Imam al-Jawad (as) A LESSON FROM HIS LIFE

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Imam al-Jawad (as) A LESSON FROM HIS LIFE “And We made from among them, Imams to guide by Our command as they were steadfast and they were convinced by Our signs”. (32:24) HIS BIRTH: Concerning the birth of Imam al-Jawad (as), there is a difference of opinion among the historians: Some say he (as) was born on the 15th of Holy Ramadhan; Some say he (as) was born on the 19th of Holy Ramadhan and others are of the opinion that he (as) was born on the 10th of Rajab. However, 10th of Rajab appears to be much more reliable because it is mentioned in Dua’ an-Naahiyah that: “O Allah! I ask you by the two births in Rajab: Muhammad ibn Ali – the second; and his son Ali ibn Muhammad…” HIS PARENTS: Our 9th Imam (as) is the son of our 8th Imam, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (as). His mother was Sabeekah who was also called KHEIZRAAN by our 8th Imam (as). She belonged to the family of MAARIA QIBTIYYAH – one of the beloved wives of the Holy Prophet (saww) and who bore him a son Ibrahim, who later on died during the lifetime of his father. HIS TITLES This Imam (as) is also known as Abu Ja’ffar meaning ‘the father of Ja’ffar’, and among his titles, the most popular ones are: Al-Jawad meaning ‘the most generous’ and Al-Taqee meaning ‘the pious one’. ROLE OF IMAM: Our 9th Imam (as) assumed the role of Imamate at a very young age. Some historians believe he (as) was 7 years and some say he (as) was 9 years of age. However, in the matters of Prophethood & Imamate – age carries no value and this was made clear by Imam ar-Ridha (as) during his lifetime. [One day, a companion asked Imam ar-Ridha (as), “If something happens (to you), whom shall we refer?” Imam (as) said, “To my son Abu Ja’ffar”. Imam al-Jawaad (as) was still a child. So the man said, “I think he is still very young”. Imam ar-Ridha (as) replied, “Allah sent Jesus, the son of Mary as a prophet though he was younger than Abu Ja’ffar will be when he becomes the Imam”.] (Hayaat al-Imam Muhammad al-Jawad) What the Imam (as) implied was that Allah (SWT) chose Jesus as a prophet and gave him knowledge while he was just a child and younger in age than Imam al-Jawaad (as). Prophethood & Imamate are from one and the same source. Allah (SWT) does NOT see who is young or old, rather He (SWT) entrusts him with this responsibility whom He (SWT) likes! KNOWLEDGE IN CHILDHOOD Indeed the signs of Imamate were evident in Imam al-Jawaad (as) from his childhood. [One day in Baghdad, some children were busy playing on a street. Among them was our 9th Imam (as). Suddenly the children saw Mamoon ar-Rasheed, the Abbasid ruler passing by with his soldiers. The children quickly dispersed from that place. However, our Imam (as) did not run away, rather he (as) stood at his place. When Mamoon arrived at that spot, he looked at the young boy and asked, “Haven’t you recognized me? Why didn’t you move from this place?” The young child replied, “The path is not narrow that it would become wider by moving aside, nor have I committed any crime that I should run away from you. Moreover, I do not think that you are the sort who would punish someone who is innocent”. This hit Mamoon very hard. He stared at the handsome and illuminated face of this young child for sometime; and was wonderstruck. He realized that this child couldn’t be an ordinary child so he asked, “Tell me what is your name?” The child said, “I am Muhammad”. “Whose son are you?” asked Mamoon. The child replied, “I am the son of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (as)”. When Mamoon heard this, he praised the 8th Imam (as) and left.] However, the Incident does NOT end here. [After this brief meeting with our Imam (as), Mamoon proceeded to a nearby forest for hunting. There, he released his eagle, which flew and returned after a while with a small live fish in its beak. Mamoon was quite surprised by this. As he returned and passed by the same spot where he had met our Imam (as), he found this young child again at the same place. So he halted and asked him, “O Muhammad! Tell me what do I have in my hand?” Imam (as) replied, “Allah (SWT) has created many vast oceans from which clouds are formed. When clouds are forming, they absorb small live fish which are caught by the eagles of the kings, who then use them to test the Imams of their times”. Mamoon was dumbfounded by this reply and said, “Indeed you are the son of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (as) – for such miracles are not impossible from his son”.] (Ahsan al-Muqaal) A LESSON FROM HIS LIFE One of the many lessons we learn from the life of Imam al-Jawaad (as) is that: He (as) used to encourage the singles to get married and he (as) also went to an extreme of facilitating the same for them. This act was in compliance to the commandment of Allah (SWT) in the Holy Quran, in which He (SWT) says: “And marry off those who are single among you and the upright among your male and female servants, if they are poor, Allah will enrich them out of His grace. And Allah is All-bounteous, All-knowing”. (24:32) It is reported that: [One of the Alavids fell in love with a bondmaid in Yathrib and wanted to get married to her but he did not have money to pay her price and then marry her. He came to Imam al-Jawaad (as) and mentioned his problem to him. Imam (as) asked about her keeper and was told who he was. Few days later, the man went back to the owner of the bondmaid and was told that she has already been sold. When he asked as to who had purchased her, he was told, “By a man who is unknown”. The truth was that our 9th Imam (as) had purchased her. The man was so upset and distressed that he came running to our Imam (as) and said to him, “The bondmaid is sold”. Imam (as) smiled at him and said, “Do you know who has bought her?” The man said, “No!” Imam (as) took the man to a small village nearby and brought him to a house, which he (as) asked him to enter. The man hesitated at first, but upon insistence, when he entered he found the bondmaid there. Imam (as) said to him, “She, the house with all its furniture, the garden and its yields are yours”. The Imam (as) had not only provided the young man with a wife but also bought a house for him to live in happily. When the man saw this, his heart was filled with delight and did not know how to thank the Imam (as).] (‘Ayn al-Hayaat) Imam Ja’ffar as-Sadiq (as) has said, “One who facilitates marriage for any single, he shall be among those on the day of Judgement whom Allah (SWT) will see with His Mercy”. (Meezan al-Hikmah) Mulla Mujahidali Sheriff www.alqaem.org Posted in First imam Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib(600 CE-661 CE), Imam Muhammad al-Taqi (Arabic: امام محمد الت. Leave a Comment » Lessons from the life of Imam al-Jawad (as) November 18, 2006 — Syed Mohamad Masoom Lessons from the life of Imam al-Jawad (as) “Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them out of His grace? We have certainly given the progeny of Ibrahim the Book and wisdom, and we have given them a great kingdom”. (4:54) According to the Tafseer of the Shia’hs, the MAHSUDEEN (People upon whom others are jealous) are the progeny of the Holy Prophet (saww). And why are people jealous of them? It is because Allah (SWT), out of His grace, gave them MULKAN ‘ADHEEMAN meaning ‘great kingdom’ and this kingdom is in reference to the ‘Imamate’ (Divine Leadership) of our Aimma (as). Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Jawad (as) is also among those who were blessed with divine leadership; and on account of his Imamate, people were jealous of him including the rulers of his time! IMPORTANT LESSON FROM HIS LIFE Our 9th Imam (as) lived a very short life. He (as) was born in the year 195 AH and was poisoned and killed in the year 225 AH. Thus his lifespan was only 30 years. But if we carefully study his short life, we will find that he (as) made enormous contributions to Islam and in addition, our Imam (as) has taught us through his behaviour, a very important lesson of self-control despite all riches. Our Imam (as) was young and we all know that in young age, people are usually very ambitious. If in young age, a person is surrounded by worldly wealth and luxuries; and there is no proper upbringing, the young man can fall into all sorts of vices. Our 9th Imam (as) lived for only 30 years – a period when a person is still considered as a youth and in these 30 years, most of his life was during the reign of Mamoon ar-Rasheed – the Abbasid ruler, who was responsible for the murder of our 8th Imam (as). MARRIAGE TO MAMOON’S DAUGHTER Mamoon ar-Rasheed was a very cunning and a very shrewd ruler. He got our 9th Imam (as) married to his daughter Ummul-Fadhl. Why?? Historians have given different reasons for this: Some say that Mamoon himself had said, “I would like to be a grandfather of one whose fathers are the Messenger of Allah (saww) and Ali bin Abi Talib (as)”. And they also believe that Mamoon admired the talents of our Imam (as). If he had so much regard for the Ahlul-Bayt (as) then why did he kill Imam ar-Ridha (as)? Some say that Mamoon wanted to show the public that he was innocent of assassinating Imam ar-Ridha (as) – if he was the killer then why should he marry his own daughter with the son of Imam (as)? Some say that this was a ploy of Mamoon. He was too scared of the Imamate of our 9th Imam (as), therefore he wanted to keep track of all his activities and followers through his daughter hence the marriage. However, The main motive of Mamoon was to mess around with the youth of our Imam (as) by occupying him with riches and diverting his focus to material things through marriage such that the office of Imamate becomes valueless. But Mamoon did not succeed in that! Some of the things, which Mamoon did to lure our Imam (as) away from his divine leadership: When he wanted to marry his daughter to him, he brought 200 beautiful maids and gave each one of them a cup full of jewels to receive the Imam (as) when he (as) sat with the notable people – BUT the Imam (as) never paid any attention to them. A person with a long beard called Mukhariq, who was a singer, was brought to play lute and tambourine. Mamoon instructed him to play. Imam (as) neither looked at the right nor at the left for sometime and then addressing the singer, he (as) said, “Fear Allah! O you man of the beard”. The instruments immediately fell down from his hands and they became numb until his death. Mamoon once asked him as to what had happened to him and the man said, “Abu Ja’ffar shouted at me and this was its effect. Now I will never be able to play the instruments”. Delegations of notable people came from Baghdad and other cities to congratulate him. Among them were leaders of the army and the officials of the government. Mamoon ordered that the gifts be brought and the lavish gifts were presented to the Imam (as) and prizes were given to the people. After this, whenever Imam (as) passed from any street, people would gather to salute him – a manner in which the great princes are saluted. Mamoon set aside the salary of 1 million dirhams per annum for our Imam (as). What was the reaction of our Imam (as)?? Today, if a young ambitious person, who has no fear of God, gets all these luxuries, one can imagine the disaster! Imam (as) did not stay in Baghdad. Soon after his marriage, he (as) took his bride and left for Hajj on his way to Yathrib (Madina). There, he (as): Managed the affairs of the Alavids; distributed his annual salary among them and other needy people and led a very simple and humble life. ABHORRING TAKABBUR Despite being the son-in-law of the ruler of time, Imam (as) was never boastful and proud. Infact, he (as) abhorred Takabbur of any kind and always cautioned others against it! For instance: Once three prominent people came to visit the Imam (as). They stayed with him for sometime and then got up to leave. Imam (as) pointed towards one of them, who was Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Bizenti and said, “As for you, please sit down’. The man sat down and the Imam (as) conversed with him for a long time. Then as he wanted to depart, Imam (as) told him, “O Ahmad! Will you go or spend the night here?” The man said, “O Maula! It depends on you. If you want me to stay, I will stay and if you want me to go, I will go”. He (as) said, “Stay!” As the Imam (as) got up and went inside, it occurred to this man, “Alhamdulillah. The authority of Allah and heir of the knowledge of the prophets has liked my company among my brothers”. As this thought crossed his mind, Imam (as) came in, took his hand, shook it and said: “Once Ameer al-Mumineen (as) visited Sa’sa’a when he was ill. When he (as) got up to leave him, he (as) said to him: ‘O Sa’sa’a, do not pride yourself before your fellows on my visiting you, Fear Allah!’ and then he (as) left”. (Hayaat Imam Muhammad al-Jawad) VICTIM OF JEALOUSY Abu Laylah was a chief justice in the court of Mu’tasim, the Abbasid caliph. One day, he came to his friend Zarqa in state of extreme anger and when asked the purpose of anger, Abu Laylah said, “O Zarqa! Today I was put to a very big test in which I failed. A thief, whose crime was established, was presented before Mu’tasim. So Mu’tasim asked, ‘Quran says that I should cut the hands of this thief. You tell me from which part shall his hand be cut-off’. I said, ‘ Quran states that chop-off the hand of a thief and in the verse of wudhoo, it is mentioned that wash your hands till your elbow. So from elbow downwards is considered as hand therefore cut his hand from his elbow’.” Mu’tasim then asked other learned people in his court for their opinion. Someone said, ‘In the verse of Tayammum, hand has been mentioned till the wrist so cut the thief’s hand from his wrist’. After a lot of discussion and debate, Mu’tasim then put the same question to the Imam of the Shia’hs, Muhammad ibn Ali, who happened to be present at the time. At first, he refused to comment but when Mu’tasim insisted, he said, “You will only cut-off the fingers of the thief because Quran says: The places of prostration are for Allah meaning parts of the body placed on the ground during Sajdah. Since the thief is also a Muslim who offers prayers, he will need his palms during Sajdah. So you have to leave that and cut only his fingers”. O Zarqa! Mu’tasim was so pleased with this answer that he praised the Imam of the Shia’hs and we felt discredited. O Zarqa! I am aware that whoever harms this young man will burn in the hell-fire but I will not rest till I have taken my revenge against him”. Having said this, Zarqa returned to Mu’tasim to provoke him against the Imam (as). He said to him, “What have you done? People, as it is believe in him as the true Imam and do not believe in you. Why did you give him preference over us? Now you have confirmed to the people through your action that indeed he is on truth and you are on falsehood”. Mu’tasim was so affected by this, that shortly after this incident, he poisoned the Imam (as). (Bikhre Moti) Mulla Mujahidali Sheriff Related Articles SABIKA AND SAMANA TWO LUCKY LADIES