A Study of the Issuance and Meaning of Razavi Narrations "The Analogy of the Prophetic Weapon to the Coffin of the Children of Israel"

The signs of the Imam are the basic criteria in the field of Imamology; as in the light of the kind of attitude towards this category, various religions appeared. Of course, the Infallible Imams (as) expressed the most important signs and criteria in this field from the very beginning. However, according to narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt (as), especially from Imam Riḍā (as), the weapon of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has been mentioned as "a coffin among the children of Israel and a sign of Imamate". Considering the fame of these narrations and ambiguities such as similarity, the share of this analogy in protesting with the opponents, this article, based on typology and analysis of the export space, seeks to investigate the deep understanding of this group of narrations of Imam Riḍā (as). Studies show that the narration of the Prophetic weapon is evident in the types of "among the signs of the Imam", "likeness to the coffin of the children of Israel and connection with the category of Imamate" and "exclusive heritage of the Ahl al-Bayt (as)"; and often these narrations in the time of Imam Sajjād (as) to Imam Riḍā (as) in confrontation with the false claimants of Imamate against the sects of Keysāniyeh, Zaydi, ʿAjliyah, Faṭaḥiyeh, Ismāʾīli, Wāqifah, etc., especially Bani ʿAbbās, all of whom claimed the inheritance and caliphate of the Prophet (pbuh), has been issued. By arguing for the possession of the prophetic weapon, the Ahl al-Bayt (as) were introduced as the special heirs of the prophetic weapon and knowledge who have been appointed as Imamates by Allah Almighty; as mentioned in the Qur'an, being an heir alongside the Imamate, and in the story of Ṭālūt, the arrival of a coffin containing the legacy of the prophets, indicated the divine election and installation of Ṭālūt over the caliphate.