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Imam Musa b. Ja'far al-Kazim (a): Difference between revisions
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The [[Ghalis]] (people who exaggerated about the Imams) were active during the imamate of Imam al-Kazim (a). The [[Bashiriyya]] sect was formed in this period. The sect is attributed to [[Muhammad b. Bashir]], a companion of Musa b. Ja'far (a). He attributed some falsehoods to the Imam (a) when the Imam (a) was still alive. Imam al-Kazim (a) believed that Muhammad b. Bashir was impure and cursed him. | The [[Ghalis]] (people who exaggerated about the Imams) were active during the imamate of Imam al-Kazim (a). The [[Bashiriyya]] sect was formed in this period. The sect is attributed to [[Muhammad b. Bashir]], a companion of Musa b. Ja'far (a). He attributed some falsehoods to the Imam (a) when the Imam (a) was still alive. Imam al-Kazim (a) believed that Muhammad b. Bashir was impure and cursed him. | ||
== | ==Scholarly Activities== | ||
There are reports about many scholarly activities of Imam al-Kazim (a) have been reported. They were in the forms of hadiths, debates, and dialogues, and are cited in Shiite collections of hadiths. | |||
===Hadiths=== | |||
Many hadiths have been transmitted from Imam al-Kazim (a) in Shiite collections of hadiths. They are mostly concerned with theological issues, such as [[monotheism]], [[bada']] and [[faith]], as well as moral issues. Some supplications, such as [[al-Jawshan al-Kabir]], have also been transmitted from him. In the chains of the transmitters of such hadiths, the Imam (a) has been referred to "al-Kazim", "Abu l-Hasan", "Abu l-Hasan al-Awwal", "Abu l-Hasan al-Madi", "al-'Alim", and "al-'Abd al-Salih". [['Aziz Allah 'Atarudi]] has collected 3,134 hadiths from him in his ''Musnad al-Imam al-Kazim''. Abu 'Imran al-Marwzi, a Sunni scholar, has also collected some of the Imam's (a) hadiths in his ''Musnad al-Imam Musa b. Ja'far''. | |||
Other works have also been transmitted from Musa b. Ja'far (a): | |||
* An essay concerning the intellect or reason (al-'aql) addressed to [[Hisham b. Hakam]]. | |||
* An essay concerning monotheism in reply to the questions of Fath b. 'Abd Allah. | |||
[['Ali b. Yaqtin]] also collected some of his questions and replies with Musa b. Ja'far (a) in a book under ''Masa'il 'an Abi l-Hasan Musa b. Ja'far''. | |||
===Debates and Dialogues=== | |||
Some debates and dialogues of Imam al-Kazim (a) with some [[Abbasid]] caliphs, Jewish and Christian scholars, [[Abu Hanifa]] and others have been transmitted. Baqir Sharif al-Qurashi has collected 8 dialogues of Imam al-Kazim (a) under his debates. Imam al-Kazim (a) had debates with [[al-Mahdi al-'Abbasi]] with respect to [[Fadak]] and the prohibition of [[wine]] in the [[Qur'an]]. He also had debates with [[Harun al-'Abbasi]]. Since Harun considered himself as a relative of [[the Prophet (s)]], Imam al-Kazim (a) made it explicit to Harun that he had the closest relation with the Prophet (s). Musa b. Ja'far's (a) dialogues with scholars of other religions were usually in the form of replies to their questions, which led to their conversion to Islam. | |||
==Practice== | |||
Imam al-Kazim's (a) practice in his relation with God was different from his practice in his interactions with people and rulers of his time. His practices in these respects are reported as his practices of worship, ethics, and politics. | |||
===Practice in Worship=== | |||
According to Shiite and Sunni sources, Imam al-Kazim (a) frequently practiced worshipping God. Thus, he came to be known as "al-'Abd al-Salih" (the righteous worshipper or servant of God). According to some reports, Imam al-Kazim (a) worshiped so much that his prisoners were impressed. According to [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid], Musa b. Ja'far (a) was the greatest worshipper of his time and he cried out of the fear of God such that his beard got wet. In his [[sujud|prostrations]], he repeated the supplication: "Thy servant's sin is so great, so be the Forgiveness from Thee" ({{ia| عَظُمَ الذَّنْبُ مِنْ عَبْدِكَ فَلْيَحْسُنِ الْعَفْوُ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ}}) and the supplication: "O God! I ask Thee the comfort at the time of death and forgiveness at the time of Judgment" ({{ia| اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الرَّاحَةَ عِنْدَ الْمَوْتِ وَ الْعَفْوَ عِنْدَ الْحِسَابِ}}). Even when he was imprisoned at the command of Harun, he thanked God for having an opportunity to worship Him: "I always asked Thee an opportunity to worship and Thou Have Provided it for me, so I thank Thee". | |||
==Moral Practice== | |||
There are reports about Imam al-Kazim's (a) patience and generosity in Shiite and Sunni sources. [[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] believed that the Imam (a) was the most generous man of his time who secretly took provisions and foods to the poor in Medina overnight. Ibn 'Inaba said about Musa b. Ja'far's (a) generosity: he left home overnight with bags of dirhams and gave them to every person in need who he met. His bags of dirhams were well-known among the people at the time. It is also said that Musa b. Ja'far (a) was also generous to those who bothered him, and whenever he learned that someone was seeking to bother him, he sent gifts to him. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid has also considered Imam al-Kazim (a) as persistent on [[Silat al-Rahim]] (family ties). | |||
The Imam (a) came to be known as "Kazim" because he greatly controlled his anger. There are different reports that he controlled his anger against his enemies and people who hurt him. For example, a man from the progeny of [['Umar b. al-Khattab]] insulted [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] at the presence of Imam al-Kazim (a). The Imam's (a) companions wanted to attack him, but the Imam (a) did not allow them to do so. He then went to the man's farm. When the man saw Imam al-Kazim (a), he cried and asked the Imam (a) not to tread on his crops. The Imam (a) approached him and kindly asked: "how much did you spend on the farm?". The man replied: "100 dinars". Then the Imam (a) asked: "how much will you benefit from the farm?" The man said: "I do not have the knowledge of the hidden". Imam al-Kazim (a) asked: "how much do you hope to benefit?" The man replied: "200 dinars". The Imam (a) gave 300 dinars to him and said: "these 300 dinars are yours and you can keep your crops". The Imam (a) went to the mosque then. The man hurried up to the mosque and arrived sooner than the Imam (a). When he saw the Imam (a), he recited the Quranic verse: "Allah best Knows where He places His message". | |||
[[Al-Bushr al-Hafi]] was also impressed by the Imam's (a) remarks and moral practice and then [[tawba|repented]] to God and turned into a [[Sufi]] master. | |||
===Political Practice=== | |||
According to some sources, Imam al-Kazim (a) emphasized the illegitimacy of the [[Abbasid]] caliphs in different ways, such as having debates and refusing to cooperate with them and thus he tried to undermine people's trust in them. The following are cases of his attempts to question the legitimacy of the Abbasids: | |||
In some cases in which the Abbasid caliphs tried to legitimize their government by their relation to the Prophet (s) by blood, Imam al-Kazim (a) tried to show that he was closer to the Prophet (s) than the Abbasids. For example, in a dialogue with Harun al-'Abbasi, Imam al-Kazim (a) appealed to Quranic verses, such as the [[Verse of Mubahala]], to show that his lineage goes back to the Prophet (s) through his great grandmother, [[Fatima al-Zahra (a)]]. | |||
When al-Mahdi al-'Abbasi began to return suspicious or usurped property to their owners, Imam al-Kazim (a) asked him to returned the [[Fadak]] to him. When al-Mahdi asked him to determine the limits of the Fadak, the Imam (a) gave him the limits equal to those of the Abbasid government. | |||
The 7th Shiite Imam (a) always asked his companions not to cooperate with the Abbasids. For example, he forbade [[Safwan al-Jammal]] from renting his camels to Harun. However, he asked his companion, [['Ali b. Yaqtin]], who was a minister in Harun al-Rashid's government, to stay in the palace and serve the Shi'as. | |||
However, there is no report about any explicit opposition by Musa b. Ja'far (a) to the Abbasid government. He practiced [[taqiyya]] (dissimulation) and recommended the Shi'as to observe it. For example, the Imam (a) wrote a letter to Khayzaran, the mother of al-Hadi al-'Abbasi, to console her about al-Hadi's death. According to a hadith, when he was summoned by Harun, he said: "I will go to Harun because it is an obligation to practice taqiyya with respect to the ruler". He also accepted Harun's gifts for the marriages of [[Al Abi Talib]] in order to preserve their generation. He even wrote a letter to 'Ali b. Yaqtin and asked him to perform the [[wudu']] in the way it is performed by Sunni Muslims in order not to fall in danger. | |||
==Alawite Uprisings== | |||
Musa b. Ja'far's (a) life coincided with the peak of the Abbasid power and a number of [[Alawite]] uprisings against them. The Abbasids took over the power with the slogan of supporting the Prophet's (s) [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], but it did not take long until they turned into ardent enemies of the Alawites, killing or imprisoning many of them. The hostility of the Abbasid rulers to the Alawites led some prominent Alawites to begin uprisings against them. Examples of such uprisings include the [[Uprising of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya]], the establishment of the [[Idrisid]] government, and the [[Uprising of al-Fakhkh]]. The Uprising of al-Fakhkh occurred in 169/785 in the period of Musa b. Ja'far's (a) [[imamate]] and al-Hadi al-'Abbasi's caliphate. The Imam (a) did not take part in these uprisings and no explicit position is reportedly taken by him in support or condemnation of such uprisings. Even [[Yahya b. 'Abd Allah]] wrote a letter and complained about the Imam's (a) silence about his uprising in [[Tabaristan]]. There are two views about the Imam's (a) position with regard to the Uprising of al-Fakhkh which occurred in Medina: | |||
* Some people believe that the Imam (a) agreed with, and supported, the uprising. They appeal to a remark by the Imam (a) addressed to [[Shahid al-Fakhkh]]: "so be serious in what you do since these people express the faith but are polytheists in their hearts". | |||
* Others believe that the uprisings were not supported by the Imam (a). | |||
However, when the Imam (a) saw the head of Shahid al-Fakhkh, he recited [[al-Istirja' Verse]] and admired him. Al-Hadi al-'Abbasi believed that Imam al-Kazim (a) ordered the Uprising of al-Fakhkh and thus, he threatened to kill him. | |||
== Arrest and Imprisonment == | == Arrest and Imprisonment == | ||