For those who may doubt the above hadith which gives clear evidence to the Individual chosen as the divine leader after the Prophet
(saw) had passed away, there are many other narrations which indicate the same thing, as can be found in more accepted books of
hadith such as sahih Bukhari and Muslim.
Sahih Bukhari 5:56, 5: 700 and Sahih Muslim Book 31 Hadith 5914
Allah's Apostle set out for Tabuk, appointing `Ali as his deputy (in Medina). `Ali said, "Do you want to leave me with the children and
women?" The Prophet said, "Will you not be pleased that you will be to me like Aaron to Moses? But there will be no prophet after
me."
When we analyze the above hadith, we need to establish exactly what the relationship was that Aaron (as) had with Moses (as)? We
then look to the Qur’an which makes understanding the above hadith very clear & simple.
“And We had certainly given Moses the Scripture and appointed with him his brother Aaron a vizier (Minister)”. The Holy Quran
25:35
Besides this clear proof from these narrations, I would like to mention this. There were many suitors who approached the Prophet
(saw) regarding marriage to his daughter Fatima (as)
And even though many had asked, her hand in marriage was granted to Ali ibn Abi Talib (as)
There are verses in the Qur’an which could adequately describe this situation.
The Holy Qur’an (11:79)
“They said: "Surely you know that we have neither any desire nor in need of your daughters, and indeed you know well what we
want!”.
So here again surely there was divine wisdom behind he who was chosen to be the husband of Fatima (as), as they would certainly go
on to be the heirs of the Prophet (saw).
The Prophet (saw) also mentioned in a great many narrations that after him there would 12 princes, who would be the divinely chosen
leaders. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) clarified that these successors are similar to the chieftains of The Children Israel. If we look to
the Qur’an to explain this statement we find the following verse.
The Holy Qur’an (5:12)
"Allah made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel and We raised among them twelve chieftains".
Sahih Bukhari: narration 9: 101, Sahih Muslim: hadith 1821
I heard the prophet (saw) saying "twelve princes" then he said a word I did not hear, then my father said "All of them are from
Quraish".
Mustardak ala Sahahain V 4 Pg 456
Narrated from masrooq he said we were sitting one night with Abdullah as he was reading the Quran and a man has asked him "O
father of abdulrahmad, have you asked the messenger of Allah (pbuh) how many successors will rule this nation ? He said no one has
asked me about this matter since I came to Iraq before you , he said we did ask him and he said (pbuh) "Tweleve successors the same
number of the successors of Bani Isreal".
The specification of the number is clear as the successors of Moses (as) are twelve, the disciples of Jesus (as) are twelve, and the
successors of Muhammad (saw) are also twelve
So who are those 12 chieftains or suc