ISLAMS GIFTS TO THE WORLD [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

THE WELCOME

Written by:

Mostafa Rahman doust

Translated and Edited by:

K. Najafi

Abdollah shouted, I know, I know! I know better
than all of you. Be quiet, and leave my sight!

His spies who worked for him, backed away, leaving the
of Medina.

Abdollah was the governor of Medina. It had been many
years since 'Motivakel', the Abassi Calipheh, had
appointed Abdollah as the governor of Medina. Motivakel
had warned him to watch out and be careful of Imam Hadi
(Aleihe Salaam)

Abdollah had a couple of spies who often went to Imam
Hadi's (A.S.) house, and brought back reports to Abdollah
about what they heard and saw. They also gave Abdollah
the names of Imam Hadi's (A.S.) friends. However, day by
day his friends and supporters increased, they were not
afraid of what difficulties the governor would pose for
them. Abdollah, soon realized this fact.

On that particular day, Abdollah's men had told him
that it was no longer possible to report all the names of
Imam Hadi's (A. S.) friends and supporters, because there
were so many of them now. Abdollah who became very angry
on hearing this, began to shout and yell at his men. He
then kicked them out of his room.

After that, Abdollah put his hands to his head and
started thinking. He knew that the Calipheh did not want
the people to be in contact with Imam Hadi (A.S.), but
there was nothing he could do to stop them.

After some time of thinking, Abdollah decided to send
a letter to Motivakel, the Abassi Calipheh. In that
letter he wrote, The love for Imam Hadi (A.S.) has
spread much among the people of Medina. The people are
attracted to him.

We must keep in mind the fact that, the people believe
that the Caliphate belongs to Imam Hadi (A.S.) and that
one day, there might be an upraising against your
Caliphate, which in that case, will take the city of
Medina from your rule.

Upon receiving this letter, Motivakel began to device
a plan in which to prevent this from happening. He sent
an army officer by the name of 'Yahya to Medina with a
letter to Imam Hadi (A.S.). He was given the
responsibility of capturing Imam Hadi (A.S.) and taking
him to another city by the name of 'Samera'. In those
days Samera was the capital of the Abassi Caliphate.

In the letter that Motivakel wrote to the Imam, it
asked him to leave the city of Medina for the city of
Samera. The Calipheh's letter was written using beautiful
words and with much respect.

However among those beautiful words was still the request
that he leave Medina. Yahya along with some of his
soldiers reached Medina, they gave Imam Hadi (A.S.) the
letter. The Imam then informed his friends of the letter,
they realized upon hearing of the letter and seeing Yahya
and his soldiers, that they would lose their beloved
Imam.

The news of Imam Hadi's (A.S.) forced leave from
Medina to Samera quickly spread. In each and every town,
people eagerly awaited the caravan that was to take their
Imam to Samera. Everyone gathered to welcome him.

The caravan in which Imam Hadi (A.S.) traveled with,
slowly came closer to the city of 'Baghdad'. The people
of Baghdad had been awaiting his arrival for a long time.
They stood outside the town gates to get a quicker view
of his arrival to Baghdad.

The turn-out of people to welcome Imam Hadi (A.S.) was
so great that it caused a disruption of work and trade.
Everywhere was closed. All were in anticipation of his
arrival. Even the governor, 'Eshaq', of Baghdad was
forced to come out to welcome the Imam.

News of the people's welcoming of Imam Hadi (A.S.) in
each and every town, soon reached the ears of the
Calipheh. He wrote a letter to Eshaq, ordering him to
stop the Imam from proceeding any further, and to think
of a way in delaying Imam Hadi (A.S.) so that he would
not reach Samera during the daylight. For, the Calipheh
wanted Imam Hadi (A.S.) to reach Samera at night, so that
by then, the people would have become to tired to welcome
him.

Eshaq did what Motivakel had ordered. Through his
planning he was sure that the Imam's caravan would not
reach Samera until midnight.

Which is what happened. Imam Hadi's (A.S.) caravan did
not reach there until late that night, when all was
covered in darkness. But, Motivakel's plan did not work,
for since early that morning the towns people had closed
their shops and left the city in order to meet and
welcome their Imam.

When the sky had darkened, and night fell, no one went
home. Everyone stood their ground, waiting to welcome
Imam Hadi (A.S.).

As soon as Imam Hadi was sighted outside the city of
Samera a shouts of joy were heard throughout the city of
Samera. All this sound of happiness reached Motivakel,
the Abassi Caliph, who had remained inside his palace. He
was still deep in thought as to how he could ruin the
Imam's reputation, thus weakening the people's support of
him. Imam Hadi (A.S.) entered the city along with the
crowd of people who had come to welcome him. The crowd
was so large, that the Imam could not be seen in the
centre of them. The Caliph's soldiers were busy coming
and going, taking care and watching out that the people
would not take advantage of the moment, and revolt.

The Imam along with the Caliphs guards entered the
palace. The Calipheh did not want to go to his welcome
eventhough Imam Hadi (A.S.) had come to him. He did not
want his advisors or ministers to respect Imam Hadi
(A.S.) But the Imam had such a look, that it demanded
nothing else other than respect. The Imam' s manners and
ways were such to cause a commotion, even in the Caliph's
own palace. All of the palace's guards stood in a line to
offer Imam Hadi (A.S.) their respect.

The Caliph was forced to go and welcome the Imam. But
he ordered his men to find the most unsuitable place for
Imam Hadi (A.S.) to reside in. That night the Calipheh's
guards took the Imam to a very poor and dirty area of the
city. Imam Hadi (A.S.) stayed there for three or four
nights. The Imam's presence there, caused the people to
love and respect him even more than before. He bought a
farm and began working on his farm. At nights the Imam
went to help the poor and needy, but during the days he
farmed and worked on his own farm, as well as seeing to
the people's problems. Day by day the people's love grew
more and more towards Imam Hadi (A.S.). Motivakel was
tortured by the fact that no matter what he did, the love
and respect of the people kept on growing for Imam Hadi
(A.S.)