Imam Ali bin Mousa al-Reza (PBUH), the eighth Imam of Shiites , is of the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) and his eighth successor. At age 35 he became the leader of the Islamic union. His life was contemporary to the Abbasid reign and therefore, he suffered great difficulties made by the Abbasids. Finally, he was martyred by Ma’moon (the contemporary Abbasid Caliph) at the age of 55. This article will briefly discuss an overview of his life.
His father and mother
His father was Imam Mousa al-Kadhim (PBUH), the seventh Imam. He was martyred by Haroon on 138 (AH). His mother was Najmah.
His Imamate
His Imamate was announced repeatedly by his father, grandfathers, and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP). Especially Imam Kazem (PBUH) mentioned him as the Imam after himself several times. For instance, one of his followers narrates, “One day Imam Kazem (PBUH) came to us, holding his son’s (Ali) hand. We were 60 people. He said:” Do you know me?” I said: “You are our leader.” He said:” Say my name and title.”
I said:” You are Mouse bin Jafar bin Muhammad. ”He said:” Who is this with me?”
I said: “Ali bin Mouse bin Jafar.”He said: “So profess that he is my representative during my life and my successor after my death.”4 He is further introduced as the eighth Imam in a saying of Prophet (PBUH&HP) narrated by Jaber. Also, Imam Sadegh (PBUH) told Imam Kazem (PBUH&HP) that the knowledge of Prophet’s (PBUH&HP) progeny is of your sons and he is your successor.
The scientific aspect of Imam
When Ma’moon saw the anxiety of people toward Imam considered that his credit among them might discredit his own position among people. One of his plans to discredit Imam instead was through holding debates between Imam and the scholars from allover the world. He was hoping that maybe the scholars would be able to win the debates and defeat Imam in science to question his scientific knowledge. One of the debates goes as follows:
Ma’moon ordered Fazl ibn Sahl to invite all the philosophers and learned men from all over the world to debate with the Imam. Fazl then invited the Christian scholars, the learned of Jewish scholars, headmasters of Saebin (followers of the prophet Yahya (PBUH)), the great Zoroastrian priests, and other speakers of that time. Ma’moon greeted them and asked them to debate with his cousin (Ma’moon was of descendants of Abbas, the Prophet’s (PBUH&HP) uncle, and so Imam’s cousin) that has come here from Medina. Tomorrow morning Ma’moon held a glorious ceremony and sent a man to Imam Reza (PBUH) to invite him to that ceremony. Imam accepted his invitation and told him: “Do you want to know when Ma’moon will repent of his deed?” He said: “Yes, dear Sir”. Imam said: “When Ma’moon hears my reasons for disproving Jewish from torah, Christians from Bible, followers of Zaboor from Zaboor, Saebin in their language, Fire-worshipers in Farsi, and Romans in their language and sees that I disapprove each of them and they leave aside their beliefs and believe in my words. At that time Ma’moon will know that he is not able to do what he wants and will repent. And there is no power except from Almighty Allah”. Then he went to the Ma’moon’s ceremony. By his entrance, Ma’moon introduced him to the crowd and then said: “I want you to debate with him”. Imam Reza (PBUH) discussed them about their religion through their books. Then he said: “If there is someone amongst you who is against Islam ask me without shame”. Umran Sa’ebi, who was one of the speakers, asked Imam many questions and Imam answered him all one by one and convinced him. After hearing the answers of his questions from Imam, Umran Sa’ebi recited the testimony (Shahadatain) and converted to Islam. The ceremony ended with Imam’s victory and the crowd scattered. The day after, Imam asked to see Umran Sa’ebi and honored him very much. Since then he became one of the missionaries of Islam.
Raja ibn Zahak, who was ordered by Ma’moon to move Imam from Medina toward Marv, said: “Every city he entered, people came to him from everywhere and asked him their religious questions. In turn, he answered them their questions and quoted many traditions from the prophet (PBUH&HP) and Imam Ali (PBUH). When I came back from that journey, I went to Ma’moon. He asked me about Imam’s behavior during the journey and I told him whatever I saw from him during the journey. Ma’moon said: “Yes, son of Zahak! He is the best, the most learned and the most pious person on the earth”.
A little from Imam’s wise words
Imam said:” The friend of everyone is his wisdom the enemy of everyone is his ignorance and silliness.”
Imam said:” Science and knowledge are like treasures, and the key to them is question, so ask and Allah may bless you, because by this question four groups benefit: 1.The asker 2.The teacher 3.The listener 4.The answerer”
Imam said:” Liking people and friendship is half of wisdom.”
Imam said:” There is a piece of advice in everything your eyes see.
Imam said:” Cleanliness and neatness is of virtues of the prophets.”
Imam’s martyrdom
Ma’moon had told one of his servants not to cut his nails, and ordered him to put some poisons in his nails and prepare a pomegranate and pollute it with the poison. The servant obeyed his master and prepared the pomegranate. Ma’moon offered the poisonous pomegranate to Imam. Imam rejected, Ma’moon insisted and threatened Imam that he would kill him if he didn’t eat. Imam ate some pomegranate under obligation. After a few hours the poison polluted Imam’s body and he became ill. The morning of the next day (29th of Safar of year 203 H.G.) Imam Reza (PBUH) was martyred.
Imam’s burial
By divine will and power, Imam’s son, Imam Jawad (PBUH) washed his father’s body and said prayer for him. Imam’s body was buried in Mashhad with the accompaniment of many of his Shiites and followers.
Though centuries pass from the life of Imam Reza (PBUH), his holy shrine is the cause of blessing and honor for the Iranians.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A Man of Paradise
Love is one of the inseparable ingredients of human’s life; we all love some people and express our love towards them, while avoid others and dissociate ourselves from them. But what are the criteria which govern choosing our friends and enemies? How can we know what true love and hatred is, and towards whom they should be expressed?
Hakam ibn Utaybah, a companion of Imam Baqir (PBUH) narrates the following story.
One day, we were sitting with Imam Baqir (PBUH) and the room was filled with people. At this time an old man holding a long staff entered the room. He stopped at the door and said, ”Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” Imam Baqir (PBUH) replied to his greeting.
Then, the old man greeted all the audience and they replied his greeting. After that, he addressed the Imam (PBUH) by saying, ”O son of the Messenger of Allah! Let me sit beside you”.
Next, he continued by saying, ”I swear to Allah that I love you; and I love your friends; and my love towards you and your friends is not out of greed. I swear to Allah that I hate your enemies and avoid them; and I take Allah as my witness that this hatred and animosity is not because of any personal grudges with them. I consider lawful whatever you deem lawful, and I consider forbidden whatever you deem forbidden; I await the relief (Faraj) of your family. O son of the Messenger of Allah! Is there any hope for my salvation?”
Imam Baqir (PBUH) replied, ”Come closer! Come closer!” The Imam (PBUH) seated the man beside himself and said to him,
“O man! A person asked the same question from my father Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH). My father responded by saying, ‘If you die in this state, you will meet with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), Ali (PBUH), Hassan (PBUH), Hussain (PBUH), and Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH); your heart will be consoled, and you will become calm; you will be pleased and your eyes will be brightened. When your life reaches here (he pointed to his neck), you will face the angels responsible for registering your deeds with ease and pleasure. Moreover some things will happen to you in your life that will brighten your eyes, and you will be with us in an honorable position”.
The old man became so excited after hearing this status that he wanted the Imam (PBUH) to repeat his words. Thus, he said, ”O son of the Messenger of Allah! What did you just say?”
Imam Baqir (PBUH) repeated his statement. Then, the man said, ”Allah is great! O Aba Ja’far! If I die, I will meet with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), Ali (PBUH), Hassan (PBUH), Hussain (PBUH), and Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH)? My heart will be consoled, my eyes will be brightened, and I will be pleased? I will face the angels responsible for registering my deeds with ease and pleasure, and will be with us in an honorable position?
He said these words and started crying loudly, and after a while, he bid farewell and left the room.
Imam Baqir (PBUH) kept watching the man with a special attention as long as he was walking out. When he was gone, he turned towards the people and said, ”Whoever wishes to see a man of Paradise may look at this man (1)”.
Indeed, as Imam Baqir (PBUH) has taught us, these two great properties everyone has, namely love and hatred, become valuable only when they are in accordance with the Divine principles and logical criteria, not worldly intentions. So how do we apply our love and hatred, and what do we exchange them for?
(The above is a selection taken from “The Practical Lifestyle of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), Imam Baqir (PBUH)”, by Sayyid Kadhim Arfa’)
The Roshd Website congratulates all Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon the 3rd of Safar, the birthday anniversary of the heir of Prophetic knowledge and the fifth generation of the purified family, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (PBUH).
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Introduction
Imam Ali bin Mousa al-Reza (PBUH), the eighth Imam of Shiites , is of the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) and his eighth successor. At age 35 he became the leader of the Islamic union. His life was contemporary to the Abbasid reign and therefore, he suffered great difficulties made by the Abbasids. Finally, he was martyred by Ma’moon (the contemporary Abbasid Caliph) at the age of 55. This article will briefly discuss an overview of his life.
His father and mother
His father was Imam Mousa al-Kadhim (PBUH), the seventh Imam. He was martyred by Haroon on 138 (AH). His mother was Najmah.
His Imamate
His Imamate was announced repeatedly by his father, grandfathers, and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP). Especially Imam Kazem (PBUH) mentioned him as the Imam after himself several times. For instance, one of his followers narrates, “One day Imam Kazem (PBUH) came to us, holding his son’s (Ali) hand. We were 60 people. He said:” Do you know me?” I said: “You are our leader.” He said:” Say my name and title.”
I said:” You are Mouse bin Jafar bin Muhammad. ”He said:” Who is this with me?”
I said: “Ali bin Mouse bin Jafar.”He said: “So profess that he is my representative during my life and my successor after my death.”4 He is further introduced as the eighth Imam in a saying of Prophet (PBUH&HP) narrated by Jaber. Also, Imam Sadegh (PBUH) told Imam Kazem (PBUH&HP) that the knowledge of Prophet’s (PBUH&HP) progeny is of your sons and he is your successor.
The scientific aspect of Imam
When Ma’moon saw the anxiety of people toward Imam considered that his credit among them might discredit his own position among people. One of his plans to discredit Imam instead was through holding debates between Imam and the scholars from allover the world. He was hoping that maybe the scholars would be able to win the debates and defeat Imam in science to question his scientific knowledge. One of the debates goes as follows:
Ma’moon ordered Fazl ibn Sahl to invite all the philosophers and learned men from all over the world to debate with the Imam. Fazl then invited the Christian scholars, the learned of Jewish scholars, headmasters of Saebin (followers of the prophet Yahya (PBUH)), the great Zoroastrian priests, and other speakers of that time. Ma’moon greeted them and asked them to debate with his cousin (Ma’moon was of descendants of Abbas, the Prophet’s (PBUH&HP) uncle, and so Imam’s cousin) that has come here from Medina. Tomorrow morning Ma’moon held a glorious ceremony and sent a man to Imam Reza (PBUH) to invite him to that ceremony. Imam accepted his invitation and told him: “Do you want to know when Ma’moon will repent of his deed?” He said: “Yes, dear Sir”. Imam said: “When Ma’moon hears my reasons for disproving Jewish from torah, Christians from Bible, followers of Zaboor from Zaboor, Saebin in their language, Fire-worshipers in Farsi, and Romans in their language and sees that I disapprove each of them and they leave aside their beliefs and believe in my words. At that time Ma’moon will know that he is not able to do what he wants and will repent. And there is no power except from Almighty Allah”. Then he went to the Ma’moon’s ceremony. By his entrance, Ma’moon introduced him to the crowd and then said: “I want you to debate with him”. Imam Reza (PBUH) discussed them about their religion through their books. Then he said: “If there is someone amongst you who is against Islam ask me without shame”. Umran Sa’ebi, who was one of the speakers, asked Imam many questions and Imam answered him all one by one and convinced him. After hearing the answers of his questions from Imam, Umran Sa’ebi recited the testimony (Shahadatain) and converted to Islam. The ceremony ended with Imam’s victory and the crowd scattered. The day after, Imam asked to see Umran Sa’ebi and honored him very much. Since then he became one of the missionaries of Islam.
Raja ibn Zahak, who was ordered by Ma’moon to move Imam from Medina toward Marv, said: “Every city he entered, people came to him from everywhere and asked him their religious questions. In turn, he answered them their questions and quoted many traditions from the prophet (PBUH&HP) and Imam Ali (PBUH). When I came back from that journey, I went to Ma’moon. He asked me about Imam’s behavior during the journey and I told him whatever I saw from him during the journey. Ma’moon said: “Yes, son of Zahak! He is the best, the most learned and the most pious person on the earth”.
A little from Imam’s wise words
Imam said:” The friend of everyone is his wisdom the enemy of everyone is his ignorance and silliness.”
Imam said:” Science and knowledge are like treasures, and the key to them is question, so ask and Allah may bless you, because by this question four groups benefit: 1.The asker 2.The teacher 3.The listener 4.The answerer”
Imam said:” Liking people and friendship is half of wisdom.”
Imam said:” There is a piece of advice in everything your eyes see.
Imam said:” Cleanliness and neatness is of virtues of the prophets.”
Imam’s martyrdom
Ma’moon had told one of his servants not to cut his nails, and ordered him to put some poisons in his nails and prepare a pomegranate and pollute it with the poison. The servant obeyed his master and prepared the pomegranate. Ma’moon offered the poisonous pomegranate to Imam. Imam rejected, Ma’moon insisted and threatened Imam that he would kill him if he didn’t eat. Imam ate some pomegranate under obligation. After a few hours the poison polluted Imam’s body and he became ill. The morning of the next day (29th of Safar of year 203 H.G.) Imam Reza (PBUH) was martyred.
Imam’s burial
By divine will and power, Imam’s son, Imam Jawad (PBUH) washed his father’s body and said prayer for him. Imam’s body was buried in Mashhad with the accompaniment of many of his Shiites and followers.
Though centuries pass from the life of Imam Reza (PBUH), his holy shrine is the cause of blessing and honor for the Iranians.
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A Man of Paradise
Love is one of the inseparable ingredients of human’s life; we all love some people and express our love towards them, while avoid others and dissociate ourselves from them. But what are the criteria which govern choosing our friends and enemies? How can we know what true love and hatred is, and towards whom they should be expressed?
Hakam ibn Utaybah, a companion of Imam Baqir (PBUH) narrates the following story.
One day, we were sitting with Imam Baqir (PBUH) and the room was filled with people. At this time an old man holding a long staff entered the room. He stopped at the door and said, ”Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” Imam Baqir (PBUH) replied to his greeting.
Then, the old man greeted all the audience and they replied his greeting. After that, he addressed the Imam (PBUH) by saying, ”O son of the Messenger of Allah! Let me sit beside you”.
Next, he continued by saying, ”I swear to Allah that I love you; and I love your friends; and my love towards you and your friends is not out of greed. I swear to Allah that I hate your enemies and avoid them; and I take Allah as my witness that this hatred and animosity is not because of any personal grudges with them. I consider lawful whatever you deem lawful, and I consider forbidden whatever you deem forbidden; I await the relief (Faraj) of your family. O son of the Messenger of Allah! Is there any hope for my salvation?”
Imam Baqir (PBUH) replied, ”Come closer! Come closer!” The Imam (PBUH) seated the man beside himself and said to him,
“O man! A person asked the same question from my father Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH). My father responded by saying, ‘If you die in this state, you will meet with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), Ali (PBUH), Hassan (PBUH), Hussain (PBUH), and Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH); your heart will be consoled, and you will become calm; you will be pleased and your eyes will be brightened. When your life reaches here (he pointed to his neck), you will face the angels responsible for registering your deeds with ease and pleasure. Moreover some things will happen to you in your life that will brighten your eyes, and you will be with us in an honorable position”.
The old man became so excited after hearing this status that he wanted the Imam (PBUH) to repeat his words. Thus, he said, ”O son of the Messenger of Allah! What did you just say?”
Imam Baqir (PBUH) repeated his statement. Then, the man said, ”Allah is great! O Aba Ja’far! If I die, I will meet with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), Ali (PBUH), Hassan (PBUH), Hussain (PBUH), and Ali ibn Hussain (PBUH)? My heart will be consoled, my eyes will be brightened, and I will be pleased? I will face the angels responsible for registering my deeds with ease and pleasure, and will be with us in an honorable position?
He said these words and started crying loudly, and after a while, he bid farewell and left the room.
Imam Baqir (PBUH) kept watching the man with a special attention as long as he was walking out. When he was gone, he turned towards the people and said, ”Whoever wishes to see a man of Paradise may look at this man (1)”.
Indeed, as Imam Baqir (PBUH) has taught us, these two great properties everyone has, namely love and hatred, become valuable only when they are in accordance with the Divine principles and logical criteria, not worldly intentions. So how do we apply our love and hatred, and what do we exchange them for?
(The above is a selection taken from “The Practical Lifestyle of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), Imam Baqir (PBUH)”, by Sayyid Kadhim Arfa’)
The Roshd Website congratulates all Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon the 3rd of Safar, the birthday anniversary of the heir of Prophetic knowledge and the fifth generation of the purified family, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (PBUH).
Roshd Islamic Shia Website
Footnote:
1. Al-Kafi, vol. 8, pp. 77-78
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