❖ What Is the Hadith About Twelve Leaders and What Does It Mean?
Source: Fatāwā ʿUlamāʾ-e-Ḥadīth, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Volume 1✿ Question:
In which ḥadīth is the mention of twelve imams found, and what is the correct interpretation of that narration?✿ Answer:
There is no ḥadīth that explicitly mentions “twelve imams”; however, there is an authentic ḥadīth that refers to twelve caliphs (khalīfah):◈ Narration from Jābir ibn Samurah (رضي الله عنه):
❝عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ ... إِنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ لَا يَنْقَضِي حَتَّى يَمْضِيَ فِيهِمْ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً ... قَالَ: كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ❞(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 7222; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1821)
“I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: ‘This matter (i.e., Islam) will continue to be upheld until there are twelve caliphs.’ Then he said something I could not hear clearly. I asked my father, and he said: ‘All of them will be from Quraysh.’”
✿ Interpretations by Scholars
◈ Imām al-Nawawī (raḥimahullāh):
He said:❝It is possible that the hadith refers to rightful and just rulers—some have already passed, and the rest will come before the Hour is established.❞
(Sharḥ Muslim: 12/202)
◈ Imām al-Qurṭubī (raḥimahullāh):
He explained:❝They are just rulers, such as the four rightly guided caliphs and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Others who appear with justice and truth will also be counted among them until the number is complete. This is the view I consider strongest.❞
(al-Mufhim: 4/8)
✿ Rebuttal of the Shīʿī Interpretation
Shīʿah scholars try to apply this hadith to their belief in twelve imams, but this interpretation is:
False and baseless, based on sectarian bias and misinterpretation. The Prophet ﷺ said “twelve caliphs” (خلفاء), not “twelve imams”. Many of the Shīʿah’s twelve imams never held political leadership or caliphate, making their identification incompatible with the ḥadīth.◈ Statement by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (raḥimahullāh):
❝Whoever thinks that these twelve are the imams believed in by the Rāfiḍah is in the depths of ignorance.❞(Minhāj al-Sunnah: 8/173–174)
Conclusion: