A Study of the Al-Yamani Group

And on the day of resurrection you shall see those who lied against Allah; their faces shall be blackened. Is there not in hell an abode for the proud?

Imam Jafar-as-Sadiq (as) was asked the meaning of the above verse, to which Imam(as) replied:

“It talks about those, who pretend to be imams but they are not” [Al-Ghaybah Al-Numani, Chp 5, H:1]

The very fact that Allah talks about the liars in the Quran, who claim to be imam, should catch our attention. We are currently living in the Ghaibat of our last Imam(as), and nothing would bring us more happiness than His(as)  re-appearance. But we have also been warned that there will be false claimants as well. History is replete with examples of people who have attempted to claim Imamat or Prophethood. Some have managed to deviate people and some have met their destruction.

Coming in prominence

It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) that “Before the appearance of Al-Qaim(as), there will be five signs:

The rising of Sufayani

The rising of Al-Yamani

A cry from the heaven

Killing the pure innocent man

Sinking in the desert

[Al-Ghaybah Al-Numani, Chp 14, H:9]

In the January of 2007, a fierce battle was fought in the Holy city of Najaf. A group of heavily armed militants attempted to martyr the Grand Ayatollahs residing in Najaf. The group faced heavy casualties with scores dead, injured or detained.

Conflicting reports emerged about the groups and it’s leaders. Two prominent members in these groups are relevant to our discussion:

-         Ahmed Kadhim Al-Gar’awi Al-Basri (Ahmed Hassan Al-Basri), born 1969. Some authorities also name him as Samer Abu Kamar. He was the leader of Ansaar Al Mahdi

-         Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim (also known as al-Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talib). He was the leader of Jund As-Samaa

The Claims

 Of the two deviants, Ahmed al-Hassan made various claims about his position.

He states, "I am the Messenger of Imam Mahdi and I am his vicegerent, and I am the first of the twelve Mahdis from the sons of Imam Mahdi."

The above claim is based on the alleged “Will of the Holy Prophet(saws)” which he(saws) wrote at the time of his death (http://www.saviorofmankind.com/homepage/86-english-uk/slideshow/112-the-will)

“…..Then if death approaches him, let him hand it over to his son, Muhammad the Entrusted of the Holy Family of Muhammad peace be upon them. So these are the twelve Imams. Then after him, there will be twelve Mahdis. So if death approaches him, let him hand it over to his son, the first of the close ones, he has three names, one like mine and my father’s: Abdullah (servant of Allah), Ahmad and the third name is The Mahdi (rightly guided). He is the first of the believers.”

He also claimed to be the son of Imam Mahdi (as) and thus was in direct contact with Imam(as) and would be his(as) successor as per the above narration.

He claimed to have seen Imam Mahdi(as) in a vision while sleeping, ordering him to enroll in the Hawza Ilmiya in Najaf and implement reformations in it. Unable to bring to effect his plan, he preferred studying in seclusion and later on went on to form the group known as ‘Ansar Al Mahdi’.

He began to be known as Al-Yamani amongst his followers, referring to the sign of reappearance as prophesized by Imam Sadiq(as). This has been his biggest claim to fame.

Approach to spreading falsehood

Ahmed Al-Hassan was in direct conflict with the Hawza Ilmiya.He stated that the Shia Muslims are being deceived by the top scholars and mujtahids, or maraji'i.  Subsequently, according to him imitating a scholar is not obligatory for muslims, and it is considered Shirk to blindly follow a scholar.

This statement opposes the well-established process of Taqleed and also contradicts Imam Mahdi(as)’s hadith regarding referring to the learned ones.

Since the beginning of his call, Ahmad al-Hassan had challenged scholars of any religion either to a public debate or to stage a mubahala.

He has also written many English language books, has an active social media profile and websites translated in different languages.

Regarding the purpose of his movement, he states:

“The goal of my message is the goal of the Prophets: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, which is to spread the true monotheism with which God is satisfied, and for the earth to be filled with peace and justice after it had been filled with oppression and injustice.”

Unveiling the falsehood

Although he is based in Iraq with majority of his followers being from poor families and having less ma’arefat of Imam Mahdi (as) himself, he has also started gaining prominence internationally due to dissemination of his teachings through English websites.

As can be seen from the above quotes, his approach seems simple – manipulate the existing hadiths regarding Imam Mahdi (as) to forge new hadith and introduce himself it.

The second militant mentioned above (Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim) was killed during the Battle of Najaf.

Some government entities claim that both groups are the same and Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim and Ahmed Al-Hassan are in fact the same. There have been no public appearances of Ahmed Al-Hassan or no verifiable pictures of him. This gives more credibility to news of his death. However, his network continues to operate as usual.

This is one of the first introductory article on this topic. Inshallah, we should pool in efforts and prepare a treatise agiainst his claims to counter his claims.

Our Prayers

With the number of false claimants of Mahdi(as) increasing rapidly across the globe, it becomes more and more important for us to gain ma’arefat of the true Mahdi(as). In addition to this, it is also our responsibility to spread the true ma’arefat of Imam(as) to the masses. Allah (swt) has given us taufeeq to serve Imam(as). The enemies and liars are actively working to spread their false message to the poor, un-educated and educated masses via different platforms.

We should thank Allah for the bounty of true ma’arefat of Imam Mahdi(as) and pray to Him(swt) to include us in the true Ansaars of Imam(as).