Can There Be Multiple Individuals Called “Qa’im”? A Critical Review

[Daralhidaye.ir]| In this section, the narrations that the followers of Ahmad al-Basri cite to prove the title “Sahib al-Amr” (Master of the Command) for their imam are examined. These narrations are among their main documented proofs used to justify their claims regarding the multiplicity of the Qa’im.

The Cited Narration

Among the narrations that the followers of Ahmad al-Basri use as evidence to confirm the title of Sahib al-Amr for their imam is as follows:

FROM ABU BASIR, HE SAID: I HEARD ABU JA’FAR AL-BAQIR (ALAYHIS SALAM) SAYING: “IN THE MASTER OF THIS COMMAND ARE SUNAN (PRACTICES/WAYS) FROM FOUR PROPHETS: A SUNNAH FROM MUSA, A SUNNAH FROM ‘ISA, A SUNNAH FROM YUSUF, AND A SUNNAH FROM MUHAMMAD, PEACE OF ALLAH BE UPON THEM ALL.” I SAID: WHAT IS THE SUNNAH OF MUSA? HE SAID: FEARFUL AND WATCHFUL. I SAID: AND WHAT IS THE SUNNAH OF ‘ISA? HE SAID: IT WILL BE SAID OF HIM WHAT WAS SAID OF ‘ISA. I SAID: SO WHAT IS THE SUNNAH OF YUSUF? HE SAID: IMPRISONMENT AND OCCULTATION. I SAID: AND WHAT IS THE SUNNAH OF MUHAMMAD (SALLA ALLAHU ‘ALAYHI WA ALIHI)? HE SAID: WHEN HE RISES, HE WILL ACT WITH THE CONDUCT OF THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH (SALLA ALLAHU ‘ALAYHI WA ALIHI), EXCEPT THAT HE WILL CLARIFY THE TRACES OF MUHAMMAD AND WILL PLACE THE SWORD ON HIS SHOULDER FOR EIGHT MONTHS, WITH GREAT TUMULT, UNTIL ALLAH IS PLEASED. I SAID: SO HOW WILL HE KNOW OF ALLAH’S PLEASURE? HE SAID: ALLAH WILL CAST MERCY INTO HIS HEART.

Abu Basir said: I heard Imam al-Baqir (alayhis salam) saying: “In the Master of this Command, there are practices and ways from four prophets: a tradition from Musa; a tradition from ‘Isa; a tradition from Yusuf; and a tradition from Muhammad – peace of Allah be upon them all. I submitted: Which is the tradition of Musa? He said: Fearful and worried. I asked: Which is the tradition of ‘Isa? He said: What was said about ‘Isa will also be said about him. I submitted: What is the tradition of Yusuf? He said: Imprisonment and disappearance. Then I submitted: Which is the tradition of Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa alih)? He said: When he rises, he will behave like the Prophet of God (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa alih), except that he will clarify the works of the Messenger of God (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa alih) (his mission is a continuation of the same mission of the Prophet) and will suspend the sword from his neck and will fight intensely for eight months until God is pleased. I asked: How will he become aware of the pleasure of God? He said: God will cast mercy into his heart.”

— Al-Ghayba (li-Nu’mani), p. 164

Method of Arguing for the Multiplicity of the Qa’im

The followers of Ahmad al-Basri say in this regard: “Nowhere is it mentioned that the Imam of the Time (aj) is imprisoned by anyone; consequently, the meaning of Sahib al-Amr is a person other than the Imam of the Time (aj), and that is Ahmad al-Basri.”

Response to the Argument for the Multiplicity of the Qa’im

First Point

Anyone who refers to history will know that the conditions of Imam Hasan al-Askari (alayhis salam) were very difficult. He was under severe confinement by the government of the time and was only in contact with his Shia through correspondence. The Imam of the Time (alayhis salam) was also with Imam Hasan al-Askari (alayhis salam) until the age of five, and his life alongside his noble father was constantly under the surveillance of the government and was, in reality, similar to a prison. It is for this reason that in some narrations, such as the one above, he has been likened to the Prophet Yusuf.

Second Point

This narration has been transmitted by Shaykh al-Saduq and Shaykh al-Nu’mani, and the chain of transmission (sanad) for both is weak. This is because in the chain of this transmission is “Hasan ibn Abi Hamza al-Bata’ini,” who is a known liar and accursed individual. Shaykh al-Tusi narrates this very same tradition with a sound chain from Abu Basir, and the word “sijn” (prison) does not exist in his narration. It is self-evident that a sound narration takes precedence over a weak narration:

AND MUHAMMAD IBN ‘ABD ALLAH AL-HIMYARI NARRATED FROM HIS FATHER FROM MUHAMMAD IBN ‘ISA FROM SULAYMAN IBN DAWUD AL-MINQARI FROM ABU BASIR, HE SAID: I HEARD ABU JA’FAR (A) SAYING: IN THE MASTER OF THIS COMMAND ARE [FOUR] SUNAN FROM FOUR PROPHETS: A SUNNAH FROM MUSA (A), A SUNNAH FROM ‘ISA (A), A SUNNAH FROM YUSUF (A), AND A SUNNAH FROM MUHAMMAD (S). AS FOR THE SUNNAH FROM MUSA (A), IT IS FEARFUL AND WATCHFUL. AND AS FOR THE SUNNAH FROM YUSUF (A), IT IS THE OCCULTATION (AL-GHAYBA). AND AS FOR THE SUNNAH FROM ‘ISA (A), IT IS THAT IT WILL BE SAID: HE DIED, BUT HE DID NOT DIE. AND AS FOR THE SUNNAH FROM MUHAMMAD (S), IT IS THE SWORD.

Abu Basir said: I heard from Imam al-Baqir (alayhis salam) who was saying: In the Master of this Command [Imamate] there are four traditions from the traditions of the prophets; a tradition from Musa ibn ‘Imran (alayhima al-salam), a tradition from ‘Isa ibn Maryam (alayhima al-salam), a tradition from Yusuf (alayhis salam) and also a tradition from Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa alih). The tradition of Musa consists of fear and waiting. The tradition of Yusuf is the prison [error in this translation, original Arabic says Ghayba/Occultation], and the tradition of ‘Isa is that it is said about him that he is dead while that personage is alive and present, and the tradition from the Prophet of Islam (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa alih) is the emergence and uprising [against tyranny] with the sword.

— Al-Ghayba (li-Tusi), p. 424

Third Point

There are narrations that explicitly liken the Imam of the Time (alayhis salam) to the Prophet Yusuf. Therefore, the one who has a tradition from the Prophet Yusuf and other prophets is the Imam of the Time (alayhis salam).

Fourth Point

Another narration explicitly identifies the point of similarity of the Prophet Yusuf with the Imam of the Time (alayhis salam) as occultation:

MUHAMMAD IBN MUSLIM AL-THAQAFİ AL-TAHHAN SAID: I ENTERED UPON ABU JA’FAR MUHAMMAD IBN ‘ALI AL-BAQIR (ALAYHIS SALAM) AND I INTENDED TO ASK HIM ABOUT THE QA’IM FROM THE PROGENY OF MUHAMMAD (SALLA ALLAHU ‘ALAYHI WA ALIHI). SO HE BEGAN BY SAYING TO ME: O MUHAMMAD IBN MUSLIM, VERILY IN THE QA’IM FROM THE PROGENY OF MUHAMMAD (SALLA ALLAHU ‘ALAYHI WA ALIHI) IS A SIMILARITY TO FIVE OF THE MESSENGERS: YUNUS IBN MATTA, YUSUF IBN YA’QUB, MUSA, ‘ISA, AND MUHAMMAD (SALLA ALLAHU ‘ALAYHIM). AS FOR HIS SIMILARITY TO YUNUS IBN MATTA, IT IS HIS RETURN FROM HIS OCCULTATION AS A YOUTH AFTER OLD AGE. AND AS FOR HIS SIMILARITY TO YUSUF IBN YA’QUB (ALAYHIMA AL-SALAM), IT IS THE OCCULTATION (AL-GHAYBA) FROM HIS CLOSE ASSOCIATES AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND HIS BEING HIDDEN FROM HIS BROTHERS, AND THE OBSCURITY OF HIS AFFAIR TO HIS FATHER YA’QUB (ALAYHIS SALAM) DESPITE THE SHORT DISTANCE BETWEEN HIM AND HIS FATHER, HIS FAMILY, AND HIS SHIA…

Muhammad ibn Muslim said: I entered upon Imam al-Baqir (alayhis salam) and wanted to ask about the Qa’im of the progeny of Muhammad. Imam al-Baqir (alayhis salam), before I could ask, said: O Muhammad ibn Muslim! In the Qa’im of the progeny of Muhammad there is a similarity to five of the prophets: Yunus ibn Matta, and Yusuf ibn Ya’qub, and Musa, and ‘Isa, and Muhammad (peace of Allah be upon them). As for his similarity to Yunus ibn Matta, it is that when he returns after his occultation in old age, he will be a youth. But the tradition from Yusuf ibn Ya’qub is that he is absent from the elite and the common people and is hidden from his brothers and his affair is concealed from his father Ya’qub, even though the distance between him and his father and his family and his Shia is short…

— Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni’ma, Vol. 1, p. 327