through this chain of transmission. The substance of the hadith is established in the two Sahīh collections, in the narration of Jābir ibn Samurah, who said: ‘I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “The affairs of the people will continue to run their course as long as twelve men rule over them.” Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said something I could not make out, so I asked my father what he had said. He replied, “They will all be from Quraysh.”’ This is Muslim’s wording.
The meaning of this hadith is the glad tidings that there will be twelve righteous caliphs who uphold the truth and rule the people justly. This does not necessarily mean that they will succeed one another or that their reigns will be consecutive. Four of them have already ruled in succession: the four caliphs, Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with them. They also include ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz—without doubt, in the view of the leading scholars—and some of the Abbasids. The Hour will certainly not come until they have all held power.
It appears that among them is the Mahdi whose coming is foretold in the hadiths that mention him. These state that his name will match the name of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his father’s name will match that of the Prophet’s father. He will fill the earth with justice and equity just as it had been filled with tyranny and oppression. This is not the awaited one whom the Rāfidah imagine to exist and subsequently to emerge from the underground chamber in Samarra. That has no basis in reality and no existence whatsoever; it is merely the ravings of foolish minds and the delusions of feeble imaginations. Nor are these twelve caliphs the twelve imams in whom the Twelvers among the Rāfidah believe, out of ignorance and lack of sense.
The Torah contains glad tidings concerning Ishmael, blessings and peace be upon him, and the rise of twelve great men from among his descendants. These are the twelve caliphs mentioned in the narrations of Ibn Mas‘ūd and Jābir ibn Samurah. When some Shiites associate with ignorant Jewish converts to Islam, they mislead them into believing that these are the twelve imams. Many of these converts then become Shiites out of ignorance and foolishness, because both they and those who taught them this know little of the established traditions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” End of quotation.
Shaykh Mullā ‘Alī Qārī al-Husaynī (d. 1014 AH) said in his commentary on Imam Abū Hanīfah’s al-Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greater Understanding), commenting on the words of Abū Hanīfah—may Allah have mercy on him—“And the emergence of the Dajjāl (False Messiah) and Gog and Magog, the rising of the sun from the west, and the descent of Jesus, blessings and peace be upon him”:
“In one version, the rising of the sun is mentioned before the other events. In either case, the conjunction ‘and’ merely joins the items without specifying their order. The actual sequence of events is that the Mahdi, peace be upon him, will first appear in the land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries, then come to Jerusalem. The Dajjāl will then come and besiege him. Jesus, blessings and peace be upon him, will descend from the eastern minaret in Damascus, Syria, and come to fight the Dajjāl, killing him at once with a single blow, for the Dajjāl will melt like salt when Jesus, blessings and peace be upon him, descends from heaven. Jesus, blessings and peace be upon him, will then meet the Mahdi, may Allah be pleased with him, with the call to commence the prayer already given. The Mahdi will gesture to Jesus to step forward to lead the prayer, but he will decline, explaining