Twelve imams determined by Allah

“Gabriel came to the Prophet (S) and said: “O Muhammad! Allah orders you to marry Fatima to your brother Ali.” The Prophet (S) sent for Ali and said to him: “O Ali, I will marry my daughter Fatima, the head lady of the…

“O Amirul Mo’mineen, I want to ask you three questions.” Amirul Mo’mineen said: “Ask whatever you like.” The man said: “Would you tell me if man sleeps where his soul goes to? How does man remember and forget? How do…

“I and eleven ones of my progeny; divinely inspired imams.”

“One day I came to Imam Ali (as) and I found him pondering and scratching up the ground. I said: “O Amirul Mo’mineen, you are scratching up the ground. Do you like it (the ground)?” He said: “No, by Allah. I have not…

“My father said to Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari: “I need you for something. Whenever you are not busy, let me be alone with you to ask you about something.” Jabir said: “Whenever you like!” One day he was alone with him.…

Prophet (S) had said: “From among my progeny there will be twelve inspired men.” A man called Abdullah bin Zayd, who was the foster-brother of Ali bin al-Husayn as-Sajjad (as), said to him (to Imam al-Baqir): “Glory be…

Prophet (S) had said: “Allah the Almighty has chosen a thing from every thing. He has chosen Mecca from the earth, the mosque from Mecca and the place, in which the Kaaba is, from the mosque. He has chosen the females…

“When Mo’awiya sent for Abud Darda’ and Abu Hurayra, while we were with Amirul Mo’mineen (as) in (the battle of) Siffeen, and gave them a letter to be given to Amirul Mo’mineen Ali (as), Imam Ali said to the two…

“When we were coming back with Amirul Mo’mineen (as) from (the battle of) Siffeen, we stopped for a time to rest near a monastery. A handsome and neat old man came out of the monastery. He had a book in his hand. He came…

I said to Ali (as): “I have heard from Salman, al-Miqdad and Abu Tharr some interpretations of the Qur’an and some traditions of the Prophet (S) different from what the people have had with them and I heard from you what…

“Ali (as) said to Talha in a long tradition when mentioning the pride of al-Muhajireen and al-Ansar about their virtues: “O Talha, have you not witnessed the Prophet (S) when he asked for a tablet to write a decree, by…

“One day I passed by a man, who said: “The example of Muhammad is like the example of a date-palm growing in a dunghill.” I came to the Prophet (S) and told him of that. He became very angry. He went to the minbar.…

“I asked Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (as) about the saying of Allah (But they reject the hour, and We have prepared a burning fire for him who rejects the hour). He said: “Allah has divided the year into twelve months, the…

I have heard Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali al-Baqir (as) saying: From among us there are twelve inspired ones.

“A night is twelve hours, a day is twelve hours, a year is twelve months, the imams are twelve and the disciples are twelve. Imam Ali (as) is an hour of the twelve hours as Allah has said, “But they reject the hour, and…

I asked Abu Abdullah (as): “Who is better; al-Hasan or al-Husayn?” He said: “The virtue of the previous one of us joins the next one of us and the virtue of the next one of us joins the previous one. Each one of us has…

“One day I was with Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali al-Baqir (as). When the all left, he said to me: “O Abu Hamza, what is inevitable and that Allah will not change is the advent of the last imam of ours; al-Mahdi.…

I came to Abu Abdullah Ja’far bin Muhammad as-Sadiq (as) in Medina and he said to me: “Why have you not visited us since so long, O Dawood?” I said: “I had something to do in Kufa.” He said: “Whom did you leave in Kufa?”…

I heard Abu Ibraheem Musa bin Ja’far bin Muhammad (Imam al-Kadhim) (as) saying: “Allah has created a house of light. He has made four pillars for it. Four names has been written on them; Tabarak, Subhan, al-Hamd and…

I said to Abu Abdullah Ja’far bin Muhammad as-Sadiq (as): “May I die for you! Would you tell me about (the meaning of) the saying of Allah, “And those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter). These are…

Once I came to Abu Abdullah Ja’far bin Muhammad (as). While I was sitting with him, (his son) Abul Hasan Musa (al-Kadhim) came in. He was a young boy. I got up and kissed him and then I sat down. Abu Abdullah (as) said…

“O Hamran, how odd of people it is! How have they ignored or forgotten the saying of the Prophet (S) on the last day of his life? When he fell ill, people came to visit him until the house became so crowded. Then Ali…

Once I asked my father, who was a very respectable man: “Whom have you met of the successors of the Prophet’s companions?” He said: “I do not know what you say but once I was in Kufa and heard an old man in the mosque…

Prophet (S) had said: “Allah has revealed to me in the night of the Ascension: “O Muhammad, whom have you entrusted with your umma on the earth-(and He is aware)?” I said: “O my God, I have entrusted my brother.” He the…

“Nine imams are after al-Husayn bin Ali. The ninth one is al-Qa’im.”

I have promised myself not to eat any kind of food during the day at all until al-Qa’im of Muhammad’s family appears. I came to Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (as) and said to him: “I am one of your Shia. I have promised Allah…

I have heard Abdullah bin Ja’far at-Tayyar saying: One day Al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Abdullah bin Abbas, Umar bin Umm Salama, Ussama bin Zayd and I were with Mo’awiya. I said to him: “I have heard the Prophet (S) saying: “I…

"I was with Abu Baseer and with us was a freed-slave (mawla) of Abu Ja'far al-Baqir (as). So he (the mawla) said that he heard Abu Ja'far say: “From us there are twelve muhadiths. The seventh of my descendants is…

“We attended the prayer (for the dead) when Abu Bakr died. While we were sitting around Umar, who had been paid homage to be the caliph, a young Jew from the Jews of Medina, whose father was the jurisprudent of the Jews…

“When the Prophet (S) died, a Jew man of the descendants of Dawood (Prophet David) came to Medina and saw the streets empty. He asked what the matter was. It was said to him that the Prophet (S) had died. He said:…

Prophet (S) had said: “There will be twelve caliphs after me; all of them are from Quraysh.” When the Prophet (S) went home, the people of Quraysh came to him asking: “Then what will happen?” He said: “Commotion will be…

Prophet (S) had said: “There will be twelve caliphs after me.” Then he (the Prophet (S)) said something that I could not understand. Some people said that the Prophet (S) had said: “All of them are from Quraysh.”

“It was mentioned that the Prophet (S) had said: “The people of the religion will still defeat their enemies until twelve imams (come).” People began to stand up and sit down. He (the Prophet (S)) said something that I…

“Once we were with Shufiy al-Assbahi. He said that he had heard Abdullah bin Umar saying: I heard the Prophet (S) saying: “After me there will be twelve caliphs.”

“O Abut-Tufayl, Count twelve ones of bani Ka’b bin Lu’ay and then fighting and killing occur.”

“This matter (the religion) will still prevail without being harmed by the enemies until there will be twelve caliphs; all of them are from Quraysh.”

Once we were with ibn Mass’ood in his house. Someone asked him: “Have your prophet told you how many caliphs will be after him?” Ibn Mass’ood said: “Yes, He has. But no one has asked me about this matter before you. You…

“This religion will not be harmed by its enemies until twelve caliphs, who all are from Quraysh, pass away.” The traditions narrated by the Sunnis concerning this subject are so many. The traditions show clearly that the…

“Each imam is a guide to the people of his age.”

“The Prophet (S) is the warner and Ali is the guide. By Allah, it (the mission) has never been away from us and it will still among us until the Day of Resurrection. May Allah make us do what pleases Him!”