حَدَّثَنَا هَدَّابُ بْنُ خَالِدٍ الأَزْدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ جَابِرَ بْنَ سَمُرَةَ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ الإِسْلاَمُ عَزِيزًا إِلَى اثْنَىْ عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً ‏”‏ ‏.‏ ثُمَّ قَالَ كَلِمَةً لَمْ أَفْهَمْهَا فَقُلْتُ لأَبِي مَا قَالَ فَقَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

It has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Islam will continue to be triumphant until there have been twelve Caliphs. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said something which I could not understand. I asked my father: What did he say? He said: He has said that all of them (twelve Caliphs) will be from the Quraish.

Sahih Muslim 1821d
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1821d

This hadith in reference to 12 caliphs is one of the most important and most controversial hadiths in Sunni-Shia polemics. Due to the inclusion of the number 12 in this hadith, it has been cited numerous times by Twelver Shi’ites as a means to argue that there exists external evidence of the Twelver position outside of the Shi’ite corpus.

What we will soon see is that despite the fact that Twelver Shias are in complete agreement as to who the 12 Caliphs being referenced in this hadith are, their agreement simply shows a lack of logical scrutiny on their part.

Content of the Report

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ الطَّنَافِسِيُّ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ يَكُونُ مِنْ بَعْدِي اثْنَا عَشَرَ أَمِيرًا ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ تَكَلَّمَ بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ أَفْهَمْهُ فَسَأَلْتُ الَّذِي يَلِينِي فَقَالَ قَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ ‏.‏ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِثْلَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ وقَدْ رُوِيَ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ يُسْتَغْرَبُ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ أَبِي مُوسَى عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ ‏.‏ وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ وَعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو ‏.‏

Simak bin Harb narrated from Jabir bin Samurah who said ” The Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) said: ‘There will be twelve Amir after me.”‘ He said: “Then he said something that I did not understand. So I asked the one who was next to me, who said that he(s.a.w) had said: ‘All of them are from Quraish.”‘

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2223
https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2223

حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ أَمْرُ النَّاسِ مَاضِيًا مَا وَلِيَهُمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ رَجُلاً ‏”‏ ‏.‏ ثُمَّ تَكَلَّمَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِكَلِمَةٍ خَفِيَتْ عَلَىَّ فَسَأَلْتُ أَبِي مَاذَا قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

It has been reported on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: The affairs of the people will continue to be conducted (well) as long as they are governed by twelve men. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said words which were obscure to me. I asked my father: What did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say? He said: All of the (twelve men) will be from the Quraish.

Sahih Muslim 1821b
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1821b

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنْ دَاوُدَ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ جَابِرِ، بْنِ سَمُرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ هَذَا الأَمْرُ عَزِيزًا إِلَى اثْنَىْ عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ تَكَلَّمَ بِشَىْءٍ لَمْ أَفْهَمْهُ فَقُلْتُ لأَبِي مَا قَالَ فَقَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

It has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Samura that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: This order will continue to be dominant until there have been twelve Caliphs. The narrator says: Then he said something which I could not understand, and I said to my father: What did he say? My father told me that he said that all of them (Caliphs) would be from the Quraish.

Sahih Muslim 1821e
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1821e

حَدَّثَنَا نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ الْجَهْضَمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ زُرَيْعٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ عَوْنٍ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ النَّوْفَلِيُّ، – وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ – حَدَّثَنَا أَزْهَرُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ عَوْنٍ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ انْطَلَقْتُ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَمَعِي أَبِي فَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ ‏”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ هَذَا الدِّينُ عَزِيزًا مَنِيعًا إِلَى اثْنَىْ عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ كَلِمَةً صَمَّنِيهَا النَّاسُ فَقُلْتُ لأَبِي مَا قَالَ قَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

It has been reported on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I went with my father to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and I heard him say: This religion would continue to remain powerful and dominant until there have been twelve Caliphs. Then he added something which I couldn’t catch on account of the noise of the people. I asked my father: What did he say? My father said: He has said that all of them will be from the Quraish.

Sahih Muslim 1821f
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1821f

The First Issue: A striking similarity in the variations of the hadith (the above list is not exhaustive) is the mention of glory, triumphant-ness, and strength of Islam during this interval (of the twelve caliphs). Why is this important? We will soon see that the most accurate redaction ascribed to Jabir bin Samurah included these phrases and these phrases cause issues for the Shi’ite view of this narration.

The Second Issue: Nothing about the characteristics or the virtues of the aforementioned caliphs is present in any of the reports. Nothing is said about the nature of the caliphs, as in, there is no immediate proof that these 12 caliphs will be infallible. Rather, it is only said that Islam will see glory during their reign. 

The Third Issue: The most accurate redactions ascribed to Jabir ibn Sumurah does state that there will be only twelve caliphs. The narration states that Islam will be under a state of greatness until the passing of 12 caliphs. So this hadith does not state that there will be only 12.

The Fourth Issue: Those who hold the view that the 12 caliphs will be agreed upon quote one specific hadith found in Sunan Abi Dawud:

حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عُثْمَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، – يَعْنِي ابْنَ أَبِي خَالِدٍ – عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ هَذَا الدِّينُ قَائِمًا حَتَّى يَكُونَ عَلَيْكُمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ تَجْتَمِعُ عَلَيْهِ الأُمَّةُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَسَمِعْتُ كَلاَمًا مِنَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَمْ أَفْهَمْهُ قُلْتُ لأَبِي مَا يَقُولُ قَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Narrated Jabir ibn Samurah:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The religion will continue to be established till there are twelve caliphs over you, and the whole community will agree on each of them. I then heard from the Prophet (ﷺ) some remarks which I could not understand. I asked my father: What is he saying: He said: all of them will belong to Quraysh.

Sunan Abi Dawud 4279
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4279

This narration comes from the path of Abu Khalid Al-Ahmasi, who is of unknown status and is not deemed as trustworthy. Hence, the most accurate redactions indeed mentions nothing more about these 12 men then that they will be caliphs. This is important for later.

The Sunni view of this hadith.

Now that the meaning of the narration has been understood, it is important to understand the Sunni view of this report. Below are some opinions regarding this narration by a few Sunni scholars.

They are the just caliphs, such as the four (Rightly Guided) caliphs, and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez. Others who are like them will inevitably appear and support truth and justice, until this number is completed. This is the most correct of the scholarly views in my opinion.

Al Mufhim Lima Ashkala Min Kitab Talkhis Muslim Qurtubi Volume 4 Page 8

Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir writes:

What this hadeeth means is giving glad tidings of the coming of twelve righteous caliphs who will support the truth and treat the people with justice. It does not necessarily mean that they will come one after another; rather four of them have already come one after another, namely the four caliphs: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan and ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). Another of them is ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez, according to the leading scholars, and others are some of the Abbasids. The Hour will not begin until they have all come and the number is completed. What appears to be the case is that one of them will be the Mahdi who is foretold in the hadeeths that speak of him.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir Volume 3 Page 65

As for Abu Bakr ibn Al Arabi, he suggested that the Twelver caliphs were: Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali, Al-Hasan, Mu’awiyah, Yazeed, Mu’awiyah bin Yazeed, Marwan, Abdulmalik bin Marwan, Al-Waleed, and Sulaiman. He did not include Abdullah bin Al-Zubair, since he didn’t rule the entire Ummah. As mentioned previously, nothing is said about the nature of the caliphs nor their characteristics, so this is not a substandard view of this hadith. Ibn Hajar and Ibn Taymiyyah share a similar as Abu Bakr ibn al Arabi.

More specifically, Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the Twelve caliphs are those who held complete power over the Ummah (community) and for that reason did not believe that Al-Hasan bin Ali, Mu’awiyah bin Yazeed, Abdullah bin Al-Zubair, and Marwan bin Al-Hakam, were apart of these 12 due to the splits that occured during their reigns. He also suggested that it was with the death of Omar bin Abdulaziz that Islam fell to an age of disgrace.¹

Ibn Hajar removes Mu’awiyah bin Yazeed and Marwan bin Al-Hakam because he believed that their reigns were too weak/short. ² Al-Bayhaqi suggests that those who matched the description of this hadith are the caliphs up until Al Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik. ³

Accounting for a few outliers, we see that the Sunni view of this hadith is predominantly that these twelve passed by the end of the Umayyad Dynasty. This is not a farfetched view whatsoever. It was indeed under the Ummayads that Islam was spread from the Iberian Peninsula all the way to China and had a sphere of influence over the Mediterranean, South Asia, West Africa, and Anatolia. I believe it is crucial to yet again mention that the hadith does not speak of the character of the caliph in question, rather it takes about the state of the Ummah.

To conclude this segment, I say: It was indeed a reality that the men that the Shi’ites (and even some Sunnis) revile were indeed in a position of power and ruled the Islamic world. The same way that Shehbaz Sharif is the current prime minister of Pakistan or Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the current president of Egypt, you do not have to like their rule, you do not have to even accept their rule as legitimate, however this was the reality of the Muslim Ummah. None of the variations of this hadith mention the moral uprightness of the caliphs and for that reason, the Sunni position is valid.

Twelver Shia view on this Narration

The 12 caliphs being referenced in this hadith according to the Twelver Shia view are indeed: Ali ibn Abi Talib, Hasan ibn Ali, Hussein ibn Ali, Ali ibn Hussein, Muhammad ibn Ali, Jafar ibn Musa, Musa ibn Jafar, Ali ibn Musa, Mohammad bin Ali, Ali bin Mohammad, Al-Hasan bin Ali, and Mohammad bin Al-Hasan Al-Askari, and Muhammad al Mahdi, their awaited 12th imam who is currently in hiding.

Let’s point out the problems with this view:

The First Issue: The 12 imams, as per the Shi’ite narrations, were heavily oppressed. From the claim that Ali ibn Abi Talib’s wife was killed by Umar in front of him or to Hussein dying in Karbala or to Hasan al Askari apparently being on house arrest, it is difficult to understand how this hadith could be referring to such people. According to the Shia narrations, Islam was not in a state of glory during the reigns of Ali or any of his children. They believe it was a time of tyranny and oppression to the extent that the Shiites were in constant hiding to escape the grip of the government and corrupt scholars. In fact, so much oppression was allegedly put upon the Twelver Imams, that they had to resort to constantly doing Taqiyyah⁴ to avoid persecution. Granted, the Shia might argue and claim that the Sunni caliphs also faced oppression and for that reason the argument is weak. However, it is undeniable that the might and size of Islam was surely at its peak under the Ummayad and Abbasid caliphate, the Shia imams had almost no followers in comparison. (In fact, the Ismaili imams under the Fatimids had considerably more!) Secondly, the oppression that the Sunni caliphs faced would be no where near there oppression that the Shia imams faced according to their own narrations.

The Second Issue: Twelvers claim that the 12th imam is alive right now, this hadith would be illogical to claim that Islam is triumphant from the Prophet (AS) all the way to the end times where the Imam Mahdi is to return. If you were to discuss this matter with a Twelver and ask them if Islam is in a time of glory of disgrace, both of their answers would contradict their corpus.

The Third Issue: As mentioned previously, the hadith does not mention the virtues of the caliphs (therefore this is not proof of infallibility), and it does not suggest that there will only be exactly 12 caliphs, (for that reason, even Ismaili Shias or Zaydi Shias can cling onto this hadith as proof of their imams).

In conclusion, we see that clinging onto this hadith as a means to prove imamate is a lost cause in light of what we have mentioned above.

1. Minhaj Al-Sunnah 8/238 ↩︎
2. Fath Al-Bari in the chapter on Istikhlaf ↩︎
3. Dala’il Al-Nubuwa 6/520 ↩︎
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya ↩︎