Proving the A'immah

Salam Alaykum,

As a born Sunni Muslim, I have only recently accepted the twelve Imams as the spiritual successors to the Prophet Muhammed (s). This rational fact has been proven to me from my study of the Qur'an and Sunnah, through various hadiths from the 'Sahih' sources, and verses from the Noble Qur'an.

First I would like to clear up a misconception among the Sunni Muslims and Shi'ah: the twelve Imams are not a continued prophethood. The Imams do not receive revelations, rather, they inherited the knowledge of the Prophet Muhammed (s) and used the very same Qur'an that we use today. Revelations belong to the Prophets and Messengers, and Muhammed (s) was the seal of Prophets. The Imams were simply guides for the Muslim Ummah.

The number one widely used criticism to the A'immah (Imamate, 12 Caliphs, Succession, etc.) theory is that the Qur'an does not clearly mention their advent. It is true that we do not find the name of Ali ibn abi Talib (a) in the Qur'an, or that of any other Imam. However, I'll have to disagree that the Succession has not been mentioned at all in the Qur'an.

Let's take this slow and cover most of the points:

Ali (a) in the Qur'an

"And among men there is one who sells his self seeking the pleasure of God; and verily, God is affectionate to His (faithful) servants" (Noble Qur'an, 2:207)

This verse is unanimously speaking about Imam Ali (a), and our Sunni Muslim brothers and their scholars agree with this. It is referring to the time when Ali (a) slept in the bed of the Prophet Muhammed (s) to prevent his capture. Ali faithfully slept in his bed, for God's pleasure and that of his cousin and master, and when the Quraysh barged in, they saw that the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) had already escaped.

There are many other verses I can point out, but before this blog gets too long, let us move on:

The Authority:

"O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those vested with authority from among you." (4:59)

Let's take a close look at this ayah for a moment. When God addresses us with "O you who believe", He is of course talking to the mu'min Muslims about a matter in which we must all abide. He then says, obey God, obey His Messenger (the Prophet Muhammed [pbuh]) and those vested with authority from among you.

Who could the third group be? Considering this ayah is talking to Muslims about obedience, and then mentions obedience to God and His Messenger, the third group must also be spiritual. It is put as the tertiary; the third model we must follow.

Traditional Sunni Muslims say that the verse refers simply to those we have in charge, whether that be our caliphs, governments, leaders, etc. The problem with this interpretation is that our leaders can be misguided and corrupt - God does not want us to follow evil leaders. Rather, we should do our part to make political leaders just, fair, and active by any means necessary.

The other problem is that in the verse, of the three parties (God, Muhammed, Authority among the Ummah), the first two are an unquestionable religious authority. Why would God name a third, possibly-corrupt authority that we must follow?

Rather, this is referring to the A'immah - because obeying them is obeying the Messenger, and obeying the Messenger is obeying God. Which makes sense in the context of the ayah. Political leaders would not.

The Hadiths

The Qur'an is not a book which emphasizes details, but rather it is one that reviews the point of our existence - to worship God, to be good to our fellow comrades, and to prepare for one of two final destinations on Judgment Day. The Qur'an primarily talks about these three points, and recites parables to give examples of Prophets and good men and women.

However, for details beyond the core of the religion, one must explore the Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet Muhammed (s). The Qur'an and Sunnah go hand in hand, for example, the Qur'an tells us to worship, and the Sunnah teaches us how.

So the Sunnah instructs us on how to conduct our private life, how to dress, sleep, eat, and even gives us prophecies of the future and instructs us on how to create an ideal Muslim society. Therefore, the Sunnah is where you find the real meat concerning the A'immah.

Let's take a look at a Sunni Muslim source --> Sahih Muslim. Sahih Muslim is a respected compilation of the traditions of the Prophet (s), and the third most important source in Sunni Islam (the first two being the Noble Qur'an and Sahih Bukhari).

Sahih Muslim's volume named "Kitab al Imara" (Book of Government) has got some very interesting hadiths. Let's take a look:

The Prophet Muhammed (s) said;

" The Caliphate (khalifah, Arabic word for "succession") will not end until there have been twelve Caliphs among them... All of them will be from Quraysh" (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Imara, Hadith 4477)

Very simply put, the Prophet said that there will be 12 Caliphs (successors) from Quraysh tribe. If we look into history, we see that there were dozens of Caliphs, far more than twelve. Sunni Muslim scholars have been disagreeing about the interpretation of this hadith for thousands of years now, debating over which of their Caliphs would count towards the "twelve".

The most popular interpretation is that the twelve would include the first 4 Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali), plus the 8 which succeeded them. But many problems arose with this interpretation, such as the fact that Imam Mehdi would not be included in the twelve, despite his integral role in the end times. Some Sunni Muslims will also say that Yazid was unjust in his actions and undeserving of the Caliphate.

These 12 Caliphs can definitely only be the 12 Imams, starting with Ali (a) and ending with the Mehdi (a)

The second hadith I can use to prove this another hadith in the same Kitab al Imara, which states:

The Prophet Muhammed (s) said:

"The Caliphate will remain among the Quraysh even if only two persons are left on earth" (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Imara, Hadith 4476)

According to Sunni Islam, there is no Caliphate today at all. Historically, the Muslim leadership had been shattered and today we are left with no political leader. However, this hadith still stands, and indicates that we indeed do have a Successor to the prophet among us.

This can only be Imam Mehdi, who is in occultation and will return when God wills it. Even if only two people are left on earth, Imam Mehdi will be there, waiting.

Imam Ali (a) as the natural successor to the Prophet Muhammed (s)

In the Sunni Muslim hadith compilation "Tirmidhi", which is the third most important source for hadiths, the Prophet Muhammed (s) announced the Muslims' allegiance to Ali ibn abi Talib (a).

The Holy Prophet (s) held up the hand of Imam Ali (a) at Ghadir Khum, and said "Whoever I am his maula (leader, friend, master), Ali is his maula [too]! O God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." (Tirmidhi, V2, p298, v5, P63)

This was believed to have been said during the Prophet's "farewell pilgrimage". The hadith has been viewed as "Sahih" by hundreds of Sunni Muslim sources, including some very big names such as Ibn Maja and Ahmed ibn Hanbal.

Therefore, anyone who takes the Prophet (s) as his master, which all Muslims do, must therefore take Imam Ali (a) as his master as well. Considering that this was said at his fairwell ceremony, and considering Ali (a) had lived long after the Prophet (s) had died, we can therefore assume that Ali was the maula of the Muslims, therefore making him the successor of the Prophet (s).

One must understand that by "Successor" I do not mean the Imams were in any way better than the Prophet Muhammed (s). Astaghfirallah, because Muhammed (s) was the seal of prophets, the praised one, the loved, the prophesied, and was the cradle of Allah's final testament, the Qur'an. The Imams were merely Muslims like ourselves, set to keep us on the straight path and lead us into the troubling times which pursued after the death of the Prophet.

God willingly, we will one day see the return of the twelve Imam, as well as the return of our Messiah Jesus (a).

May God bless you for your patience, thanks for reading my blog, and please do not forget me in your du'a. Wa-salamu alaykum.

-Qa'im