16
with tyranny.’ (1) That is the Mahdi.” (2)
The response is:
Muhammad ibn Jarīr al-Tabarī, Abd al-Bāqī ibn Qāni (3), and other scholars of genealogy and history stated that al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Askarī had neither offspring nor descendants. The Imāmīs who maintain that he had a son claim that this son entered the underground chamber in Samarra while still a child. Some of them said that he was two years old, while others
(1) K reads: “just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny.”
(2) H, R, and S read: “He is the Mahdi”; K reads: “That is the Mahdi—peace be upon him.”
(3) A, B, and W read: “and Abd al-Bāqī ibn Nāfi.” He and al-Tabarī were discussed previously at 1/122. I noted there that Gharīb ibn Sa‘d al-Qurtubī stated in *Silat Tārīkh al-Tabarī* that al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Askari left no offspring. The incident is summarized in *Tārīkh al-Tabarī*, 11/49–50 (*Kitāb al-Sila*): A man claimed to be Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdī. “Al-Muqtadir ordered Ibn Tūmār, chief of the Tālibids, and the elders of the house of Tālib to be brought before him. When questioned about his lineage, the man claimed to be Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Mūsā ibn Ja‘far al-Ridā and said that he had come from the desert. Ibn Tūmār told him: ‘Al-Hasan left no offspring. Some people maintained that he did, while others said that he did not…’”
Dr. Ahmad Subhī states in *Nazariyyat al-Imāma* (p. [0–9] 95 396) that writers on sectarian doctrines and historians of the sects recorded that the Shia divided into more than twenty groups. Not one of the nine imams descended from al-Husayn was unanimously accepted by the Shia as imam. He adds that their disagreement became most intense after the death of al-Hasan al-Askari, since many groups held that he had left no offspring. Some Sunnis, including Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī, also adopted this view in opposition to the doctrine of the Mahdi as understood by the Shia. Their opposition was based on the fact that Ja‘far ibn al-Hādī claimed his brother al-Hasan’s inheritance after his death and also claimed the imamate after him. One group ended the succession with al-Hasan al-Askari and regarded him as the awaited *Qā’im* (the one who will arise). Another held that the imamate ceased to be valid after him: there was therefore no *hujja* (authoritative proof) from the Prophet’s descendants on earth; rather, the *hujja* lay in the reports transmitted from the earlier imams.
Elsewhere (p. 409), Dr. Ahmad Subhī states that Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī relied on the fact that Ja‘far ibn Alī denied that his brother al-Hasan al-Askari had a son, claimed entitlement to his brother’s inheritance, and referred the matter to the Abbasid ruler, whom he prompted to detain al-Hasan al-Askari’s slave women in order to ascertain that none of them was pregnant.
جَوْرًا "
(١)
فَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْمَهْدِيُّ»
(٢)
.
فَيُقَالُ:
قَدْ ذَكَرَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ، وَعَبْدُ الْبَاقِي بْنُ قَانِعٍ
(٣)
وَغَيْرُهُمَا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ بِالْأَنْسَابِ وَالتَّوَارِيخِ: أَنَّ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ الْعَسْكَرِيَّ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ نَسْلٌ وَلَا عَقِبٌ. وَالْإِمَامِيَّةُ الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ يَدَّعُونَ أَنَّهُ دَخَلَ السِّرْدَابَ بِسَامَرَّا وَهُوَ صَغِيرٌ.
مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ:
عُمُرُهُ سَنَتَانِ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ
(١) ك: كَمَا مُلِئَتْ ظُلْمًا وَجَوْرًا.
(٢) هـ، ر، ص: فَهُوَ الْمَهْدِيُّ، ك: فَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْمَهْدِيُّ - عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ -.
(٣) أ، ب، و: وَعَبْدُ الْبَاقِي بْنُ نَافِعٍ. وَسَبَقَ الْكَلَامُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى الطَّبَرِيِّ فِيمَا مَضَى ١/١٢٢ وَأَشَرْتُ هُنَاكَ إِلَى أَنَّ غَرِيبَ بْنَ سَعْدٍ الْقُرْطُبِيَّ قَدْ ذَكَرَ فِي " صِلَةِ تَارِيخِ الطَّبَرِيِّ " أَنَّ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ الْعَسْكَرِيَّ لَمْ يُعْقِبْ وَخُلَاصَةُ هَذِهِ الْوَاقِعَةِ فِي " تَارِيخِ الطَّبَرِيِّ " ١١/٤٩ - ٥٠ (كِتَابُ الصِّلَةِ) أَنَّ رَجُلًا زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ الْمَهْدِيُّ: " فَأَمَرَ الْمُقْتَدِرُ بِإِحْضَارِ ابْنِ طُومَارٍ نَقِيبِ الطَّالِبِيِّينَ وَمَشَايِخَ آلِ طَالِبٍ فَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ نِسْبَتِهِ فَزَعَمَ أَنَّهُ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ مُوسَى بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ الرِّضَا وَأَنَّهُ قَدِمَ مِنَ الْبَادِيَةِ، فَقَالَ لَهُ ابْنُ طُومَارٍ: لَمْ يُعْقِبِ الْحَسَنُ وَكَانَ قَوْمٌ يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّهُ أَعْقَبَ، وَقَوْمٌ قَالُوا: لَمْ يُعْقِبْ. . . إِلَخْ ". وَيَذْكُرُ الدُّكْتُورُ أَحْمَد صُبْحِي فِي كِتَابِهِ " نَظَرِيَّةِ الْإِمَامَةِ " ص [٠ - ٩] ٩٥ ٣٩٦ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْمَقَالَاتِ وَمُؤَرِّخِي الْفِرَقِ ذَكَرُوا أَنَّ الشِّيعَةَ قَدِ انْقَسَمُوا إِلَى مَا يَزِيدُ عَلَى عِشْرِينَ فِرْقَةً، وَلَيْسَ بَيْنَ الْأَئِمَّةِ التِّسْعِ مِنْ وَلَدِ الْحُسَيْنِ مَنْ أَجْمَعَ الشِّيعَةُ عَلَى إِمَامَتِهِ، وَيَقُولُ: إِنَّ الِاخْتِلَافَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَبْلُغُ أَشُدَّهُ بَعْدَ وَفَاةِ الْحَسَنِ الْعَسْكَرِيِّ، إِذْ تَرَى فِرَقٌ كَثِيرَةٌ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يُعْقِبْ، وَشَارَكَ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ السِّنَّةِ فِي هَذَا الْقَوْلِ كَابْنِ حَجَرٍ الْهَيْثَمِيِّ مُعَارَضَةً مِنْهُمْ فِي الْعَقِيدَةِ الْمَهْدِيَّةِ بِمَفْهُومِهَا الشِّيعِيِّ، اسْتَنَدَتْ فِي ذَلِكَ إِلَى أَنَّ جَعْفَرَ ابْنَ الْهَادِي قَدْ طَالَبَ بِمِيرَاثِ أَخِيهِ الْحَسَنِ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ كَمَا ادَّعَى الْإِمَامَةَ بَعْدَهُ، وَتَوَقَّفَتْ طَائِفَةٌ عِنْدَ الْحَسَنِ الْعَسْكَرِيِّ وَعَدَّتْهُ الْقَائِمَ الْمُنْتَظَرَ، وَذَهَبَتْ أُخْرَى إِلَى بُطْلَانِ الْإِمَامَةِ بَعْدَهُ، فَلَيْسَ فِي الْأَرْضِ حُجَّةٌ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّةِ النَّبِيِّ، وَإِنَّمَا الْحُجَّةُ فِي الْأَخْبَارِ الْوَارِدَةِ عَنِ الْأَئِمَّةِ الْمُتَقَدِّمِينَ. وَيَقُولُ الدُّكْتُورُ أَحْمَد صُبْحِي فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ (ص ٤٠٩) إِنَّ ابْنَ تَيْمِيَّةَ وَابْنَ حَجَرٍ الْهَيْثَمِيَّ قَدِ اسْتَنَدَا إِلَى أَنَّ جَعْفَرَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ قَدْ أَنْكَرَ وُجُودَ وَلَدٍ لِأَخِيهِ الْحَسَنِ الْعَسْكَرِيِّ وَطَالَبَ بِاسْتِحْقَاقِ مِيرَاثِ أَخِيهِ، وَرَفَعَ الْأَمْرَ إِلَى السُّلْطَانِ الْعَبَّاسِيِّ وَحَمَلَهُ عَلَى حَبْسِ جِوَارِي الْحَسَنِ الْعَسْكَرِيِّ لِيَتَأَكَّدَ مِنْ عَدَمِ حَمْلِهِنَّ ".