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I bear
witness that there is no god save Allah, the One; and there is no partner
to share with Him.
I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, verily, he
is the Lord of the ancients and
the moderns, verily,he is the head of the Prophets and the Messengers.
O Allah send blessings on Muhammad, Thy servant, Thy Messenger and Thy
Prophet, the chief of all that has been created by Thee, blessings
which no one is able to measure other than Thee.O Allah send blessings
on the Ameer ul Moomineen, Ali ibna Abi Talib, Thy servant, the
brother of Thy Messenger, whom Thou elected to have Thy Knowledge,
made him a guide to show the right path to those of Thy servants who
want to be led aright, an evident proof for those who pay careful
attention to Thy Message, he managed the affairs of the religion
according to Thy system of justice, made application of Thy commands
to settle the issues which cropped up among the people, and let Thy
will and command rule supreme in all matters; peace be on him, also
mercy and blessings of Allah. O Allah send blessings on Fatimah, the
daughter of Thy Prophet, the wife of Thy friend, the mother of the two
sons, Hasan and Husayn, the prime leaders of the people of Paradise,
she is pure, purified, pious, content, wise leader of all the women of
the Paradise,
blessings which no one is able to measure other than
Thee. O Allah send blessings on Hasan and Husayn, the two sons of Thy
Prophet, the prime leaders of the people of Paradise, Thy established
authority among the people, Thy two evident proofs for those who pay
careful attention to Thy Message, who managed the affairs of the
religion according to Thy system of justice, and made application of
Thy commands to settle the issues which cropped up among the people.
O Allah send blessings on Ali bin Husayn, Thy servant, Thy established
authority among the people, Thy evident proof for those who pay
careful attention to Thy Message, who managed the affairs of the
religion according to Thy system of justice,and made application of
Thy commands to settle the issues which cropped up among the people,
the Lord among Thy adorers.O Allah send blessings on Muhammad bin Ali,
Thy servant, Thy represenative in the earth, the deeply versed in the
knowledge of Prophets. O Allah send blessings on Ja'far bin Muhammad,
the truthful, Thy servant, the defender of Thy religion, Thy decisive
argument over the mankind,the truthful, the just. O Allah send
blessings on Moosa bin Ja'far, Thy upright servant, Thy approved
spokesman among Thy people, Thy decisive argument over the mankind.
O Allah send blessings on Ali bin Moosa who pleased Thee most, the
chosen, Thy servant, the defender of Thy religion, rightly and justly
established by Thee as an authority who made earnest presentation of
arguments to promote Thy religion which is the religion of his
truthful ancestors, blessings which no one is able to measure other
than Thee. O Allah send blessings on Muhammad bin Ali, Thy servant,Thy
chosen representative, appointed by Thy command, who invited people
unto Thy path. O Allah send blessings on Ali bin Muhammad, Thy servant,
the defender of Thy religion. O Allah send blessings on Hasan bin
Ali who put Thy system into practice, the established authority among
the people, Thy demonstrator who carried out the mission of Thy
Prophet, Thy witness over the mankind, distinguished with Thy
excellence, who reminded people to obey Thee and Thy Messenger. Thy
blessings be on all of them. O Allah send blessings on Thy
demonstrator, Thy established representative among the people,perfect,
growing and everlasting blessings, expedite his arrival and help him,
let us be with him in this world and in the Hereafter. O Allah I seek
Thy nearness through my love for them. I make friends with their
friends, I oppose their enemies, so, on account of them, give me good
of this world and the Hereafter. keep away from me the evil of this
world and the Hereafter, the dreadful fright on the Day of Judgement.
Peace be on you, O the representative of Allah! Peace be on you, O the
evident proof of Allah! Peace be on you, O the light of Allah in the
darkness of this (ignorant) world! Peace be on you, O the mainstay of
the religion! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Adam, the sincerely
attached friend of Allah! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Nooh,
the Prophet of Allah! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Ibrahim, the
intimate friend of Allah! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Ismaeel,
the sacrifice offered to Allah! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of
Moosa, who spoke to Allah! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Eesaa,
who received mercy, joy and ease from Allah! Peace be on you, O the
Inheritor of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah! Peace be on you, O the
Inheritor of the Ameer ul Moomineen, the representative of Allah, the
executor of the will of the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds! Peace
be on you, O the Inheritor of Faatimah , Zahra! Peace be on you, O the
Inheritor of Hasan and Husayn, the prime leaders of the people of the
Paradise! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Ali bin Husayn, the
pride of the worshippers! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Muhammad
bin Ali, the deeply versed in the wisdom of the ancients and the
moderns! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Ja'far bin Muhammad, the
truthful, the virtuous! Peace be on you, O the Inheritor of Moosa bin
Ja'far! Peace be on you, O the faithful witness of the truth, the
martyr! Peace be on you, O the virtuous and pious guardian! I bear
witness that, verily, you established the prayers, gave the prescribed
share to the needy, commanded to do that which is right and lawful,
not to do that which is wrong and unlawful, sincerely served Allah,
till the inevitable came unto you. Peace be on you, O Abal Hasan, and
mercy and blessings of Allah be on you. O Allah I had left my place of
domicile to go towards Thee, and crossed many a town in the hope of
getting Thy mercy, therefore, do not disappoint me, do not send me
away without awarding that which I need, have mercy on my restless
agitation near the son of Thy Messenger's brother,Thy blessings be on
him and on his children. My father and mother are at your disposal O
my Mawlaa! I have come to visit you, adore you and take refuge with
you from the excesses I indulged into, from the burden of sins I carry
on my back, so, in the day of distress, be my advocate before Allah,
because you enjoy special privileges in the presence of Allah, and He
shows respect for you and brings honour to you. O Allah I seek Thy
nearness through my love and friendship for them (the Ahl ul Bayt), I
love each and every one of them, from the first to the last, and avoid
intimate association with anyone other than the Ahlul Bayt. curse of
Allah be on those who subverted Thy "Favour" suspected Thy Prophet to
be guilty of falsehood, denied Thy revelation, laughed at Thy
representatives, and gave preference to nonentities over the "Aali
Muhammad. O Allah I seek Thy nearness by calling down curses on them,
I keep myself aloof from them, in this world and in the Hereafter, O
Beneficent! Blessings of Allah be on you, O Abal Hasan! Blessings of
Allah be on your soul and your body! You suffered patiently and
exercised self-control, (although) You were truthful and Your
truthfulness had been confirmed; Allah destroyed him who gave the
orders to kill You, and him who carried it out.
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IMAM RAZA (AS), A BRIEF LOOK INTO HIS
LIFE
Name: Ali bin Musa.
Titles: Ar-Ridha, Zamin-e-Thamin, Gharibul Ghuraba, Alim e Ale
Muhammad.
Kuniyya: Abul Hasan.
Birth: 11th Zilkaad.
Mother: Bibi Suttana (or Najma or Ummulbanin).
Father: Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (a.s.)
Death: 29th Safar 203 a.h. (Poisoned by Mamun Rashid ).
Buried: Mashhad, Iran.
His Parents & Birth:
Mother:
She was a slave of Umme Hamida (6th Imam's wife). When the 7th Imam had
gone to buy her from the slave trader he was told that when he was coming
to Medina from Marrakesh a pious Christian lady had told him that Bibi
Suttana was a very special slave who would bear a son who would spread the
true word from the East to the West.
Umme Hamida saw the Prophet (S.A.W.) in her
dream telling her to give Bibi Suttana to Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (a.s.) which
she did. The 6th Imam used to tell his companions to await the birth of
his grandson who he addressed as Alim e Ale Muhammad. He was one of the
three Imams who did Jihad with their knowledge. (The other two were the
5th and 6th Imams). Imam Ali Ar-Ridha (a.s.) was born one month after the
martyrdom of his grandfather Imam Ja'fer As-Sadiq (a.s.) He was born
during the reign of the Harun Al-Rashid who poisoned his father.
Father:
Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (a.s.)
His Titles:
Ar-Ridha - Angels, Prophets, Aimma, believers
and even the enemies of Ahlul-Bayt accepted him. So much so that Mamun
Rashid had to offer him to be the heir apparent (to be the leader after
him). Imam Zamin-e-Thamin - Thamin means eight. Zamin means safety and
security. One of the incidents attributed to this title is that one day
Imam was going through the market place with a few followers when he saw a
hunter about to kill a (struggling) female deer. Imam told the hunter to
let the deer go as she wanted to feed her two young ones who were in the
forest and that she would return to the hunter who could then kill her.
The hunter thought that Imam was making a fool out of him. Imam stood in
surety and the hunter allowed the deer to go. A little while later the
deer returned with her young ones and asked Imam to look after them. We
believe that if anyone who is going on a journey goes under the security
of Imam he/she will return safely.
Gharibul-Ghurabaa (One who is a stranger i.e. he
is away from his hometown). Imam was far away from his home and family and
he is the only Imam who is buried out of Iraq and Hejaz (Saudi Arabia).
Alim e Aali Mohammed - The learned one from Aale Muhammad. This name was
given to him by his grandfather (Imam Ja'fer As-Sadiq (a.s.)).
Life And Works
Imam played a significant role in the educating
of Muslims. Setting examples of education through one's own conduct.
He saw a short period of the rule of Harun
Rashid who had murdered his father. Harun Rashid also attempted to kill
Imam Ali Ridha (a.s.) but was unsuccessful. After Harun's death, his sons,
Amin and Mamun fought for power. Mamun won with Amin being killed.
Immediately after becoming the Khalifa Mamun,
according to the tradition started by Muawiya, had to name a successor
(heir apparent) . Mamun summoned Imam to come to his capital Marw sending
a messenger to Medina to bring the Imam to him and specifying a certain
route and sending a security force . The route he chose was not the normal
route where, a lot of Shia's lived. On the way they entered a town called
Nishapur. There the scholars and people requested Imam to tell them a
hadith. Imam related the following hadith which is known as the hadith of
the golden chain.
"My father Musa Al-Kadhim narrated to me from
his father Ja'fer As-Sadiq from his father Mohammed Al-Baqir from his
father Ali Zaynul Abedeen from his father , the martyr of Kerbala from his
father Ali ibn Abu Talib saying :"My loved one, and the pleasure of my
eyes, the Messenger of God (S.A.W.) told me once, that Jibrail told him
from the Lord "The kalima of LA ILAHA ILLALLAH is my fort; whoever said it
would enter my fort; and whoever entered my fort was safe from my
punishment".
Those who wrote down the hadith numbered twenty
thousand. People started reciting the Kalima when Imam put his hand up and
continued: "Yes, the kalima is Allah's fort. It will provide you with
excellent safety but on one condition only and that is that you obey and
follow us - the holy Imams in the progeny of the holy Prophet (S.A.W.). On
reaching Marw Mamun forced Imam to accept the heir apparency (To be the
leader after him). Imam accepted unwillingly.
Why did Mamun want Imam to be the heir apparent
?
1. To please the Shia public opinion in Khurasan
and the surrounding areas which would make it easier for Mamun to be
accepted by the people there and a victory over his brother Amin.
2. To avoid clashes with those like the Alawids who had always threatened
the Abbasids with various uprisings.
Mamun celebrated the occasion of Imam's
acceptance of heir apparency. Imam only gave a short sermon saying after
he had praised Allah "We have over you a right appointed by the Prophet,
and you have a right over us as well; so if you fulfil your duty towards
us, we will be bound to perform our duty towards you".
Mamun ordered a new coin to be minted with Imam
Ar-Ridha's name on it. Imam however knew that this would not last long.
Soon Mamun put Imam under constant watch. Imam
used the position to spread the true word of Islam. Mamun's court was
visited by thousands and Imam made an impact on their minds. His ahadith
were widely recorded. Mamun who was fond of scholarly discussions would
arrange for intellectuals from Greece, Italy , India etc. to come to his
court and hold discussions with the Imam.
One day a Jewish scholar was brought by Mamun to
debate with Imam. The scholar asked: "How can you accept Muhammad to be
the prophet of God when he showed no miracles ? " Imam replied : "The
greatest of miracles of Allah is the human mind. It allows ideas to be
thought through and reasoned out. Islam appeals to human reason. Man must
accept God through reason and not through miracles ".
The scholar did not have much to say after that
answer.
Imam also encouraged greatly the remembrance of Imam Husayn (a.s.)
Mamun was never sincere in his behaviour towards
Imam. Seeing the Imam's popularity increase disturbed him immensely
especially after the occasion when he requested Imam to lead Eid prayers
as he was not well. He saw that even before Imam had reached the mosque
the people had lined the streets and were reciting takbir and it seemed
that even the walls of Marw were doing the same. He had to ask Imam to go
back that day.
There are various accounts of how Imam Ali
Ar-Ridha (a.s.) was killed by Mamun. One of them is that Imam used to like
grapes and Mamun offered Imam poisoned grapes. Imam was ill and died after
two days on the 29th Safar 203 a.h.
Imam Ali Ar-Ridha (a.s.) died in Toos in a
village called Sanabad. He had only one son, Imam Muhammad At-Taqi (a.s.),
who succeeded him as the 9th Imam.
Mamun ordered Imam's grave to be dug near his
father Harun's and when it was being dug he said that Imam had told him
that when his grave would be dug water and fish would appear underneath.
Just as Imam had said when they finished digging a spring of water
appeared with fish in it and then disappeared. Imam is buried there at
what is today called Mashhad in IRAN.
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