SMHMShaheed Mudassir Hussain Mehdi
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علي الهادي

Imam Ali al-Hadi

peace be upon him

الهاديal-Hadithe guide
النقيal-Naqithe pure
أبو الحسن الثالثAbu l-Hasan al-Thaliththe third Abu l-Hasan, after Imam al-Kazim and Imam al-Rida
العسكريal-Askariof al-Askar, the garrison town of Samarra where he was held
ابن الرضاIbn al-Ridathe son of al-Rida
النجيبal-Najibthe noble
المرتضىal-Murtadathe one with whom God is pleased
العالمal-Alimthe learned
الفقيهal-Faqihthe jurist
الأمينal-Aminthe trustworthy
الطيبal-Tayyibthe good

His life

  1. The son of Imam al-Jawad and the tenth Imam of the Shia. His mother was a bondwoman named Samana, or Susan (al-Irshad of al-Shaykh al-Mufid; Firaq al-Shi'a of al-Nawbakhti). His kunya was Abu l-Hasan; the hadith books call him Abu l-Hasan al-Thalith, since Imam al-Kazim and Imam al-Rida had borne it before him. He and his son are called al-Askariyyayn, because the caliphs held them in Samarra.
  2. Born at Sarya, near Medina, in the middle of Dhu al-Hijja 212 AH (828), as al-Kulayni, al-Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Shaykh al-Tusi record (al-Irshad); some reports give 2 or 5 Rajab (al-Misbah of al-Kaf'ami).
  3. He became Imam at his father's martyrdom in 220 AH (835), and his Imamate lasted thirty-four years. Summoned to Baghdad, Imam al-Jawad named him his successor before the Shia and left a written statement so that no doubt would remain (al-Kafi). All but a few of Imam al-Jawad's followers accepted him, and al-Mufid counts that consensus as a proof of his Imamate (al-Irshad; Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub).
  4. Al-Mutawakkil turned on the descendants of Abu Talib: he destroyed the shrine of Imam al-Husayn, ploughed the land over the grave and punished its pilgrims (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin of Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani).
  5. In 233 AH (847-8), on reports of the people's bond with the Imam, al-Mutawakkil summoned him from Medina to Samarra (Tadhkirat al-Khawass of Sibt ibn al-Jawzi). The Imam had written rejecting the slanders against him; the caliph answered with a courteous letter asking him to come, whose text al-Kulayni and al-Mufid preserve (al-Irshad).
  6. Yahya ibn Harthama, sent to bring him, reported that Medina was in uproar at his going, and that the people's distress and complaint reached a level never before seen in the city (Tadhkirat al-Khawass).
  7. On his first day in Samarra, al-Mutawakkil had him held in Khan al-Sa'alik, a caravan lodging, before moving him to a house; Salih ibn Sa'id saw this as meant to humiliate him (al-Irshad). He lived in Samarra under watch for twenty years and nine months (al-Irshad; Tarikh Baghdad of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi).
  8. Al-Mufid writes that the caliph honoured him outwardly while plotting against him in secret, and that none of his plots succeeded (al-Irshad). Al-Mutawakkil wished to show him as a courtier and lessen his standing, while keeping him under surveillance (I'lam al-Wara).
  9. Informers told al-Mutawakkil that the Imam's house held weapons and letters from the Shia. Soldiers found him alone in a room floored with sand, in a woollen garment, reciting the Qur'an, and brought him so to the caliph, who sat drinking. Offered wine, he said his flesh and blood had never been mixed with it. Made to recite poetry, he recited verses on the mighty who passed from palaces to graves; the caliph wept and had the wine removed, and sent him home with honour (Muruj al-Dhahab of al-Mas'udi; Tadhkirat al-Khawass).
  10. Al-Ziyara al-Jami'a al-Kabira, which may be recited for any of the Imams, near their graves or far away, is narrated from him: he taught it to a companion at his request (Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih of al-Shaykh al-Saduq; Tahdhib al-Ahkam of al-Shaykh al-Tusi), through Musa ibn Abd Allah al-Nakha'i. It opens: Peace be upon you, O Household of Prophethood and place of the Message. Al-Allama al-Majlisi called it the most complete ziyara, from near or far (Zad al-Ma'ad).
  11. In a long treatise narrated by Ibn Shu'ba al-Harrani, he made the Qur'an the measure by which hadith are judged, the one text every Muslim group refers to (Tuhaf al-Uqul). When the dispute over whether the Qur'an is created or eternal was dividing the Muslims, he wrote to one of the Shia to take neither side in it (al-Amali of al-Shaykh al-Saduq).
  12. More than twenty narrations from him uphold God's transcendence above any likeness to His creation, and a treatise of his explains from the Qur'an the teaching of Imam al-Sadiq: neither compulsion nor delegation, but a matter between the two (Musnad al-Imam al-Hadi).
  13. He guided the Shia of Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Iran through a network of agents who collected the khums, carried letters and settled questions. His agent Ali ibn Ja'far al-Hamani was imprisoned on al-Mutawakkil's orders and, once released, was told by the Imam to live in Mecca (Ikhtiyar Ma'rifat al-Rijal of al-Kashshi).
  14. He disowned the exaggerators: he cursed Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Numayri, who claimed to be a prophet sent by him and spoke of the Imam's lordship, and Faris ibn Hatim al-Qazwini (Firaq al-Shi'a of al-Nawbakhti; Ikhtiyar Ma'rifat al-Rijal of al-Kashshi). Of Ibn Baba al-Qummi he wrote that he claimed to be his prophet and his gate, and that Satan had misled him.
  15. Al-Shaykh al-Tusi counts more than 185 who studied with him or narrated from him. He told Abu Hammad al-Razi to take his religious questions to Abd al-Azim al-Hasani and to give him his greeting (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il), and he called Uthman ibn Sa'id, later the first deputy of Imam al-Mahdi, trustworthy (Rijal al-Tusi).
  16. Al-Mufid names as his children Imam al-Hasan al-Askari, al-Husayn, Muhammad and a daughter, A'isha (al-Irshad); Ibn Shahrashub names a daughter Aliyya (Manaqib). Other sources add Ja'far, who later claimed the Imamate and is called al-Kadhdhab. The mother of Imam al-Askari was the bondwoman Hudayth (al-Kafi; al-Irshad), also called Salil.
  17. He was martyred in Samarra in Rajab 254 AH (868), in the reign of al-Mu'tazz (al-Irshad). Some sources give 3 Rajab (Firaq al-Shi'a), others 25 or 26 Jumada al-Thani (Kashf al-Ghumma). According to reports, al-Mu'tazz poisoned him (Dala'il al-Imama).
  18. Imam al-Hasan al-Askari and some of the Shia prayed over him in his house; then al-Mu'tazz had the body set down before the crowd and prayed over it. The mourners struck their faces, and the crowd was so great that Imam al-Askari could barely pass. He was buried in the house in Samarra where he had been held (Ithbat al-Wasiyya of al-Mas'udi; Kashf al-Ghumma).

Days

  1. 212 AH828 CEBorn at Sarya near Medina, 15 Dhu al-Hijja
  2. 220 AH835 CEBecomes Imam at his father's martyrdom
  3. 232 AH846 CEBirth of his son, Imam al-Hasan al-Askari
  4. 233 AH847 CESummoned from Medina to Samarra by al-Mutawakkil
  5. 236 AH850 CEAl-Mutawakkil destroys the grave of Imam al-Husayn
  6. 254 AH868 CEMartyred in Samarra, Rajab; buried in his house

Family

محمد الجوادImam al-Jawad
علي الهاديImam al-Hadi
حديثHudayth
الحسن العسكريImam al-Hasan al-Askari
محمدSayyid Muhammad
الحسينal-Husayn
جعفرJa'far
عائشةA'isha

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

وَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوۡلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيۡهِ ءَايَةٞ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦٓۗ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٞۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوۡمٍ هَادٍ ٧

The faithless say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ You are only a warner, and there is a guide for every people.

For every people there is a guide · Ar-Ra'd 13:7

Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of God.

Peace be upon you, O Abu l-Hasan, Ali son of Muhammad, al-Hadi al-Naqi.

Peace be upon you, O Proof of God on His earth.

Peace be upon you, O martyred Imam, and the mercy of God and His blessings.

Sources