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Imam Ali ibn Mosa (A.S.)
The Tenth Infallible
The Eighth Imam
'Ali Ibn Musa Ar-Rida (Peace be on him)
Name: 'Ali.
Title: ar-Rida.
Agnomen: Abu 'l-Hasan.
Father's
name: Musa al-Kazim.
Mother's name: Ummu 'l-Banin Najmah.
Birth:
In Medina, on Thursday,11th Dhu 'I-qi'dah 148 AH.
Death: Died at
the age of 55, in Mashhad (Khurasan), on Tuesday, 17th .Safar 203
AH; poisoned by al-Ma'mun, the 'Abbasid caliph; buried in
Mashhad, Iran.
Imam 'Ali ar-Rida was brought up under the holy guidance of
his father for thirty-five years. His own insight and brilliance
in religious matters combined with the excellent training and
education given by his father made him unique in his spiritual
leadership. Imam ar-Rida was a living example of the piety of the
great Prophet and the chivalry and generosity of Imam 'Ali ibn
Abi Talib.
* * *
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 Imam ar-Rida 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 Imam ar-Rida 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.
* * *
Imamate:
Imam Musa al-Kazim was poisoned while he was still in prison
and expired on 25th Rajab 183 AH, and on the same day Imam
ar-Rida was declared as the Eighth Imam of the Muslim world. Imam
ar-Rida 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. Imam ar-Rida, 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. Imam
ar-Rida 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
Imam ar-Rida 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 Imam ar-Rida, 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-Rida. al-Ma'mun was a
very shrewd person. He made a plan to invite Imam ar-Rida 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. But ar-Rida 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 again ar-Rida 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 to ar-Rida, 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 again ar-Rida 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-Rida 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 to ar-Rida,
one of the close associates of ar-Rida, 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 Imam ar-Rida. Imam ar-Rida 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 Imam ar-Rida 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 Imam
ar-Rida 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 Imam ar-Rida
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-Imam ar-Rida, peace be on 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.
* * *
(A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles, p. 137-143)
