The hadith of the twelve successors (Arabic: حَدِيْث ٱلْإِثْنَي عَشَر خَلِيْفَة, romanized: ḥadīth al-ithnā ʿashar khalīfa) is a widely-reported prophecy, attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, predicting that there would be twelve successors after him. As there were many more rulers after Muhammad, Sunni authors have variously identified these twelve successors with some of these rulers. In Twelver Shia, these successors are instead identified with their Twelve Imams. Their last imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is believed to miraculously remain in occultation since 874 CE, and is expected to return in the end of times to eradicate injustice and evil.
