Twelve Rulers from the Tribe of Quraish

Moiz Amjad · February 12, 2007

Title:

Twelve Rulers from the Tribe of Quraish

Article:

روى

جابر بن سمرة أنه سمع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:

إن هدا الأمر لا ينقضي حتى يمضي فيهم اثنا عشر خليفة ، ثم تكلم

بكلام حفي علي. فقلت لأبي ما قال؟ قال: كلهم من قريش.

It is narrated by Jabir ibn Samurah¹

that he heard the Prophet (pbuh) say: This present state [of dominance and

power]² shall definitely prevail till the time that [at least]

twelve rulers pass in them^.3 [Jabir says:] Then he said

something that I could not comprehend^.4 So I asked my father: What

did he say? He replied: All of these [rulers] will be from the Quraish.

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General Notes

1. This narrative has been reported only

   through Jabir ibn Samurah. This fact, combined with the information

   given in some of the narratives, according to which the Prophet said these

   words:

• at a gathering after the stoning to death

  of Maa`iz Al-Aslamiy[1];

  or

• at the gathering of the Last Hajj[2];

  or

• while addressing the gathering at

  Arafaat[3];

  or

• in the presence of a large number of

  people[4];

  or

• those according to which the Prophet (pbuh)

  said these words in the presence of the people of Quraish[5]

raises doubts in one's mind about

the accuracy of this narrative, in view of the complete lack of any alternative

reporting of a public statement of the Prophet (pbuh).

2. Not being transmitted verbally, there is a

   significant variation in the reporting of this statement. However, the

   preferred reporting seems to be one that covers the implication entailed in

   most of the other major variant narrations, as for instance: 'Islam will

   remain strong', 'This religion will continue to be strong', 'This religion

   will remain established', 'This religion will continue to be dominant' etc.

3. This relates to the Prophet's (pbuh)

   knowledge of the Divine Law according to which the Quraish, as the leaders and

   representatives of the Banu Ishmael were granted dominance in the

   world. The Prophet (pbuh) has informed the people that this dominance will

   continue for a long time to come during which people will see at least twelve

   different rulers from the tribe of Quraish.

4. In some narratives, it has been clarified

   that when the Prophet (pbuh) informed the people that the present state of

   strength and dominance will continue for a long time, people cheered, shouted

   and glorified God and it because of this noise, the narrator could not hear

   what the Prophet (pbuh) said.

Notes on the Text of the Narrative:

The narrative has been reported with some variations in Bukhariy's

narrative no. 6796, Muslim's narrative no. 1821a, 1821b, 1821c, 1821d,

1821e, 1821f, 1822a and 1822b, Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4279, 4280 and

4281, Tirmidhi's narrative no. 2223, Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative

no. 20824, 20833, 20836, 20841, 20850, 20862, 20868, 20870, 20873, 20890, 20892,

20902, 20909, 20910, 20921, 20934, 20943, 20944, 20960, 20961, 20962, 20964,

20965, 20974, 20978, 20988, 20999, 21003, 21051, 21058, 21071, 21077 and 21088,

Ibn Hibban's narrative no. 6661, 6662 and 6663, Abu Ya`laa's

narrative no. 7463. Except where otherwise specified, the selected words have

been reported in Muslim's narrative no. 1821a.

The words

“إن هذا الأمر لا ينقضي حتى يمضي فيهم اثنا عشرة

خليفة” (i.e., 'This state [of dominance

and power] shall definitely prevail till the time that [at least] twelve rulers

pass in them') have been reported simply as

“يكون اثنا عشر أميرا”

(i.e., 'there will be twelve leaders') in Bukhariy's narrative no.

6796; as

“لا يزال أمر الناس ماضيا ما وليهم اثنا عشرة رجلا”

(i.e., 'the state of these people will continue till they are headed by

twelve men') in Muslim's narrative no. 1821b; as

“لا يزال الإسلام عزيزا إلى اثنى عشرة خليفة”

(i.e., 'Islam will continue to be strong till twelve rulers') in

Muslim's narrative no. 1821d; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر عزيزا إلى إثنى عشرة خليفة”

(i.e., 'this state of affairs will continue to be strong till twelve

rulers') in Muslim's narrative no. 1821e; as

“لا يزال هذا الدين عزيزا منيعا إلى اثني عشر خليفة”

(i.e., 'this religion will continue to be strong, defending [against all

aggression] till twelve rulers') in Muslim's narrative no. 1821f; as

“لا يزال هذا الدين قائما حتى يكون عليكم اثنا عشرة

خليفة” (i.e., 'this religion will

continue to be established till there come upon you twelve rulers') in Abu

Dawood's narrative no. 4279, while in some narratives, as for instance in

Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. the words

“هذا”

(i.e., 'this') and

“عليكم”

(i.e., 'upon you') have been omitted; as

“لا يزال هذا الدين عزيزا إلى اثني عشرة خليفة”

(i.e., 'this religion will continue to be strong till twelve rulers') in

Abu Dawood's narrative no. 4280; as

“يكون من بعدي اثنا عشرة أميرا”

(i.e., 'there will come after me twelve leaders') in Tirmidhi's

narrative no. 2223, while in some narratives, as for instance in Ahmad ibn

Hanbal's narrative no. 20890, the word

“من” has been omitted and in some

narratives, as for instance in Ibn Hibban's narrative no. 6661, the word

“أمير”

(i.e., 'leader') has been replaced with its synonym

“خليفة” (i.e., 'ruler') ; as

“إن هذا الدين لن يزال ظاهرا على من ناوأه لا يضره

مخالف ولا مفارق حتى يمضي من أمتي اثنا عشرة خليفة”

(i.e., 'Indeed this religion will definitely continue to be dominant over

its enemies, its adversaries and those who desire to strike a division in it

will not succeed in harming it till the time that twelve rulers pass in it.') in

Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 20833; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر عزيزا منيعا ظاهرا على من ناوأه

حتى يملك اثنا عشر” (i.e., 'This matter

shall continue in strength, defending against all aggression, dominating over

its enemies till twelve [rulers] take charge of it') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's

narrative no. 20910; as

“لن يزال هذا الأمر عزيزا ظاهرا حتى يملك اثنا عشر”

(i.e., 'This state of affairs shall will most definitely continue, strong

and dominant, till twelve rulers take charge') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's

narrative no. 20974; as

“لن يزال هذا الدين عزيزا منيعا ظاهرا على من ناوأه

لا يضره من فارقه أو خالفه حتى يملك اثنا عشر”

(i.e., 'This religion will most definitely continue strong, defending

against all aggression, dominant over its enemies; those desirous of rendering

it into pieces or those who stand against it will not be able to harm it, till

twelve rulers take charge of it') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no.

20943; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر صالحا حتى يكون اثنا عشر أميرا”

(i.e., 'This state of affairs will continue to be good till there are

twelve leaders') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 20960; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر ماضيا حتى يقوم اثنا عشر أميرا”

(i.e., 'This state of affairs will continue uninterrupted till there rise

twelve leaders') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 20961, while in some

narratives, as for instance in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 20999,

the same words have been reported except that the word

“أمير”

(i.e., 'leader') has been replaced with its synonym

“خليفة” (i.e., 'ruler'); as

“لا يزال الناس بخير إلى اثني عشر خليفة”

(i.e., 'People will remain good till twelve rulers') in Ahmad ibn

Hanbal's narrative no. 20962; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر عزيزا منيعا ينصرون على من ناواهم

عليه إلى اثني عشر خليفة” (i.e., 'This state of affairs will

continue to be strong, defending against all aggression, being victorious over

those who attack it till twelve rulers') in Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative

no. 20964; as

“يكون لهذه الأمة اثنا عشر خليفة”

(i.e., 'There will be twelve rulers in this Ummah') in Ahmad

ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 21051; as

“لا يزال هذا الأمر مؤاتي أو مقاربا حتى يقوم اثنا

عشر خليفة” (i.e., 'This state of affairs

will continue to be amicable or close to that till twelve rulers govern') in

Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 21071; and as

“لا يزال الدين قائما حتى تقوم الساعة أو يكون عليكم

اثنا عشر خليفة” (i.e., 'This religion

will remain strong till the Hour of Judgment is established or till there have

been upon them twelve rulers') in Muslim's narrative no. 1822a;

In some narratives, as for instance in Abu Dawood's

narrative no. 4281, the narrator continues to report further that:

فلما

رجع إلى منزله أتته قريش فقالوا: ثم يكون ماذا؟ قال: ثم

يكون الهرج.

When he [i.e., the Prophet (pbuh)] returned home,

some people of Quraish came to him and asked him: What will happen after that?

He replied: Then there will be anarchy.

While in some other narratives, as for instance in Ahmad ibn

Hanbal's narrative no. 20824, the Prophet is reported to have said:

لا يرال الدين قائما حتى يكون اثنا عشر خليفة من قريش

ثم يخرج كذابون بين يدي الساعة.

This religion will remain established till there

have come twelve rulers from Quraish. Then, before the advent of the Hour of

Judgment, liars will appear.

(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)

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