بإظهار محبة أهل البيت واستبشاع ظلم علي ثم سلكوا بهم مسالك شتى حتى أخرجوهم عن طريق الهدى وقد ذهب الأستاذ ولهوسن إلى أن العقيدة الشيعية نبعت من اليهودية أكثر مما نبعت من الفارسية مستدلاً بأن مؤسسها عبد الله بن سبأ وهو يهودي ويميل الأستاذ دوزي إلى أن أساسها فارسي فالعرب تدين بالحرية والفرس يدينون بالمَلِك وبالوراثة في بيت المالك ولا يعرفون معنى لانتخاب الخليفة وقد مات محمد ولم يترك ولداً فأولى الناس بعده ابن عمه علي بن أبي طالب فمن أخذ الخلافة منه كأبي بكر وعمر وعثمان والأمويين فقد اغتصبها من مستحقها وقد اعتاد الفرس أن ينظروا إلى الملك نظرة فيها معنى إلهي فنظروا هذا النظر نفسه إلى علي وذريته وقالوا إن طاعة الإمام أول واجب وإن طاعته إطاعة الله والذي أرى كما يدلنا التاريخ أن التشيع لعلي بدأ قبل دخول الفرس الإسلام ولكن معنى ساذج وهو أن علياً أولى من غيره من وجهتين كفايته الشخصية وقرابته للنبي والعرب من قديم تفخر بالرياسة وبيت الرياسة وهذا الحزب كما رأينا وُجد من بعد وفاة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ونما بمرور الزمان وبالمطاعن في عثمان ولكن هذا التشيّع أخذ صبغة جديدة بدخول العناصر الأخرى في الإسلام من يهودية ونصرانية ومجوسية وأن كل قوم من هؤلاء كانوا يصبغون التشيّع بصيغة دينهم فاليهود تصبغ الشيعة يهودية والنصارى نصرانية وهكذا وإذ كاد أكبر عنصر دخل في الإسلام هو عنصر الفارسي كان أكبر الأثر في التشيع إنما هو الفرس

Shi’ism began assimilating strange introduced ideologies just as it started splitting horribly. It became the sanctuary and refuge for those who desired to destroy Islam due to enmity or malice, those who wished to include the teachings of their forefathers—Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Hinduism—as well as those who wished to remain independent and rebel against the state; all of these parties hid behind the veil of love for the Ahlul Bayt, inventing whatever their passion desired behind it.

The stance of Raj’ah (Return) in Judaism creeped into Shi’ism coupled with the Shia claiming that the hellfire is forbidden upon every Shia except for a little while just as the Jews had claimed, “The fire will not touch us except for few days.” Christian ideologies crept into Shi’ism with the idea that the connection of the Imam to Allah is as the connection of al Masih to Him. They claimed that divine attributes converged with non-divine attributes in the Imam and that Nubuwwah and prophethood will never cease. Thus, whoever assumes divine attributes is a nabi. Under the umbrella of Shi’ism appeared the ideology of reincarnation, embodiment, incarnation, and similar ideologies well-known among the Barahimah, Philosophers, and Persians before the advent of Islam. Some of the Persians masked themselves with Shi’ism and fought against the Umawi State. They harboured aversion towards the Arabs and their rule and endeavoured to establish their independent rule.

Al Maqrizi stated: The reason behind the rebellion of majority of the groups from servitude to Islam was that the Persians enjoyed an edge over other nations and held themselves in high esteem, calling themselves free and elite and considering all others their slaves. When they were afflicted with the fall of their state at the hands of the Arabs—especially when the Arabs were the least dangerous of all nations in their eyes—the matter weighed down heavily upon them and the calamity amplified in their sight. They wished to weaken Islam by battling against it on many occasions, but Allah gave victory to the truth on all these occasions. They thus felt that weakening it through indirect strategies would be more effective. A group of them entered the fold of Islam deceptively and attracted the Shia by pronouncing love for the Ahlul Bayt and ‘Ali’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu innocence. They then took them on various routes and derailed them from the path of guidance.

Author Wellhausen has opined that Shia ideology stemmed from Judaism more than it stemmed from Mazdeism citing as proof that its founder is ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’ who is a Jew. Author Dozy opines: The Shi’ites were basically a Persian sect, and it is here that the difference between the Arab race, which loves freedom, and the Persian race, accustomed to slavery, can be clearly seen. For the Persians, the principle of the election of the successor of the prophet was something unheard of and incomprehensible. They only knew the principle of heredity. They therefore thought that Muhammad having left no son, his son-in-law Ali should have succeeded him and that sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the caliphs except Ali were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience was due. The hatred they felt for the government and for Arab domination confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time, they cast covetous glances at the riches of their masters. Accustomed, moreover, to seeing in their kings’ descendants of the minor deities, they transferred this idolatrous respect to Ali and his posterity. Absolute obedience to the imam of Ali’s race was, in their eyes, the most important duty; and obedience to him is obedience to Allah.

What I feel—which history testifies to—is that partisanship (Shi’ism) for ‘Ali started before the Persians entered Islam, however in a simple sense, i.e. ‘Ali is the most entitled from two angles: his individual sufficiency and his relationship with the Nabi. The Arabs from long before boasted about leadership and the home of leadership. This group—as we see—were found after the Nabi’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam demise with the passing of time and by criticisms against ‘Uthman. However, this partisanship took a new colour by other ethnicities entering into Islam, viz. Jews, Christians, and Magians. Each of these factions coloured Shi’ism with the colour of their religion. The Jews gave Shi’ism a Jewish colour, while the Christians gave it a Christian hue, and so on. As the greatest ethnicity to enter the fold of Islam were the Magians, the greatest impact on Shi’ism was from the Persians.^[163]

This is the last of what we wished to pen in our book. May Allah guide us to the path of guidance and allow us to practice that which He loves and is pleased with—serving His religion, raising His word, preserving His Shari’ah, and defending the bearers of His Shari’ah, viz. Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, his Companions, and household members. May Allah send salutations upon Muhammad—seal of the Prophets and leader of the Messengers—his pure family, his chaste Companions, and those who follow them with graciousness till the Day of Recompense.

[1] Kitab al Rawdah min al Kafi, chapter on the wasiyyah of the Nabi for Amir al Mu’minin, 8/80, Tehran.

[2] Al Usul min al Kafi, 1/188.

[3] Basa’ir al Darajat, 2/10, Iran, quoting from Tafsir al Burhan, introduction, pg. 25.

[4] Basa’ir al Darajat, 2/10, Iran, quoting from Tafsir al Burhan, introduction, pg. 26.

[5] Tafsir al Burhan, introduction, pg. 27.

[6] Ibid., pg. 26.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Al Kafi, book on authority, 1/437.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid., pg. 438.

[11] Al Kafi, book on authority, 1/437.

[12] Al Kafi, chapter on the subtleties of revelation concerning Wilayah, 1/312.

[13] Ibid., 1/413.

[14] Ibid., 1/418.

[15] Ibid., 1/417.

[16] SayedHashim al Bahrani: al Burhan fi Tafsir al Qur’an, introduction, pg. 339, Iran print.

[17] Al Burhan fi Tafsir al Qur’an, section two on explaining the obligation of the Wilayah of the Ahlul Bayt, pg. 21.

[18] ‘Uyun Akhbar al Rida, 2/58, Tehran print.

[19] ‘Uyun Akhbar al Rida, 2/47, Tehran print.

[20] Tafsir al ‘Ayyashi, 1/139.

[21] It is necessary to be aware that these narrations have only been narrated by fabricators, liars, imposters of the Shia who transmit from liars, imposters, and their like. These narrations have appeared through chains of Shia imposters in some books of the Ahlus Sunnah—those who do not adhere to narrating authentic narrations and have not taken up the task of scrutinising narrators and their biographies. Hence, these narrations should not be relied upon as they are transmitted from the Shia to promote their falsehood and spread their lies. To Allah belongs praise and exaltation that the Ahlus Sunnah have a strong, sound, decisive standard to examine these narrations in order to separate truth from falsehood just as they have rules and regulations to assess narrators’ reliability or unreliability. Hence, only those narrations and narrators who are truthful will be accepted and no attention will be paid to weak, fabricated, and false narrations and narrators.

[22] Manhaj al Sadiqin, 8/110.

[23] Al Burhan, introduction, pg. 13.

[24] Surah al Hujurat: 13.

[25] Surah al Shu’ara’: 90-91.

[26] Surah al Mu’minun: 1-11.

[27] Surah al Zilzal: 7-8.

[28] Surah al An’am: 164.

[29] Surah al Layl: 5-10.

[30] Surah al Muddathir: 38-48.

[31] Surah Lahab: 1-5.

[32] ‘Uyun Akhbar al Rida, 2/65; al Burhan, introduction, pg. 22.

[33] Al Usul min al Kafi, chapter on the pillars of Islam, 2/18.

[34] Al Burhan, introduction, pg. 22.

[35] Harken! He is Sheikh Muhammad al Hussain Al Kashif al Ghita’ in his book Asl al Shia wa Furu’iha, pg. 103-104, ninth edition, Beirut, 1960; SayedMuhsin al Amin in his book A’yan al Shia, 1/69.

[36] Al Burhan, introduction, pg. 20.

[37] Condensed, Kashf al Asrar, pg. 110 onwards, Persian print.

[38] Kashf al Asrar, pg. 112-114, Persian.

[39] Kashf al Asrar, pg. 112-114, Persian.

[40] Kashf al Asrar, pg. 114-117.

[41] Kashf al Asrar, pg. 119-120.

[42] Tanqih al Maqal, quoting from the footnotes of al Dhahabi: al Muntaqa, pg. 193.

[43] Al Rawdah min al Kafi, 8/302, under the chapter of Abu Talib informing of ‘Ali’s birth and him being the Wasi of the Nabi.

[44] Surah al Shu’ara’: 214.

[45] Al Irshad, pg. 11; A’lam al Wara, pg. 162; al Safi, 2/227; Tafsir al Qummi, 2/124; Nur al Thaqalayn, 4/67; Manhaj al Sadiqin, 6/487; A’yan al Shia, 2/209, section one.

[46] Al Kafi, book on authority, 1/250, Iran.

[47] Al Kafi, book on authority, 1/293-294, Iran.

[48] Al Kafi, book on authority, chapter on the Imams not desisting from anything or doing anything except with the command from Allah, 1/280.

[49] Al Kafi, book on authority, chapter on the instruction and appointment of Amir al Mu’minin, 1/293.

[50] Rijal al Kashshi, pg. 109, Karbala print, Iraq; Firaq al Shia, pg. 43-44, Najaf print, Iraq; Tanqih al Maqal, 2/143, Iran, and other books.

[51] Al Kafi, book on authority, pg. 340; al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 170, Saduq publishers, Tehran.

[52] Al Kafi, book on authority, pg. 340.

[53] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 173.

[54] A’lam al Wara, pg. 445.

[55] Kitab al Khara’ij quoting from al Nuri al Tabarsi: Kashf al Astar ‘an Wajh al Gha’ib ‘an al Absar, pg. 211, Tehran; al Fusul al Muhimmah, pg. 293, Manshurat al A’lami, Tehran.

[56] Al Usul min al Kafi, book on authority, 1/328; al Fusul al Muhimmah, pg. 292.

[57] Kashf al Astar, pg. 215.

[58] Fajr al Islam, pg. 273.

[59] Kashf al Astar, pg. 215.

[60] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/65.

[61] Bihar al Anwar, vol. 13, chapter on al Jazirat al Khadra’.

[62] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/58 onwards, chapter on light at his birth.

[63] Al Usul min al Kafi, book on authority, chapter on Occultation, 1/338.

[64] Al Usul min al Kafi, Book on authority, chapter on naming who he sees, 1/331.

[65] Ibid.

[66] Ibid.

[67] Ibid., pg. 332.

[68] Ibid., pg. 333.

[69] Ibid., chapter on the prohibition of the name, pg. 332-333.

[70] Kashf al Ghummah, 3/283.

[71] Kashf al Ghummah, 3/283-285; Muntaha al Amal, pg. 1244.

[72] Kashf al Ghummah, 3/283-285; Muntaha al Amal, pg. 1244.

[73] Kashf al Ghummah, 3/287.

[74] Bihar al Anwar, 13/225, first edition.

[75] A’lam al Wara, pg. 427.

[76] A’lam al Wara, pg. 425.

[77] A’lam al Wara, pg. 427.

[78] A’lam al Wara, pg. 429.

[79] A’lam al Wara, pg. 427, 428.

[80] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah; Bihar al Anwar, 13/179.

[81] Al Fusul al Muhimmah, pg. 322.

[82] Al Tusi: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 274.

[83] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 240.

[84] Al Usul min al Kafi, book on authority, 1/338.

[85] Al Usul min al Kafi, 1/368.

[86] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 292, Tehran print.

[87] Al Irshad, pg. 260

[88] Al Irshad, pg. 260.

[89] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 294-295.

[90] He is Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Jafar al Katib al No’mani. He is from the senior muhaddithin of the Imamiyyah of the beginning of the fourth century. He is the student of Thiqat al Islam Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yaqub al Kulayni. He was an author with excellent insight, skills in deducing, and comprehensive knowledge of narrators and their reports. Kitab al Ghaybah is one of his most significant books. Al Najashi said regarding him, “Al No’mani is one of our senior scholars with sublimity, noble rank, correct beliefs, and plenty hadith.” Muqaddimat Kitab al Ghaybah, pg.11-12.

[91] Al Kafi, book on proofs, chapter on the reprehensibility of setting time, 1/369; Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 295-296, the wording is his.

[92] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, pg. 76-80.

[93] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, pg. 76-80.

[94] A’lam al Wara, pg. 459; al Irshad, pg. 361-362.

[95] Does this word not indicate to inheriting from the nation who speak Hebrew.

[96] Al Ghaybah, pg. 169, quoting from Kitab Tarikh ma Ba’d al Zuhur, pg. 372-373.

[97] Al Ghaybah, pg. 254.

[98] Al Tusi: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 274.

[99] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/82.

[100] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, pg. 83-84.

[101] Al Tusi: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 189.

[102] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 189.

[103] A’lam al Wara, pg. 460-461; al Irshad, pg. 364; Rawdat al Wa’izin, 2/265; Ikmal al Din.

[104] Kashf al Ghummah, 1/19, quoting from the book Tarikh Ma Ba’d al Zuhur, pg. 352.

[105] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/83.

[106] Al Irshad, pg. 362; A’lam al Wara, pg. 460; Rawdat al Wa’izin, pg. 264; al Burhan, 2/82; Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 334.

[107] Ibn Quluwayh: Kamil al Ziyarat, pg. 120.

[108] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 309-310.

[109] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 309.

[110] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 311.

[111] Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 233.

[112] Al Irshad, pg. 364; A’lam al Wara, pg. 461; al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 235.

[113] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 235.

[114] Al Tusi: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 233-234.

[115] Bihar al Anwar, 13/181.

[116] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 308.

[117] Bihar al Anwar, 13/219; Tafsir al ‘Ayyashi, 2/282; al Burhan, 2/408; al Safi, pg. 959.

[118] Tafsir al Safi, pg. 359, single volume.

[119] Al Burhan fi Tafsir al Qur’an, 2/407.

[120] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/86-87.

[121] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/86-87.

[122] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 239.

[123] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 232.

[124] Tafsir al Safi, pg. 359, voluminous volume.

[125] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 233.

[126] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 231.

[127] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 231.

[128] Bihar al Anwar, 13/194 onwards.

[129] Bihar al Anwar, 13/194.

[130] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 234-235; Bihar al Anwar.

[131] Bihar al Anwar, 13/210; al Safi, 1/959.

[132] Bihar al Anwar, 13/211; al Burhan, 2/407; al Safi, 1/959; al ‘Amili: Ithbat al Hudat, 7/102.

[133] Tafsir al ‘Ayyashi, 2/181.

[134] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/98-99.

[135] Tafsir al ‘Ayyashi, 2/282; al Burhan, 2/408; al Safi, 1/259, under the verse: then We gave back to you a return victory over them; Bihar al Anwar, 13/219.

[136] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/98.

[137] Al Safi, 1/347.

[138] Bihar al Anwar, 13/210.

[139] Bihar al Anwar, 13/217.

[140] Nur al Thaqalayn, 1/359; Bihar al Anwar, 13/210.

[141] Tafsir al ‘Ayyashi, 1/281, under Allah’s statement: you will most certainly believe in him and assist him; al Burhan, 1/295; Bihar al Anwar, 13/217.

[142] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/99.

[143] Bihar al Anwar, 13/210.

[144] A’lam al Wara, pg. 462; al Irshad, pg. 363; Bihar al Anwar, 13/223.

[145] Al Irshad, pg. 365; A’lam al Wara, pg. 464.

[146] Bihar al Anwar, 13/213.

[147] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/99.

[148] Bihar al Anwar, 13/237.

[149] Al Tusi: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 285.

[150] Al No’mani: Kitab al Ghaybah, pg. 332.

[151] Mafatih al Jinan, pg. 532.

[152] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/101-102.

[153] Surah al Nur: 55.

[154] Al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 2/99-100.

[155] Maqalah fi Tarikh al Islam, 220 onwards; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 90.

[156] Kitab Muller, 1/327; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 90.

[157] Al Khawarij wa al Shia, pg. 169-170, Arabic; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 90-91.

[158] Al Khawarij wa al Shia, pg. 171-172; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 91-92.

[159] Al Khawarij wa al Shia, pg. 173-174; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 93-94.

[160] Al Khawarij wa al Shia, pg. 173-175; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 94.

[161] Al Khawarij wa al Shia, pg. 175 quoting from al Tabari, 2/882; The Religio-Political Opposition Parties in Early Islam, pg. 94.

[162] Fajr al Islam, pg. 276-278.

[163] Fajr al Islam, pg. 276-278.