Who are the Imāms?

Who are the Imāms?

Reply: During his lifetime, the Holy Prophet (ṣ) declared that after him there shall be twelve caliphs all of whom will be from Quraysh, and through whom Islam shall be exalted.

Jābir ibn Samurah narrates:

اثنىٰ إلىٰ عزيزاً الإسلام لايزال يقول –وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلّىٰ–الله رسول سمعت”

“.قريش من كلّهُم :فقال ؟ قال ما لأبي فقلت أسمعها لم كلمة قال ثمّ خليفةً عشر

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ṣ) saying: ‘Islam will keep its honor through twelve caliphs.’ Then, he said a statement which I failed to catch. So I asked my father, “What did he (ṣ) say?” He (my father) replied that he (ṣ) said: “All of them will be from Quraysh.[1]

In the history of Islam, there are not twelve caliphs who preserve the honor of Islam except the twelve Imāms in whom the Shī‘ah believe; for they are the twelve caliphs whom the Prophet (ṣ) introduced as his successors.

Now, let us see who the twelve caliphs are. If we say that they are the four caliphs who are known by the Ahl as-Sunnah as “Rightly-Guided Caliphs” [khulafa’ ar-rāshidūn], there are no other caliphs who contributed to exalting Islam. The biography of the ‘Umayyad and ‘Abbāsid caliphs is a testimony to this fact. As for the twelve Imāms in whom the Shī‘ah believe, they were a clear manifestation of piety and virtue during their respective periods. They were also preservers of the Messenger of Allah’s (ṣ) Sunnah and the people to whom Ṣaḥābah [Companions] and Tābi‘ūn [Followers] were attracted,[2] and whose knowledge and trustworthiness are acknowledged by historians. These twelve Imāms are:

1. ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib;
2. Hasan ibn ‘Alī (al-Mujtabā);
3. Husayn ibn ‘Alī;
4. ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn (Zayn al-‘Ābidīn);
5. Muhammad ibn ‘Alī (al-Bāqir);
6. Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (aṣ-Ṣādiq);
7. Mūsā ibn Ja‘far (al-Kāẓim);
8. ‘Alī ibn Mūsā (ar-Ridā);
9. Muhammad ibn ‘Alī (at-Taqī);
10. ‘Alī ibn Muhammad (an-Naqī);
11. Hasan ibn ‘Alī (al-‘Askarī); and
12. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (al-Mahdī).

There have been mutawātir traditions related from the Prophet (ṣ) regarding the last Imām who is known as the “Promised Mahdī” transmitted by Muslim hadīth scholars [muḥaddithūn].

For further information about the life of these great leaders, whom the Messenger of Allah (ṣ) himself has named, one may refer to the following books:

1. Tadhkirat al-Khawāṣ (Tadhkirah Khawāṣ al-Ummah);
2. Kifāyat al-Athar;
3. Wafiyāt al-A‘yān; and

A‘yān ash-Shī‘ah (by Sayyid Muḥsin Amīn al-‘Āmilī), which is the most comprehensive of the four books