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What is the explanation of the Hadith: "This religion will continue to stand until there are twelve caliphs over you, all of them from Quraysh"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There are several approaches among scholars regarding the interpretation of the Hadith "Twelve Caliphs": The first is that they are the just caliphs, some of whom have passed, and their number will be completed before the Day of Judgment. The second is that they will gather at one time. The third is that they are those who will strengthen Islam and unite people upon it. The fourth is that they will come after the Mahdi at the end of time. The fifth is that they represent the details of the ruling authority. The sixth is to refrain from interpretation and entrust the knowledge to Allah.

As for the Shia's use of the Hadith to prove the Imamate of twelve Imams from among them, it is a weak and distorted interpretation for several reasons: Firstly, the Hadith mentioned "caliphs" and not "Imams." Secondly, it stipulated that they are from "Quraysh" and not from "Banu Hashim." Thirdly, the Hadith indicates the glory of Islam during the time of these caliphs, whereas the supposed Shia Imams lived in conditions of weakness and concealment.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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