Ali Ibn Musa ar-Rida (Peace be Upon 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 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. |