Imam Musa b. Ja'far al-Kazim (a): Difference between revisions

==Martyrdom==

Imam al-Kazim (a) spent the last days of his life in [[al-Sindi b. Shahik]]'s prison. According to al-Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Sindi poisoned the Imam (a) at the command of Harun al-Rashid, and three days later, the Imam (a) was martyred.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 242.</ref> His [[martyrdom]] occurred on [[Rajab 25]], [[183]] ([[September 5]], 799).<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 215.</ref> There are other views about the time and the place of Imam al-Kazim's (a) martyrdom as well.<ref>Qarashī, ''Ḥayāt al-Imām Mūsā b. Jaʿfar'', vol. 2, p. 516-517; Jaʿfarīyān, ''Ḥayāt-i fikrī wa sīyāsī-yi Imāmān-i Shīʿa'', p. 404.</ref>

When Musa b. Ja'far (a) was martyred, his corpse was put on Baghdad's bridge at the order of al-Sindi b. Shahik and it was announced that Musa b. Ja'far died of natural causes.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 242-243.</ref> There are different accounts of how he was martyred. The majority of historiographers believe that he was poisoned by Yahya b. Khalid and al-Sindi b. Shahik.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 242; Qarashī, ''Ḥayāt al-Imām Mūsā b. Jaʿfar'', vol. 2, p. 508-510.</ref> According to another account, the Imam (a) was suffocated by being folded in a carpet.<ref>Abū l-Faraj al-Isfahānī, ''Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn'', p. 417.</ref> Hamd Allah al-Mustawfi has attributed to the Shi'as the belief that Musa b. Ja'far (a) was martyred by hot lead poured in his throat, but he cited no sources for his claim.<ref>Mustawfī, ''Tārīkh-i barguzīdih'', p. 204 quoted from Jaʿfarīyān, ''Ḥayāt-i fikrī wa sīyāsī-yi Imāmān-i Shīʿa'', p. 385.</ref>

=== Burial Place and the Reward for Ziyarah ===

After finding of Imam's (a) [[martyrdom]], the [[Shi'a]] gathered for a funeral and buried his body in the Quraysh cemetery of [[Kadhimiya]]. [[Imam al-Rida (a)]] said, "anyone who visits my father's grave is like the one who visits the graves of [[the Prophet (s)]] and [[Shrine of Imam 'Ali (a)|Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]]." In another [[Hadith|narration]], he (a) is narrated saying that the [[Thawab|reward]] given for visiting the grave of his father is like the reward given for visiting the grave of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]].<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 4, p. 583.</ref>

==Companions and Deputies==

{{main|List of Companions of Imam al-Kazim (a)}}

==Position in the Eyes of Sunni Muslims==

Sunni Muslims honor Imam al-Kazim (a) as a religious scholar. Some Sunni figures have admired the Imam's (a) knowledge and moral character<ref>Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, ''Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha'', vol. 15, p. 273.</ref> and pointed to his patience, generosity, worship and the like.<ref>Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Baghdād'', vol. 13, p. 29; Ibn al-Jawzī, ''Tadhkirat al-khawāṣṣ'', p. 312; Ibn al-Athīr, ''al-Kāmil'', vol. 6, p. 164.</ref> Some cases in which Imam al-Kazim's (a) patience and worship are exhibited have been cited in Sunni sources.<ref>Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Baghdād'', vol. 13, p. 29-33.</ref> Some Sunni scholars, such as al-Sam'ani, visited Imam al-Kazim's (a) grave <ref>Samʿānī, ''al-Ansāb'', vol. 12, p. 479.</ref>and took resort ([[tawassul]]) to him. Abu 'Ali al-Khallal, a Sunni scholar, said that he visited Musa b. Ja'far's grave and resorted to him whenever he had a problem and then his problem was solved.<ref>Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Baghdād'', vol. 1, p. 133.</ref> [[Al-Shafi'i]] is also quoted as saying that Musa b. Ja'far's grave is a "healing cure".<ref>Kaʿbī, ''al-Imām Mūsā al-Kāẓim (a) al-sīra wa l-tārīkh'', p. 261.</ref>

== Further Reading ==

*[[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]], [http://www.al-islam.org/articles/infallibles-imam-al-musa-al-kazim-shaykh-al-mufid '' The Infallibles: Imam al Musa al Kazim (A.S)''], Translated by I.K.A Howard, Published by Tahrike Tarsal Quran