Is the Meaning of “The Yemeni Youth” (al-Fatā al-Yamanī) Ahmad al-Hassan al-Basri?

Dar al-Hedaya | The followers of Ahmad Basri, by abusing certain narrations, attempt to apply the referents found in some religious texts to the leader of their sect and to ascribe various religious ranks to him. One of these referents is the figure known as “al-Fatā al-Yamanī”, which this movement claims for its imam. This article examines and critiques this claim.

Ahmad Basri and the Narration of al-Fatā al-Yamanī

The followers of Ahmad Basri, relying on the following narration, claim that the meaning of “al-Fatā al-Yamanī” is Ahmad Basri:

Arabic text:
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ (ص) … فَقَالَ: وَسَيَخْرُجُ مِنْ هَذَا «أَيْ عَلِيٍّ سَلَامُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ» فَتًى يَمْلَأُ الْأَرْضَ قِسْطًا وَعَدْلًا، فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمْ ذَلِكَ فَعَلَيْكُمْ «بِالْفَتَى الْيَمَنِيِّ»، فَإِنَّهُ يُقْبِلُ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ، وَهُوَ صَاحِبُ رَايَةِ الْمَهْدِيِّ.

English translation:
On the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: “… And from this one” – meaning ʿAlī, peace be upon him – “a youth will emerge who will fill the earth with equity and justice. So when you see that, it is incumbent upon you [to follow] the Yamani youth, for he will come from the East, and he is the bearer of the banner of the Mahdi (peace be upon him).”

Source: al-Mahdī al-Mawʿūd al-Muntaẓar, vol. 1, p. 107

Deception in the Narration

This narration is one which, upon careful examination, reveals that the followers of Ahmad Basri engage in deception, distortion, and betrayal of narrations. This is because they knowingly and deliberately transmit a distorted version of the hadith.

They present the narration as follows:

“… So if you see that Yamani youth, go toward him, for he comes from the East and he is the bearer of the banner of Imam Mahdi (peace be upon him).”

Source: al-Mahdī al-Mawʿūd al-Muntaẓar, vol. 1, p. 107

Response to Ahmad Basri

First Point

This hadith is a Sunni (ʿĀmmī) narration, and the Shiʿa have been strongly prohibited from taking narrations from the Sunnis, except in the case of ilzām (argumentative binding):

Arabic text:
عَنْ هَارُونَ بْنِ خَارِجَةَ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع إِنَّا نَأْتِي هَؤُلَاءِ الْمُخَالِفِينَ فَنَسْمَعُ مِنْهُمُ الْحَدِيثَ يَكُونُ حُجَّةً لَنَا عَلَيْهِمْ؟ قَالَ: لَا تَأْتِهِمْ وَلَا تَسْمَعْ مِنْهُمْ، لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلَعَنَ مِلَلَهُمُ الْمُشْرِكَةَ.

English translation:
Harun ibn Kharijah said: I said to Abu ʿAbd Allah (peace be upon him): We go to these مخالفين (opponents) and hear from them a hadith which becomes evidence for us against them. Should we do this? He said: Do not go to them and do not listen to them. May Allah curse them and curse their polytheistic sects.

Source: Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 21, p. 477

Second Point

Even assuming, impossibly, that the correct wording of the narration were “bi-l-fatā al-yamanī”, it would still be entirely against the followers of Ahmad Basri. This is because it explicitly states that this youth is from Yemen, and youthfulness, in any case, does not apply to Ahmad Basri.

The followers of Ahmad Basri claim that the Yamani is not Yemeni. Even if they argue that Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) have ancestral roots in Yemen, this would no longer be exclusive to the true Yamani but would also include others from the family of Muhammad, including the Khorasani. Therefore, this narration still provides no indication of the Yamani being from the East.

It should also not be forgotten that there is not a single narration stating that the Yamani is a Sayyid or from the Banu Hashim. This is merely part of the emptiness and imagination of the Ahmad Basri movement, in contrast to the Khorasani, whose Hashemite lineage is explicitly mentioned.

The only narration cited is “the emergence of a man from the descendants of my uncle Zayd in Yemen”. If this person is considered the Yamani, there is no issue. However, if the followers of Ahmad Basri claim that this person is the Yamani, they undermine their own foundation, because it proves that the Yamani is from the lineage of Zayd, not from the lineage of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance), which directly contradicts Ahmad Basri’s claims.

Third Point

The followers of Ahmad Basri quote this narration from the book al-Mahdī al-Mawʿūd al-Muntaẓar, yet this very book contains an error and textual corruption in the cited narration.

The book itself states that the narration is taken from the following sources:

• Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid wa Manbaʿ al-Fawāʾid, vol. 7, p. 318

• Narrated by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ

• Also recorded on p. 269 of Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldūn from the narration of Ibn ʿUmar

Now we examine these cited sources to determine how the narration is actually transmitted:

• In Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid wa Manbaʿ al-Fawāʾid, instead of “bi-l-fatā al-yamanī”, the wording is “bi-l-fatā al-tamīmī”.

• Likewise, in Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ by al-Ṭabarānī, vol. 4, p. 256, which is the primary source, the wording is “bi-l-fatā al-tamīmī”.

• In Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldūn, the wording is again “bi-l-fatā al-tamīmī”.

Therefore, once again, the followers of Ahmad Basri committed deliberate distortion and betrayal. It has been conclusively proven that this hadith provides no indication whatsoever of the Yamani being from the East.

Rather, this narration, which states “fa-ʿalaykum bi-l-fatā al-tamīmī”, clearly refers to Shuʿayb ibn Ṣāliḥ, who is from the tribe of Tamim and is, according to the narrations, the commander of the armies of the Khorasani and of the Imam of the Age (may Allah hasten his reappearance), as stated in the narrations:

Arabic text:
عَنِ الْمُفَضَّلِ بْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ سَيِّدِيَ الصَّادِقَ ع هَلْ لِلْمَأْمُولِ الْمُنْتَظَرِ الْمَهْدِيِّ ع مِنْ وَقْتٍ مُوَقَّتٍ؟ فَقَالَ: … أَمِيرُهُمْ رَجُلٌ مِنْ تَمِيمٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ شُعَيْبُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ…

English translation:
Al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar said: I asked my master al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him): Is there a fixed time known to the people for the awaited and hoped-for Mahdi? He said: … Their commander is a man from Tamim called Shuʿayb ibn Ṣāliḥ…

Source: Mukhtaṣar al-Baṣāʾir, vol. 1, p. 433

And in the Khuṭbat al-Ṭanṭanjiyya, attributed to the Commander of the Faithful:

“And the movement of the armies of Khorasan, and the following of Shuʿayb ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Tamīmī from the region of Ṭāliqān…”

Source: Ilzām al-Nāṣib fī Ithbāt al-Ḥujja al-Ghāʾib, vol. 2, p. 203

It is noteworthy that the only book that transmits the wording “bi-l-fatā al-yamanī” is al-Mahdī al-Mawʿūd al-Muntaẓar itself, despite referring to the aforementioned sources. All other primary sources, as well as later works quoting from them, unanimously record “bi-l-fatā al-tamīmī”.