SMHMShaheed Mudassir Hussain Mehdi
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محمد الباقر

Imam Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir

peace be upon him

باقر العلومBaqir al-Ulumthe one who splits open the sciences
الباقرal-Baqirthe one who splits open knowledge, the title the Prophet gave him
باقر علم النبيينBaqir Ilm al-Nabiyyinthe one who opens the knowledge of the prophets
أبو جعفرAbu Ja'farhis kunya: father of Ja'far
أبو جعفر الأولAbu Ja'far al-Awwalthe first Abu Ja'far, as the hadith books call him
الشاكرal-Shakirthe one thankful to God
الهاديal-Hadithe guide

His life

  1. The fifth Imam of the Shia; the son of Imam Zayn al-Abidin and of Umm Abd Allah Fatima, the daughter of Imam al-Hasan. Descended from al-Hasan through his mother and from al-Husayn through his father, he is called a Hashimite among Hashimites, an Alawi among Alawis and a Fatimi among Fatimis (al-Irshad of al-Shaykh al-Mufid; A'yan al-Shi'a).
  2. Born in Medina on Friday, 1 Rajab 57 AH (677 CE) (Dala'il al-Imama; I'lam al-Wara); some report 3 Safar of the same year (Bihar al-Anwar). He was a small child at Karbala (Tarikh al-Ya'qubi) and is named among the captives taken to Kufa and Damascus (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin).
  3. Long before his birth the Prophet named him Muhammad and gave him the title al-Baqir, as the Hadith al-Lawh and the narration of Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari attest (Kifayat al-Athar). Al-Ya'qubi writes: he was named al-Baqir because he split knowledge open (Tarikh al-Ya'qubi). His kunya is Abu Ja'far (Dala'il al-Imama).
  4. When the verse of those vested with authority (4:59) was revealed, Jabir asked the Prophet who they were. The Prophet named the Imams after him, and when he came to Muhammad ibn Ali, known in the Torah as al-Baqir, he said: you will see him in your old age; when you see him, convey my greeting to him (I'lam al-Wara of al-Tabrisi; Yanabi' al-Mawadda of al-Qunduzi).
  5. Jabir waited for him, and would call out in the Prophet's mosque, 'O Baqir al-Ilm!' When at last he found Muhammad ibn Ali, then a boy or a youth, he kissed him and conveyed to him the salam of the Messenger of God (al-Kafi 1:304 and 1:469-470).
  6. Imam al-Sajjad singled him out; asked by his son Umar why, he said the imamate would remain in al-Baqir's descendants until our Qa'im rises and fills the world with justice: he is an Imam and the father of Imams (Kifayat al-Athar). His imamate began on his father's martyrdom in 95 AH and lasted nineteen years.
  7. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid writes that he surpassed his brothers in knowledge, piety and standing; the surviving Companions of the Prophet, the leading Followers and the foremost jurists narrated from him, and more of religion, the Prophet's sunna, the Qur'an and good conduct was learned from him than from any descendant of al-Hasan and al-Husayn before him (al-Irshad).
  8. In his time the Shia school of jurisprudence, exegesis and ethics took shape; the movement he began reached its height under his son, Imam al-Sadiq (al-Irshad; Hayat-i Fikri wa Siyasi-yi Imaman-i Shi'a of Rasul Ja'fariyan). His fame for knowledge reached Iraq and Khurasan; one narrator saw people of Khurasan circled around him with their questions (al-Kafi 6:357).
  9. Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated thirty thousand hadiths from him (Bihar al-Anwar) and Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi seventy thousand (A'immatuna of al-Dakhil). Of the six foremost jurists of the early centuries in Shia reckoning, all were companions of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq: Zurara ibn A'yan, Ma'ruf ibn Kharrabudh, Abu Basir al-Asadi, Fudayl ibn Yasar, Muhammad ibn Muslim and Burayd ibn Mu'awiya al-Ijli (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub).
  10. He rejected analogy (qiyas) as a source of law (Wasa'il al-Shi'a), and said the Khawarij erred out of ignorance, for religion is gentler than they understood it (Ja'fariyan). Ibn al-Nadim mentions a book of Qur'an exegesis from him (al-Fihrist).
  11. When a man repeated Ka'b al-Ahbar's claim that the Ka'ba prostrates each morning toward Jerusalem, he said: you and Ka'b are both wrong, and God has not created a place on earth more beloved to Him than the Ka'ba, as Zurara ibn A'yan narrates (Bihar al-Anwar 46:354).
  12. It is reported that the caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan first minted coins with Islamic inscriptions on his suggestion, replacing Byzantine coin (A'yan al-Shi'a); some attribute the suggestion to Imam al-Sajjad, or say al-Baqir made it on his father's instruction (al-Iqd al-Munir).
  13. He taught Ziyarat Ashura to Alqama ibn Muhammad al-Hadrami, telling him that whoever greets al-Husayn with it on Ashura, near or far, has greeted him as the angels do (Kamil al-Ziyarat; Misbah al-Mutahajjid).
  14. He said of the verse of those vested with authority (4:59): by them God meant only us, and commanded the believers to obey us until the Day of Judgment (al-Burhan of al-Bahrani). He is narrated as saying that the Verse of Affection (42:23) refers to the infallible Imams (al-Kafi 1:413).
  15. Sunni scholars praised him. Ibn Hajar al-Haytami wrote that he disclosed so many hidden treasures of knowledge that he was called Baqir al-Ilm (al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa); Abd Allah ibn Ata' said he never saw scholars humbler before anyone than before Abu Ja'far (Tadhkirat al-Khawass of Sibt ibn al-Jawzi); al-Dhahabi said he combined knowledge, action, dignity and trustworthiness and was worthy of the caliphate (Siyar A'lam al-Nubala).
  16. His imamate spanned five Umayyad caliphs, from al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, in whose caliphate he was martyred (Tarikh al-Ya'qubi).
  17. He passed away on 7 Dhu l-Hijja 114 AH (733 CE) (Firaq al-Shi'a of al-Nawbakhti); other years are also reported, among them 117 AH. The sources differ on who killed him: some name Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (al-Misbah of al-Kaf'ami), others say Ibrahim ibn al-Walid poisoned him (Dala'il al-Imama; Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub).
  18. He was buried in al-Baqi beside his father and Imam al-Hasan, his father's uncle (Firaq al-Shi'a; al-Kafi; al-Irshad; Dala'il al-Imama; I'lam al-Wara; Tadhkirat al-Khawass).
  19. He had seven children, five sons and two daughters. His wife Umm Farwa, the daughter of al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, was the mother of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq and of Abd Allah (al-Irshad; I'lam al-Wara).

Days

  1. 57 AH677 CEBorn in Medina, 1 Rajab
  2. 61 AH680 CEA child at Karbala; taken among the captives
  3. 95 AH713 CEHis father martyred; his imamate begins
  4. 105 AH724 CEHisham ibn Abd al-Malik becomes caliph
  5. 114 AH733 CEMartyred, 7 Dhu l-Hijja; buried in al-Baqi

Family

علي بن الحسينImam Zayn al-Abidin
محمد الباقرImam Muhammad al-Baqir
جعفر الصادقImam Ja'far al-Sadiq
عبد اللهAbd Allah
إبراهيمIbrahim
عبيد اللهUbayd Allah
عليAli
زينبZaynab
أم سلمةUmm Salama

In the Qur’an

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِ مِنكُمۡۖ فَإِن تَنَٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِي شَيۡءٖ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيۡرٞ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلًا ٥٩

O you who have faith! Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority among you. And if you dispute concerning anything, refer it to Allah and the Apostle, if you have faith in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more favourable in outcome.

The verse of those vested with authority · An-Nisaa 4:59

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِي يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِۗ قُل لَّآ أَسۡـَٔلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ أَجۡرًا إِلَّا ٱلۡمَوَدَّةَ فِي ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰۗ وَمَن يَقۡتَرِفۡ حَسَنَةٗ نَّزِدۡ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسۡنًاۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ شَكُورٌ ٢٣

Such is the good news that Allah gives to His servants who have faith and do righteous deeds! Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it except the love of [my] relatives.’ Whoever performs a good deed, We shall enhance its goodness for him. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-appreciative.

The verse of affection · Ash-Shura 42:23

Peace be upon you, O Imam of guidance.

Peace be upon you, O full moon in the darkness.

Peace be upon you, O refuge of the God-fearing.

Peace be upon you, O you who split open the knowledge of the prophets.

Sources