Hadith of Fatima tablet, also known as the Hadith of Lawh of Fatima is a tradition of Imam al-Sadiq who narrated his father Imam al-Baqir who in turn quoted Jabir ibn Abd Allah as the original narrator of the hadith. This hadith specifically names twelve Imams as successors to Muhammad, prophet of Islam.[1]
See main article: Jabir ibn Abd Allah. Jābir ibn ʻAbd Allāh ibn ʻAmr ibn Ḥarām al-Anṣārī (Arabic: جابر بن عبدالله بن عمرو بن حرام الأنصاري, d. 697 CE/78 AH) was a prominent companion of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and the subsequent Shi'i Imams. He delivered the greeting of the prophet to his second great-grandson, Muhammad al-Baqir.[2] Jabir took part in eighteen campaigns headed by the prophet and fought in the Battle of Siffin led by Ali.[3]
In Kitab al-Kafi, Jabir narrates that he once saw Fatima with a tablet listing the names of those with divine authority, which he counted to be twelve. The last one was named al-Qa'im, three were named Muhammad and three were named Ali.[4]
Twelver Muslims record that Ja'far al-Sadiq narrated a hadith:
The Hadith of Fatima tablet is mentioned in shia and sunni hadith sources including Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'mah of Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Kitab al-Kafi of Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, Al-Istibsar of Shaykh Tusi, al-Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Sahih al-Bukhari of Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sunan ibn Majah of Ibn Majah.[5]