‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah never died...

‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah never died, but only disappeared and would reappear at the end of the world as the Mahdi[^6]. Others among the Jarudiyyah awarded the ghaybah and mahdawiyyah to Yahya b. ‘Umar[^7] while lots of other Jarudis declared both for Muhammad b. al-Qasim b. ‘Ali ^8 . The Nawusiyyah announced too that Imam al-Sadiq never died, but only went into ghaybah and would return as the Awaited Mahdi[^9]. The Isma’liyyah also attributed the ghaybah and mahdawiyyah to Isma’il b.

Ja’far al-Sadiq[^10] while the Mubarakiyyah instead gave both to his son, Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ja’far ^11 . Of course, the Musawiyyah – better known as the Waqifiyyah – affirmed as well that Imam Musa b. Ja’far al-Kazim never died, and would return as the Awaited Mahdi[^12]. But, how did they develop this concept of al-ghaybah to explain and excuse the apparent deaths of their saviours?

Was it only a tactical invention created by them to address the contradictions within their claims, following the unexpected deaths of their Mahdis? Or, was it their misapplication of a genuine teaching of the Messenger of Allah? These and others are questions we will be investigating in this book of ours.

Meanwhile, we must quickly mention that ‘Umar too, the second Sunni khalifah , proclaimed the ghaybah of Muhammad al-Musṭafa – although there is not sufficient evidence that he believed in the latter’s mahdawiyyah . Imam al-Bukhari (d.

256 H) ends this chapter with the report: حدثنا إسماعيل بن عبد الله حدثنا سليمان بن بلال عن هشام ابن عروة عن عروة بن الزبير عن عائشة رضي الله عنها زوج النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم :أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم مات وأبو بكر بالسنح - قال إسماعيل يعني بالعالية - فقام عمر يقول والله ما مات رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قالت وقال عمر والله ما كان يقع في نفسي إلا ذاك وليبعثنه الله فليقطعن أيدي رجال وأرجلهم . Isma’il b. ‘Abd Allah – Sulayman b. Bilal – Hisham b. ‘Urwah – ‘Urwah b.

al-Zubayr – ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, died while Abu Bakr was at a place called al-Sunah (i.e. al-‘Aliyah). ‘Umar stood up, saying, “I swear by Allah! The Messenger of Allah is not dead !” She (‘Aishah) narrated: ‘Umar said, “I swear by Allah! Nothing occurred to my mind except that. Verily! Allah will RESURRECT him and he will cut the hands and legs of some men ."[^13] [^1]: See generally Dr.