Mahdi and
his parents' Name
What seems evident from the previous traditions
(mentioned in chapter no. 4) is this that mahdi, the
awaited one is the son of abu muhammad imam hassan
askari (a.s.).
The shia
imamiyahs and majority of the sunni scholars unanimously
believe that his honourable father's name is hassan.(90)
verily,
it is in some of the rare and uncommon traditions that
the name of hazrat mahdi's father is mentioned to be the
same as the holy prophet's father.
Abu
dawoud in his 'sahih' (vol 4 pg. 78) has narrated from
zurra-ibn-abdullah a tradition from the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) as such:
'if there
remains not more than a day from the life of the earth,
god will set the day so long until a person from my
progeny shall appear and .... his name is the same as
mine and his father's name is the same as my father's
name.'
the
author of eqdud-durar has narrated this tradition (in
the second chapter) from a group mainly comprising of
tirmidhi, abu dawoud and baihaqi.
Thereafter he says: this tradition has been mentioned by
imam ahmad hanbal in his 'musnad'. however he has not
mentioned the afore-said sentence of the holy prophet
that his father's name is the same as my father's name.
The
author says: i have come across some portions of
traditions wherein the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) says: the
name of mahdi's father is the same as my father's name.
apparently, abu dawoud is preferred. thus, we say:
shablanji, in 'nur-ul-absar' (page 231) has narrated the
afore-mentioned tradition of the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.)
from abu dawoud and he from zurra-ibn-abdullah but
without this sentence that mahdi's father's name is the
same as my father's name. he (i.e. abu dawoud) says: in
another tradition the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) says: 'the
name of mahdi's father is the same as my father's name.'
this very difference in narration from abu dawoud causes
one to doubt his narration and consider it to be
unreliable. even if we assume this tradition to be firm,
it is (still) against and contrary to the numerous
'mustafiza' traditions which are more authentic (from
the view-point of the chain of transmission) and obvious
(from the view-point of reasoning) than the previously -
mentioned tradition. therefore, one should not pay
attention to this tradition at all.
In this
regard ali-ibn-isa arbeli in 'kashf-ul-ghumma' says:
shi'ites do not consider this tradition to be correct
because the name of mahdi and his father's name too has
been proved for them (as per authentic reasons). the
sunni scholars, have mentioned that the narrator has
added something to this tradition. thus, it should be
said that this sentence (i.e. the holy prophet saying:
'his father's name is the same as my father's name') is
an addition.
The
author of 'al-bayan-fi-akhbar-saheb-uz -zaman' says:
'abul-abbass-ibn-abul-karam khas'amee (i.e.
omar-ibn-me'mar baghdadi) has narrated from
abul-fath-ibn-abul-qasim-ibn-abu sahil karukhi and he
from abu aamer-ibn-qasim and others and they from abu
muhammad maruzi and he from abul-abbass-ibn-marzabani
and he from hafez abu isa and he from
abdul-jabbar-ibn-e'la atthar and he from
sufyan-ibn-aiyana and he from aasim and he from zurra
and he from abdullah and he from the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) as such:- 'a person from my progeny who
carries the same name as mine, shall become the master
(of this earth).
Athim has
narrated from abu saleh who in turn has narrated from
abu huraira as such: 'if there remains not more than a
day from the life of the earth, god will set the day so
long until a person becomes the owner of this earth.'
Author of
'al-bayan-fi-akhbar-saheb-uz- zaman' says: 'this
tradition is an authentic tradition and hafez
muhammad-ibn-isa tirmidhi has narrated this in a similar
manner in his 'sahih'.
he
continues: 'allama hassan-ibn-hassan laghwi sent a
letter for me in damascus and after i met him in baghdad
he said: nasr-ibn-abul-faraj hasari has narrated from
abu talib muhammad-ibn-muhammad-ibn-abu zaid alavi and
he from abu ali shustari and he from abu omar hashimi
and he from abu ali muhammad-ibn-omar lu'lui basri and
he from hafez abu dawoud sulaiman-ibn-ash'as sajestani
and he from musaddad and he from yahya-ibn-sa'eed and he
from sufyan and he from aasim and he from zurra and he
from abdullah and he from the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) as
such: 'the world shall not cease to exist until a person
from my progeny who shall carry the same name as mine
becomes the master amongst the arabs.'
The
author of 'al-bayan-fi-akhbar-saheb-uz-zaman' adds:
'this tradition is an acceptable and correct tradition
and abu dawoud has narrated it in his 'sunan' in the
same manner which we have narrated.
Abu
dawoud says: uthman-ibn-abu shuiba has narrated from
fazl-ibn-dakeen and he from qatar and he from
qasim-ibn-abu marra and he from abu tafeel and he from
ali and he from the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) who said:
'if there remains not more than a day from the life of
the earth, god will appoint a person from my progeny to
fill the earth with justice just as it had been filled
with oppression.
The
author says: abu dawoud has mentioned this tradition in
the same manner in his 'sunan'.
The
author of the book (manaqib as-shafa'ee) has mentioned
the afore-said tradition and then said:
The
narrator has added the following sentence to this
tradition and said: if there remains not more than a day
from the life of the earth, god will set the day so long
until a person from my progeny who carries the same name
as mine and whose father carries the same name as my
father's name, appears and fills the earth with equity
and justice just as it had been filled with cruelty and
oppression.
The
author says: tirmidhi has narrated the afore-said
tradition but not the sentence of the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) saying: the name of mahdi's Father is the
same as my father's name.
however
abu dawoud has mentioned the afore-said sentence. in
most of the traditions which are object of reliance of
most of the experts (of traditions)and narrators, only
this sentence can be found where the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) says: 'his (i.e. mahdi's)name is the same as
mine'. the sentence that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.)
said: 'his father's name is the same as my father's
name' is an addition made by the narrator.
If the
afore-said- sentence happens to be correct it would mean
that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) has said; 'the name of
mahdi's father is the same as my son, hussein's name and
his agnomen is abu abdullah.
He has
set the agnomen as name so as to allusively speak of
this fact that mahdi would be from the progeny of
hussein and not from the progeny of imam hassan. it is
(also) possible that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) must
have said: 'the name of mahdi's father is the same as my
son, hassan's name.' the name of mahdi's father too was
hassan but the narrator has thought (--) (my son) to be
(--) (my father) and hence changed it to (--). thus it
is necessary to interpret and explain this tradition in
the manner which we have done so that perhaps we have
mustered together all the traditions.
This
interpretation which was said with regards to the
previously mentioned tradition is not correct. rather,
it should be interpreted in another manner and it is as
follows:
Imam
ahmad, with his good recording and care in traditions,
has mentioned the afore-said tradition in several places
of his book 'musnad' in this manner that the holy
prophet (s.a.w.a.) only said: 'mahdi's name is the same
as my name.'
Abdul-aziz-ibn-muhammad ansari has imputedly narrated
from zurra and he from abdullah that the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) said: 'the world shall not be destroyed or
rather said: the world shall not terminate until a
person from my progeny who carries the same name as mine
shall become the master amongst the arabs.'
In the
book of 'manaqib-e-mahdi', hafez abu na'eem has narrated
the ways of the afore-said tradition from a great number
of people who have all narrated from aasim-ibn-abu
najwad and he from zurra and he from abdullah and he
from the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.). amongst them we may
speak of sufyan-ibn-ainiya (as mentioned before) whose
ways differ from that of aasim. amongst them is
qatar-ibn khalifa whose ways too differ from that of
aasim. amongst them is a'mash whose ways differ from the
ways of aasim. amongst them is abu ishaaq
sulaiman-ibn-firuz shaibani and his ways differ from
that of aasim. amongst them is hafas-ibn-omar. amongst
them is sufyan suri whose ways differ from the ways of
aasim. amongst them is sh'uba whose ways too differ.
amongst them is wasith-ibn- harith. amongst them is
yazid-ibn-muawiya-abu shuaiba who possesses two ways.
amongst them is sulaiman-ibn-qaram whose way differs
from that of aasim. amongst them are jafar-ahmar,
qais-ibn - rabih, sulaiman-ibn-qaram and esbath who have
all been placed on one path. amongst them is salam
abu-munzar. amongst them is abu
shahabmuhammad-ibn-ibrahim kanani and his ways differ
from that of aasim. amongst them is omar-ibn-ubaid
thanafasi whose ways differ from the ways of aasim.
amongst them is abu bakr-ibn-aiyaash whose ways differ
from that of aasim. amongst them is abul-hejaf (dawoud
abul auf) and his ways differ with the ways of aasim-
amongst them is uthman-ibn-shabrama whose ways differ
from that of aasim. amongst them is abdul-malik-ibn-abu
ainaiya.
Amongst
them is muhammad-ibn-aiyaash who has narrated from omar
and aameri and his ways are different. he has mentioned
the chain of transmission and said:- abu ghesan has
narrated from qais but not narrated his connection.
amongst them is amro-ibn-qais malavi. amongst them is
ammaribn-zarriq.
Amongst
them is aishaan abdullah-ibn-hakim-ibn jubair asadi.
amongst them is omar-ibn-abdullah-ibn -bashar. amongst
them is abul-ahwas. amongst them is
saad-ibn-hassan-ibn-okht tholaba.
Amongst
them is ma'az-ibn-hisham who says; 'my father narrated
for me from aasim.' amongst them is yusuf-ibn-yunus.
amongst them is ghalib-ibn-uthman. amongst them is
hamza-ibn-zaiyat. amongst them is shaiban. amongst them
is hakam-ibn-hisham.
They have
narrated the afore-said tradition from (other than
aasim) zurra i.e. omar-ibn-marra and all the narrators
have narrated that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) said:
'mahdi's name is the same as my name' (but did not says:
his father's name is the same as my father's name) with
the exception of the tradition which ubaidullah-ibn-musa
has narrated from the one who has made an addition in
the afore-said tradition and narrated it from aasim.
only the one who has made this addition in the tradition
has narrated the afore-said sentence (as per the
narrators) that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) said: 'his
father's name is the same as my father's name'. a wise
person will not hesitate to conclude that this
additional sentence lacks credibility, notwithstanding
this fact that almost all the sunni leaders have
narrated against the afore-said sentence. allah is
all-knowing. the sayings of the author of
'al-bayan-fi-akhbar saheb-uz-zaman' is completed.
The
author says: the apparent expression of the book of '
al-bayan-fi-akhbar saheb-uz-zaman is this that tirmidhi
has not narrated this additional sentence. however
previously, we understood the saying of the author of
'eqdud-durar'. what is evident from this book and the
books of 'matalib-us-su'ool' and 'fusul-ul-muhimma' is.
this that abu dawoud, tirmidhi, baihaqi, abu omar,
muqarri and abu na'eem have all narrated the afore-said
additional sentence (just as you have previously
comprehended the truth).
The
author of 'matalib-us-su'ool' says: if someone
remonstrates and says: we agree that when these false
attributes are discovered they would be a sign and
proof. it would then become necessary to act upon them
and prove them for the one who is endowed with them.
however we do not believe that these signs and proofs
could be applied to khalaf-e-saleh muhammad because,
amongst the false attributes, is the sign and proof that
mahdi's father should carry the same name as the holy
prophet's father and prophetic hadiths too (just as they
have narrated) stipulates this matter. however, this
attribute (i.e. mahdi's father bearing the same name as
the holy prophet's father) cannot be found in the
existence of mahdi because the name of mahdi's father is
hassan and the name of the holy prophet's father is
abdullah. what kind of a connection exists between
hassan and abdullah? therefore, this attribute which is
only a part of the signs and proofs cannot be applied to
mahdi and when one part of the cause is not proved the
entire cause too cannot be proved, since the rest of the
attributes are not enough for proving this decree. this
is because the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) has not
substantiated this decree except for the one in whom all
the attributes (where one of them is the similarity of
his father's name) is found and this matter cannot be
true of 'hujjat khalaf'. thus, this decree too cannot be
applied to him and this problem or difficulty is a
severe one.
Before
giving a detailed reply to this problem it is necessary
to express two matters so that we may achieve our aim:
First:-
in the arabic language it is a common practise to apply
the word of father for great ancestors. the holy quran
too speaks of this matter and says: --
(The
faith of your father, ibrahim)
Also, on
behalf of yusuf it says: --
(And i
follow the religion of my fathers, ibrahim and ishaq...)
The holy
prophet (s.a.w.a.) too has clearly stipulated this
matter as can be seen in the tradition of 'me'raj'
(ascension). the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.)asks: who is
this? he replied: 'your father ibrahim. thus it can be
observed that the word of (--) (father) is applied to
forefathers.
Second:-
'name' too is used instead of 'agnomen' and 'attribute'
just as the eloquent speaking people have done so. this
can be observed in traditions also where bukhari and
muslim have narrated from sahal-ibn- saad saa'edi who
narrates from ali (a.s.) that the holy prophet
(s.a.w.a.) called ali as 'abu turab' and did not call
him by this name.
A poet
too has pin-pointed this matter in the following poem:
--
The words
(--) has also been narrated.
thus this
poet has used 'name' instead of agnomen and attribute
and this rule is prevalent in the arabic language.
Now that
the two afore-mentioned matters have become clear know
that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.)had two grandsons - one
was abu muhammad (i.e. hassan) and the other was aba
abdullah (i.e. hussein). considering that hujjat
khalaf-e-saleh muhammad was from the progeny of aba
abdullah hussein and not from the progeny of abu
muhammad hassan and the agnomen of hussein is aba
abdullah also, therefore the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) has
used the word of '--' (name) [because of confronting for
his father's right with --] in place of agnomen and used
the word of '--' (father) in place of grandfather. as if
the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) has said: mahdi's name is
the same as mine - he is muhammad. i too am. muhammad
and the agnomen of mahdi's great grandfather is the same
as my father's name because mahdi's great grandfather is
abu abdullah and my father (too) is Abdullah.
hazrat
explained in this manner so that these brief wordings
could be comprehensive enough for explaining the
attributes and he himself has had briefly announced that
mahdi is from the progeny of aba abdullah Hussein.
therefore, (with this explanation) the afore-mentioned
attributes have been put in order and all of them can be
applied to hujjat khalaf-e-saleh muhammad (a.s.).
This
explanation is good and sufficient enough to overcome
this problem. so ponder over it.
The
author says: apart from the reasons which the author of
'al-bayan' and ibn-thalha in matalib-us-su'ool have
narrated , there are other aspects too as follows:-
Firstly,
allama majlisi in the beginning of the 13th volume of
his book 'bihar-ul-anwar' says: some of the
contemporaries have said: with regard to the afore said
tradition there are other aspects too, like the fact
that imam hassan askari's agnomen was abu muhammad and
abdullah's (i.e. hazrat muhammad's father) agnomen was
abu muhammad. thus these two agnomens are in accord with
each other and (amongst the arabs too, just as it will
come later on) the agnomen too is in the name. (i.e. the
arabs use agnomen instead of name).
Secondly,
some of the contemporary learned scholars have said in
the margin of the book of 'al-bayan' as such: the best
reason in reply to this matter is to say that the
wording of the tradition is perhaps in this manner:-
mahdi's name is the same as my name and my father's
name. this is because many traditions (which can be seen
in the book of 'ghaibat') say: mahdi possesses three
names where one of them is abdullah and the holy
prophets father's name too was abdullah. in some of the
traditions which was previously mentioned, the holy
prophet (s.a.w.a.) has said: mahdi's name is the same as
my father's name. moreover, on the subject matter of
this tradition too, it has come that (the holy prophet)
said: 'mahdi's name is the same as my name and my
father's name. the narrator, not grasping the meaning of
the tradition and not even imagining that mahdi (may
allah hasten his emergence) possesses two other names
too, and wishing to have corrected the tradition (as per
his own reflection) has added the afore-said sentence
(mahdi's name is the same as my father's name) to the
tradition. previously, we came to know that the
afore-said tradition lacked any defect because mahdi
possesses three names. thus it can be seen that the
afore-mentioned tradition does not contradict our
traditions in any way. this is the best reply and i have
not found anyone replying in this manner although this
reply appears to be clear and obvious.
Thirdly,
the afore-said scholar in the margin of the
afore-mentioned book says: it is possible that the holy
prophet (s.a.w.a.) must have said:- 'mahdi's name is the
same as mine and his son's name is the same as my
father's name.' this is because in some of the
traditions the name of mahdi's son has been mentioned to
be abdullah and in the third section of this book it
will come that mahdi's agnomen is abu abdullah. thus a
change has occured and the word of (--) (his son) has
been converted to .. (his father).
Fourthly,
maula muhammad reza imami mudarres khatoon abadi a
researcher and scholar writes in his book
'jannat-ul-khulud' (which contains all what one eye can
enjoy and all what one desires) as such: 'our master
imam hassan askari (a.s.) has two names one is hassan
and the other abdullah. on the basis of the saying of
this scholar, the problem is solved and is in accord
with the tradition of abu dawoud and all other
traditions. although some of the subject-matter of the
book of 'jannat-ul-khulud' is confined to the book
itself yet its author is a person who is a scholar as
well as a researcher and perhaps god may enlighten us
through his reference and sayings.
Allama
sayed shahabuddin najafi who is one of the spiritual
leaders of qum narrated for me as such: 'the qazvini
scholar, agha razi'uddin (may his dust be fragrant) has
mentioned under (qurrat-ul-aafaaq) the same as that
which the author of 'jannat-ul-khulud' has mentioned.
The
conclusion that we can derive from these traditions is
this that the most preferable reply would be to stick to
one of the following:
(1) The
chain of transmission of this tradition (i.e. the holy
prophet saying: mahdi's father carries the same name as
my father's name) appears to be weak because, it
comprises such men who are not reliable and authentic.
rather, they belong to the unknown group. on the
contrary, they are those people who are famous as the
fabricators of traditions. if there was no one amongst
them except the (--) (i.e. the one who is amongst the
narrators of this tradition) suffice it was to render
this tradition weak.
(2) The
text of this tradition is upseting because imam ahmad
hanbal has narrated the same tradition in his 'musnad'
(just as it can be seen in 'eqdud-durar') without
mentioning the saying of the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.)
that 'the name of mahdi's father is the same as my
father's name'.
(3) This
tradition has been narrated by abu dawoud (who is the
original one) in different ways. this is because some
have narrated this tradition along with the afore-said
sentence while others have narrated without this
sentence from abu dawoud.
(4) This
tradition is opposite and contrary to the numerous
traditions which, from the view-point of chain of
transmission are more authentic and from the view-point
of expression are more manifest.
rather,
this tradition is contradicting a number of other
traditions.
(5) If
this tradition is interpreted in either of the above
four ways (which have been interpreted against its
apparent form and to me is inconceivable) it is still
better than rejecting it outright.
The
author of 'nurul-absar' says:- 'mahdi's father was abu
muhammad khales-ibn-ali hadi-ibnmuhammad jawad-ibn-ali
ridha. mahdi's mother was a slave-girl who was called
nargis and as per some other saying she was called as
seegal and still as per some other saying she was called
as susan. about imam hassan askari he says: 'his mother
was a slave-girl who was named as susan.
The
author says: 'the truth is that imam hassan askari's
mother was called as 'hadees' and what is well-known is
this that susan was one of the names of mahdi's mother.'
The
author of matalib-us-su'ool says: 'mahdi's father was
hassan khales-ibn-ali mutawakkil-ibn muhammad
qaneh-ibn-ali ridha.... his mother was a slave-girl
named as seegal and as per some other saying was called
as hakimah.
The
author says: 'i do not know who has said this because,
the woman by the name of hakimah was the daughter of abu
jafar hazrat jawad and aunt of mahdi's father and she
was present at the time of mahdi's birth.' |