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The Forty Hadiths from Imam al-Ridha on Imam al-Mahdi (peace be upon them) – 5
Hadith Eight
The Necessity of the Imam’s Existence in Every Age
On the authority of Sulaymān al-Ja‘farī, who said:
I asked Abu al-Hasan al-Ridha (peace be upon him) and said: Can the earth be without Allah’s proof?
He said:
If the earth were left without a proof even for the blink of an eye, it would sink together with its inhabitants. [11]
I say: This hadith has been narrated from Sulaymān al-Ja‘farī, Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl, Ahmad ibn ‘Umar, al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Washshā’, and al-Hasan ibn Khālid, from al-Ridha (peace be upon him), with varying wordings.
[10] Kamal al-Din, vol. 1, p. 202; Tafsir al-Safi, vol. 4, p. 243; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 23, p. 35; Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 4, p. 369.
[11] Basā’ir al-Darajāt, p. 489; al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 179; ‘Uyun Akhbar al-Ridha, vol. 1, p. 272; ‘Ilal al-Sharā’i‘, p. 179; Kamal al-Din, vol. 1, p. 201; Mukhtasar Basā’ir al-Darajāt, p. 8.
Hadith Nine
That Imam al-Mahdi (peace be upon him) Will Have an Occultation
On the authority of Zakariyya ibn Yahya ibn al-Nu‘mān al-Sayrafī, who said:
I heard ‘Ali ibn Ja‘far speaking to al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, and he said:
By Allah, Allah has indeed granted victory to Abu al-Hasan al-Ridha (peace be upon him).
Al-Hasan said to him:
Yes, by Allah, may I be ransomed for you. His brothers wronged him.
‘Ali ibn Ja‘far said:
Yes, by Allah, and we—his uncles—also wronged him.
Al-Hasan said:
May I be ransomed for you, how did you act? For I was not present with you.
He said:
His brothers, and we as well, said to him: There has never been an Imam among us with a dark complexion.
Al-Ridha (peace be upon him) said to them: He is my son.
They said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) has ruled according to physiognomy (al-qāfah), so let there be physiognomists between us and you.
He said:
Send for them yourselves. As for me, I will not do so. And do not inform them why you summoned them, and remain in your houses.
When they came, they seated us in the garden. His uncles, brothers, and sisters lined up. Al-Ridha (peace be upon him) was taken, dressed in a woolen cloak and a woolen cap, and a hoe was placed around his neck. They said to him: Enter the garden as though you are working in it.
Then they brought Abu Ja‘far (peace be upon him) and said:
Attach this boy to his father.
They said:
He has no father here. Rather, this is his paternal uncle, this is his paternal uncle, this is his uncle, and this is his aunt. If he has a father here, then he is the owner of the garden, for his feet and this man’s feet are alike.
When Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him) returned, they said:
This is his father.
‘Ali ibn Ja‘far said:
So the matter was settled. I then sucked the saliva of Abu Ja‘far (peace be upon him) and said to him:
I bear witness that you are my Imam before Allah.
Al-Ridha (peace be upon him) wept, then said:
Rise, O uncle. Did you not hear my father say that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said:
“May my father be ransomed for the son of the best of bondwomen, the son of the Nubian, pure of mouth, noble of womb. Woe be to them—may Allah curse al-‘Abīs and his progeny—the companions of tribulation. He will kill them for years, months, and days, subjecting them to humiliation and giving them a bitter cup to drink. He is the expelled, the fugitive, bereaved of his father and grandfather, the صاحب الغيبة (one of occultation). It will be said: ‘He has died’ or ‘He has perished—into which valley has he gone?’
O uncle, could this be anyone other than me?”
I said:
You have spoken the truth—may I be ransomed for you. [12]
[12] al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 322; A‘lam al-Wara, p. 330; Kashf al-Ghummah, vol. 3, p. 141; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 50, p. 21.
If you’d like, I can also:
Smooth the English into more academic style
Produce a shortened/annotated version
Keep Arabic terms with transliteration + footnotes
