What will be the time and location of the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah? (question)

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What will be the time and location of the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah?
Upper entryMahdism / Prerequisites for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a) / Signs for Imam Mahdi's (a) reappearance / The murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah
Main entryThe location of Nafs al-Zakiyyah's murder

The murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah is one of the five immutable signs of Imam Mahdi's (a) reappearance. This individual will lead a band of people devoted to Imam Mahdi (a) and will be brutally martyred beside the holy Ka'bah at a place between the Rukn and the Maqam of Ibrahim. According to sources, the time difference between the uprising of the Qa'im (a) and the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah will only be of fifteen nights.

Comprehensive Answer

One of the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi's emergence from the occultation is the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah.[1]There exist several varying opinions regarding the identity of this individual.[2] Some believe that Nafs al-Zakiyyah is none other than Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Mahd who was killed during the reign of the Bani ‘Abbas (or the Abbasid dynasty).[3]Other holds that Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be an individual from the progeny of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (a) who will instigate an uprising before the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a) and will be martyred beside the holy Ka'bah at a place between the Rukn and the Maqam. [4] Some, however, assert that this person will be from amongst the descendants of Imam Husayn (a). [5] Another group argues that Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be a holy warrior amongst many others striving to prepare the groundwork for Imam Mahdi's reappearance. This point of view further states that he will lead a band of people devoted to Imam Mahdi (a) and will be martyred, alongside seventy other pious scholars, in a region that lies behind the city of Kufa or Najaf.[6] A fourth standpoint maintains that Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be a man named Muhammad ibn al-Hasan who will be martyred beside the holy Ka'bah somewhere between its Rukn and the Maqam of Ibrahim (a). According to this viewpoint, Nafs al-Zakiyyah is probably the same person as Sayyid al-Hasani.[7] It has also been said that Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be a high ranking and noble sayyid from the lineage of Imam Husayn (a) who will suffer grave tyranny at the hands of his enemies and will be decapitated on the 25th of Dhu al-Hijjah within Allah's sacred sanctuary in Mecca.[5] Nevertheless, the second of these interpretations is the most compatible when compared to the narrated traditions that exist in this regard. This particular standpoint, wherein Nafs al-Zakiyyah is a person contemporary to the time of Imam Mahdi's reappearance and whose murder will take place between the Rukn and the Maqam of Ibrahim , is also the most popular and widely accepted opinion on the said subject. In short, Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be the emissary sent by Imam Mahdi (a) in order to invite the people of Mecca towards the Imam's cause.[8]

The Location of Nafs al-Zakiyyah's Murder

Based on the above explanation, we find that certain narrated traditions point out the location in which Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be martyred. These traditions are divided into two groups. One group names the city of Mecca as the place within which Nafs al-Zakiyyah will meet his demise, while the other indicates the location of his martyrdom as being between the Rukn and the Maqam of Ibrahim (a).[9]Obviously, these two groups of narrations are not mutually contradictory, since the second is simply more specific than the first.[10] In what follows, we shall mention some of these narrated traditions:

  • Imam Baqir (a) is reported to have said: "Imam Mahdi (a) will call forward one of his companions and say, "Go towards the people of Mecca and tell them: O' People of Mecca! I am the emissary of such and such individual, and his message (to you) is thus: We are the household of mercy and the treasure hold of the prophethood as well as the caliphate …" When the words of this young man come to a close, they will attack him and will decapitate him between the Rukn and the Maqam. Indeed, this person will be Nafs al-Zakiyyah."[10]
  • Imam Sadiq (a) is reported to have quoted Salman as having said: "I inform you about the murder of a pure soul, devoid of sin, whose blood will be split between the Rukn and the Maqam. His head will be severed from his body like that of a goat."[10]

The Time of Nafs al-Zakiyyah's Murder

According to narrated traditions, the timing of the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah will be close to the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a). Some of these traditions have specifically mentioned the exact date of his martyrdom, while others have simply said that these two events will happen in close proximity to one another.[10]

  • Imam Baqir (a) is reported to have said: "The Qa'im (a) will address his companions and say: "O' My People! The Meccan do not want me (amongst them). In order to fully exhaust my argumentation upon them in a manner that is deserving of my rank and status, I will send toward them an emissary". Then, he will call forward one of his companions and say: "Go towards the people of Mecca …" When the words of this young man will come to a close, they (the Meccans) will attack him and decapitate him between the Rukn and the Maqam. Indeed, this person will be Nafs al-Zakiyyah. When news of this event will reach Imam Mahdi (a) , he will address his companions and say: "Did I not inform you that the people of Mecca do not want us (amongst them)?" Thus, his supporters will not abandon him and will stay by his side until his uprising."[10][11]

Conclusion

One of the immutable signs of Imam Mahdi's reappearance is the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyyah. This person will be martyred in Mecca between the Rukn and the Maqam and his murder will be very close to the time of Imam Mahdi's uprising.[12]

References

  1. Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad, Dānishnāmeh-e Imam Mahdī, pp. 438-439; Hāshimī Shahīdī, Sayyid Asadullah, Zamīne Sāzān e Inqilāb e Jahānī e Haḍrat e Mahdī, pp. 80-81, 269-270; Mūsawī Nasab, Sayyid Ja'far, Dawīst Pursish wa Pāsukh Payramūn e Imam e Zamān vol. 2, pp. 53-54; Zahādat, Abdul Majīd, Ma'ārif wa ‘Aqā'id 5, p. 214; Rijālī Tehrānī, ‘Alī Riḍā, Yekṣad Pursish wa Pāsukh Payramūn e Imam e Zamān, p. 187; Riḍwānī, ‘Alī Aṣghar, Maw'ūdshināsī wa Pāsukh be Shubahāt, pp. 523; Ismā'īlī, Ismā'īl, Barrasī-e Nishānehāye Ẓuhūr – Cheshm be Rah-e Mahdī, pp. 281-283.
  2. Ṭabasī, Najmuddin, Ta'ammulī nu dar Nishānehāye Ẓuhūr, pp. 11-12; Riḍwānī, ‘Alī Aṣghar, Maw'ūdshināsī wa Pāsukh be Shubahāt, pp. 523; Ismā'īlī, Ismā'īl, Barrasī-e Nishānehāye Ẓuhūr – Cheshm be Rah-e Mahdī, pp. 281-283; Ḥasanī, Sayyid Naḍīr, Muṣleh-e Kul, pp. 203-206; Zahādat, Abdul Majīd, Ma'ārif wa ‘Aqā'id 5, p. 214.
  3. Ṣadr, Sayyid Muhammad, Tārīkh e Ghaybat e Kubrā, pp. 630-635; ‘Alīzade; Mahdī, Nishānehāye Yār wa Chakāmeh-e Intiẓār, pp. 34-35; Ṣādiqī, Muṣṭafā, Taḥlīl e Tārīkh e Nishānehāye Ẓuhūr, pp. 130-131; Pur-sayyid Àghayi, Sayyid Mas'ud, Adyan, Madhahib wa ‘Irfan, Mashriq-e Maw'ud, winter 1386, issue 4, pp. 28-7.
  4. Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad, Dānishnāmeh-e Imam Mahdī, pp. 438-439; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Pursimān-e Mahdawīyat,pp. 226-229; ‘Alīpūr, Mahdī, Ẓuhūr, pp. 252-262; Pejuhishgarān-e Mu'assaseh-e Āyandeh-e Rawshan, Mahdawīyat, Pursishhā wa Pāsukhhā, p. 384; Yūsufiyān, Mahdī, Nagīn-e Āfrīnish vol. 1, pp. 173-177.
  5. 5.0 5.1 ‘Alīzade; Mahdī, Nishānehāye Yār wa Chakāmeh-e Intiẓār, pp. 34-35.
  6. Hāshimī Shahīdī, Sayyid Asadullah, Zamīne Sāzān e Inqilāb e Jahānī e Haḍrat e Mahdī, pp. 80-81, 269-270; ‘Alīzade; Mahdī, Nishānehāye Yār wa Chakāmeh-e Intiẓār, pp. 34-35.
  7. Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad, Dānishnāmeh-e Imam Mahdī, pp. 438-439; ‘Alīzade; Mahdī, Nishānehāye Yār wa Chakāmeh-e Intiẓār, pp. 34-35.
  8. Ramḍānīyān, ‘Alī Riḍā, Sharā'ṭ wa ‘Alā'im e Ḥatmī e Ẓahūr, pp. 56-57.
  9. Tūneyī, Mujtabā, Maw'ūdnāme, p. 367; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Farhangnāme e Mahdawīyat, pp. 246-248; Pur-sayyid Àghayi, Sayyid Mas'ud, Adyan, Madhahib wa ‘Irfan, Mashriq-e Maw'ud, winter 1386, issue 4, pp. 28-7.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Āyatī, Nuṣratullah, Ta'ammulī dar Nishānehāye Ḥatmī-e Ẓuhūr, pp. 236-248; Pur-sayyid Àghayi, Sayyid Mas'ud, Adyan, Madhahib wa ‘Irfan, Mashriq-e Maw'ud, winter 1386, issue 4, pp. 28-7.
  11. Āyatī, Nuṣratullah, Ta'ammulī dar Nishānehāye Ḥatmī-e Ẓuhūr, pp. 236-248; Zamānī, Sayyid Ḥasan, Nishānehāye Qiyām e Ḥaḍrat e Mahdī, pp. 58-59; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāmeh-e Mahdawīyat vol. 3, pp. 132-133; Ramḍānīyān, ‘Alī Riḍā, Sharā'ṭ wa ‘Alā'im e Ḥatmī e Ẓahūr, pp. 56-57; Pur-sayyid Àghayi, Sayyid Mas'ud, Adyan, Madhahib wa ‘Irfan, Mashriq-e Maw'ud, winter 1386, issue 4, pp. 28-7.
  12. Hāshimī Shahīdī, Sayyid Asadullah, Zamīne Sāzān e Inqilāb e Jahānī e Haḍrat e Mahdī, p. 77; Zamānī, Sayyid Ḥasan, Nishānehāye Qiyām e Ḥaḍrat e Mahdī, pp. 58-59; Salīmīyān, Khudāmurād, Darsnāmeh-e Mahdawīyat vol. 3, pp. 132-133; Ramḍānīyān, ‘Alī Riḍā, Sharā'ṭ wa ‘Alā'im e Ḥatmī e Ẓahūr, pp. 56-57; Pur-sayyid Àghayi, Sayyid Mas'ud, Adyan, Madhahib wa ‘Irfan, Mashriq-e Maw'ud, winter 1386, issue 4, pp. 28-7.