Murder of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya: Difference between revisions

'''Murder of the Pure Soul''' or '''Qatl al-Nafs al-Zakīyya''' (Arabic: {{ia|قتل النفس الزكية}}) is the murder of a person called [[al-Nafs al-Zakiyya]] (literally, the pure soul), which is, according to [[Shiite]] [[hadith]]s, a decisive [[Signs of the Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a)|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)]].

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 [[worship]]s. He is from the progeny of Imam al-Husayn (a), and is thus a Husayni [[sayyid]].<ref>And al-Nafs al-Zakiyya is among the descendants of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]]. Tafsir al-'Ayyashi. vol 1. p 64.</ref>

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']]).<ref>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. ''Ghayba al-Nu'mani'', p 264.</ref>

As implied by hadiths, the task of the Pure Soul is to deliver messages to the [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)|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 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."{{enote|{{ia|یقول القائم لاصحابه یا قوم ان اهل مکة لایریدوننی ولکنی مرسل الهیم لاحتج علیهم بما ینبغی لمثلی ان یحتج علیهم فیدعو رجلا من اصحابه فیقول له امض الی اهل مکة فقل یا اهل مکة انا رسول فلان الیکم و هو یقول لکم انا اهل بیت الرحمة و معدن الرسالة و الخلافة ... فاذا تکلم الفتی بهذا الکلام اتوا الیه فذبحوه بین الرکن و المقام و هی النفس الزکیة. بحار الأنوار، ج ۵۲ ؛ ص۳۰۷}}}}

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.<ref>{{ia|لَیسَ بَینَ قِیامِ قَائِمِ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ بَینَ قَتْلِ النَّفْسِ الزَّکیةِ إِلَّا خَمْسَ عَشْرَةَ لَیلَةً؛ کمال الدین و اتمام النعمه، ج۲، ص۶۴۹}}</ref>

According to a hadith from [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]], the murder is going to occur in [[al-Masjid al-Haram]] between the [[Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad|Rukn]] and [[Maqam of Ibrahim]].{{enote|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.}}<ref> Kamal al-din, Vol 1. p 331.</ref>

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"<ref>''Muʿjam al-aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī'', vol. 1, p. 478.</ref>.

Supporters of [[Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Mahḍ]] (d. 145/762) appealed to certain hadiths to identify him as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya<ref>''Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn'', p. 207.</ref>.

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<ref>''Mawʿud shināsī'', p. 523.</ref>. Some contemporary authors have identified the latter with [[Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim]] and his helpers who were martyred in [[Najaf]] (which is behind Kufa)<ref>''ʿAṣr-i ẓuhūr'', p. 139.</ref>.

{{ref}}

* Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Wafaʾ, 1403 AH.

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