Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (as) predicting end of the Saudis After King Abdullah’s death?

In one telling hadith, Imam al-Sadiq (as) predicted a crisis of succession after the death of a king named Abdullah in the Hijaz. The turmoil would eventually lead to the end of the kingdom and the beginning of Imam al-Mahdi’s reappearance.

By Alamdar Khadr

In the last few weeks, nothing has been more ubiquitously covered in world news than the current crisis in Saudi Arabia. Since the death of king Abdullah in 2015 and the succession of the current king Salman, the kingdom has been in the greatest turmoil since its inception. The current king has broken with royal tradition by naming his son Muhammad bin Salman (known as MBS) as his heir rather than the next oldest brother in line. The crisis does not end there. The king has arrested hundreds of members of the Saudi family, including high profile members like prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal.

The pretext for the arrests are corruption. Here is a list of some high-profile members who have either been arrested or possibly assassinated:

1. Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal (Billionaire owner of The Kingdom Holding group 17.1B USD net worth)

Accused of money laundering. 

2. Prince Mitaab Bin Abdullah (Former Minister of the National Guard)

Accused of making fake weapon purchases and landing contracts to his private companies. 

3. Prince Turki Bin Abdullah (Former Governor of Riyadh(Capital))

Accused of using his influence to land Riyadh city train contracts to his personal companies. 

4. Prince Turki Bin Nasser

Involved in fake weapons deals and “the black dove scandal” 

5. Waleed Ibrahim (Owner of MBC Media Company 10.9B USD net worth)

Accusations of being involved with previous four and working as a mediator for the fake contracts. 

6. Khaled Al-Tuwaijri (Former President of the Royal Court)

Accusations of using his influence to bribe and mediate government contracts to certain people in the name of the King. 

7. Adel Faqih (former labor minster and current economy and planning Minister)

His involvement in Jeddah corruption case that lead to the death of 100 people in 2009 Jeddah floods. 

8. Omer Dabbagh (Former president of the General Investment Authority)

Accusations of creating fake contracts and embezzling the budgets for all the economical city projects during King Abdullah era. 

9. Saleh Kamel (Billionaire 2.2B USD net worth)

Involvement in the Jeddah corruption case and the 2009 Jeddah floods. 

10. Saud Al-Tobaishi (Head (former) of Royal ceremonies and protocols)

Using his influence to embezzle money from the government in the Kings name. 

11. Ibrahim Al-Assaf (Former Finance minister and current state minister)

Well this guy is the Minister of treasury you draw the dots  

Bakr Bin Ladin (Owner of Bin Ladin Group)

Bribery and corruption. 

13. Saud Al-Dawish (former CEO of Saudi Telecom Company)

Involved in the embezzlement case of $1.8 billion by double billing the entire country.

14. Khaled Al-Mulhem (former Director General at Saudi Arabian Airlines)

Involved in contract fraud and embezzlement. 

15. Mansour Bin Muqrin (former advisor in King Abdullah’s court) He was killed in a helicopter crash. Some reports claim that the helicopter was actually shot down on an assassination attempt on the orders of King Salman and his son in order to eliminate him as a threat. This is because Bin Muqrin “had apparently sent a letter to over a thousand princes, asking them to not support Mohammed bin Salman’s succession to the throne, Middle East Monitor quoted the New Khaleez as reporting.”

Never has this happened in recent Saudi history. Everyone in the family is now afraid as king Salman solidifies and consolidates his son’s power. Yet the intensity with which royal members are hunted down as well as the disastrous failures of Saudi Arabia in Yemen and Syria will only make the country weaker and more unstable.

In one telling hadith, Imam al-Sadiq (as) predicts turmoil in the Arabian peninsula (Hijaz) after the death of ruler or king named Abdullah. Obviously we don’t know for sure if it is talking about Abdullah of Saudi Arabia or when the reappearance of the Imam will happen after this incident, but it is a possibility and food for thought about what’s going on. This is how it goes:

From Abi Baseer who heard from Imam Sadiq (as): Whoever guarantees for me the death of Abdullah, I will guarantee for him the Qa’im (Imam Mahdi). When Abdullah dies, then people will not gather/agree on anyone after him, and this matter will not except for your companion (Imam Mahdi) inshallah, and the kingdom of years will be over, and it will become the kingdom of months and days. So I asked: Will that be prolonged? He said: No.

Source: Biharul Anwar, Volume 52, page 21.

In another Hadith, Imam Ali al-Rida (as) also speaks of a turmoil and crisis that will hit the lands of Mecca and Medina (again, we can never be sure if the hadith is referring to our current events). He states that:

“Prior to this affair there are signs. Something will occur between the Two Sanctuaries.” I said: “What will occur?” He said: “Sedition will occur. Such and such person from the Family of such and such person will kill fifteen men.”

Source: Qurb al-Isnad, p. 154. 

For more commentary on the above two traditions and their possible meanings, see the following videos from Allamah Shahriar Abidi:

Alamdar Khadr is a blogger at the World Shia Forum. He lives in the United States with his family.