الرجعة

الرجعة

Raj'a — the doctrine that after the Mahdi's appearance the imams and their opponents return to this world for retribution, then die and rise on Judgement Day; earliest attributed to Ibn Saba' 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Sects and schoolsCreed

Overview

The raj'a (return) is a belief connected with the belief in the Mahdi, which according to Ahmad Amin in Duha al-Islam many of the Imamiyya hold. Its substance is that the Prophet ﷺ, Ali, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, and the rest of the imams, and their opponents such as Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Mu'awiya, and Yazid, will return to the world after the Mahdi appears. 2

As Ahmad Amin describes it

Then whoever attacked the imams, usurped their rights, or killed them will be punished; then they will all die, and then be brought back to life on the Day of Resurrection. He relates from al-Sharif al-Murtada that Abu Bakr and Umar will be crucified on a tree in the time of the Mahdi. Ahmad Amin describes it as more deeply strange than the belief in the Mahdi; this is the author's description. 2

The earliest to speak of the return in the first age was Abd Allah ibn Saba', for he used to say that Ali would return. 3

This is a picture from a single non-Imami source, and it needs a further source from the books of the Imamiyya.

People and things also explored

The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· الغيبة· علم الكلام· الإمامة· المهدية· التقية· الزندقة· The pen-and-paper incident

Sources

  1. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p. 874, 876
  2. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p.876
  3. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p.874
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “الرجعة”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/raja/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words.
Related

The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin

al-Tahawi's principle of calling the people of the qibla Muslims and believers so long as they accept what the Prophet brought, and of not declaring any of them an unbeliever for a sin unless he declares it lawful.