Is Muawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, considered one of the twelve caliphs?
Selections from the Book Muawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan (His Character And Era) And The Sufyanid State …
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...
Episode (19)
From Jabir ibn Samura (may Allah be pleased with him): I entered with my father upon the Prophet (peace be upon him), and I heard him say: "This Caliphate will not end until there have been twelve Caliphs among them". Then he spoke words that I could not follow. I said to my father: What did he say? He said: He has said: ''All of them will be from the Quraysh."
In another narration from Jabir: "Islam will remain strong until there have been twelve caliphs... all of them from Quraysh."
And in another narration from him: "This religion would continue to remain powerful and dominant until there have been twelve Caliphs... all of them from Quraysh."
Abu Dawud added in his Sunan, with his chain of narration from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: When he returned to his house, Quraysh came to him and said, "Then there will be chaos."
Ibn Kathir explained this hadith, saying: The meaning of this hadith is glad tidings of the presence of twelve righteous caliphs who will uphold justice and truth. It does not necessitate that they will come consecutively or in succession. Indeed, four of them appeared in order — they are the four Rashidun caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). Among them also is Umar ibn Abd al Aziz without doubt, according to the scholars, and some from the Abbasids. The Hour will not come until their rule has occurred inevitably. And it appears that among them is the Mahdi mentioned in the authentic hadiths... and this is not the awaited one that the Rafidah imagine to exist and will emerge from the cellar of Samarra — for that has no reality or existence whatsoever, but is from the delusions of foolish minds and the imaginations of weak intellects.
And those twelve caliphs mentioned are not the twelve imams that the Ithna Ashariyyah (Twelvers) believe in.
Upon reflecting on the text with neutrality and objectivity, we find that these twelve are described as assuming the caliphate, and that Islam during their rule will be in a state of strength and protection, and people will be united upon them. The affairs of the people will continue in good condition during their time. All these descriptions do not apply to those whom the Twelvers claim as imams, for none of them assumed the caliphate except the Commander of the Faithful Ali and Al-Hasan.
Furthermore, the hadith does not restrict the imams to that number, but rather it is a prophecy that Islam will remain strong during the times of those rulers. The era of the Rashidun caliphs and the Umayyad caliphs was one of strength and dominance. For this reason, Ibn Taymiyya said: Islam and its laws were more apparent and widespread during the Umayyad period than afterward. He included Muawiyah among the imams intended by the hadith.
- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, Muawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan (His Character And Era) And The Sufyanid State, pp. 347-349.
- The Origins of Shiism (2/816).
- Sunnah curriculum (4/206).
- Ibn Kathir’s interpretation (2/34).
- Sahih Muslim on the explanation of Al-Nawawi (12/502).
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of “Muawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan (His Character And Era) And The Sufyanid State” on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi:
