The Analysis and Examination of the Hadith “My Ummah’s Caliphs are Twelve” from the Viewpoint of Zaydīs

One of famous hadiths of the Prophet (s) is the hadith “my ummah’s caliphs are twelve; all of them are from Quraysh” which has come in Shi’i and Sunni hadith sources; however, since Zaydī Shias have regarded this hadith opposed to their essential teaching on ground of Imamah of Banū Fāṭima, they have avoided citing it and in the few cases that they have recounted this hadith, they have refuted it and have considered it a non-mashhūr hadith. In many of their hadith and kalam works which is the place of citing this narrative, Zaydiyya have deliberately avoided citing this hadith and if they have mentioned this hadith in some cases, it is for critiquing Twelver Shia. This essay delves into the hadith “my ummah’s caliphs are twelve; all of them are from Quraysh” from the viewpoint of Zaydiyya, by examining that in hadith and kalam sources of Zaydiyya and considers the reason for the interpretation of this hadith on the part of Zaydīs, the opposition of this hadith with the most essential intellectual basis of Zaydiyya in Imamah, namely uprising by sword.