Who are the Imams?

شناسه نوشته : 28447

1399/06/11

تعداد بازدید : 515


QUESTION FOUR Who are the Imams?
ANSWER: The holy Prophet made it clear that following him there would be twelve successors, all from the Quraysh, and that their leadership would bring glory to Islam. Jābir Ibn Samarah says, “I heard the Prophet (a.s) say, 'Islam will always be honored under these twelve successors.' Then he said something that I did not quite hear. I asked my father what the prophet said; he answered, "The prophet said that they would all come from the Quraysh."( Şahih Muslim (Egypt edition), Vol. 6, p. 2.)
In the history of Islam, there can be found no twelve successors guarding and preserving the honor of Islam except the twelve Imams in whom the Shiites believe, because it is only the twelve successors mentioned by the prophet who were all introduced as his immediate vicegerents.
Now, let us see who these twelve Imams are. If we the four caliphs immediately following the holy Prophet (whom the Sunnites call 'the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Rashidūn', the other caliphs did not
bring any honor to Islam, as is evident from the the history of the Umayyad and the Abbasids. But the twelve IImams of Shiites were paragons of virtue and piety in own time, and about whose knowledge and trustworthiness historians have given clear proof were the guardians of the Sunnah of God's Prophet and were in the center of attention of the Companions and their followers as well as of the Muslims of later generations. These twelve Imams are:

  1. 'Ali Ibn Abi-Țālib
  2. Hasan Ibn Ali (Mujtabā)
  3. Husayn Ibn
  4. 'Ali Ali Ibn Husayn (Zayn al-'Ābidin)
  5. Muhammad Ibn 'Ali (Bāqir)
  6.  Ja'far Ibn Muhammad (Sadiq)
  7. Mūså lbn Ja'far (Kažim)
  8. *Ali Ibn Mūsā (Ridā)
  9. Muhammad Ibn Ali (Taqi)
  10. "Ali Ibn Muhammad (Naqi)
  11. Hasan Ibn Ali (Askari)
  12. Mahdi (Qā'im)

about whom successive traditions have been quoted from the Prophet calling him the promised Mahdi. To obtain further information about the biography of these great leaders, whose names have been mentioned by the Holy Prophet (a.s), see the following books: Tadkirat al-Khawāșs Wasiyyāt al-A yān and Ayān -Shiah (the most comprehensive of all)