Due the complexity of the matter and the request of brother Shia_Student, I've analyzed the two wordings of "Ameer" and "Caliph" from the hadith of Jabir bin Samura. I have included my conclusions below for those that do not have the time to follow closely to the technical material.
@Shia_Student:
You have provided the names of five Tabi’een that have narrated this narration from Jabir bin Samura. These men are:
Abdulmalik bin Umair, Husain bin Abdulrahman, Simak, Ziyad bin Ilaqa, and Abu Bakr bin Abi Musa.
Let’s analyze if they did indeed narrate such narrations.
1- Abdulmalik bin Umair
As you have pointed out, the narration of Abdulmalik bin Umair does indeed include the term “Ameer” in the narration of Al-Bukhari. I have already pointed this out in my original article which I have linked to. I have also included narrations from Abdulmalik bin Umair from other paths. Here is the quote from my original article:
1- Al-Bukhari (#6682) narrated through the path of Shu’ba from Abdulmalik from Jabir bin Samura that the Prophet – peace be upon him – said that there will be twelve amirs. Shu’ba narrates it in this short form, which others, like Sufyan in Saheeh Muslim (#3394) and Abu Abd Al-Samad Al-Ami in Musnad Ahmad (#20019) narrated a lengthier form from Abdulmalik. The former said: The matters of the people will continue to progress as long as they are led by twelve men. The latter said: This religion will stay at a state of glory or the people will be in a good state until the passing of twelve caliphs.
I also add that Sufyan, in Musnad Ahmad #20017 and #20018 refers to them as Ameer, in his narration from Abdulmalik bin Umair. This is also in Al-Tabarani’s Kabeer #1833. Each of these come from a different narrator from Sufyan.
In Al-Tabarani’s Kabeer #1843, we have another narration from the path of Sufyan that uses the term “Caliph”.
In other words, the narrations of Sufyan have three men using the word “Ameer”, one using the word “men” and one using the word “Caliph”.
In the light of the above, most narrators have narrated it from Sufyan with the term “Ameer.” This means that Sufyan’s correct narration from Abdulmalik contains the word “Ameer”.
This is supported by the narration of Shu’ba bin Al-Hajjaj. The only other narration that includes the word “Caliph” from Abdulmalik is the narration of the narration Abu Abdulsamad.
However, according to Sunni rijali standards, the narration of Shu’ba and Sufyan bin Uyayna single-handedly are stronger than the narration of Abu Abdulsamad, since both men are major huffath of hadith. With their combined agreement on the correct wording from Abdulmalik bin Umair, there leaves no doubt that Abu Abdulsamad erred in his wording and that the correct wording from Abdulmalik bin Umair is “Ameer”.
Conclusion: Abdulmalik said, “Ameer”.2- Husain bin Abdulrahman
He has a narration from Saheeh Muslim #3393 from Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Tahhan that uses the word “Caliph”.
He has another narration from Al-Tabarani’s Kabeer #2034 from the narration of Jareer that uses the word “Ameer”.
He has another narration from Mustakhraj Abi Awana #5628/#5629 from Zai’dah and another from Abthar, which both use the word “Caliph.”
As we can see here, three narrators have mentioned the term “Caliph”, while only one has used the term “Ameer”.
Conclusion: Husain said, “Caliph”.Note: You have provided a narration from the path of Abu Khaithama Zuhair. However, this narration combines the narrations of several tabi’een. It says that Zuhair heard from Simak, Ziyad bin Ilaqa, and Husain narrate this hadith from Jabir. I did not use this as evidence for the narration of Husain, since hadithists sometimes have a habit of narrating one narration with different wordings with different chains, then grouping up narrators even though wordings are different.
Of course, I do not use this evidence against you alone, but I use it against myself. If you observe the narration of Jareer from Husain in Saheeh Muslim #3393, you will see that it is a narration combined with the narration of Khalid Al-Tahhan. However, I did not mention Jareer in the list of narrations in the list since it is a combined narration and I am not certain if he used the word “Caliph” or “Ameer”.
3- Simak
We find him narrating with the word “Caliph” in the narrations of Hammad bin Salama (Muslim #3395).
We also find him narrating with the word “Ameer” in the narrations of Amr bin Ubaid (Al-Tirmithi #2149), Shu’ba (Ahmad #19920), Zuhair (Ahmad #19946), Isra’eel (Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer #1890), Zakariyah bin Abi Za’idah (Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer#1974), and Amr bin Abi Qais (Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer #2012).
Note: I did not use the narration of Zakariyah bin Abi Za’idah in Al-Mustakhraj #5631 as evidence from Caliph since it is a combined report. It is also established that Zakariyah narrated using the word “Ameer”, which makes it more likely that this is not his chosen wording.
In summary, we find him only narrating using the word “Caliph” in the narration of Hammad bin Salama, while according to six other narrators, he used the word “Ameer”. It is safe to say that Hammad bin Salama erred in this narration since he went against the majority.
Conclusion: Simak said, “Ameer.”4- Ziyad bin Ilaqa
He narrated in Mu’jam Al-Tabarani (#2028) that he narrated using the term “Ameer”.
5- Abu Bakr bin Abi Musa
All the narrations of Abi Bakr bin Abi Musa that I have seen are combined chains and I cannot be sure of his wording.
6- Al-Sha’bi
He narrated in Saheeh Muslim (#3396) using the word “Caliph”.
7- Amer bin Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas
He narrated in Saheeh Muslim (#3398) using the word “Caliph”.
8- Abu Khalid the father of Isma’eel
He narrated in Sunan Al-Tirmithi (#3731) using the word “Caliph”.
9- Al-Aswad bin Sa’eed Al-Hamadani
He narrated Musnad Ahmad (#19944) using the word “Caliph”.
10- Al-Musayyab bin Rafi’
He narration in Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer by Al-Tabarani (#1850) using the word “Ameer”.
11- Al-Nadhr bin Salih
He narration in Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer by Al-Tabarani (#2027) using the word “Ameer”.
12- M’abad bin Khalid
He narration in Al-Mu’jam Al-Awsat by Al-Tabarani (#4085) using the word “Ameer”.
13- Khalid bin Jabir bin Samura
He narrated using the word “Caliph” in Musnad Al-Bazzar (#4284).
From the above, we have found evidences that the following narrators said “Caliph”:
Husain bin Abdulrahman – Al-Sha’bi – Amer bin Sa’ad – Abu Khalid –
Al-Aswad bin Sa’eed – Khalid bin Jabir bin Samura
From the above, we have found evidences that the following narrators said “Ameer”:
Abdulmalik bin Umair – Simak – Ziyad bin Ilaqa – Al-Musayyib bin Rafi’– Al-Nadhr bin Salih – M’abad bin Khalid
Bolded narrators are the ones that are reliable and have had this narration correctly attributed to them.
CONCLUSION:In light of the above evidences, I have come to the conclusion that Jabir bin Samura may have narrated this hadith many times and would narrate it using the words “Caliph” and “Ameer” interchangeably. No other wordings have anywhere close to as many chains as these two wordings with as many decent chains.
However, if I was going to choose one specific wording over the other, I would still choose the term “Caliph”. Not only because there are more reliable people narrating the hadith, but because those that used the term “Caliph” are easily more reliable than those that said “Ameer”. Refer to the biographies of Al-Sha’abi and Husain bin Abdulrahman for proof of their high reliability.
It is important to be aware that the main reason that I have changed my
ijtihad on this issue is because my original article was focused on the narrators of the Saheehain that have narrated this report. I have mentioned this in my article of course. If I had originally put more effort into collecting more chains from the beginning I would not have been as sure as I was that the correct wording is "Caliph", but rather, both "Caliph" and "Ameer" have weight.
75 Replies
20453 Views
May 18, 2015, 09:59:10 PM
