The life of Imam
'Ali Bin Musa al-Rida
by
Baqir Sharif al-Qarashi
Translated
Jasim al-Rasheed
In the Name of Allah , the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
Some years ago, while I was paying a visitation to the Holy Shrine of the eighth Ima`m, my master, 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida`, peace be on him, I asked myself: "Is it possible for me to find favor with my Ima`ms, the guides and rightly-guided ones who have said in their traditions: 'May Allah have mercy on him who enlivens our affairs,'?" So it came to my mind that I had to find a book on the life of the eighth Ima`m in order to translate it into English. After I had asked the advice of some professors, I chose the book entitled the Life of Ima`m al-Rida` by Shaykh Ba`qir Sharïf al-Qarashi. Then I gave the book to Mr. Ja`sim al-Rasheed in order to translate it into English, and he agreed to this suggestion; I thank him, and praise belongs to Allah.
After an arduous effort and diligent striving, this great book has been translated into English, that it may be an important reference before those who desire to study and to inquire into the lives of the Ima`ms of the
ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them. We ask Allah, the Great and Almighty, to help us enliven more works about the
ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, and on
Tashayyu'; surely He is powerful over everything.
In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate
"Surely Allah chose Adam and Noah and the descendants of Abraham and the descendants of 'Umra`n above the nations. Offspring, one of the other; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing." Qur'a`n (3: 33 -34) "Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House, and to purify you thoroughly." Qur'a`n (33: 33)"Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives; and whoever earns good, We give him more of good therein; surely Allah is Forgiving, Grateful." Qur'a`n (53:23)
A Foreword by His Eminence,
Ima`m al-Sayyid 'Abd al-A'la` al-
Sabzwa`ri, may his blessings last
In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate,
Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Blessing and peace be on the noblest of His creatures Mohammed and his Household, the good, the pure. The pure Ima`ms, peace be on them, are the mediations of the Holiest Grace, the means of Divine mercy, and the testamentary trustees of Allah, may His name be exalted, on earth. Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, has endowed them with knowledge and cognition through which they set the foundations of the religion and pillars of Sharï'a. The gallant, affectionate, infallible Ima`m 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida, peace be on him, was unique in being able to affirm Divine knowledge through debating with the leading scientists of religions and followers of false beliefs. He established right and refuted wrong, and his holy words have become the axis of studies and foundation of perfection. A group of scholars-may Allah, the Exalted, reward them with the best reward-has undertaken the task of collecting, interpreting, and explaining these words. Among those whom Allah, the Most High, has singled out for this great dignity is, Shaykh of traditionalists, the Hujja, Shaykh Ba`qir al-Qarashi, whom Allah, the Exalted, has endowed with His special favor and placed him among those who are guides to the righteous Ima`ms, peace be on them, and explain their words and their characters. May Allah, the Most High, appreciate his efforts and grant him success to exalt the word of the truth and to manifest the reality. Verily, He is All-hearing, and answers to prayers!
Jama`di al Tha`niya 26th, 1412 A. H.
'Abd al-A'la` al-Sabzwa`ri
DEDICATION
I submit this humble effort to the great position of the pioneer of the intellectual and cognitive renaissance in Islam, the Prophet's descendant, Ima`m Ja'far al-Sa`diq, peace be on him. I have made this research about his grandson Ima`m 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida, peace be on him, while hoping that he will kindly accept, so it would be a treasure for me on the Day of Resurrection.
The Author
INTRODUCTION
(1)
This is an inquiry into the life of Ima`m 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida, peace be on him, the eighth Ima`m from the Household of the Prophet. He is Allah's light, His gift, and His treasure. He and his fathers, the leaders of Islamic Thought, are in no need of praisers' praise and descripers' description, for Allah, the Exalted praised them, took away uncleanness from them, and purified them from deviation. Regarding them He, the Exalted, has said:
"Verily Allah intends to keep off from you every kind of uncleanness and to purify you people of the House with a thorough purification. 1" He has also imposed love for them on all the children of Islam. Moreover He, the Exalted, has said: "Say:
I demand not of you any reward for it (the toils of preaching) except the love of my relations. "
2
Their grandfather the Messenger, may Allah bless him and his family, associated them to the Qur'a`n when he said: "I am going to leave among you the
thaqalayn. If you cleave to them, you will never go astray after me; one of them is greater than the other that is the Book of Allah which is a cord stretching from the sky to the earth and my offspring from my family. They will never scatter (from each other) until they come to me at the Pool (
hawd). Hence, think! How will you treat them after me?
3" Also he, may Allah bless him and his family, regarded them as the life-ships of this community. He has said:
____________
1 Quran, 33, 22.
2 Ibid, 41, 23
3 Al-Tirmidhi, Sahih, vol. 2, p. 30. Asad al-Ghabah, vol. 2, p.
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"Verily my Household among you are like Noah's Ark, which whoever embarked was safe, and whoever missed drowned. Verily my Household among you are like the gate of
Hitta among the children of Isra'ïl, through which whoever entered was forgiven.
1"
Al-Ma'mu`n asked 'Abd Allah b. Matar, who was an eminent thinker and poet at his time: "What is your opinion of the Household (of the Prophet)?" "What shall I say about the clay which was plunged into the water of the Message and planted in the water of the Inspiration? Nothing will spread from it except the musk of guidance and ambergris of piety," replied 'Abd Allah with these brilliant words.
These golden words controlled al-Ma'mu`n's heart, hence he, and in the presence of Ima`m al-Rida, ordered the mouth of 'Abd Allah to be stuffed with pearls.
2"
All the exalted values and genuine principles of which man boasts were in the Ima`ms of the Household (of the prophet), peace be on them, for they were some of their elements and qualities.
(2)
As for the inclinations and qualities of Ima`m al-Rida`, they were like those of his fathers, the great Ima`ms. He freed himself from the world, renounced its beauties, and turned away from its embellishment, dedicated himself to Allah, devoted himself to Him, and clung to obedience to Him. He had knowledge of the precepts of the religion, inclusively encompassed the law of the Lord of the messengers, helped the weak, relieved the deprived, accomplished the needs of the needy, and other qualities which placed him at the top of honor and glory in the world of Arabs and Muslims.
Ima`m 'Ali al-Rida, peace be on him, possessed these original values in all their forms and kinds, for he completely freed himself from the world and divorced it three times, just as his grandfather
____________
1 Majjma' al-Zawaid, vol. 9, p. 68. Al-Hlya, vol 4, p. 306. Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, p. 19.
2 Al-Majjlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 12, p. 71.
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Ima`m 'Ali, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, did. Hence, he
paid no attention to its vanities and embellishment. This clearly appeared when he undertook the succession, which was the greatest office in the Islamic State, hence he was the second character after al-Ma'mu`n. Nevertheless, he rejected all the seductions of government and authority. He intensely hated the popular festivals and all kinds of honoring and magnifying which the people would hold for their kings and rulers. He announced this when he said: "Man's waking behind a man is a trial for the followed and abasement for the follower.
1" The narrators have said: "Ima`m 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida would go to the bath-house, but the owner of the bath-house did not recognize him. It happened that there was a soldier in the bath-house and the soldier asked the Ima`m to rub and clean him. The Ima`m responded to his request. When the soldier came to know of the Imam, he became fearful and terrified. However, the Ima`m calmed his fear and made him know that he rendered him a human service."
Among his high moral traits is that he would eat with his boys and retainers. He hated to distinguish himself from them. There are other high moral traits which he inherited from his grandfather, the greatest Messenger, may Allah bless him and his family.
(3)
The Ima`ms of
ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, had their own brilliant policy and method in the world of government and policy. They thought that government should be a means for establishing pure justice and truth, spreading love and friendship among men. They though that government should be a means for refreshing peoples, achieving their welfare, security, and prosperity. They thought that government was worthless if it did not achieve these noble aims through which peoples become happy. Listen to what the master of the Household (of the Prophet), Ima`m 'Ali, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, when he said to his helper and adviser, 'Abd
____________
1 Al-Ya'qubi, Tarikh
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Allah b. 'Abba`s to whom he held up his sandals made of fiber and asked him:
"Ibn 'Abba`s, how much do you value these sandals?"
"They have no value," Ibn 'Abba`s retorted.
"By Allah, they are more lovable to me than these affairs of yours but for the fact that I must establish (what is) true and ward off (what is) false," explained the Ima`m.
The dictionary of policy has no words greater or more exalted than these words said by Ima`m 'Ali, the Commander of the faithful and greatest Muslim thinker, peace be on him. Authority has no value unless it establishes fairness and justice, wards off falsehood and tyranny.
This is the path which Allah has chosen for His servants, that they may be righteous, and that they may enjoy a government which stands on neither deception nor misleading nor playing with the fates of the community.
(4)
Imam al-Rida, peace be on him, appeared on the arena of the political life in Islam, and he was the most brilliant politician in Islamic history. He was steadfast in his political attitudes, so he was not deceived by the bright ways and false hopes of al-Mu'mu`n, the 'Abba`sid king, when he abdicated the throne and entrusted it to him. This abdication of the throne was not real; nor was it true at all; rather al-Ma'mu`n had decided that in order to achieve his political goals; probably the most important one of these goals is that he wanted to suppress those burning revolts which were about to burn the 'Abba`sid government and to fold its flag. Among those revolts was that of Abu` al-Sara`ya`. It is worth mentioning that Abu` al-Sara`ya` was an inspired military commander like Abu` Muslim al-Khurasa`ni, who had overthrown the Umayyad government. Moreover al-Ma'mu`n wanted to conciliate the Iranians and all supporters of the Household (of the Prophet) whom the previous 'Abba`sid governments had wronged, persecuted, and deprived of their natural rights.
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Ima`m al-Rida`, peace be on him, was fully aware of the political reasons which urged al-Ma'mu`n to abdicate the office of the caliphate and to hand it over to him, peace be on him. He, peace be on him, vigorously refused to undertake it. When al-Ma'mu`n was despair of him, he threatened him with death, so the Ima`m reluctantly responded to him according to the following conditions:
A. He (Ima`m al-Rida`) would not command; nor would he prohibit.
B. He would not remove any person from his office.
C. He would not appoint any person in any of the state offices.
These conditions indicate that the Ima`m was the apparent successor of al-Ma'mu`n, and that the government of al-Ma'mu`n was illegal, for if it had been legal, he would not have mentioned these conditions.
Only few days ago and all the people came to know that the Ima`m had deep faith and that al-Ma'mu`n had nothing except cunning. They understood that al-Ma'mu`n wanted to achieve his political aims. When al-Ma'mu`n had achieved his goals, he assassinated the Ima`m, for he was unable to remove him from the office of regency. We will explain this matter in the chapters that follow.
(5)
Among the aims of this book is to give proof of the Ima`m's abundant knowledge of philosophy, theology, medicine, jurisprudence, and so on. This can be indicated objectively through his debates with the great philosophers and scholars from different countries and cities. It is worth mentioning that al-Ma'mu`n had asked them to come to Khurasa`n in order to examine the Ima`m. He held a private and secret meeting with them and promised to give them a lot of money if they could silence the Ima`m with their arguments and render him incapable of answering them, that he might use this incapability as a means for slandering and defaming the Shï'ites who believed that the Ima`ms of the Household (of the Prophet), peace be on them, were the most knowledgeable of the community, and that
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Allah endowed them knowledge and excellencies just as He had endowed His prophets and His testamentary trustees.
The scholars responded to al-Ma'mu`n's summons and asked the Ima`m about the vaguest and most difficult matters. The historians have said: "The scholars asked Ima`m 'Ali b. Mu`sa` al-Rida more than twenty thousand questions about various matters, and he skillfully answered them. Then they admired his abundant knowledge and most of them believed in his Ima`mate." As a result al-Ma'mu`n was forced to prevent the scholars and others from meeting the Ima`m. Meanwhile he kept him under intense observation lest the people should admired him.
It is worth mentioning that these debates were recorded by some of the Ima`m's students, but we have not found them yet. Perhaps they are part of the manuscripts which Arab and Islamic world has lost.
Any how, the Shï'ite historians have reported a small group of these debates which are of great importance. For they , though few in number, show the Ima`m's abundant and scientific wealth, and they indicate that he was a unique thinker and scholar in the world of Islam.
(6)
Some books of Ima`m al-Rida`, peace be on him, have been reported and mentioned in the books of some historians and biographers such as Ibn al-Nadïm, al-Tu`si, and others. They are as follows:
