Misinterpreted Mutashaabih
Narrations of Ahlul Bayt (a.s)
By: HussainTheShortcomer
Salam alaykum readers,
In this article I will mention some
misinterpreted Hadith that have
been brought forth by scholars and
their followers. These
misinterpretations are performed by
fallible people, they use
Mutashaabih Hadith (unclear,
ambiguous) in an attempt to refute
concepts such as a successor to
Imam Mahdi (a.s) and the concept
of 12 Mahdis (a.s). While doing this
they contradict 100s of Mohkam
Hadith (clear, unambiguous) that
describe the 12 Mahdis (a.s) and the
successor of Imam Mahdi (a.s).
It is well known in Islam that
Mohkam/clear verses in Qur'an are
taken as first priority and then the
Mutashabih/unclear. To understand
the Mutashabih verses of Qur'an we
refer to Hadith. And to understand
Mutashabih Hadith we look at
Mohkam Hadith, and it is never the
other way around (using
Mutashabih/unclear Hadith to try
and understand Mohkam/clear
Hadith).
Here is the Samary narration,
"whoever claims al-Mutashahada
[to have communication with Imam
Mahdi (a.s) before the emergence of
Sufyani (l.a) and the Call he is a
lying impostor." To understand this
Mutashabih Hadith from Imam alMahdi (a.s) one must pay attention
to the Arabic word "!"" translated to
'whoever', this can also be translated
to "some" or "some of" as well as
many other translations. So the
correct interpretation which does
not contradict the Hadith’s about
the Yamani (a.s) is: "some of those
whom claim al-Mutashahada [to
have communication with Imam
Mahdi (a.s)] before the emergence of
Sufyani and the Call he is a lying
impostor."
A Hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a.s):
"And likewise (like Jesus (a.s) is the
occultation of the Qaim (a.s) since
the Ummah will disbelieve in it for
its length, ranging from a speaker
(speaking) non sense by him saying
that he (the Qaim a.s) has not been
born, and another saying he was
born and then died, and another
saying the eleventh (a.s) was
without offspring, and a speaker
saying: 'this will increase to
thirteen and upwards', and a
speaker who disobeys Allah (swt)
by his saying: the Spirit of the Qaim
speaks through the body of someone
else." Kamal Al-Deen, page 354-355
and similar one in Ghaibat Al-Tusi,
page 170.
The line in question, and used in an
attempt to refute the Yamani (a.s), is
"this will increase to thirteen and
upwards". And the implication here
is that saying there will be a
thirteenth is wrong (especially)
during the occultation of the Qaim
(as). Now let us look into this
Mutashabih Hadith.
The English word "increase" was
used because of the word " ."'&%$ىIf
this Arabic word was looked in a
comprehensive dictionary, the word
"increase" will not be found. Here is
a list of the possible words: "to
exceed, transcend, surpass, outreach;
to overreach, extend beyond; to
overstep, go beyond; to cross,
traverse; to pass, go past".
From here, if one was to translate
using any of the mentioned words,
it would bring about different
implications. And the implication is
that, the Qaim (a.s