The Hadith of the Twelve Successors () 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 the Twelve Imams. The last one, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is believed to be in occultation since 874 CE. While the details vary, the belief in the eschatological Mahdi remains popular among all Muslims, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources. Sunni sources Narration Several similar variants of the tradition exists in Sunni sources, usually related on the authority of Muhammad's companion Jabir ibn Samura (), but also by other companions, such as Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (), Anas ibn Malik (), Umar (), Wa'ila ibn Asqa', Abd Allah ibn Umar (), Abu Huraira (), Salman the Persian (), Aisha (), and Uthman (). The version in the canonical Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim quotes Muhammad, This version is also cited by Na'im ibn Hammad (), al-Tirmidhi (), Ibn Asakir (), to name a few. In particular, Ahmad ibn Hanbal () narrates it with thirty-four chains of transmitters, all of which are on the authority of Jabir ibn Samura. Other versions In some versions, () or () or Imam appear instead of . The version cited by Abu Dawud () adds that the Islamic community would be united during the reign of these twelve successors. Another version predicts that anarchy and turmoil would prevail after their reign. Another version compares these twelve successors to the twelve leaders () of Banu Israil. Modarressi argues that this hadith was in circulation during the reign of the Umayyad Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (), long before the reported occultation () of the twelfth and final Shia Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi in 260/874. Identification with the caliphs In his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Qastallani () suggests that the hadith refers to twelve (non-consecutive) Muslim rulers, whose relatively stable reign was followed by the unstable rule of al-Walid II (). Though he does not name them, he is likely referring to the four Rashidun caliphs (), Mu'awiya I () and his son Yazid I (), Abd al-Malik () and his four sons, and Umar II (), according to Kohlberg. His second proposal is that the hadith refers to