Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mother of Imam Mahdi

I have previously discussed the weakness of the oft-repeated story of Narjis, mother of the 12th Imaam. I showed that the narration that states that she (Narjis) was a Roman princess sold to Imaam al-`Askari (عليه السلام) is mawDoo` (Fabricated)  (Click here to go read that post).

I did some more research about the origins of the mother of our Imaam (عليه السلام), and I came across this SaHeeH (Authentic) hadeeth. According to this hadeeth, our 12th Imaam’s mother was a black bondswoman (female slave). After mentioning this narration, I will discuss one of the narrators (Yazeed Aboo Khaalid al-Kunaasee).


أخبرنا أحمد بن محمد بن سعيد ابن عقدة قال حدثنا محمد بن المفضل بن قيس بن رمانة الأشعري و سعدان بن إسحاق بن سعيد و أحمد بن الحسين بن عبد الملك و محمد بن الحسن القطواني قالوا جميعا حدثنا الحسن بن محبوب الزراد عن هشام بن سالم عن يزيد الكناسي قال سمعت أبا جعفر محمد بن علي الباقر ع يقول إن صاحب هذا الأمر فيه شبه من يوسف ابن أمة سوداء يصلح الله عز و جل له أمره في ليلة واحدة
From Yazeed al-Kunaasee said, I heard Abaa Ja`far Muhammad bin `Alee al-Baaqir (عليه السلام), he said: “Verily, the master of this affair (i.e. al-Qaa’im) in him is resemblance of Yoosuf (عليه السلام), he is the son of a black bondswoman (female slave), and Allaah (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) will reform his affair in one night”
Source:
1.     Al-Nu`maani, Kitaab al-Ghaybah, ch. 13, pg. 228, hadeeth # 8
2.     Al-Nu`maani, Kitaab al-Ghaybah, pg. 163, hadeeth # 3


Here is the same hadeeth going through a different chain of narrators. The only weakness in this hadeeth is `Abd al-WaaHid bin Muhammad bin `Abdoos (عبد الواحد بن محمد بن عبدوس), the shaykh of al-Sadooq. Al-Sadooq did say (رضي الله عنه) after mentioning his name, some scholars do take that as tawtheeq (proof of authenticity), but al-Khoei does not.

حدثنا عبد الواحد بن محمد بن عبدوس رضي الله عنه قال حدثنا أبو عمرو الكشي قال حدثنا محمد بن مسعود قال حدثنا علي بن محمد القمي عن محمد بن أحمد بن يحيى عن إبراهيم بن هاشم عن أبي أحمد الأزدي عن ضريس الكناسي قال سمعت أبا جعفر ع يقول إن صاحب هذا الأمر فيه سنة من يوسف ابن أمة سوداء يصلح الله عز و جل أمره في ليلة واحدة
From Durays al-Kunaasee said, I heard Abaa Ja`far (عليه السلام) he said: “Verily, the Master of this affair (i.e. al-Qaa’im) in him is the tradition of Yoosuf (عليه السلام), he is the son of a black bondswoman (female slave), and Allaah (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) will reform his affair in one night”
Source:
1.     Al-Sadooq, Kamaal al-Deen, vol. 1, ch. 32, pg. 329, hadeeth # 12


Yazeed Aboo Khaalid al-Kunaasee is actually Yazeed Aboo Khaalid al-QammaaT. Al-Barqi in his Rijaal did put them as two different people, but this is a common mistake made by some Rijaal scholars. Majority of our prominent `ulemaa have taken Yazeed al-Kunaasee as thiqah (trustworthy) because of him actually being Yazeed Aboo Khaalid al-QammaaT, who has been given tawtheeq from al-Najaashi (see: al-Najaashi, Rijaal, pg. 452, person # 1223)

Scholars who have taken Yazeed al-Kunaasee’s narrations:
1.       Al-Majlisi, Mir’aat al-`Uqool, vol. 4, pg. 244:
     
و أبو خالد كنية ليزيد الكناسي، و الظاهر أنه القماط الثقة، فالظاهر أن الخبر صحيح.
        “And Aboo Khaalid, his kunya, is Yazeed al-Kunaasee, it is apparent that he is al-Qammaat and he is                thiqah, and it is apparent that his khabar (hadeeth) is SaHeeH”

2.      al-Khoei, Mubaanee Takmalah al-Manhaaj, vol. 41, pg. 207; Mawsoo`ah Imaam al-Khoei, vol. 32, pg. 311:
(منها:) صحيحة يزيد الكناسي عن أبي جعفر (عليه السلام)
“And the SaHeeH (narration of) Yazeed al-Kunaasee from Abee Ja`far”

و صحيحة يزيد الكناسي، قال:
“And the SaHeeH (nattation of) Yazeed al-Kunaasee”

3.      al-Ardabeelee, Majma` al-Faa’idah, vol. 11, pg. 413:
      و يدل عليه أيضا ما في صحيحة يزيد الكناسي المتقدّمة:
        “And it shows upon it also what is in the SaHeeH (narration) of Yazeed al-Kunaasee”

4.      BaHr al-`Uloom, al-Fawaaid al-Rijaaliyyah, 4, pg. 54:
يزيد الكناسي، أبو خالد يزيد القماط الثقة، الثقة. ويؤيد الاتحاد: اتحاد الاسم والكنية ان الشيخ ذكر (الكناسي) في (رجاله) ولم يذكر (القماط) (3) والنجاشي ذكر (القماط) ولم يذكر (الكناسي)
“Yazeed al-Kunaasee, Aboo Khaalid Yazeed al-Qammaat is thiqah, because their name and kunya is joined (together). Al-Shaykh (al-Toosi) mentions al-Kunaasee in his Rijaal, and does not mention al-Qammaat, while al-Najaashi mentions al-Qammaat and does not mention al-Kunaasee”

5.      Al-RooHaani, Fiqh al-Saadiq, vol. 22:
ما يدل على الجواز في خصوص طلاق العدة كحسن يزيد الكناسي
“And it shows upon the permissibility in respect to the `iddah in talaaq in the Hasan (narration of) Yazeed al-Kunaasee”

6.      Sayyid Muhammad Tabataba’I, al-Munaahil, pg. 81:
و هو يزيد الكناسى فى الروايتين صحيح و اما يزيد الكناسى فان كان هو ابا خالد يزيد القماط الثقة فالحديث صحيح و يؤيد الاتحاد اتحاد الاسم و الكنية و ان الشيخ ذكر الكناسى فى رجاله و لم يذكر القماط و النجاشى ذكر القماط و لم يذكر الكناسى
“And he is Yazeed al-Kunaasee in the two SaHeeH riwaayah, as for Yazeed al-Kunaasee, he is Abaa Khaalid al-Qammaat, who is thiqah (trustworthy), and his hadeeth is SaHeeH, and it is supported by their name and kunya being joined, because al-Shaykh (al-Toosi) mention al-Kunaasee in his Rijaal and he does not mention al-Qammaat, while al-Najaashi mentions al-Qammaat and does not mention al-Kunaasee”

7.      MuHsin al-Hakeem, Mustamsak al-`Urwah al-Wuthqa, vol. 14, pg. 143

There are many more scholars who have taken Yazeed al-Kunaasee’s hadeeth has SaHeeH, I have merely mentioned the big names from them. According to this hadeeth, our 12th Imaam’s mother was a black bondswoman (female slave).

Wallaahu A`lim.

17 comments:

  1. Abu Fatima al-LondoniJuly 21, 2011 at 4:07 AM

    Ahsant, May Allah reward you brother Nader.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Salaam, A while ago, I also came to this conclusion, however, I have read reports that al-Mahdi (a) looks like Rasulullah (s), is this so? As a result, i tended not to believe that the mother of al-mahdi (a) was from africa, as with the amount of african mothers our imams had, imam zaman would probably have a very dark complexion, and the reports of rasulullah (s) don't describe him (s) so (nor Imam al-Hasan (a) or ali al-akbar (a)). But iguess this is a weak argument.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many of mothers of the Imams were from Africa but it's not necessarily that they were having very dark complexion. Berber women from Magreb are not so dark, as well as the women of Sudan

      Delete
  3. Very interesting. And as I said in ShiaChat, it didn't really matter whether she was a black slave or a Roman princess, since there's no racial discrimination in Islam.
    I even prefer that she was a black slave to put a hit into anyone who has racial discrimination sickness in his head because there's no better way to show how Islam abhors such discrimination other than having the fact that the mother of Imam Mahdi (as) was a black slave.

    But what said above also made sense: How do you reconcile this fact with the reports of Imam Mahdi (as) looks like RasuluLLAH (saww)?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very nice brother, this helps clear up a lot. While researching the Roman princess story based purely on the content, I found that it seems unlikely that Narjis was a Roman princess. However, I found clues as to how this story may have come about. Theophilos, one of the Emperors of Byzantium during Imam al-Hadi's time had quite a few daughters whom were put away in monasteries and never recalled. Plus, in the Byzantine area, there were/still are families who believe they are from the same families as Christ's apostles. So these may have given rise to rumors among the Muslims as to why and where Theophilos' daughters went.

    However, I would like to ask what details we have on this black bondswoman. I know she was still called Narjis. I'm just wondering if things of the Roman princess tradition like her being a descendant of St.Peter(as) or her dreaming of Imam al-Askari (as) or Jesus (pbuh) are found in the black slave story as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. salams
    due to hacking attacks islamic-forum.net server is temporary down
    we are working on it
    it will be soon online
    INSH ALLAH
    all data is save no problem
    plz pray

    zorro
    HCY media services team

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sallam alaykum Nader. The whole lecture is too large for email but a user has uploaded the main lecture of Farid here http://www.zshare.net/audio/93913597e551e669/. Saima

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do you think God justify killing innocent people ??? he told us "You Shall Not Kill "
    so how does a man justify thousands of murders committed by himself in the name of islam ?
    (Aslim taslam ) a common arab phrase that were used in the time of Muhammed, the false prophet Muhammed was saying Aslim Taslam this phrase means "submit to God by accepting Islam " if you do not submit you loose your life instantly.

    Do you agree that this phrase comes from a messenger of God or from the messenger of Hell ???


    Christian scriptures says that in the end of times the old serpent ( The devil ) will tremble the world community, it has been revealed to many prophets and saints from thousands of years ago till our days (do ur research) , that the son of sin ; a person claiming to be God ; the Mahdi of islam , will be comming to deceive many ! . He will be accompanied by false Preachers, and these false preachers will be all possesed by demons .
    The mahdi and his preacher they will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.They will preach against Jesus Christ , They will deny that he is God , they will deceive many , especially "doubters" : Doubters are the scenes you see in Europe ;the ones that doubts the daily presence of God in our life.

    The mahdi will claim raising Dead people back to life but its fakeeee !!!! The son of sin ( mahdi ) will be ordering an infernal(bad) spirit to go to the body of the deceased person for SOME time .if you visit back that person in the next days you will see what I am talking about . They will perform many such false-miracles ....

    ohh poor Muslims what awaits you if you don't repent to your only God , Jesus Christ .
    Jesus Christ , our Lord paid OUR debt on the Cross , so that we CAN repent from our sins .

    Go and convert to christianity , get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ !!! Jesus Christ is your salvation , Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven !

    The devil himself is the mahdi , Satan is counting the seconds impatiently to deceive you!He is the old serpent ! it has been Hard Working from thousands of Years till now to deliver you its masterpiece : "The Mahdi " The ultimate deception ! It will tremble your spirits so that it can take over you to guide you to Hell !!!

    What I ask you as a brother , is to pray for your Guardian Angel to guide you to light ! May
    your Guardian Angel protects you from the devilish moments that is ahead of you.
    Please read the following as many as you can and your life will be changed , you will see !
    you will discover the truth if you wish

    :"

    We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
    For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

    We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen

    "
    God Bless you

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL,Imam Mahdi is the truth and Islam is the truth the devil has decived you christians

    ReplyDelete
  9. To address the color issue, of which it seems Muslims are following a European depiction of color when referring to "white" and "black".
    Visit this site:
    http://bandung2.blog.co.uk/2010/10/22/classical-arabic-complexion-terms-and-contemporary-racist-classification-9740152/

    ReplyDelete
  10. STILL CAN'T SAY THIS IS 100% ACCURATE. I DO APPRECIATE THE ATTEMPT AT RESEARCH.

    NONETHELESS... THE COLOR OF HER SKIN OR HER ETHNICITY HAS NO BEARING ON ANYTHING AT ALL WHATSOEVER IN REGARDS TO A MAN'S JOURNEY TOWARDS GOD.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Anonymous.In real Islam it respects Jesus as It respects prophet Mohammad PBUH.
    So Do you think if in a religion such as Islam which It refers to Jesus and Muses and other prophet with respect and not believing them even by muslims would be considered as a huge sin so Is it a prejudiced attitude or unprejudiced rather than saying Just our prophet is true and any other prophets are false?
    Which one sounds more prejudiced to you?
    Wish you a great Christmas and new year.

    ReplyDelete
  12. why do Muslims usually leave the important facts such as Islam is a religion of even being kind to your neighbor as being kind to your family and so other gentle beautiful things going on in Real Islam and care about who is whose mum or dad or what he was look like...
    So maybe if Muslims would concentrate on really important stuff so those who love gaining more power by bringing down the other wouldn't be able to demolish the soft face of Islam so much.

    ReplyDelete
  13. NOW READ THIS!!!

    Very INTERESTING article on Imam Mahdi. Found the link from some other blog. Truly Open-minded & Logically researched -

    http://drshabbir.com/library/messiah.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  14. This book was written around the same time as the birth of the (imam) AS. So is it a description or a prophecy ? Thank You!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for the insight. Something which is a bit bothering is the widespread of the narration about Imam Mahdi'mother being a princess which seems to be a weak narration. As much as I don't wish to think about it, I wonder how many such narrations are being taught but without authenticity.

    ReplyDelete
  16. أنا ممتن جدًا لك لأنك شاركت هذه المعلومات المهمة لـ دعاء للمتوفية مع نحن. لقد حصلت على نوع مختلف من المعرفة من صفحة الويب الخاصة بك ، وهي مفيدة للجميع. شكرا لتقاسمها مرة أخرى.

    ReplyDelete