Hadith of the Twelve Successors will be anything other than twelve. The twelve successors from the hadith (traditions of the prophet Muhammad) are already known as The Twelve Imams. Two hadiths form the basis and understanding of the 12 successors of the Prophet Muhammad: the hadith of the two weighty things and the hadiths regarding the 12 khalifs. One of the most authentic hadith (traditions of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) is Hadith thaqalain in which the Prophet Muhammad tells the muslims that he is leaving behind two weighty things, The quran and his ahlul bayt. Al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan records the following tradition:
Hadith of the Ark follows: Behold! The similitude of my Ahlul Bayt, is like that of the Ark of Noah: The one who embarks it, will have saved himself, and the one who turns away from it, is doomed. Many Sunni books narrate this Hadith. Some significant Sunni books that narrate this Hadith are: Al-Hakim al-Nisaburi, one of the greatest Sunni scholars, narrated this hadith as authentic (sahih) in his Mustadrak. Al-Heithami in his book ("written against Shia") states: By many narrations of this hadith which strengthen each other;""certainly Ahl al-Bayt are like the Ark of Noah, saved Whoever boarded"", and in Sahih Muslim