and the marriage of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to Ā’ishah, and of Alī to Fātimah, and similar matters that do not require the transmission of particular wording needing repeated study. The same applies to the mass transmission of the Companions’ early merits, deeds, and other matters. At other times, we mean mass transmission of wording memorized by transmitters whose reports establish certain knowledge.

The eleventh argument:

What has been transmitted through mass transmission from the Prophet’s household (1) gives the lie to such a report. They did not claim that they (2) had been explicitly designated; rather, they rejected as false the claims of anyone who said so, let alone affirm an explicit designation of twelve.

The twelfth argument:

What is authentically established from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—concerning the number twelve includes what al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded in their two Sahīh collections from Jābir ibn Samurah, who said:

“I entered upon the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with my father and heard him say: ‘The people’s affairs will continue to run their course under twelve men.’ Then the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said something I could not hear. I asked my father, ‘What did the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say?’ He replied, ‘He said: “All of them are from Quraysh.”’”

In another wording:

“‘Islam (3) will remain mighty through twelve caliphs.’ Then he said something I did not understand. I asked my father, ‘What did he say?’ He replied, ‘All of them are from Quraysh.’”

In another wording:

“This affair will remain mighty through twelve caliphs.” (4)