SMHMShaheed Mudassir Hussain Mehdi
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موسى الكاظم

Imam Musa al-Kazim

peace be upon him

الكاظمal-Kazimthe one who restrains his anger
باب الحوائجBab al-Hawa'ijthe gate of needs
العبد الصالحal-'Abd al-Salihthe righteous servant of God
العالمal-'Alimthe learned one, as the narrators name him
أبو إبراهيمAbu Ibrahimfather of Ibrahim, a kunya
أبو الحسن الأولAbu l-Hasan al-Awwalthe first Abu l-Hasan
أبو الحسن الماضيAbu l-Hasan al-Madithe Abu l-Hasan who has passed
أبو عليAbu 'Alifather of Ali, a kunya

His life

  1. Musa ibn Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, the seventh Imam. His father was Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq and his mother Hamida al-Barbariyya (al-Irshad of al-Shaykh al-Mufid), a learned woman to whom Imam al-Sadiq sent women to learn the rules of religion. His kunyas were Abu Ibrahim, Abu l-Hasan al-Awwal, Abu l-Hasan al-Madi and Abu Ali.
  2. Born on a Sunday, 7 Safar 128 AH (745), or 7 Safar 129 AH (746) (Tarikh Baghdad of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi), at al-Abwa' between Mecca and Medina, as his parents returned from the Hajj (Ithbat al-Wasiyya of al-Mas'udi); some place his birth in Medina. Al-Tabari al-Imami gives Dhu al-Hijja (Dala'il al-Imama). Imam al-Sadiq fed the people for three days after his birth (al-Barqi).
  3. He was called al-Kazim because he restrained his anger and bore the wrongs others did him (al-Kamil of Ibn al-Athir; Tadhkirat al-Khawass of Sibt ibn al-Jawzi); al-Abd al-Salih, the righteous servant, for his worship (Tarikh Baghdad); and Bab al-Hawa'ij, the gate of needs (al-Irshad).
  4. Imam al-Sadiq named him as Imam to his close companions many times. Ali ibn Ja'far narrates that he said of Musa: he is my best child and the one who will succeed me. He will take my place. And he is the Exalted God's hujja (proof) for all the creatures after me (al-Irshad). Al-Kafi, al-Irshad, I'lam al-Wara and Bihar al-Anwar give sixteen, twelve, fourteen and forty-six hadiths on his Imamate.
  5. He became Imam at twenty, on his father's martyrdom in 148 AH. His thirty-five-year Imamate ran through four Abbasid caliphs: about ten years under al-Mansur, eleven under al-Mahdi, one under al-Hadi and thirteen under Harun al-Rashid (I'lam al-Wara).
  6. According to 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, Harun al-Rashid told his own son that Musa ibn Ja'far was the rightful Imam and the most worthy to succeed the Prophet, and that his own rule was only outward and by force.
  7. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid calls him the greatest worshipper of his time: he wept from fear of God until his beard was wet, and in prostration repeated: عَظُمَ الذَّنْبُ مِنْ عَبْدِكَ فَلْيَحْسُنِ الْعَفْوُ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ, If Thy servant's sin is great, then the forgiveness from Thee is the best (al-Irshad). His worship moved even his jailers (Tarikh Baghdad).
  8. Imprisoned by Harun, he thanked God: I always asked Thee an opportunity to worship and Thou have provided it for me, so I thank Thee (al-Irshad).
  9. He carried food and provisions to the poor of Medina by night, in secret (al-Irshad); his purses of dirhams, given to whoever was in need, were well known (Umdat al-Talib of Ibn 'Inaba). When he learned someone meant to harm him, he sent him a gift (Tarikh Baghdad). Al-Mufid notes how faithfully he kept the ties of kinship.
  10. A descendant of Umar ibn al-Khattab insulted Imam Ali in his presence; the Imam stopped his companions from striking the man, went to his farm, asked what he had spent and hoped to earn, and gave him three hundred dinars, leaving him his crop. The man then met him in the mosque reciting: God knows best where He places His message (6:124) (Tarikh Baghdad).
  11. His dialogues with Jewish and Christian scholars led them to Islam; in Syria a monk and his companions accepted Islam after speaking with him (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub; Bihar al-Anwar; al-Tawhid of al-Saduq). Even as a child he held a dialogue with Abu Hanifa (al-Kafi).
  12. When al-Mahdi al-Abbasi began returning seized property, the Imam asked for Fadak (Tahdhib al-Ahkam); asked to mark its bounds, he gave bounds equal to the whole Abbasid realm. Before Harun, who claimed kinship with the Prophet, he showed from the Verse of Mubahala that his own descent from the Prophet runs through Sayyida Fatima ('Uyun Akhbar al-Rida).
  13. He told his companions not to help the Abbasids, and forbade Safwan al-Jammal to hire out his camels to Harun; yet he allowed Ali ibn Yaqtin to stay as Harun's minister to serve the Shia (Rijal al-Kashshi). He wrote to Ali ibn Yaqtin to perform wudu' as the Sunnis do, to keep him from danger (al-Irshad).
  14. He took no open part in the Alid uprisings. When the head of the martyr of Fakhkh (169 AH) was brought, he recited the verse of return to God and praised him (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin of Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani); al-Hadi accused the Imam of ordering the uprising and threatened to kill him.
  15. Many hadiths come from him on the oneness of God, bada', faith and ethics (al-Kafi); his counsel on the intellect to Hisham ibn al-Hakam is in al-Kafi, and the supplication al-Jawshan al-Kabir is transmitted from him. 'Aziz Allah 'Atarudi gathered 3,134 of his hadiths in Musnad al-Imam al-Kazim.
  16. Al-Mahdi first had him brought from Medina to Baghdad (Tadhkirat al-Khawass). Harun imprisoned him twice; the second time he was arrested in Medina on 20 Shawwal 179 AH (al-Kafi) and held in Basra in the house of Isa ibn Ja'far from 7 Dhu al-Hijja ('Uyun Akhbar al-Rida). In 180 AH Harun wrote to Isa to kill him; Isa refused (al-Irshad). He was then held by al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi', al-Fadl ibn Yahya and al-Sindi ibn Shahik (al-Anwar al-Bahiyya). His ziyara greets him as the one tortured in the depths of the prisons, المعذب في قعر السجون (Bihar al-Anwar).
  17. The sources give the slander of Yahya al-Barmaki and of Ali ibn Isma'il ibn Ja'far as causes of his arrest (al-Irshad; Kashf al-Ghumma; Maqatil al-Talibiyyin), and Harun's fear that the Shia's belief in his Imamate would undo his rule ('Uyun Akhbar al-Rida).
  18. In al-Sindi ibn Shahik's prison in Baghdad, al-Sindi poisoned him at Harun's command, and he died three days later, on 25 Rajab 183 AH (799) (al-Irshad). Most historians say Yahya ibn Khalid and al-Sindi poisoned him; another account says he was smothered in a carpet (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin). Other dates and places are also reported.
  19. His body was laid on the bridge of Baghdad on al-Sindi's order and it was announced that he had died a natural death (al-Irshad), also to refute those who held him to be the Mahdi (Kashf al-Ghumma). He was buried in the cemetery of Quraysh at Shuniziyya, the family burial ground of al-Mansur ('Uyun Akhbar al-Rida), chosen, it is said, so the Shia could not gather at his grave (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin).
  20. His grave and that of his grandson Imam al-Jawad form the Shrine of al-Kazimayn in Kadhimiya, north of Baghdad. Imam al-Rida said that whoever visits his father's grave is like one who visits the graves of the Prophet and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and in another narration, like one who visits the grave of Imam al-Husayn (al-Kafi 4:583).
  21. Sunni scholars honoured him: al-Sam'ani visited his grave (al-Ansab), and Abu Ali al-Khallal said that whenever a matter troubled him he went to the grave of Musa ibn Ja'far, sought his intercession, and it was eased (Tarikh Baghdad).
  22. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid counts thirty-seven children, eighteen sons and nineteen daughters (al-Irshad), among them Imam al-Rida, Ibrahim, Ahmad, Hamza, Ishaq, Sayyida Fatima al-Ma'suma and Hakima. Imam al-Rida and Fatima al-Ma'suma were born to Najma. His descendants are the Musawi Sayyids.
  23. Among his companions were Ali ibn Yaqtin, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, Hisham ibn Salim, Muhammad ibn Abi Umayr, Hammad ibn Isa, Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman, Safwan ibn Yahya and Safwan al-Jammal; al-Shaykh al-Tusi counts 272 (Rijal al-Tusi). After his martyrdom some of his agents, Ali ibn Abi Hamza al-Bata'ini, Ziyad ibn Marwan and Uthman ibn Isa, would not accept Imam al-Rida and stopped at him, the Waqifiyya; al-Tusi says the funds they held were the cause (al-Ghayba of al-Tusi).

Days

  1. 128 AH745 CEBorn at al-Abwa', 7 Safar
  2. 148 AH765 CEBecomes Imam on his father's martyrdom
  3. 158 AH775 CEAl-Mahdi becomes caliph
  4. 169 AH785 CEThe uprising of Fakhkh; al-Hadi threatens the Imam
  5. 170 AH786 CEHarun al-Rashid becomes caliph
  6. 179 AH796 CEArrested in Medina, 20 Shawwal; imprisoned in Basra
  7. 183 AH799 CEMartyred in prison in Baghdad, 25 Rajab

Family

جعفر الصادقImam al-Sadiq
موسى الكاظمImam al-Kazim
نجمةNajma
علي الرضاImam al-Rida
فاطمة المعصومةSayyida Fatima al-Ma'suma
إبراهيمIbrahim
أحمدAhmad
حمزةHamza
إسحاقIshaq
محمدMuhammad
حكيمةHakima

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

وَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَا مِن قَبۡلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالٗا نُّوحِيٓ إِلَيۡهِمۡۖ فَسۡـَٔلُوٓاْ أَهۡلَ ٱلذِّكۡرِ إِن كُنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ ٤٣

We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men to whom We revealed. Ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know.

The verse of the People of the Reminder · An-Nahl 16:43

فَمَنۡ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ فَقُلۡ تَعَالَوۡاْ نَدۡعُ أَبۡنَآءَنَا وَأَبۡنَآءَكُمۡ وَنِسَآءَنَا وَنِسَآءَكُمۡ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمۡ ثُمَّ نَبۡتَهِلۡ فَنَجۡعَل لَّعۡنَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلۡكَٰذِبِينَ ٦١

Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly, and call down Allah’s curse upon the liars.’

The verse of the Mubahala · Aal-i-Imraan 3:61

Peace be upon you, O friend of God and son of His friend.

Peace be upon you, O light of God in the darkness of the earth.

Peace be upon you, O door to God.

Peace be upon you, O my master, Musa son of Ja'far, and the mercy of God and His blessings.

Sources