These twelve khalifahs are those mentioned in al-Tawrah...

These twelve khalifahs are those mentioned in al-Tawrah, when He (Allah) said in His glad tiding concerning Isma’il: “He will give birth to twelve great people”. Whoever these that these twelve are those who are accepted as Imams by the Rafidhah is in the worst level of ignorance, for there was none among them who held military authority except ‘Ali b. Abi Talib.[^5] Ibn Taymiyyah apparently equates the might of the Ummah with that of its religion.

Meanwhile, it is perfectly possible to have a strong Islam but a weak Ummah. The strength of the Ummah is obviously in its unity and military prowess. However, that of the religion lies only in its ability to “stand” on the surface of the earth.

This has been explicitly stated in another hadith: لا يزال الدين قائما حتى تقوم الساعة أو يكون عليكم اثنا عشر خليفة كلهم من قريش The religion will never cease to STAND until the establishment of the Hour or as long as there are twelve khalifahs over you, all of them from Quraysh.[^6] There are always forcing struggling to push Islam to the ground. However, it will never fall. It shall remain standing on the earth till al-Qiyamah. This is the meaning of its strength.

The inability of its enemies to terminate it is its invincibility. This is also indicated in yet another hadith documented by Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H): حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا حماد بن أسامة ثنا مجالد عن عامر عن جابر بن سمرة السوائي قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول في حجة الوداع إن هذا الدين لن يزال ظاهرا على من ناوأه لا يضره مخالف ولا مفارق حتى يمضى من أمتي اثنا عشر خليفة قال ثم تكلم بشيء لم أفهمه فقلت لأبي ما قال قال كلهم من قريش ‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b.

Hanbal) – Hammad b. Usamah – Mujalid – ‘Amir – Jabir b. Samurah al-Suwai: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying during the Farewell Hajj: “Verily, this religion will never cease to be victorious over whoever opposes it - no opponent or defector will be able to harm it – as long as twelve khalifahs pass from my Ummah.” Then, he said something which I did not understand.

So, I said to my father, “What did he say?” He replied, “All of them will be from Quraysh.”[^7] Al-Arnaut says: حديث صحيح It is a sahih hadith ^8 All praise be to Allah: our religion has continued to stand upon its two feet since the departure of our Prophet, despite the persistent aggression and subversion of its hardened foes to bring it down.