He said...
He said: messenger of Allah [PBUH] said: all of them are from “Quraysh” (5) 2: “Twelve chieftains” In some narratives the word “Chieftain” has been used instead of “caliph”: “Ahmad ibn Hanbal” has quoted this narrative on two pages of his “Musnad” book: … عن مَسْرُوقٍ قال: كنا جُلُوساً عِنْدَ عبد اللَّهِ بن مَسْعُودٍ وهو يُقْرِئُنَا الْقُرْآنَ فقال له رَجُلٌ: يا أَبَا عبد الرحمن هل سَأَلْتُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليه وسلم كَمْ تملك هذه الأُمَّةَ من خَلِيفَةٍ؟ فقال عبد اللَّهِ بن مَسْعُودٍ: ما سألني عنها أَحَدٌ مُنْذُ قَدِمْتُ الْعِرَاقَ قَبْلَكَ ثُمَّ قال: نعم.
وَلَقَدْ سَأَلْنَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليه وسلم فقال: اثْنَا عَشَرَ كَعِدَّةِ نُقَبَاءِ بني إِسْرَائِيلَ “Masrough” said: we were siting along with “Abudullah ibn Masud” and he was reading Quran for us, a man told him: O “Aba Abd ar-Rahman”! Didn’t you hear from messenger of Allah [PBUH] that how many caliphs will come after him?
“Abdullah” said: no one has asked me about it since I’ve arrived to “Iraq”, we asked messenger of Allah [PBUH] and he said: my caliphs are twelve persons like the number of chieftains of children of Israel.
(6) Some of Sunni big scholars such as; “Asimi Macci”, “Mubarfakuri”, “Ibn Hajar Asqalani”, “Suyuti”, “Ibn Hajar Haythami” say frankly that narrative quoted by “Masud” has authentic document: أما حديث بن مسعود فأخرجه أحمد والبزار بسند حسن أنه سئل كم يملك… (7) “Ibn Hajar Asqalani” has quoted narrative as follow: … عن مسروق قال: جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ فَقَالَ: هَلْ حَدَّثَكُمْ نَبِيُّكُمْ صلي الله عليه وآله كَمْ يَكُونُ بَعْدَهُ مِنَ الْخُلَفَاءِ؟ فَقَالَ: نَعَمْ.
وَمَا سَأَلَنِي أَحَدٌ قَبْلَكَ وَإِنَّكَ لَأَحْدَثُ الْقَوْمِ سِنّاً نَعَمْ. قَالَ:يَكُونُ بَعْدِي عِدَّةُ نُقَبَاءِ مُوسَي اثني عشر نقيبا. A man came to “Abdullah ibn Masud” and said: Did your Prophet tell you that how many caliphs will be after him? He answered: Yes, He did. And no one asked me such thing before you and you’re the youngest person. He said: there will be twelve chieftains after me, as much as “Moses” chieftains. He says at the end: (هذا اسناده حسن).
Document of this narrative is authentic. (8) To be continued NOTES: _______________________________________ 1. “Muslim ibn Hajjaj”, Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p 1452 2. “Muslim ibn Hajjaj”, Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p 1453 3. “Muslim ibn Hajjaj”, Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p 1452 4. “Al-Sajistani”, Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 4, p 106 5. “Al-Sajistani” – Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 4, p 106.
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