Murder of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya

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Murder of the Pure Soul or Qatl al-Nafs al-Zakīyya (Arabic: قتل النفس الزكية) is the murder of a person called al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (literally, the pure soul), which is, according to Shia hadiths, a decisive sign of the Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a). The event is going to happen after the Reappearance and fifteen days and nights before the Uprising of Imam al-Mahdi (a) in al-Masjid al-Haram. He is from the progeny of Imam al-Husayn (a).

His Name and Teknonym

Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya is the title of a person called Muhammad b. al-Hasan. He is called "al-Nafs al-Zakiyya" (the Pure Soul) in hadiths because of his asceticism and worships. He is from the progeny of Imam al-Husayn (a), and is thus a Husayni sayyid[1] and his name is Muhammad b. Hasan.

Decisiveness of the Sign

The event of the murder of the Pure Soul is said in hadiths to be decisive, which implies its significance. The event has been variously characterized in hadiths as "inevitable", "there is no way that it cannot happen" and "[the Imam] does not start the uprising until [this event]". The decisiveness is emphasized in Humran b. A'yan's hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) along with other decisive signs of the Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) (such as the Heavenly Cry, Sufyani's Riot, Yamani's Riot and Khasf al-Bayda'). Decisive signs, which are inevitably going to happen before the uprising of Al-Qa'im (a), are the riot of Sufyani and the swallow in the land of Bayda' and the murder of the Pure Soul and the cry from the sky. [2]

Task of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya

As implied by hadiths, the task of the Pure Soul is to deliver messages to the Imam (a). After the Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) and the global announcement of the Reappearance by a Heavenly Cry, he tells his companions that people of Mecca do not want him, although he is sent to guide them; thus, a person just like me should tell them so that they receive the ultimatum. He asks one of his companions to tell the people of Mecca that he was sent by al-Mahdi (a) who wants to tell them:

"we are People of the House of Mercy and the Treasure of Prophethood and Caliphate, and I am from the progeny of Muhammad (s) and his offspring. We were oppressed and displaced by people, and since the demise of the Prophet until today, our right was usurped. Now we expect and ask for your help. So help us. When the messenger will start talking, people of Mecca will attack and decapitate him."[3]

Time and Place of the Murder of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya

The murder of the Pure Soul is going to happen after the Reappearance and fifteen days before Imam al-Mahdi's uprising. Al-Shaykh al-Saduq cited a hadith with a chain of transmitters up to Imam al-Sadiq (a) according to which, there will only be fifteen nights between the uprising of the Qa'im of the Family of Muhammad and the murder of the Pure Soul.[4]

According to a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), the murder is going to occur in al-Masjid al-Haram between the Rukn and Maqam of Ibrahim.[5].[6]

Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya has a brother who is also going to be martyred in Mecca. 'Ammar b. Yasir is quoted as saying that when al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and his brother are murdered, an angel close to God will cry: "al-Mahdi is your emir and your guardian, and he is the one who fills the Earth with righteousness and justice"[7].

Similar Cases

Supporters of Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Mahḍ (d. 145/762) appealed to certain hadiths to identify him as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.[8]

He is different from al-Nafs al-Zakiyya who, according to other hadiths, is going to be martyred behind Kufa together with seventy helpers of his[9]. Some contemporary authors have identified the latter with Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim and his helpers who were martyred in Najaf (which is behind Kufa)[10].

Notes

  1. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 1, p. 64.
  2. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 264.
  3. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, p. 307.
  4. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, p. 649.
  5. ↑ And a young person from the Family of Muhammad whose name is Muhammad b. al-Hasan or al-Nafs al-Zakiyya is going to be murdered between the Rukn and Maqam.
  6. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, p. 331. Hadith 16.
  7. ↑ Kūrānī al-Amilī, Muʿjam al-aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī, vol. 1, p. 478.
  8. ↑ Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn, p. 207.
  9. ↑ Riḍwānī, Mawʿud shināsī, p. 523.
  10. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr-i ẓuhūr, p. 139.

References

  • Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn. Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn. Edited by Sayyid Aḥmad al-Ṣaqar. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
  • ʿAyyāshī, Muḥammad b. Masʿūd al-. Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī. Edited by Rasūlī Maḥallātī. Tehran: al-Maktaba al-ʿIlmīyya al-Islāmīyya, 1380 Sh.
  • Kūrānī al-Amilī, ʿAlī al-. Muʿjam al-aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī. Qom: Maʿārif al-Islāmīya inistitute, 1411 AH.
  • Kūrānī, ʿAli. ʿAṣr-i ẓuhūr. Translated by Mahdi Haqqi. Fourth edition. Tehran: International Publishing Co., 1385 Sh.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Wafaʾ, 1403 AH.
  • Nuʿmanī, Muḥammad b. Ibāḥīm al-. Kitāb al-ghayba. Tehran, Maktaba al-Saduq, [n.d].
  • Riḍwānī, ʿAlī Aṣghar. Mawʿud shināsī. First edition. Qom: Publication of Masjid-i Jamkran, 1384 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAli al-. Kamāl al-dīn wa tamām al-niʿma. First edition. Beirut: al-A'lami inistitute, 1412 AH.
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