Al-Kafi · Hadith 5

The Book about people with Divine Authority · Proof that Imamat (leadership with Divine Authority) Continues in the Descendents of the Preceding Imam but not through his Brother or Paternal Uncle or other such Relatives · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 63, Hadith 5

Original Arabic text

5ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَجْرَانَ عَنْ عِيسَى بْنِ عَبْدِ الله بْنِ عُمَرَ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ إِنْ كَانَ كَوْنٌ وَلا أَرَانِي الله فَبِمَنْ أَئْتَمُّ فَأَوْمَأَ إِلَى ابْنِهِ مُوسَى قَالَ قُلْتُ فَإِنْ حَدَثَ بِمُوسَى حَدَثٌ فَبِمَنْ أَئْتَمُّ قَالَ بِوَلَدِهِ قُلْتُ فَإِنْ حَدَثَ بِوَلَدِهِ حَدَثٌ وَتَرَكَ أَخاً كَبِيراً وَابْناً صَغِيراً فَبِمَنْ أَئْتَمُّ قَالَ بِوَلَدِهِ ثُمَّ وَاحِداً فَوَاحِداً. وَفِي نُسْخَةِ الصَّفْوَانِيِّ ثُمَّ هَكَذَا أَبَداً.

Published English translation

5. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from ibn abu Najran from ‘Isa ibn ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Umar ibn Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) who has said that he asked abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) the following. “Would there happen what is to happen, may Allah would not show me such a day (death of the Imam (a.s.) who then must I follow as my Imam?” The Imam (a.s.) pointed to his son Musa (a.s.). The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.), “ What if something will happen to Musa (a.s.) who then must I follow?” The Imam (a.s.), “Follow a son.” I then asked, “What if something would happen to the son and the Imam would leave behind an elder brother or a small son then who must I follow?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “Follow his son and so on one after the other.” In the script of Sawan it says, “. .and so on forever.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/212)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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