Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Prohibition on Mentioning his Name · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 78, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَمَّنْ ذَكَرَهُ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ الْعَلَوِيِّ عَنْ دَاوُدَ بْنِ الْقَاسِمِ الْجَعْفَرِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ الْعَسْكَرِيَّ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) يَقُولُ الْخَلَفُ مِنْ بَعْدِي الْحَسَنُ فَكَيْفَ لَكُمْ بِالْخَلَفِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْخَلَفِ فَقُلْتُ وَلِمَ جَعَلَنِيَ الله فِدَاكَ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ لا تَرَوْنَ شَخْصَهُ وَلا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ ذِكْرُهُ بِاسْمِهِ فَقُلْتُ فَكَيْفَ نَذْكُرُهُ فَقَالَ قُولُوا الْحُجَّةُ مِنْ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَوَاتُ الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلامُهُ.

Published English translation

1. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from the person whose name he mentioned from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-‘Alawi from Dawud ibn al-Qasim al-Ja‘fari who has said the following. “I heard abu al-Hassan al-‘Skari (a.s.) saying, ‘The succeeding Imam after me will be al-Hassan (a.s.). How will it be for you in the case of the succeeding Imam after the Imam succeeding myself?” I then asked, “ May Allah take my souls in service for your cause, why will that be so?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “You will not see his person and it will not be permissible for you to mention his name.” I then asked, “How then will we speak of him?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “Say, al-Hujja, (th Leader with Divine Authority) from the family of Muhammad (s.a).”

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 (16/4)

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.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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