| Name: | 'Ali ibn Musa | |||||||||||||||||
| Titles: | Ar-Ridha | |||||||||||||||||
| Kuniya: | Abul Hasan | |||||||||||||||||
| Birthdate: | Thursday, 11th Zilqad, 148 A.H. in Madina | |||||||||||||||||
| Father: | Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (peace be upon him), 7th Holy Imam | |||||||||||||||||
| Mother: | Ummul Baneen Najma | |||||||||||||||||
| Died: (Martyred) |
Date: | Tuesday, 17th Safar, 203 A.H. | ||||||||||||||||
| Place: | Mashad, Iran | |||||||||||||||||
| Age: | 55 years | |||||||||||||||||
| Cause: | Poisoned by Mamoon, the 'Abbaside caliph | |||||||||||||||||
| Buried: | Mashad, Iran | |||||||||||||||||
Succession:
|
Imam Musa al-Kazim was well aware of the
aggressive designs of the government in power against the Imamate and therefore, during
his lifetime he declared ImamAr_Reza as his successor in the presence of hundred and
seventy-one prominent religious divines and called upon his sons and his family to submit
to him and refer to him in all matters after him. He also left behind a written document
declaring the succession of ImamAr_Reza duly signed and endorsed by not less than sixteen
prominent persons. All these necessary steps were taken by the great Imam to avoid any
confusion that may have arisen after his death.
* * *
Imam Musa al-Kazim was poisoned while he was
still in prison and expired on 25th Rajab 183 AH, and on the same day ImamAr_Reza was
declared as the Eighth Imam of the Muslim world. ImamAr_Reza had the great task before
him of coming out with the correct interpretation of the Holy Qur'an; specially under the
most unfavourable circumstances prevailing under the government of Harun ar-Rashid. Many
belonging to the faith were imprisoned and those who were free and could not be jailed
faced untold atrocities and sufferings.
ImamAr_Reza, of course, stamped his
impression upon his age by carrying on the mission of the Great Prophet in a peaceful
manner even during the most chaotic periods, and it was mostly due to his efforts that the
teachings of the Holy Prophet and his descendants became widespread. ImamAr_Reza had
inherited great qualities of head and heart from his ancestors. He was a versatile person
and had full command over many languages. Ibnu 'l-Athir al-Jazari penned very rightly that
ImamAr_Reza was undoubtedly the greatest sage, saint and scholar of the second century
(AH). Once, on his way to Khurasan, when he (the Imam) was brought by force by the guards
of al-Ma'mun from Medina, he arrived on horseback at Nayshabur.
Myriads of people gathered round him and all
roads were over crowded as they had come to meet and see their great Imam. Abu Dhar'ah
ar-Razi and Muhammad ibn Aslam at-Tusi, the two great scholars of the day, stepped out of
the crowd and begged the Imam to halt there for a moment so that the faithful may be able
to hear his voice. They also requested the Imam to address the gathering. The Imam granted
the request and in his brief address told the mammoth gathering the real interpretation of
la ilaha illa Allah. Quoting Allah, he continued to say that the kalimah is the fortress
of Allah and whoever entered the fortress saved himself from His wrath. He paused for a
moment and continued that there were also a few conditions to entitle the entrance to the
fortress and the greatest of all conditions was sincere and complete submission to the
Imam of the day; and very boldly and frankly explained to the people that any disloyalty
to the Prophet and his descendants would withdraw the right of the entrance to the
fortress.
The only way to earn Almighty Allah's
pleasure was to obey the Prophet and his progeny and that was the only path to salvation
and immortality. The above-mentioned incident speaks clearly of the great popularity of
ImamAr_Reza, and the love, loyalty and respect the Muslims gave their beloved Imam.
al-Ma'mun, the king, was conscious of the fact that he would not survive for long if he
also did not express his loyalty to the great leader and his intelligence department had
made it clear to him that the Iranian people were truly and sincerely loyal to the Imam
and he could only win them over if he also pretended to give respect and sympathetic
consideration to Imam 'Al;Ar_Reza. al-Ma'mun was a very shrewd person. He made a plan to
invite ImamAr_Reza and to offer him the heirship to the throne. The Imam was summoned by
a royal decree and was compelled, under the circumstances, to leave Medina - where he was
living a quiet life - and present himself at the royal court of al-Ma'mun.
On his arrival, al-Ma'mun showed him
hospitality and great respect, then he said to him: "I want to get rid of myself of
the caliphate and vest the office in you." ButAr_Reza refused his offer. Then
al-Ma'mun repeated his offer in a letter saying: "If you refuse what I have offered
you, then you must accept being the heir after me." But againAr_Reza refused his
offer vigorously. al-Ma'mun summoned him. He was alone with al-Fadl ibn Sahl, the man with
two offices ( i. e., military and civil). There was no one else in their gathering.
al-Ma'mun said toAr_Reza, "I thought it appropriate to invest authority over the
Muslims in you and to relieve myself of the responsibility by giving it to you." When
againAr_Reza refused to accept his offer, al-Ma'mun spoke to him as if threatening him
for his refusal. In his speech he said, " 'Umar ibn al-Khattab made a committee of
consultation (shura) (to appoint a successor). Among them was your forefather, the
Commander of the faithful, 'Al; ibn Abi Talib. ('Umar) stipulated that any of them who
opposed the decision should be executed. So there is no escape for you from accepting what
I want from you.
I will ignore your rejection of it." In
reply,Ar_Reza said: "I will agree to what you want of me as far as succession is
concerned on condition that I do not command, nor order, nor give legal decisions, nor
judge, nor appoint, nor dismiss, nor change anything from how it is at present."
al-Ma'mun accepted all of that. On the day when al-Ma'mun ordered to make the pledge of
allegiance toAr_Reza, one of the close associates ofAr_Reza, who was present, narrates,
"On that day I was in front of him. He looked at me while I was feeling happy about
what had happened. He signaled me to come closer. I went closer to him and he said so that
no one else could hear, 'Do not occupy your heart with this matter and do not be happy
about it. It is something which will not be achieved.' " Quoting al-'Allamah
ash-Shibli from his book al-Ma'mun, we get a very clear picture of how al-Ma'mun decided
to offer his leadership to ImamAr_Reza. "ImamAr_Reza was the Eighth Imam and
al-Ma'mun could not help holding him in great esteem because of the Imam's piety, wisdom,
knowledge, modesty, decorum and personality.
Therefore, he decided to nominate him a the
rightful heir to the throne. Earlier in 200 AH he had summoned the 'Abbasids. Thirty-three
thousand 'Abbasids responded to the invitation and were entertained as royal guests.
During their stay at the capital he very closely observed and noted their capabilities and
eventually arrived at the conclusion that not one of them deserved to succeed him. He
therefore spoke to them all in an assembly in 201 AH telling them in categorical terms
that none of the 'Abbasids deserved to succeed him. He demanded allegiance to ImamAr_Reza
from the people in this very meeting and declared that royal robes would be green in
future, the color which had the unique distinction of being that of the Imam's dress. A
Royal decree was published saying that ImamAr_Reza will succeed al-Ma'mun. Even after the
declaration of succession when there was every opportunity for the Imam to live a splendid
worldly royal life, he did not pay any heed to material comforts and devoted himself
completely to imparting the true Islamic conception of the Prophet' s teachings and the
Holy Qur'an.
He spent most of his time praying to God and
serving the people. Taking full advantage of the concessions given to him by virtue of his
elevated position in the royal court, he organized the majalis (meetings) commemorating
the martyrdom of the martyrs of Karbala'. These majalis were first held during the days of
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq, but ImamAr_Reza gave the majalis a new
impetus by encouraging those poets who wrote effective poems depicting the moral aspects
of the tragedy and the suffering of Imam Husayn and his companions. al-Ma'mun had been
very scared of the growing popularity of the Imam and he had appointed him as his heir to
the throne only for the fulfillment of his own most ambitious and sinister designs and
getting the Imam's endorsement to his tricky plans.
But the Imam naturally refused to give his
endorsement to any such plans which were against the teaching of Islam. al-Ma'mun
therefore became very disappointed with him and decided once and for all to check his
growing popularity and ensuring his own survival by acting according to the old traditions
of killing the Imam. Wanting to do it in a more subtle manner, he invited the Imam to
dinner, and fed him poisoned grapes. The Imam died on 17th Safar 203 AH, he was buried in
Tus (Mashhad) and his Grand Shrine speaks well for the great personality the Imam
possessed. Myriads of Muslims visit his Shrine every year to pay their homage to this
Imam.
al-ImamAr_Reza, peace be Upon him, said:
Doing seven things without doing the seven
other things is self-mockery: asking for forgiveness from Allah verbally without repenting
with the heart; asking for Allah's help without undertaking any effort; making a firm
resolution to do something without taking due precautions; asking Allah for Paradise
without enduring the related hardships; beseeching deliverance from the Hell-fire without
refraining from lusts; remembering Allah without anticipating to encounter Him.
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