Some information regarding the Imams(whom Shias consider to be their divinely appointed Imams) from the books of Ahlesunnah
1. First Imam – ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) martyred in 40 AH.
(a) Narrated Sad bin ‘Ubaida:A man came to Ibn ‘Umar and asked about ‘Uthman and Ibn ‘Umar mentioned his good deeds and said to the questioner. “Perhaps these facts annoy you?” The other said, “Yes.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “May Allah stick your nose in the dust (i.e. degrade you)!’ Then the man asked him about ‘Ali. Ibn ‘Umar mentioned his good deeds and said, “It is all true, and that is his house in the midst of the houses of the Prophet. Perhaps these facts have hurt you?” The questioner said, “Yes.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “May Allah stick your nose in the dust (i.e. degrade you or make you do things which you hate) ! Go away and do whatever you can against me.”[Sahih Bukhari , Volume 5, Book 57, Number 54]
(b) It was narrated by Tirmizi in his “Sunnan” (#3747
[Tahqiq of Albani.]) from Abdurrahman ibn Awf, that prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam) said: “Abu Bakr in the heaven, Umar in the heaven, Uthman in the heaven
, Ali in the heaven, Talha (ibn Ubeydullah) in the heaven, Zubair (ibn al-Awwam) in the heaven, Abdurrahman ibn Awf in the heaven, Sad (ibn Abu Waqqas) in the heaven, Said (ibn Zaid) in the heaven, Abu Ubayda (ibn al-Jarrah) in the heaven”. [Hadith is saheeh, and similar one also was narrated from Said ibn Zaid.]
2. Second Imam – Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) (3-50 AH)
(a) The Prophet (s) said :
الحسن والحسين سيدا شباب أهل الجنة
Hassan and Hussein are leaders of the
youth of Paradise [Sunan Tirmidhi : 3701]
(b) Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Hurayra, that prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam): “
Who would love al-Hasan and al-Husayn he loves me, and whoever would hate them, hates me”
[ Sunnan ibn Majah” #148.]. Sheikh Albani said it’s hasan(good).
3. Third Imam – Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) (4-61 AH)
(a) The Prophet (s) said :
الحسن والحسين سيدا شباب أهل الجنة
Hassan and
Hussein are leaders of the
youth of Paradise[Sunan Tirmidhi : 3701]
(b) Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Hurayra, that prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam):
“Who would love al-Hasan and al-Husayn he loves me, and whoever would hate them, hates me”
[ Sunnan ibn Majah” #148.]. Sheikh Albani said it’s hasan.
4. Fourth Imam – ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Aabideen ibn al-Husayn (38-95 AH), whom they call al-Sajjaad
(a) Abu Naeem Isfahani , while quoting Imam Zuhri in Hulyatul Awliya , said:
قال الزهري : لم أر هاشميا أفضل من علي بن الحسين
Zuhri said : I didn’t saw a Hashimite afzal(better) than Ali ibn Hussain
[Hulyatul Awliya]
(b) Yahya bin Saeed said:
هو أفضل هاشمي رأيته في المدينة
He(Ali ibn hussain) is the best Hashimite I saw in Madinah.[Hulyatul Awliya]
(c) Regarding Imam Zaynul Aabideen, Imam Dhahabi states in Siyar (4/387):”(besides his fathers) he has narrated from Safiyyah Ummul Mu’mineen, that is in Bukhari and Muslim, and from Abu Hurairah, and Aaisha, his narration from her is in Muslim, and from Abu Rafi’, his uncle Hasan, Ibn Abbas, Umm Salama, Miswar bin Makhrama, Zainab bint Um Salamah and others. Among the Tabi’een he narrates from Marwan,Ubaidullah bin Abi Rafe’, Sa’eed bin Al-Musayyab,………..Amr bin Uthman bin Affan, and he was not among mukathhir (who narrates lots of narrations).”
(d) Imam Dhahabi also records some reports according to which, Imam Zainul Aabideen(ali ibn hussain) used to sit in the majlis of Zaid bin Aslam. So once Nafe’ bin Jubayr said to him, ”you are Sayyid and you are sitting in the majlis of a slave.” to which
Imam replied, ”knowledge is to be taken, no matter from where it comes”. (Siyar 4/388).
Similarly he also used to sit in the majlis of Ubaidullah bin Abdullah.
All these reports show the status of Zainul Aabideen, that although he was better than these scholars, in status and knowledge, but never felt shy in acquiring knowledge from them.
(e) Thats why Zaid ibn Aslam said, ”i have never seen like of him.”
أقول: الزهري و إن كان من علماء العامة إلا أنه يظهر من هذه الرواية و غيرها أنه كان يحب علي بن الحسين ع و يعظمه.
Esteemed Shia scholar (al-Khoei) said: al-Zuhri is from the
`ulemaa of the `aamah (sunnis) except that he showed from this narration and others
that he loved `Alee bin al-Hussayn (AS) and held him (AS) in a dignified (position)
Source: al-Khoei,
Mu`jam Rijaal al-Hadeeth, vol. 16, pg. 182, hadeeth # 10960
5. Fifth Imam – Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Aabideen (57-114 AH) whom they call al-Baaqir
(a) Imam Dhahabi said:
ولقد كان أبو جعفر إماما مجتهدا تاليا لكتاب الله كبير الشأن
Imam Baqir (i.e Abu Jafar) is Imam, Mujtahid, reciter of the book of Allah, and a noble person.[Siyyar Alam al nubla]
(b) Muhammad ibn Saad said:
كان كثير العلم والحديث
He is kathir ul ilm(knowledge) and hadith.[Tabaqat Al Kubra 5/34]
6. Sixth Imam- Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Baaqir (83-148 AH) whom they call al-Saadiq
(a) Imam Abu Hanifa said:
ما رأيت أفقه من جعفر بن محمد
I didn’t saw anyone greater faqih than Jafar bin Muhammad (al-Sadiq). [Tadhkiratul Huffaz 1/66]
(b) The Hadith master Ibn Shahin al-Hanbali (d. 385) said: “
Two righteous men have been afflicted because of evil people: Ja’far ibn Muhammad and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.”
(c) Similarly Ibn al-Salah (d. 643) said: “Two Imams have been afflicted because of their followers although they are innocent of them: Ahmad ibn Hanbal was tried with the anthropomorphists (al-mujassima), and Ja’far al-Sadiq with the (Shi’a) Rejectionists (al-Rafida).” [Ibn al-Subki’s Qa`ida (p. 43), also found in his Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (2:17)]
(d)
The following are tawtheeqaat(credibilities) by early scholars for Ja’afar bin Mohammed:
و قال أحمد بن سلمة النيسابورى ، عن إسحاق بن راهويه ، قلت للشافعى : كيف جعفر ابن محمد عندك ؟ فقال : ثقة ـ فى مناظرة جرت بينهما ـ .
Al-Shafi’ee considered him to be a thiqa(trustworthy).
و قال عباس الدورى ، و عثمان بن سعيد الدارمى ، و أبو بكر بن أبى خيثمة ،
و أحمد بن سعد بن أبى مريم ، عن يحيى بن معين : ثقة .
Four of Ibn Ma’een’s students quoted his tawtheeq.
و قال عبد الرحمن بن أبى حاتم : سمعت أبا زرعة و سئل عن جعفر بن محمد عن ابيه ، و سهيل عن أبيه ، و العلاء عن أبيه : أيها أصح ؟ قال : لا يقرن جعفر إلى هؤلاء ، و قال : سمعت أبى يقول : جعفر بن محمد ثقة ، لا يسأل عن مثله .
Ibn Abi Hatim quotes the tawtheeq of Abu Zur’ah and Abu Hatim.
و قال الساجى : كان صدوقا مأمونا ، إذا حدث عنه الثقات فحديثه مستقيم .
Al-Saaji makes tawtheeq of him.
و قال النسائى فى ” الجرح و التعديل ” : ثقة .
Al-Nasa’ee considered him to be a thiqa.
و ذكره ابن حبان فى ” الثقات ” ، و قال : كان من سادات أهل البيت فقها و علما
و فضلا ، يحتج بحديثه من غير رواية أولاده عنه ، و قد اعتبرت حديث الثقات عنه ، فرأيت أحاديث مستقيمة ليس فيها شىء يخالف حديث الأثبات ، و من المحال أن يلصق به ما جناه غيره .
Ibn Hibban considered him to be a thiqa, and believed that his hadiths were upright, except for the hadiths that are narrated through some of his weak descendants.
وجعفر من ثقات الناس كما قال يحيى بن معين
Ibn Adi stood with Yahya bin Ma’een’s opinion that he is a thiqa. [All of these can be found in Tahtheebul Tahtheeb and Al-Kamil by Ibn Adi.]
Al-Thahabi saw him as a thiqa and included him in a book called “Man Takalam feeh wahuwa Muwathaq aw Salihul Hadith”. (Rough translation: Those that were spoken about (negatively) but are considered trustworthy or acceptable in hadith).
Clarification: Some people think that he was weakened by Imam Bukhari, but the fact is that he was never weakened by Al-Bukhari, but he was kept out of the Saheeh because Al-Bukhari could reach hadiths through a shorter chain. Secondly it’s hard to swallow that Imam Malik didn’t accept his hadith as some of the shia claim, because Malik generally doesn’t include weak narrators in his Muwatta, but we find Imam Malik quoting Imam Ja’afar quite a few times. It seems as though the tawtheeq(credibility) for Ja’afar in general has surpassed the weakening towards him. Even the statements criticizing his dhabt aren’t really all that aggressive. The tawtheeq(credibility) provided by Abu Hatim is great evidence for his status and even if we look through Al-Kamil bin Ibn Adi, we won’t find any really strange narrations by Ja’afar(ra), which is why he was considered to be a thiqa(trustworthy) by the author. Perhaps he is closer to Hammad bin Salama, who was also not included in Saheeh Al-Bukhari.
(e) As for the Teachers of Ja’afar al Sadiq then Imam al Thahabi mentions in “Tathkirat’ul Huffaz” “تذكرة الحفاظ”:
Al Qassim Ibn Mohammad Ibn Abi Bakr, Mohammad el Baqir, Ali Zain’ul Abedeen, Ubayd’ul Allah Ibn Abi Rafi’I, Urwa Ibn el Zubair (One of the seven Fuqaha of Medina), Nafi’i “نافع” and Ata’a “عطاء” .
7. Seventh Imam- Moosa ibn Ja’far al-Saadiq (128-148 AH) whom they call al-Kaadim
Abu Hatim says:
ثقة صدوق امام من أئمة المسلمين
Thiqqah sidduq , Imam amongst the Imams of Muslims. [Al jafar wa al tadil, 4/139]
8. Eight Imam – ‘Ali ibn Moosa al-Kaadim (148-203 AH) whom they call al-Rida (Reza)
Imam Dhahabi said:
كان من العلم والدين والسؤدد بمكان
He held a noble position in knowledge , and religion. [Siyyar alam al Nubla 9/387]
9. Ninth Imam – Muhammad al-Jawaad ibn ‘Ali al-Rida’ (195-220 AH) whom they call al-Taqiy
We read in Minhaj al Sunnah
كان يعد من أعيان بني هاشم وهو معروف بالسخا
He was amongst the nobles of Bani Hashim and was known for his generosity. [Minhaj al Sunnah 4/68]
10. Tenth Imam – ‘Ali al-Haadi ibn Muhammad al-Jawaad (212-254 AH) whom they call al-Naqiy
11. Eleventh Imam – al-Hasan al-‘Askari ibn ‘Ali al-Haadi (232-260) whom they call al-Zakiy
12. Twelfth Imam – Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Hasan al-‘Askari, whom they call al-Hujjah al-Qaa’im al-Muntazar.
Shias claim that he entered a tunnel in Samarra more than 1200 years ago’, but most researchers are of the view that he did not exist at all, and that he is a Shia myth. This is even the view of Ahlesunnah. See: al-Mawsoo’ah al-Muyassarah (1/51).
Ibn Katheer said in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah (1/177): As for what they(shias) believe about the tunnel of Samarra’, that is a myth which has no basis in reality and no proof or sound reports.
