Title: Authenticity of Ahadith Related to the Twelve Caliphs Question: "The religion will continue to be established till the hour comes as there are twelve Caliphs over them, everyone of them coming from the Quraish". Mishkat al Masabih: (Vol 4 p 576), Hadith 5 "The Islamic religion will continue, until the hour has been established, or you have been ruled over by 12 Caliphs, all of them being from Quraish" Sahih Muslim, hadith number 4483, English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui Now just ponder over these ahadith The Islamic religion will continue - the Muslims can suffer oppression, go through hardships etc. but Islam will remain intact, with all it's conditions, qualities and virtues as long as there exist these 12 Khalifa's. Think carefully, deen is attached to the ruling of 12 Khalifa's. The number 12 is of significance here, it can not apply to political leadership, Jalaladeen Suyuti in Tarikh ul Khulufa recounts that there were 4 Rightly guides khalifas', 14 khalifas' from Banu Ummayah and 49 Khalifas' from the Banu Abbasids. Sharra Fiqa Akbar by Mulla 'Ali Qari is the Hanafi Book of aqaid. On the very first page it is stated that the book sets out the aqeedah of Ahl'ul Sunnah wa al Jamaah. Everything set out in this book is the aqeedah of Hanafi Sunni Muslims. Mulla Ali Qari sets out who the 12 khalifas are: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Mu'awiya, Yazid bin Mu'awiya, Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Walid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Sulayman bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Yazid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Hasham bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Taken from Sharra Fiqa Akbar, by Mulla Ali Qari, p 176 (publishers Muhammad Saeed and son, Qur'an Muhalla) Do the ahle sunnat really believe the twelve caliphs of islam include marwan yazeed etc. Also i want to ask is imam Hassan ibne ali not the rightful khalifa according to maslak e ahle sunnat. i have heard that imam e azam abu hanifa remained silent when asked about the kuffar of yazeed. However i have heard from few prominent sunni aalims that according to the top most books of ahle sunnat abu talib died as a disbeliever. when one looks into all these things one is astonished that for the top most scholars of fiqqah among sunnis whos an authority for all sunnis like deobandis ,barelvis etc mullah ali qari considers the people like marwan and yazeed among caliphs,but rejects imam Hassan. When aima e fiqqah of ahle sunnat of the calibre of imam abu hanifa and imam ahmed raza shah are asked about kuffar of yazeed they remain quiet.Call muaveyaah razzi allah taala anhu(KNOWING in detail about all the things he did during his life),rather few ulema e ahle sunnat have even called a person who is gustakh of muaveyaah as the dog of hell.But when it comes to abu talib they simply call him kaffir or remain quiet ,dont call him muslim.Although they themselves know very well that abu talib was one person who helped the HOLY PROPHET along with hazrat khadija when there was noone for helping him,or there was no one who could protect him from kuffar,abu talib read the nikaah khutba of holy prophet pbuh.Abu talib remained the husband of fatima binte asad until she died and there is hadith in which holy prophet admired and oprayed for that momina woman.can holy prophet pbuh allow a kaffir to remain husband of one of the most pious muslim woman.Where as character of hinda and abu suffyan is infront of every one ,even generations after generations there enmiity with aulad e rasuul is not hidden.But still they openly call abu sufyaan as hazrat and razi allah talla anhu.Please tell what is the reality. Answer: Your question consists of two parts, part one about the Hadith of the 12 Amirs and the second part about whether certain people in the history of Islam were believers or unbelievers. Both of your questions can be answered in two ways, one, by looking at the available sources in detail and examining every narrator and studying every argument; two, by looking at the assumptions and the basis of the two questions and examining if an answer to the questions would really provide you with a significant insight into religion. Since I think the basis of your questions is not inline with the way we understand the religion, I think the latter approach is more appropriate. As for the first question, the Hadith of twelve Amirs , this Hadith has been narrated only by one of the companions, that is Jabir Ibn Samura, who was only a young boy at the time, who apparently happened to miss part of the saying of the Prophet (pbuh), requiring his father to inform him about it. The context of the Hadith is not clear and it has reached us with variant wording. There are also conflicting reports about when and where these statements were supposedly given by the Prophet (pbuh). Please see the article titled: Twelve Rulers from the Tribe of Quraish My dear brother, we human beings choose the best tools of communications to deliver more or less important information among us. How it is possible that God chose such an unreliable and unclear communication tool for a message that is supposed to be significant? If recognizing the above mentioned 12 individuals had a significant effect in our religion then this information should have been given to us in the only reliable source of our religious belief that is the Qur'an. A book that is introduced itself as a clear guide, a criteria and a book that explains everything (related to our guidance) very clearly. If this was the case then we for sure would also see numerous reports from a number of companions narrated from the Prophet the same information in the most clear words possible. This is not the case, therefore a Hadith like what you mentioned holds no significance with regard to our duty as a Muslim. I therefore see little benefit in trying to find the application of this Hadith in the real world. While it might be beneficial for educational purposes to explore the application of the Hadith , I personally prefer to spend my time exploring what 'I' can do as a Muslim to do my share in keeping Islam 'intact' (as you put it). Let me also say that the not knowing the context within which these word have been said and additionally the different wordings of the Hadith , as reported, have made its interpretation quite difficult. "Islam remaining intact during 12 Amirs " is only one possible interpretation. If we interpret the Hadith to mean Islam being politically strong and dominant (rather than Islamic values being intact) it is then possible to argue that the 12 mentioned Amirs did not necessarily need to be all just and pious. My answer to the second point you mentioned is also pretty much the same. Are we going to be asked in the hereafter about the belief of Abu Talib, Muawia, Yazid , etc...? As far as I know it is our own belief that counts. I therefore again see absolutely no benefit (in terms of our religious duty) to judge whether a person who lived about 1400 years ago was a believer or not. Having said that, let me also bring to your kind attention that establishing the state of belief of an individual in the history is not a straight forward task. For some of the personalities you mentioned, there are many conflicting reports, some suggesting they were very pious people, some suggesting they were hypocrites and many that fall some where in the middle. Reaching a conclusion with all this conflicting information is sometimes quite subjective. The difference of opinion that you see among scholars and individuals is therefore totally understandable. I however do appreciate that sometimes the basis of formulating opinions about a certain individual is not due to academic research but is due to sectarian prejudgments or pure emotions. If one believes that Abu Talib was a believer (not because one has analysed his life but) because one's sectarian belief tells him that Ali's (ra) father cannot be a non-believer then this is not an honest and rational approach. If one believes that Yazid was a pious believer (not because one has analysed his life but) because one's sectarian belief tells him that a Khalifa of Muslims who was a Tabi'i (i.e. has met the companions of the Prophet) cannot be impious, then again this is not an honest and rational research. These types of sectarian prejudgments can result in damaging conclusions if based on them, one then tries to justify all the actions of the person who one admires. I do agree that these types of sectarian opinions should be replaced with honest and academic analysis of the available information. You said: Although they themselves know very well that abu talib was one person who helped the HOLY PROPHET along with hazrat khadija when there was none for helping him,or there was no one who could protect him from kuffar,abu talib read the nikaah khutba of holy prophet pbuh.Abu talib remained the husband of fatima binte asad until she died and there is hadith in which holy prophet admired and prayed for that momina woman.can holy prophet pbuh allow a kaffir to remain husband of one of the most pious muslim woman. While I do not want to comment whether Abu Talib was a believer or not, I would like to point out that none of the evidences you mentioned above can be seen as a proof that Abu Talib accepted Islam. There were many who did not accept Islam but protected the Prophet and supported him because of familial or tribal relationships. Reading the Khutba of marriage (specifically before starting of the mission of the Prophet) has nothing to do with being Muslim. Also being husband of a Musilmah (Muslim woman) at the time of the Prophet is not a proof that the husband was a Muslim. The Prophet's own daughter (Zainab, who was Muslim) was married to a non-believer for some time. Also please bear in mind that saying Abu Talib was 'believer', 'unbeliever' and 'kafir' (disbeliever) are three (not two) different things. I again repeat that while from a historical point of view it is interesting to study the life of the individuals mentioned, from a religious point of view this holds no significance. I much prefer to see if I may be considered as a good believer when I meet my Lord. Abdullah Rahim February 16, 2007