Is the Qā’im After the Succession of Three Names Ahmad al-Basri or Imam al-Mahdi?

Dar al-Hedayah | Followers of Ahmad al-Basri, relying on a narration whose theme mentions the names of the last four Imams, attempt to introduce the fourth person as Ahmad al-Basri. They try to align this hadith with their claimed Imam and present him as the Qa’im (The Awaited Upholder).

This claim is made while the reading of this narration by the followers of this movement is incorrect and faces numerous criticisms, which we will explain in this article.

🧐 The Claim of Ahmad Being the Qa’im

“Abu Muhammad al-Ansari”, within his evidence for the “Yamani” claim of Ahmad Ismail, writes:

“Al-Hidayah al-Kubra – Al-Husain bin Hamdan al-Khusaybi: From al-Sadiq (as) from his father from his grandfather al-Husain, from his uncle al-Hasan, from Amir al-Mu’minin from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He said: ‘If four names from the Imams from my progeny are repeated in succession (tawatat), their fourth is the awaited, hoped-for Qa’im.'”

He adds that the names must be in agreement with each other and should be names of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), because any other name would cause the name of Imam al-Mahdi to be excluded. According to him, the names now with us are:

1. Muhammad al-Baqir

2. Muhammad al-Jawad

3. Muhammad al-Mahdi

(Al-Ansari interprets the word [tawatat] as [muwafaqah] (agreement) and believes that four names agreeing with each other are intended, which he claims is “Muhammad”). He argues that the Messenger of Allah is not among this group because he (pbuh) himself said: “Imams from my progeny.” Therefore, he concludes that the fourth person must be “Ahmad” and that he is the awaited Qa’im.

✅ The Correct Version of the Narration and the True Qa’im

The correct wording of the narration, as is clear from the manuscript copies, is different. The version of the book “Al-Hidayah al-Kubra” that the claimants use—the version present in the software “Maktabat Ahl al-Bayt”—was published without verification and reference to manuscripts and contains many errors.

The correct text of the narration, an image of whose page we will also include, is as follows:

Imam al-Sadiq (as) narrated from their grandfather al-Husain, from his uncle al-Hasan, from Amir al-Mu’minin (as), from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that he said: “When four names—’Muhammad’ and ‘Ali’ and ‘Hasan’ and ‘Muhammad’—from the Imams from my progeny come in succession, their fourth is the awaited Qa’im (al-Qa’im al-Muntaqar).”

Therefore, this narration is an explicit text (nass) that the intended Qa’im is His Eminence, al-Hujjah bin al-Hasan al-Mahdi (aj).

🔍 Corruption (Tashif) in the Narration

The word “تَوَاتَتْ” (tawatat) that appears in the printed version of “Al-Hidayah al-Kubra” is most likely corrupted (musahhaf) because such a word does not exist in the Arabic language to have a meaning. The correct word, as stated, is “تَوَالتْ” (tawalat). The meaning of this word in Arabic is things coming one after another and following each other without any interval between them.

Linguistic sources like Al-Fayruzabadi and Al-Zabidi confirm that “تَتَابَعَ” (tataba’a) means “تَوَالَى” (tawala) – things, rains, or matters coming one after another.

Therefore, “تَوَالِي الْأَسْمَاء” (tawali al-asma’) means names coming one after another. This alone is sufficient to prove the distortion by “al-Ansari,” as this concept never corresponds to the sequence of only the name “Muhammad” among the Imams (as).

📚 Similar Narrations

Considering the family of related narrations and the clarity within them, there is no doubt that the Prophet’s (pbuh) intention with these three names is “Muhammad, Ali, and Hasan (as)”, and the fourth person is “al-Hujjah bin al-Hasan al-Mahdi.” For example, consider these narrations:

• From Imam al-Sadiq (as): “When three names come in succession, their fourth is their Qa’im: Muhammad, Ali, and Hasan.” (Kifayat al-Athar, Vol. 1, P. 284)

• From Imam al-Kazim (as): “When the names Muhammad, Ali, and Hasan come in succession, the fourth is the Qa’im.” (Rasa’il fi al-Ghaybah by al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Vol. 2, P. 13)

• Another from Imam al-Sadiq (as): “When three names—Muhammad, Ali, and al-Hasan—come in succession, their fourth is their Qa’im.” (Al-Ghaybah by al-Nu’mani, Vol. 1, P. 179)

• Al-Nu’mani (ra) explains this narration, using it as proof for His Eminence al-Mahdi (aj).

• Another chain to Imam al-Sadiq (as) with the same wording. (Kamal al-Din, Vol. 2, P. 334)

• Al-Shaykh al-Saduq (ra) used this very narration to refute the followers of the Imamate of “Ja’far al-Kadhab” after the martyrdom of Imam al-Askari (as), arguing it proves the Imamate was for al-Hasan (al-Askari) and not Ja’far. (Kamal al-Din, Vol. 1, P. 55)

• From the Prophet (pbuh): “When three names from the Imams from my progeny come in succession: Muhammad, Ali, and al-Hasan, their fourth is the hoped-for, awaited Qa’im.” (Dala’il al-Imamah, Vol. 1, P. 447)

🎯 Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the intended meaning of “al-Qa’im” in this narration is “al-Hujjah bin al-Hasan al-Mahdi (aj).” The interpretation of the Ahmad al-Basri faction is baseless.

Given the various mentions of this narration in different Shi’a sources with the wording “تَوَالتْ” (tawalat – came in succession) and the explicit statement of other narrations with the phrase “مُتَوَالِيَةً” (mutawaliyatan – in succession), and the understanding of traditionists (muhaddithin) like al-Nu’mani—who was a student of al-Shaykh al-Kulayni and among the narrators of Mahdavi narrations—it is clear that this hadith explicitly refers to the sequence of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Imams named Muhammad, Ali, and al-Hasan (as), making the fourth in this specific sequence the Awaited Qa’im, Imam al-Mahdi (aj).