Before going into the actual claim of naṣṣ jalī, it is useful to discuss the ʾaħādīþ narrated by Sunnīs mentioning 12 xulafāʾ, and to show that they do not provide any evidence for the Twelver claim. Prior to going into detail on their meaning, we must first provide a general picture of the wording of the ħadīþ in its various versions. The most straightforward way to do this is to classify by the ṣaħābī and the tābiʿī narrating each version, and to quote the most complete and reliable version coming from that path and note its status in terms of authenticity. 

1. From Jābir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنهما – Many authentic paths, and a few of disputed authenticity. 

a. Through ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr – Narrated through authentic chains.¹ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لَا يَزَالُ هَذَا الْأَمْرُ مَاضِيًا حَتَّى يَكُونَ اثْنَا عَشَرَ أَمِيرًا كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “This matter will not cease to pass until there are twelve rulers, all of them from Qurayš.” 

b. Through Simāk ibn Ħarb – Narrated through authentic/ħasan chains.²

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (يَكُونُ مِنْ بَعْدِي اثْنَا عَشَرَ أَمِيرًا كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “There will be twelve rulers after me, all of them from Qurayš.” 

c. Through Ħuṣayn ibn ʿAbd ar-Raħmān – Narrated through authentic chains.³ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (إِنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ لاَ يَنْقَضِي حَتَّى يَمْضِيَ فِيهِمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “Indeed, this matter will not end until twelve successors pass among them, all of them from Qurayš.” 

d. Through aš-Šaʿbī – Narrated through authentic chains.⁴ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لَا يَزَالُ هَذَا الْأَمْرُ عَزِيزًا مَنِيعًا يُنْصَرُونَ عَلَى مَنْ نَاوَأَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ إِلَى اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “This matter will not cease to be powerful and impregnable, defeating whoever fought them over it, until twelve successors, all of them from Qurayš.” 

e. Through ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd – Narrated through an authentic or ħasan (good) chain.⁵ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لَا يَزَالُ الدِّينُ قَائِمًا حَتَّى يَكُونَ عَلَيْكُمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ كَذَّابُونَ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ ثُمَّ تَخْرُجُ عُصَيْبَةٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ يَسْتَخْرِجُونَ كَنْزَ الْقَصْرِ الْأَبْيَضِ قَصْرُ كِسْرَى وَآلِ كِسْرَى وَإِذَا أَعْطَى اللَّهُ أَحَدَكُمْ خَيْرًا فَلْيَبْدَأْ بِنَفْسِهِ وَأَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ وَأَنَا الْفَرَطُ عَلَى الْحَوْضِ) “The religion will not cease to be upright until there are twelve successors over you, all of them from Qurayš, then there will emerge liars in front of the Hour so beware of them, then there will emerge a band of the Muslims who will take the treasure of the white palace, the palace of Kisrā and the family of Kisrā, and if Allāh gives one of you good then he should begin with himself and his family, and I am the one who will precede to the Basin.” 

f. Through al-ʾAswad ibn Saʿīd – Authentic addition according to some⁶ and not according to others.⁷ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لَا تَزَالُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةُ مستقيم أَمْرُهَا ظَاهِرَةً عَلَى عَدُوِّهَا حَتَّى يَمْضِيَ مِنْهُمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ثُمَّ يَكُونُ الْهَرْجُ) “This ʾUmmah will not cease to have its matter upright, being victorious over its enemies, until twelve successors pass among them, all of them from Qurayš, then there will be turmoil and killing.” 

g. Through ʾAbū Xālid al-Wālibī – Authentic addition according to some⁸ and not according to others.⁹

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لاَ يَزَالُ هَذَا الدِّينُ قَائِمًا حَتَّى يَكُونَ عَلَيْكُمُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ تَجْتَمِعُ عَلَيْهِ الأُمَّةُ كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “This religion will not cease to be upright until there are twelve successors over you, the ʾUmmah agreeing on all of them, all of them from Qurayš.”

2. From ʾAbū Juħayfah رضي الله عنه – A single path that is ħasan (good) according to some¹⁰ or λ̣aʿīf (weak) according to others.¹¹ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (لَا يَزَالُ أَمْرُ أُمَّتِي صَالِحًا حَتَّى يَمْضِيَ اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ) “The matter of my ʾUmmah will not cease to be in good condition until twelve successors pass, all of them from Qurayš.”

3. From Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه – A single path that is ħasan (good) according to some¹² or λ̣aʿīf (weak) according to others.¹³ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (يَكُونُ بَعْدِي اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً عِدَّةَ نُقَبَاءِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ) “There will be 12 successors after me, the number of the chiefs of Banū ʾIsrāʾīl.” 

4. From ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr رضي الله عنهما – A single path that is ħasan (good) according to some¹⁴ or λ̣aʿīf (weak) according to others.¹⁵ 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is narrated to have said: (يَكُونُ بَعْدِي اثْنَا عَشَرَ خَلِيفَةً مِنْهُمْ أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقُ لَا يَلْبَثُ بَعْدِي إِلَّا قَلِيلًا) “There will be 12 successors after me, among them is ʾAbū Bakr who will not remain for long after me.”

These narrations provide a general image of the different versions of the ħadīþ. Numerous conclusions are attained: 

1. The claim that this ħadīþ is mutawātir cannot be upheld. It can only be attributed very strongly to 1 ṣaħābī, Jābir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنه, and there are debatable attributions to 3 others. Even including them, the narration of 4 Ṣaħābah is not sufficient for tawātur, especially considering that one of them uses a wording that explicitly goes against the Twelver belief. Despite having agreement on its authenticity, none of the scholars of ʾAhl as-Sunnah have claimed this ħadīþ to be mutawātir. Rather, this is only the claim of Twelver scholars based on what is narrated from their books, which are narrations of completely different events, with entirely different wordings and indications, that in reality do not even coincide in meaning with what Sunnīs narrated. There is also no consensus of the ʾUmmah on the acceptance of this ħadīþ, as the Zaydīs and ʾIbāλ̣īs dispute its authenticity. 
2. No clear indication is given that the total number of xulafāʾ for the ʾUmmah is only twelve. Rather, the number twelve is almost always given with other specifying statements that indicate there may be other rulers. 
3. No clear indication is given that these twelve are obligatory to obey, nor is there even any clear indication that these twelve are praiseworthy. The ħadīþ is in the form of a prophecy for something that will occur in the future, and not a command. 
4. No indication is given that the identities are those claimed by Twelvers. Considering that based on Twelver belief, what is obligatory is to know their identities and not their number, it would be far more important for us to have knowledge of their names, which are not provided. Furthermore, mentioning them being from Qurayš would be strange, ineloquent, and vague if they were all part of a much more specific lineage. 
5. The apparent of these is that these twelve will be ruling over the ʾUmmah, unlike the ʾimāms of the Twelvers, who were never in a position of rule, and some authentic versions even make this nearly explicit by using the term أمير, which would almost always refer to a ruler. 
6. Many authentic versions, like those of aš-Šaʿbī and al-ʾAswad indicate that the Muslims will be openly upon the truth, and in a state of power and victory under these twelve, and even the majority of them state that the Muslims will be in a good condition. The Twelvers on the other hand have always been in a state of taqiyyah and weakness, and they claim the same about their ʾimāms, and believe the ʾUmmah and its rulers have constantly been upon deviance and oppression towards the people of truth. The wording of ʾAbū Xālid even says (كُلُّهُمْ تَجْتَمِعُ عَلَيْهِ الأُمَّةُ) “the ʾUmmah agreeing upon all of them,” which certainly did not occur for the 12 ʾImāms. 
7. The wording narrated through ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr رضي الله عنهما explicitly mentions ʾAbū Bakr رضي الله عنه as the first of the twelve caliphs, which directly negates the claim of the Twelvers. Aṭ-Ṭabarānī’s version (and others) from him even mention ʿUmar and ʿUþmān رضي الله عنهما after ʾAbū Bakr رضي الله عنه. The version of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd could also be seen as implying that the 12 caliphs will either be from long before the end times or after the end times have already begun, depending on the specific wording narrated from him. 

Sunnī scholars have provided multiple different possible interpretations for the ħadīþ.¹⁶ The two major strongly founded views are the following: 

It refers to the first 12 rulers (from Qurayš) after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم under whom ʾIslām and the Muslims were in the strongest and most stable state, for whom the ʾUmmah agreed upon accepting their rule at some point. This view does not say that the 12 caliphs are necessarily praiseworthy rulers. Based on this view, they would be ʾAbū Bakr, then ʿUmar, then ʿUþmān, then ʿAlī, then Muʿāwiyah رضي الله عنهم, then Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, then ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, then al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, then Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then Hišām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. After them, turmoil and killing greatly increased, and the ʾUmmah split into different regions under the rule of different rulers, with ʾIslām and the Muslims never going back to the same state of strength and stability. 

The Twelvers may object that some of these 12 had rebellions during their rule, or people refusing to pledge allegiance, but in these cases under these rulers there were no permanent opposing claims to authority, so the conditions of the ħadīþ are fulfilled. Such opposing claims only occurred during the time of Marwān and Ibn az-Zubayr, which is the reason why those who held this view did not include them in the list. This view is supported by the versions explicitly talking about the victorious state of the Muslims under the 12 caliphs, and by the version mentioning that the whole ʾUmmah will agree on them. 

It refers to the total number of rulers from Qurayš after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who will rule with justice, following guidance and truth, and be fully deserving of Xilāfah and completely fulfilling its conditions, finishing in the end of times after al-Mahdī. A possible list given is ʾAbū Bakr, then ʿUmar, then ʿUþmān, then ʿAlī, then al-Ħasan, then Muʿāwiyah, then Ibn az-Zubayr رضي الله عنهم, then ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-ʾUmawī, then al-Muhtadī al-ʿAbbāsī, then að̣-Ð̣āhir al-ʿAbbāsī, and finally al-Mahdī and another ruler either before or after him. Under this interpretation, the killing and turmoil after them would be that which comes due to the approach of the Day of Judgment. 

This view is supported by versions that seem to suggest 12 as being a total number of caliphs, and by some narrations of scholars from the Salaf.¹⁷ Ironically, due to the similarity in nature between this claim and the Twelver claim, all arguments that could be used to support the Twelver view from Sunnī narrations would support this view equally. On the other hand, this view does not share the fatal issues in the Twelver claim, since this view accepts that the 12 caliphs are rulers, and that ʾIslām is powerful and dominant under them, which the Twelver claim goes manifestly against. 

There are also three other views with some support, although not as major or well-founded as the prior two: 

It refers to 12 contemporaneous rulers around the end of times, indicating that people will be disunited such that they will all be divided with 12 people from Qurayš all at once claiming leadership and having followers. This interpretation is derived from the ħadīþ (ستكون خلفاء فيكثرون) “Caliphs will come after me and they will be many.”¹⁸ This view has an important linguistic basis in the question of whether the words حتى and إلى, which are used to mean “until” in different versions of the by ħadīþ, default include that which comes after them or not. According to the main opinion among scholars of the Arabic language, إلى by default excludes what is mentioned after it, whereas حتى includes it by default, unless the context indicates otherwise for either one.¹⁹ Some wordings of the ħadīþ could also be seen as suggesting all 12 being near the end times. 

The ħadīþ is excluding the time period of the ṣaħābah, and thus talking about rule remaining within Banū ʾUmayyah among 12 rulers, under whom ʾIslām was in a greater position of dominance and power, although these rulers may not be praiseworthy. These would be Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, then Muʿāwiyah ibn Yazīd, then ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, then al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, then Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then Hišām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, then al-Walīd ibn Yazīd, then al-Yazīd ibn al-Walīd, then ʾIbrāhīm ibn al-Walīd, then finally Marwān ibn Muħammad. This view is argued for using the ħadīþ (تَدُورُ رَحَى الإِسْلاَمِ لِخَمْسٍ وَثَلاَثِينَ أَوْ سِتٍّ وَثَلاَثِينَ أَوْ سَبْعٍ وَثَلاَثِينَ فَإِنْ يَهْلِكُوا فَسَبِيلُ مَنْ هَلَكَ وَإِنْ يَقُمْ لَهُمْ دِينُهُمْ يَقُمْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ عَامًا) “The mill of Islam will go round till the year thirty-five, or thirty-six, or thirty-seven; then if they perish, they will have followed the path of those who perished before them, but if their religion is maintained, it will be maintained for seventy years.”²⁰

The ħadīþ refers to 12 rightly guided rulers from ʾAhl al-Bayt in the end of times after the rule of al-Mahdī, starting with 5 from the descendents of al-Ħasan رضي الله عنه, then 5 from al-Ħusayn رضي الله عنه, then 2 more from al-Ħasan رضي الله عنه, or alternatively 6 from the descendents of al-Ħasan رضي الله عنه, then 1 from ʿAqīl ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه, then 5 from al-Ħusayn رضي الله عنه. This view is argued for based on some narrations attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما and Kaʿb,²¹ and also based on a passage attributed to a ‘Book of Daniel’ by Ibn al-Munādī (not present in the canonical Book of Daniel). 

Although these are the main possible interpretations given by scholars, there are also other even more minor and weaker possible interpretations that are not mentioned here. It is evident that the claim of Twelvers that this ħadīþ cannot refer to anyone other than their 12 ʾimāms is extremely weak. Rather, as has been shown, the versions of the ħadīþ that Sunnīs narrate manifestly go against Twelver beliefs. The interpretations provided by Sunnī scholars furthermore have nothing refuting them, and there is no reason to reject them and say the only possible interpretation is that the ʾaħādīþ refer to the ʾimāms of the Twelvers. 

Even if we were to suppose for the sake of argument that, contrary to all sanity and reason, the Sunnī interpretations are all incorrect, and that the ħadīþ is somehow in fact mutawātir or has ʾijmāʿ on its acceptance, this could still not even be taken as a sufficient proof for the Twelver position. The first thing to note is that going against all the known interpretations of the ħadīþ would at most only being going against ʾIjmāʿ Sukūtī, which is not a definitive evidence according to anyone. On top of that, for Twelvers, ʾijmāʿ is only a proof if it is known to include an infallible, and they also affirm the possibility of the ʾimām and his followers doing taqiyyah to hide their beliefs, and even the possibility of the ʾimām hiding in occultation. Thus, nothing prevents anyone from making up any claim they wish about who the 12 xulafāʾ are and exiting from all the existing views, then attributing this new view that they invented to a person they claim to be infallible, while claiming their infallible ʾimāms hid this out of taqiyyah or that their ʾimām is in occultation. 

It may be worth noting the existence of narrations naming the 12 ʾimāms in purported ‘Sunnī books’ like Farāʾid as-Simṭayn or Yanābīʿ al-Mawaddah. Unfortunately for those who wish to use such silly and deceptive polemics, not only are there clear indications in both of these books that their authors held Twelver beliefs,²² but these narrations are themselves narrated from Twelver chains taken from Twelver books, and not from chains consisting of Sunnīs. As should be obvious, none of these narrations come anywhere near Sunnī standards of reliability. 

1.  صحيح البخاري – حديث #7222 , صحيح مسلم – حديث #4706 , مسند أحمد – حديث #20922-20924 
   ↩︎
2.  صحيح مسلم – حديث #4708 , سنن الترمذي – حديث #2223 , مسند أحمد – حديث #20836, #20862 , صحيح ابن حبان – حديث #4795 , مستخرج أبي عوانة – حديث #7423-7427 
   ↩︎
3.  صحيح مسلم – حديث #4705 , مستخرج أبي عوانة – حديث #7420-7421 
   ↩︎
4.  صحيح مسلم – حديث #4709-4710 , مسند أحمد – حديث #20926, #20939, #20966 , سنن أبي داود – حديث #4280 , المستدرك للحاكم – حديث #6731 , صحيح ابن حبان – حديث #4796 
   ↩︎
5.  صحيح مسلم – حديث #4711 , مسند أحمد – حديث #20805 , دلائل النبوة للبيهقي – ج6 ص324 , مسند أبي يعلى – حديث #7463 , مستخرج أبي عوانة – حديث #7437-7439 
   ↩︎
6.  سنن أبي داود – حديث #4281 , دلائل النبوة للبيهقي – ج6 ص520 , صحيح ابن حبان – حديث #4794 , مجمع الزوائد لابن حجر الهيتمي – حديث #8972 
   ↩︎
7.  مسند أحمد – حديث #20860 
   ↩︎
8.   سنن أبي داود – حديث #4279 , فتح الباري لابن حجر العسقلاني – حديث #6796 , دلائل النبوة للبيهقي – ج6 ص519-520 , مستخرج أبي عوانة – حديث #7436 
   ↩︎
9.   سنن أبي داود – حديث #4279 
   ↩︎
10.  المستدرك للحاكم – حديث #6734 , مجمع الزوائد – حديث #8968
    ↩︎
11.  يونس بن أبي يعفور 
    ↩︎
12.  تاريخ الخلفاء للسيوطي – بيان المراد من قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: اثنا عشر , فتح الباري لابن حجر العسقلاني – حديث #6796 , مسند أحمد – حديث #3781 
    ↩︎
13.  مجمع الزوائد لابن حجر الهيتمي – حديث #8967 , مسند البزار – حديث #1937 , مسند أحمد – حديث #3781 , المستدرك للحاكم – حديث #8739 , مسند أبي يعلى – حديث #5322 
    ↩︎
14.  الصواعق المحرقة لابن حجر الهيتمي – ص53 , مجمع الزوائد لابن حجر الهيتمي – حديث #8918 , تاريخ الخلفاء للسيوطي – فصل في الأحاديث والآيات المشيرة إلى خلافته وكلام الأئمة في ذلك 
    ↩︎
15.  المجروحين لابن حبان – حديث #846 , الكامل في الضعفاء لابن عدي – حديث #4793 , تذكرة الحفاظ لابن طاهر القيسراني – حديث #1053 
    ↩︎
16.  فتح الباري لابن حجر العسقلاني – حديث #67096 , تاريخ الخلفاء للسيوطي – بيان المراد من قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: اثنا عشر , شرح صحيح مسلم للنووي – حديث #1821 , دلائل النبوة للبيهقي – بَابُ مَا جَاءَ فِي إِخْبَارِهِ بِاثْنَيْ عَشَرَ أَمِيرًا وَبَيَانِ ذَلِكَ , شرح ابن رسلان على سنن أبي داود – حديث #4279 , البداية والنهاية لابن كثير – ذكر الإخبار عن الأئمة الاثني عشر  الذين كلهم من قريش 
    ↩︎
17.  البداية والنهاية لابن كثير – ذكر الإخبار عن الأئمة الاثني عشر  الذين كلهم من قريش 
    ↩︎
18.  رياض الصالحين – حديث #655 
    ↩︎
19.  مغني اللبيب لابن هشام – باب إلى – ص 104 , مغني اللبيب لابن هشام – باب حتى – ص 168 , المقتصد للجرجاني شرح الإيضاح للقزويني – باب حتى – ج2 ص841 , شرح الرضي الاستراباذي على كافية ابن الحاجب – باب إلى وحتى – ج4 ص271 , شرح المفصل لابن يعيش – فصل معاني حتى – ج4 ص465 
    ↩︎
20.  سنن أبي داود – حديث #4254 , مسند أحمد – حديث #3758 , مشكل الآثار للطحاوي – حديث #1612-1613 
    ↩︎
21.  كشف المشكل لابن الجوزي – ج1 ص454 
    ↩︎
22.  ينابيع المودة , فرائد السمطين 
    ↩︎

Transliteration Index

ء = ʾ

ا = Ā ā

ب = B b

ت = T t

ث = Þ þ

ج = J j

ح = Ħ ħ

خ = X x

د = D d

ذ = Ð ð

ر = R r

ز = Z z

س = S s

ش = Š š

ص = Ṣ ṣ

ض = Λ̣ λ̣

ط = Ṭ ṭ

ظ = Ð̣ ð̣

ع = ʿ

غ = Ğ ğ

ف = F f

ق = Q q

ك = K k

ل = L l

م = M m

ن = N n

ه = H h

و = W w, Ū ū

ي = Y y, Ī ī