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According to Twelver Shi’ism, three of the Twelve Imams were less than ten years old when they assumed the undisputed sole and ultimate leadership of the Twelver Shia community. These three were:
Muhammad al-Taqi (9th Imam) - 7.5 years old when he became the Imam.
Ali al-Hadi (10th Imam) - 6.5 to 8.5 years old when he became the Imam.
Muhammad al-Mahdi (12th Imam) - 4.5 years old when he became the Imam.
Critics argue against the possibility of these personalities assuming the leadership of the Imamate at such young ages, based upon a number of arguments:[1][2][3][4]
No purported Islamic Prophet or Messenger was ever known to have been “given” his mission of religious leadership at such a young age[citation needed]. This is despite the fact that these Prophets and Messengers were guided by angel Gabriel (unlike the Twelve Imams), and hence would have been expected to be more appropriate and likely individuals (than the Twelve Imams) for the task of conveying their religious leadership at younger ages.
No other historical individual was ever known to have had such undisputed sole and ultimate leadership of any community (big or small) at such young ages, in any sphere- whether it be religious, political, tribal, communal, etc.
It would be impossible to fathom that the three child Imams were the undisputed most knowledgeable individuals among their respective Twelver Shia communities, considering there would have been mature aged individuals who had learned- over a wide timespan- under numerous successive preceding Imams. Likewise, it would be impossible to fathom that the three child Imams could have been taken seriously by much older Twelver Shia adults seeking religious, political and other advice from them.
Based upon these arguments, critics conclude that these child Imams could not have fulfilled their “designated” roles and responsibilities of the Imamate, as the Twelvers otherwise state; they may at best have been respected and admired by some masses due to their illustrious descent from Muhammad and Ali and also due to their being viewed as possible future acceptable alternatives to a supposedly corrupt Abbasid Caliphate. Thus, critics charge that the role Twelver Shi’ites designated for their “Imams” was only later expanded and exaggerated to their current accepted form during the formative years of the mass Twelver Shia collection and recording of hadith (reported sayings and actions of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams) during the 10th and 11th centuries, under the auspices of such Twelver luminaries as al-Kulayni, al-Mufid, Shaykh Tusi, al-Saduq and al-Sharif al-Radi. Critics also suppose that these three Imams, by being forced to “inherit the Imamate” at such young ages (due to the deaths of their predecessor Imams), signaled that the Twelver “line of Imams” was in fact progressively dying out due to an inability to reproduce, furnish or maintain acceptable successors- which brought critics to argue against the Twelver belief in the existence of Muhammad al-Mahdi and his Occultation.[5][6][7]
Response to criticism
Many critics do not point out that according to the Shiite doctrine, the Imam's knowledge is God-given, In a hadith[8] from Imam Reza describing the Imam position it is said: “ If Allah choose a servant [Imam] to guide the people, then grants him with the expanded breast, places springs of wisdom inside his heart and inspires him the whole knowledge, then he wont be silent if asked of any question and wont be bewildered of the right path”. Also critics omit the fact that John the Baptist (Yahya) was given wisdom (hukmah) while he was a child according to the Qur'anic quote 19:12. "'O Yahya (John)! Hold fast the Scripture.' And We gave him wisdom (hukmah) while yet a child."
Critics also challenge the omnipotence of God by rationalizing the Imams could not have been Islamic leaders because they were too young. This argument relies on the assumption that God's abilities fall short of making such a thing possible, contradicting an integral Islamic belief that God's capabilities are limitless. When God says be then it is.
Fatimah received divine revelations
According to Twelver Shi’ism, Fatimah received divine revelations after the death of her father Muhammad- the last Islamic prophet and messenger. The details around which Fatimah received these divine revelations include:[9][10]
After the death of her father, Fatimah lived for 75 days, during which she was overcome with grief. Thus in these 75 days Gabriel came to her regularly- he came and went many times, appearing repeatedly- to console her and speak and tell her of events that would take place in the future, including things that would happen to her offspring in the future. This interaction with Gabriel was (according to Twelver Shi’ites) only previously bestowed upon the prophets of the highest rank such as Muhammad, Moses, Jesus and Abraham, as well as some of the saints who were of the same rank as them, and never occurred again after Fatimah herself- not even for any of the Twelve Imams.
During the 75 days that Fatimah had contact and communication with Gabriel; Imam Ali wrote down and recorded the revelations that were made to Fatimah which she dictated to him, to form the Book of Fatimah.
Critics (exclusively being Sunnis) argue that Fatimah never received divine revelations and as a result they also deny the existence of the Book of Fatimah. This is based upon a number of arguments:
There is consensus among the orthodox Sunni community (along with the Zaydi Shi’ites) of the belief that after the death of Muhammad no other person came in contact with Gabriel, no other person received divine revelations from Gabriel, and no other person was taught knowledge of future unseen events by Gabriel- let alone during a 75 days long period.[11][12]
According to Twelver Shi’ism, following the death of Muhammad, Ali succeeded him as the leader of the Muslim community (both religiously and otherwise) - becoming the 1st Imam. However, Twelver Shia themselves undermine Ali’s authority by claiming Fatimah was the only person after Muhammad’s death to have ever received divine revelations from Gabriel and that Ali was only Fatimah’s scribe during her contact and communication with Gabriel. Comparatively, this scenario would be similar to Ali having contact and communication with Gabriel while Muhammad (during his Prophethood) acted only as his scribe.[13][14][15]
The contents of the Book of Fatimah were never revealed by Fatimah or Ali (or any of the Twelve Imams) to the Muslim masses- not even to their closest associates- despite the fact that it was composed under very special and important circumstances i.e. by divine revelations from Gabriel, and hence would have been expected to have been disseminated among the Muslims. This is also despite the fact that Ali ruled as Caliph for 5 years and hence would have been in an authoritative enough position to publicise the contents of the Book of Fatimah without fear of setbacks such as having the book confiscated, destroyed or altered and corrupted etc. Furthermore, as an Imam, Ali was expected to have guided people. However, he instead hid books of knowledge, rather than following the example of Muhammad who was given the Qur’an and did not hide it from the people, but instead shared it with as many people as he could and told the Muslims to spread it so that people could be guided.[16][17]
Based upon these arguments, critics conclude that both the revelations bestowed upon Fatimah and the Book of Fatimah were fabrications that were introduced by Twelver hadith scholars into their faith (and accepted and spread by Twelver scholars) as part of their wider objective of elevating the Ahl al-Bayt (defined as Fatimah and the Twelve Imams by Twelver Shi’ites) to unique positions vis-a-vis the Sahaba and the rest of the Muslim community in order to convince people (including their own followers) of the superiority of their religious figures and hence the correctness of their creed.[18][19] Due to the similar circumstances surrounding their creation as to the Book of Fatimah, Sunnis have also criticized the Twelver books of al-Jafr and al-Jamia.[20][21]
^Shi'ism, by Heinz Halm, Chapter 2: The Imamiyya or Twelver Shi’a.
^sheikh saduq, Kamaluddin wa tamam-un-naymah, Vol. 2, pp. 680
^“THE POSITION OF WOMEN FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF IMAM KHOMEINI”, pg.14-16, Publisher: The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works (International Affairs Division), Translated by: Juliana Shaw & Behrooz Arezoo, Proofread and typeset by: Mansoor L. Limba, First printing: Autumn 2001, Address: P.O. Box 19575 / 614, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The quotation states Grand AyatollahKhomeini as saying on 2nd March, 1986 (11 Isfand, 1364 AHS): “I do not consider myself adequate to the task of speaking about Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace, so I will suffice with reciting a sound tradition which can be found in Usul al-Kafi. This tradition quotes Hazrat Sadiq, upon whom be peace, as saying: “After the death of her father, Fatima, upon whom be peace, lived for 75 days. She was in this world and she was overcome with grief. Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came to her regularly to console her and tell her of future events.” So according to this tradition, in these 75 days she had contact with Gabriel, he came and went many times. I do not think that such a thing has happened for anyone else other than the great prophets of the highest rank, that in 75 days Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came and went and spoke of events that would take place in the future, spoke of things that would happen to her offspring in the future. Hazrat Amir (i.e. Imam Ali) wrote down what Gabriel said, he was the writer of these revelations just as he had been the writer of the revelations the Noble Messenger (i.e. Muhammad) had received- of course with the death of the Noble Messenger those revelations which brought divine laws ended. He was the writer of the revelations that were made to Hazrat Fatima during these 75 days. Gabriel’s appearing to someone should not be taken as a trivial affair. One should not imagine that Gabriel would appear to just anyone. The necessary relationship has to exist between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel’s station as the paramount spirit. Whether we believe that it is the greatness of the spirit of the saint or prophet that brings Gabriel down to this lower station, or that it is God who sends him to make such revelations, whether we side with the speculatists in their views or those who interpret the literal meaning in theirs, it still remains that unless the necessary relationship exists between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel, the paramount spirit, then it would be impossible for such a thing to happen. The relationship existed between Gabriel, the paramount spirit, and the prophets of the highest rank such as the Messenger of God (i.e. Muhammad), Moses, Jesus and Abraham. It did not exist with just anyone, and after these prophets it did not exist with anyone else. Indeed, I have not even heard of Gabriel descending to the Imams as he did to the prophets. As far as I know it was only to Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, that Gabriel appeared repeatedly during the period of these 75 days, revealing future events which would take place for her offspring and which Hazrat Amir recorded. Perhaps he spoke to her about the time of her exalted offspring Hazrat Sahib (i.e. Imam Mahdi), upon whom be peace, in which case he may have mentioned events in Iran too; who knows, it is possible. Be that as it may, I consider the fact that Gabriel appeared to her when he had appeared to no one other than the prophets, upon whom be peace- and even then not all the prophets, only those of the highest rank- and some of the saints who are of the same rank as them, to demonstrate her nobility and moral excellence better than any other virtue with which she is attributed, even though those virtues too are important. The fact that she had communication with Gabriel in those 75 days, and that he has appeared to no one since then, demonstrates an excellence, which is, but one of the characteristics of Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace.”
^Kitab Al-Kafi, Chapter 40 (Statements about al-Jafr, al-Jami‘ and the Book of Fatima (a.s.)), H 639, Ch. 40, h 5, translated by Muhammad Sarwar. A sound tradition according to Grand Ayatollah Khomeini in: “THE POSITION OF WOMEN FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF IMAM KHOMEINI”, pg.10-11. This tradition quotes Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, as saying: “After the death of her father, Fatima, upon whom be peace, lived for 75 days. She was in this world and she was overcome with grief. Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came to her regularly to console her and tell her of future events.”
^Al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal ("The Separator Concerning Religions, Heresies, and Sects"), by Ibn Hazm, Vol.2, pg.83-84.
