Born in
Madina on 7th Safar 128 Hijri (10.11.745AD). Died in Baghdad
Iraq 25th Rajab 183 Hijri (4.9.799 AD) Period of Imamat was
35 years.
Imam Musa
Ibn Ja’afar was born during the struggle between the
Ummayads and the Abbasids. He was only four years old when
Abul Abbas “Saffah”, “The Shedder of Blood”,
came to the throne as the first Abbasid caliph. For twenty
years he was under the authority of his father, who died ten
years before the end of the long reign of Mansur. The Imamat
of the 7th Imam extended through the ten remaining years of
the caliphat of Mansur, and included the ten years of the
rule of Mahdi, one year and some months of Hadi and about
twelve years of the reign of Harun al- Rashid. Thus for thirty
five years he was the Imam. He held this coveted distinction
as the longest period of Imamat of the Eleven Imams.
With six
brothers and nine sisters Imam Musa (AS) grew up in a large
family. Ismail the oldest brother died at a young age and
Musa was chosen by Divine providence to succeed his father
as the Imam. There were those among the followers of the 6th
Imam who thought that Imamat should be hereditary and therefore
the eldest son of the 6th Imam should succeed. They misunderstood
the whole concept of Imamat which was neither hereditary nor
mandatory for any one person. It was divinely selected and
the Imam at his death bed reveals the name of the next Imam.
The Abasid
caliphs were always on the alert with this distinctive source
of Imamat and our 7th Imam was fully aware of this danger.
The Caliphs were on the alert to discover any real or imaginary
disloyalty with the Imam or his followers and they would immediately
put them under arrest. This natural anxiety, however, does
not appear to have seriously interrupted his life as an Imam.
He continued to disseminate Qora’anic teachings as his
father Imam Ja’afar al-Sadiq (AS) used to do through
the Islamic schools opened in Madina during the life of the
5th Imam.
Ibn Khalikan
related that caliph Mansur saw in his dream Imam Ali (AS)
who was reciting the verse from the Qur’an, “O’Muhammad,
were you ready therefore, if you had been put in authority,
to commit evil on the earth and to violate the ties of blood.”
Mansur sent for his favourite companion Ibn Younus at night
and told him of his dream. He then said,” bring me Muasa
Ibn Ja’afar.” The Imam Musa ibn Ja’afar
was brought in all the way from Madina to Baghdad. When he
arrived Mansur embraced him and said to him, “Abul Hasan,
I have just seen in a dream Ali Ibn Abi Talib (AS) who was
reciting this verse. Give me your assurance that you will
not revolt against me or against any of my children. Imam
replied, By Allah I have no such intentions. The caliph then
gave him a thousand dinars and restored him to his family
in Madina.
This story
give us some idea how these Abasid caliphs were so afraid
of the Imams of Ahlulbayt that in spite of their total lack
of evidence for any kind of revolt against their earthly power,
they would not leave them alone. From time to time the Imams
were brought in from Madina, kept in Baghdad either on house
arrest or inside prisons under the most difficult of conditions.
But it was the Imams great Divine Characters that managed
to keep them going in the most severest of conditions. It
is because of these uncertain times that the Imam said,
“How
base is the world for a people, unless God give them joy;
and how great is this life , if God is not angry with them.”
Total submission to the Will of God in all circumstances.
It was
widely known that Imam Musa Ibn Ja’afar had been given
powers of healing. Once he was passing by a house and heard
little children weeping. He enquired as to why they were crying.
He was told that they were orphans and their mother had just
died and now they had no one to look after them. He went inside
the house, made two prostrations and prayed to God for her
life. Moments later the woman stood up well and in good health.
People who saw this and cried out,”Behold it is Jesus
son of Mary.”
Once Harun
al Rashid was visiting Madina. He went to the mosque of the
Prophet near his grave and said, My Salams to you O’cousin
of our fathers. Imam Musa was there who saluted the grave
of the Prophet with the words, My Salams to you O’our
grand father. At this Al-Rashid was disconcerted and went
away angry.
This occurrence
was sufficient to explain his first summons from Al Rashid
to come to Baghdad. There he was kept in prison. But after
nearly a year in prison Harun saw in a dream that an Abysinian
slave was rushing towards him with a javelin and telling him
to release Musa Ibn Ja’afar or he will slay him. Harun
immediately called the head of the prison and told him to
release the Imam and give him thirty thousand Dirhams. When
this man reached the door of the prison he found Imam was
waiting for him and welcomed him, saying how quickly he had
come to release him. The man said how did he know. Imam replied
“I saw the Holy Prophet in my dream who told me to recite
these words and then I will be released from prison for I
had been put here unjustly." The man asked what were
those words, Imam replied,
“O
thou who hearest every voice,
O thou
who lettest no opportunity escape;
O thou
who clothest the bones with flesh
and who
wilt raise them up after death;
I invoke
thee by thy Holy name, and by that great and splendid name
which is treasured up and closely hidden, by that name which
no created thing shallever know;
O thou
who art so mild and whose patience is never equalled;
O thou
whose favours never cease and can not be numbered, set me
free. (Masudi, Muruj el Dhahab)
So you
see what happened. The superintendent of prisons was flabbergasted
and released the Imam immediately, organised an escort for
him to take him to Madinah.
Character
and Virtues
Imam Musa
Ibn Ja’afar (AS) was one of the illustrious Imams who
God had set a paragon of moral excellence. Each member of
this noble family possessed cardinal virtues. Naturally in
some individuals a particular virtue is dominant and more
conspicuous. The seventh Imam excelled in tolerance and forgiveness,
so much so that he was entitled al-Kazim, the suppressor of
anger. Never was he heard speaking roughly or harshly to anyone.
Even in the most unpleasant situations, he was seen smiling
bearing the pain gracefully. This was in accordance with the
saying of his ancestor Imam Ali (AS) that the faithful keeps
his grief confined in his heart with a smile on his face.
One State
official of Madina was a persistent source of harassment to
the Imam. He even used abusive language regarding Imam Ali.(AS)
But our 7th Imam always directed his followers not to retaliate
in the same abusive manner. When his malmanner became too
rude to be tolerated, Imam’s followers sought permission
from the Imam to retaliate against him. The Imam appeased
them, promising to decide the matter in his own way.
Pacifying
his followers, the Imam went to that man on his Farm and treated
him with such noble benevolence that the man felt ashamed
of his conduct and subsequently changed his attitude and altered
his conduct. Explaining his policy to his followers, the Imam
asked,“ Was my behaviour better than the methods you
suggested?” They admitted that it certainly was. He
thus carried out the instructions of his great ancestor Imam
Ali(AS) which is recorded in Nehjul Balagha to subdue the
enemy with benevolence since it is more effective than trying
to defeat them with the same methods. No doubt this requires
a correct judgement of your adversary’s nature. Imam
Ali (AS) has therefore warned not to use this policy with
the vile and mean, or they will be encouraged to do more mischief.
To vanquish
the enemy with goodness certainly requires the foresight the
Imam possessed. Strictness is permissible only when the enemy’s
continuous vile conduct justifies retaliation or the use of
force. If not, these dignified Nufus preferred to deal with
that kind of person gently so as to have a valid pretext against
the opponent and leave no ground for him to justify his aggression.
This was
the noble method usually adopted by all members of Ahlulbayt.
Imam Ali (AS) even on his death bed behaved liberally with
Ibn Muljim who had dealt him a mortal blow only the day before.
Imam Musa Ibn Ja’afar(AS) showered his generosity on
many of his relatives even when he knew that some of them
were envious of him and conspired with the ruler of the time
Harun al-Rashid.
As to what
may have led to his final imprisonment, we find that it is
stated by Al-Fakhri that there were some of the relatives
of Musa Ibn a’afar who were envious of him and carried
false reports about him to Al-Rashid, saying, “The people
paying him the Khums, or one fifth of the property, are accepting
the Imamat and he is about to revolt against you”. They
brought this report to Al-Rashid so frequently that it made
him anxious and agitated. He gave the accuser some money to
keep bringing him more information. But it is related through
authentic sources that this relative of the Imam did not have
the chance of enjoying that reward for espionage, for as soon
as he reached Madinah, he suffered a serious illness and died
from it. It was in that year that Al-Rashid went on the pilgrimage,
and when he arrived in Madina, he arrested the Imam Musa Ibn
Ja’afar, brought him to Baghdad and imprisoned him under
the care of al-Sindi ibn Shahik. (Al-Fakhri-Ibnul Tiktika)
This agrees
with Majlisi’s comment in Bihar al Anwar that “Harun
took him from Madina ten days from the end of the month of
Shawwal 177 Hijiri. Then Harun set out for Makka and took
the Imam with him when he returned to Basra and had him imprisoned
with Issa. About one year later he was taken out of the Basran
prison and taken to Baghdad. He was put in prison there under
the watchful eye of the most cruel person named al-Sindi.
Majlisi goes on to say that the Imam died in his prison and
was buried in the cemetery of Qoraish on the south side of
Baghdad.
Al-Fakhri
adds,” Al-Rashid was at Rakka and sent orders that he
should be put to death. They then brought a number of so called
reputable men to Karkh to act as coroners and to testify publicly
that the Imam died a natural death.
The place
he was buried was a cemetery of the Qoraish. But soon this
place became the focus of pilgrimage on the grave of the Imam.
A town grew around the grave yard. The name of the town became
Kazimiya, the town of the Imam Kazim (AS) A reputed school
of theology was founded in this town which is still a source
of learning for many students from all over the world.
