Restricting Imamah to the Descendants of Hassan and Hussain

Just as Imam al Hadi was concerned with spreading his doctrine, which began to appear during his reign in some regions of Najd and Yemen that came under his influence, he and the subsequent Imams in Yemen were also concerned with the matter of Imamah, restricting it to the descendants of the two grandsons of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, al Hassan and al Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhuma. They made it a fundamental principle of their creed, which includes their five principles of faith. These are the well-known five principles of the Mu’tazilah, except that the Zaidis replaced the concept of Manzilat bayna Manzilatayn known among the Mu’tazilah with the concept of Imamah. Similarly, the Hadawis detailed their conditions in a separate section of the book of conduct, which is the final chapter of their jurisprudential works. These conditions include that the Imam must be: male, free, from the lineage of ‘Ali and Fatimah, physically and mentally sound, diligent, just, generous, putting rights in their proper places, prudent, and his opinion mostly correct, advancing [for battle] provided success is possible, another [Imam] has not preceded him [in calling to his authority] and is being responded to [currently], it is established through invitation [to follow him in battle], it is not inherited, and it is not valid for there to be two Imams [at the same time].[1]

Imam Yahya ibn Hamzah (d. 749 AH) summarised these conditions by saying:

أن يكون عالما بأصول الشريعة متمكنا من الفتوى في أحكام الشرع أن يكون ذا رأي وسياسة للحرب والسلم أن يكون شجاعا مجتمع القلب لا يضعف عند لقاء عدوه أن يكون له ورع يحجزه عن الوقوع في المحرمات ويمنعه عن الإخلال بشيء من الواجبات

He must be knowledgeable in the fundamentals of the Shari’ah, proficient in issuing legal opinions in matters of the Shari’ah, have opinions and policies for war and peace, be courageous, have a collected heart: not weakening when facing his enemy, have piety that prevents him from committing prohibitions and stops him from neglecting any of his duties.[2]

It has been noted that many of the Imams who assumed leadership did not meet its essential conditions, namely knowledge and justice. This was evident in Yemen where a number of Imams appeared simultaneously, as was the case during the time of Imam Yahya ibn Hamzah. He was opposed by three other Imams: ‘Ali ibn Salah ibn Ibrahim ibn Taj al Din, al Mutahhar ibn Muhammad ibn al Mutahhar ibn Yahya, and Ahmed ibn ‘Ali al Fathi, in addition to the emergence of Imam al Mahdi Ahmed ibn Yahya al Murtada opposing Imam Salah al Din.

The Zaidis argued for confining the Imamah to the descendants of Hassan and Hussain until the end of days, based on the mentioned conditions, and not allowing it for others. They used certain verses[3] and ahadith, often interpreted according to their doctrine, disregarding the literal meaning and context, in line with their creed. This differed from the Imamiyyah who restricted it to Twelve Imams as well as the Ismailis, who believe in the concealment of their Imams after the fall of the Fatimid state. Furthermore, the Zaidi Imams do not substantiate their authority from the hadith, “The Imams are from Quraysh,”[4] because if they were to establish it, it would invalidate the restriction of Imamah to the descendants of Hassan and Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhuma only. Imam al Mansur al Qasim ibn Muhammad (d. 1029 AH/1620 CE) said, “This hadith is not authentic, as ‘Umar ibn al Khattab said, ‘If Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, were alive, I would not have doubted him.’ This Salim is not from Quraysh. None of the Companions who were present objected to ‘Umar; if the hadith were authentic, the Companions would have refuted ‘Umar. However, it is solitary and cannot be used as evidence in matters of creed. Even if it were proven true, it is explained by the saying of Imam ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam, ‘The Imams are from Quraysh within this lineage of Hashim.’”[5]

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[1] Matan al Azhar, book on expeditions. These citations are from the theoretical perspective. As for the practical perspective, it has been observed that more than one Imam appears at the same time, but they do not all remain in power, as the strongest among them prevails, and the fate of the others usually ends either in imprisonment, at best, or in their exile to remote areas beyond the reach of the serving Imam. Most often, the life of the defeated ends in death.

[2] Al Ma’alim al Diniyyah, pg. 144.

[3] For example, they referred to verses like the one in Surah al Ma’idah (6:67), “O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.” The prominent scholar Sayed Muhammad Rashid Rida mentioned in the commentary of his book al Manar, 6/466, that, “We firmly believe that if there were a clear text in the Qur’an or Hadith regarding the issue of Imamah, without any room for disagreement, and it involved the responsibility of leading Muslims after the death of the Messenger, he (the Messenger) would have explicitly mentioned it, clarified it, and conveyed it at that time. It would have been obligatory upon him if he believed that he was the Imam after the Messenger of Allah, to convey it from Allah and His Messenger, but he did not say that. Neither he nor anyone from his family or supporters cited this verse in the context of Saqifah, or the day of Shura after ‘Umar, or before or after that in his time. He, who is free from any blame in the sight of Allah, never showed negligence in word or deed. These issues emerged later and were introduced with narratives and derived evidence after the emergence of divisions and biases among schools of thought. Commanding to choose leaders was not relevant at that time and place. It is not something that the eloquence of the Qur’an would accept. If the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam intended to appoint his successor after him and to inform people about it, he would have mentioned it clearly in the Farewell Pilgrimage sermon, which was a testimony for people to convey his message.” For those interested in further understanding, many verses have been diverted from their correct meanings and misrepresented in their contexts. For a comprehensive study, refer to the book Shawahid al Tanzil li al Qawa’id al Tafdil by ‘Ubaid ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad, known as al Hakim al Hakkani, a prominent figure of the fifth century, published by al A’lami Foundation for Publications, Beirut, Lebanon.

[4] Musnad Ahmed, 4/421, Hadith: 19792, Shu’ayb al Arna’ut graded it sahih li ghayrihi and its isnad qawi.

[5] Al Asas li ‘Aqa’id al Ikyas, pg. 161.

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