al-Hassan bin „Ali bin Abi Tālib. May the peace of Allah be upon them all. He narrated that Ja‟far said to Yahya bin Zayd that his father [Zayd bin „Ali] conveyed the greeting of peace to him and he responded: “Verily, if I claimed that I was an imam over you, I will be an idolater (mushrik)!”
He desired to fight (yakhrūj) along with Zayd, but Zayd prevented him. He [i.e. Zayd] said: “Stay with the deprived.” He [i.e. Ja‟far] said concerning the killing of his uncle [i.e. Zayd]: “I swear by Allah, Zayd went out [and fought] similar to the going out of „Ali bin Abi Tālib, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, and their martyred companions to Paradise. Their followers swayed, doubted them, went astray, and disbelieved in them.”
It is narrated in al-Hada’iq al-Wirdiyya that he was sent during the struggle between Muhammad bin „Abdullah an-Nafs az-Zakiyya9 during the first fatality from the „Abbasid forces. This involved the fighting of Musa and „Abdullah [i.e. the two sons of Imam Ja‟far]. May Allah‟s mercy be upon both of them. The two of them were present with him in all of his jihads and gave him their oaths of allegiance seeking closeness to Allah by means of that. He asked Abu „Abdullah Ja‟far bin Muhammad, upon him be peace, about his way and weakness in the reference to what he sent, and afterwards, he went with him.
We can narrated the virtues and praises of Imam Zayd on the authorities of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, „Ali bin Abi Tālib, al-Hussein, Zayn al-Abidīn, al-Bāqir10, as-Šadiq, and the sons of al-Hassan. May the prayers of Allah be upon them. We don‟t mention it for the sake of brevity.
The 12ers relate an account: “There will be 12 caliphs after me.” This is also related in the books of the Ahlul Sunnah. This can be answered from the following points:
First Point: We do not recognize the authenticity of these narrations, and this was never reported by our ancestors11. We do not counter the Imamites and Ahlul Sunnah except when their narrations do not conform to authenticity, the Qur‟ān, and intellect. We narrated on the authority of our ancestors that the one who narrated the affair concerning the 12 was Abu ad-Dawāniq12. Allah is sufficient! Then, the one who relies on this is commanded with authorship of this view (madhhab) and paid for the story-tellers to narrated this—as narrated by the great Imam „Abdullah bin Hamza13, upon him be peace.
Politics caused this tale to circulate a lot and it underwent distortion and changes. The evil scholars also dispersed these tales among the Shiites. They also tried to apply this doctrine of ease so the people were called to apathy, inactivity, trust, and contentment. So when the members of the People of the House called them to jihad, they [the people] avoided and discounted it because they preferred this contentment, security, and ease to death, fear, and disassociation. {But the one who feared the position of his Lord and prevented his soul from the base desires, Paradise will be his refuge} (Q. 79:40-41).
Second Point: These narrations are singularly narrated and obscure (ahādiya maghmūra) and a principle of the principles of the religion (usūl ad-dīn) cannot be established on it. If it was authentic, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, would have manifested it. Its
9 He is Imam an-Nafs az-Zakiyya Muhammad bin Abdullah (d. 762). He is a Zaydi imam that led a failed rebellion against the „Abbāsids.
10 He is Imam al-Bāqir Muhammad bin „Ali (d. 743 AD); the 5th of the 12 divinely ordained imams of the 12ers.
11 The doctrine of 12 imams is also rejected by the Ismai‟lis and the Ibađis.
12 This is a common nickname given to „Abbāsid caliph, Abu Ja‟far al-Mansūr by his enemies, specifically the Shiites.
13 He is Imam al-Mansur Billah „Abdullah bin Hamza (d. 614 AH). He is a prolific Zaydi imam who ruled Yemen.
