Ahl al-Bayt (as) Teachings

Ahl al-Bayt (as) Teachings

Raj'at in the Qur'an and Traditions: Evidence, Rational Arguments, and Critical Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Rohullah Rohani
Member of the academic staff of Imam Mobin International Research Center
10.22034/jatj.2026.575660.1091
Abstract
Raj'at (return) constitutes one of the fundamental beliefs unanimously held by Imamiyyah scholars, referring to the return of a group of pure believers and pure disbelievers to this world on the eve of the appearance of Imam Mahdi (as). This belief has its roots in previous religions, and the Holy Qur'an reports numerous instances of the resurrection of the dead in this world. Despite solid Qur'anic and narrative evidence, some Islamic sects have denied it and raised doubts such as its similarity to reincarnation (tanāsukh), its contradiction with the verses negating return, and the weakness of narrative chains of transmission. Using a descriptive-analytical method and library sources, this article, while explaining the concept of Raj'at, examines and analyzes the Qur'anic and narrative evidence for it and responds to the doubts raised by opponents. The research findings show that at least six groups of Qur'anic verses indicate the occurrence of Raj'at in past nations, and verses such as «یوم نحشر من کل امة فوجاً» (The Day We will gather from every nation a crowd) explicitly refer to Raj'at in the end times. Furthermore, the traditions on Raj'at have reached the level of moral tawātur (successive transmission), and Shi'a scholars have emphasized the necessity of believing in it. A critical examination of the doubts also indicates that Raj'at is different from reincarnation and does not contradict the verses negating return due to its fundamental difference.
Keywords
Raj'at (Return)
Appearance
Resurrection
Hereafter
Imam Mahdi (as)
Reincarnation
Verses of Return
Subjects
A) Persian and Arabic Sources:
1.   Amīn, Aḥmad. (n.d.). Fajr al-Islām. Cairo: Maktabat al-Nahḍah al-Miṣriyyah.
2.   Ālūsī, Seyed Maḥmūd. (1415 AH). Rūḥ al-Maʿānī fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
3.   ʿAskarī, Seyed Murtaḍā. (1415 AH). ʿAbdullāh ibn Sabaʾ wa Asāṭīr Ukhrā. Qom: Munīr Cultural Publishing Center.
4.   Dādgī, Farranbagh. (2001/1380 SH). Bundahišn. Trans. Mehrdād Bahār. 2nd ed. Tehran: Tūs Publications.
5.   Farīd, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. (1976/1355 SH). Islām wa Rajʿat. Tehran: Dānish Printing.
6.   Ḥalabī, Abū al-Ṣalāḥ. (n.d.). Al-Kāfī fī al-Fiqh. Ed. Riḍā Ustādī. Isfahan: Maktabat al-Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī (AS) al-ʿĀmmah.
7.   Ḥurr ʿĀmilī, Moḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. (2001/1380 SH). Al-Īqāẓ min al-Hajʿah bil-Burhān ʿalā al-Rajʿah. Qom: Dālīl-i Mā Publications.
8.   Ḥurr ʿĀmilī, Moḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. (1422 AH). Al-Īqāẓ min al-Hajʿah bil-Burhān ʿalā al-Rajʿah. Ed. Mushtāq al-Muẓaffar. Qom: Dālīl-i Mā Publications.
9.      Ibrāhīmī Dīnānī, Ghulāmḥusayn. (2001/1380 SH). Qawāʿid-i Kullī dar Falsafah-i Islāmī. Tehran: Institute for Cultural Studies and Research.
10.  Ibn Ḥajjāj Nīshābūrī, Muslim. (n.d.). Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr.
11.  Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar. (1419 AH). Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm. Beirut: n.p.
12.  Jawharī, Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād. (1407 AH). Al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Ed. Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ghafūr al-ʿAṭṭār. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm lil-Malāyīn.
13.  Kulaynī, Moḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb. (1983/1362 SH). Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Islāmiyyah.
14.  Lāhījī, Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-Razzāq. (1996/1375 SH). Rasāʾil-i Fārsī. Tehran: Mīrāth-i Maktūb.
15.  Lāhījī, Moḥammad ibn ʿAlī. (1994/1373 SH). Tafsīr-i Sharīf-i Lāhījī. Tehran: Dād Publishing Office.
16.  Majlisī, Moḥammad Bāqir. (1404 AH). Biḥār al-Anwār. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Wafāʾ.
17.  Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir et al. (1995/1374 SH). Tafsīr-i Nimūnah. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah.
18.  Mizzi, Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf. (1406 AH). Tahdhīb al-Kamāl. Ed. Dr. Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah.
19.  Mufīd, Moḥammad ibn Moḥammad. (1414 AH). Al-Masāʾil al-ʿUkbariyyah. Qom: Al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamī li-Alfiyyat al-Shaykh al-Mufīd.
20.  Mufīd, Moḥammad ibn Moḥammad. (1417 AH). Awāʾil al-Maqālāt. Ed. Shaykh Ibrāhīm Anṣārī. Tehran: Dār al-Mufīd lil-Ṭibāʿah wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ.
21.  Pūrdāvūd, Ibrāhīm. (1927). Sūshyānt; Mawʿūd-i Mazdayasnā. Bombay: Hūr Printing House.
22.  Qummī, ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm. (1988/1367 SH). Tafsīr Qummī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb.
23.  Rāghib Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn ibn Moḥammad. (1412 AH). Al-Mufradāt fī Gharīb al-Qurʾān. Ed. Ṣafwān ʿAdnān Dāwūdī. Damascus & Tehran: Dār al-ʿIlm & al-Dār al-Shāmiyyah.
24.  Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn. (1404 AH). Al-Durr al-Manthūr fī al-Tafsīr bi-l-Maʾthūr. Qom: Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī Library.
25.  Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Seyed Moḥammad Ḥusayn. (1417 AH). Al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, Jāmiʿah-yi Mudarrisīn.
26.  Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Seyed Moḥammad Ḥusayn. (1417 AH). Nihāyat al-Ḥikmah. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī.
27.  Ṭabrisī, Faḍl ibn Ḥasan. (1993/1372 SH). Majmaʿ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Intro. Moḥammad Jawād Balāghī. Tehran: Nāṣir Khusraw Publications.
B) English Source:
1.      The Holy Bible, New International Version.
Ahl al-Bayt (as) Teachings
Volume 3, Issue 4
Winter 2026
Pages 57-72

  • Receive Date 23 May 2026
  • Accept Date 31 May 2026
  • First Publish Date 31 May 2026
  • Publish Date 01 March 2026