Blessed birthday of Imam Baqer (PBUH)
Oct 02, 2019 07:25 UTC
Today is the 3rd of Safar, which according to a narration is the birth anniversary of Imam Mohammad Baqer (PBUH), the 5th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
Since we are commemorating the days of grief that afflicted the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in the aftermath of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, we do not celebrate the birthday of the 5th Imam with festivities.
Moreover, as a hardly 4-year old boy, he along with his parents and other family members, was also among the prisoners taken from Karbala to the court of the tyrant Yazid in Damascus, these days. Before presenting to you a feature on Imam Baqer (AS), let us listen to the passages he expressed while saluting his tragically martyred grandfather, Imam Husain (AS):
“O Aba Abd-Allah, your martyrdom was a great calamity and the cause of great distress for us and all followers of Islam! It was a tremendous calamity that befell the heavens and which affected all the denizens of the heavens!
“May Allah’s curse be on those who instituted a regime of wrongdoing and injustice against you Ahl al-Bayt! May Allah’s curse be on those who sidelined you from your rightful station and withheld from you the status that Allah had assigned you! May Allah’s curse be on those who slew you, and may His curse be on those who paved the way for them making it possible to wage war against you! Before God and you, I repudiate them, their supporters, their followers and those who befriend them!”
What you heard and read were passages of the famous Ziyarah or standard form of salutation, for the Day of Ashura (or Muharram 10) for the Immortal Martyr of Karbala. Today, the faithful all over the world recite this Ziyarah, not just on the anniversary of the tragedy of Ashura, but on other days of the year, especially on Thursdays and Fridays.
But who was the First Addressor of such a remarkable Ziyarah whose phrases and sentences are food for thought as they refer to the divinely-decreed status of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), and invokes God’s curse upon those who slew the grandson of the Seal of Messengers, as well as those who paved the way for emergence of the Godless rule of the Omayyads?
The answer should be obvious to those who keep proper track of days and the occasions with which these are associated.
Today the 3rd of the month of Safar ought to awaken our conscience. If in the year 61 AH, this date was marked with official festivities in Damascus to celebrate the entry into the court of the tyrant Yazid, of the enchained children and women-folk of the Prophet’s Household, very soon the 3rd of Safar turned into a day of repudiation for the Omayyads and all their associates.
In other words, today the birth anniversary of a blessed member of the Ahl al-Bayt, who as a 4-year boy was among the captives standing before the golden tray that contained the severed head of his grandfather, whose sacred lips Yazid was desecrating with a cane, makes us realize that the famous Ziyarat-e Ashura was taught to us by no less a personality than Imam Muhammad al-Baqer (AS).
Born in Medina in 57 AH, he was descended on both sides from the Prophet – his father Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) was the son of Imam Husain (AS) while his mother, mother Fatema (peace upon her), the daughter of Hasan Mujtaba (AS), was the most virtuous lady of her times, and played a key role in Karbala in protecting her son from the Omayyad hordes.
Imam Baqer (AS), whose period of imamate or divinely-decreed authority was 19 years (from 95 AH to 114 AH), spared no efforts to spread the pure and pristine message of his great-great-grandfather, the Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
And the best way of keeping alive the legacy of the “Mercy unto the creation” that was being distorted by the ungodly terrorists in power who were masquerading as Muslims, was to institutionalize, immortalize and universalize the mourning ceremonies for Imam Husain (AS).
Imam Baqer (AS) did this in a novel way, because he knew that the only way to enlighten the Muslim masses with monotheism, divine justice, the philosophy of prophethood and imamate, and the rendezvous of all humanity with Judgement Day, were the gathering to commemorate the heartrending tragedy of Karbala.
As the 5th Infallible Heir of the Prophet, he would elaborate on various dimensions of Islam. He used to instruct a special group of persons to hold mourning ceremonies for Imam Husain (AS) during the pilgrimage in Mecca, so that people coming from various parts of the world, would become aware of the Great Sacrifice of the Prophet’s grandson for the safeguarding Islam and humanity.
As part of these efforts, the Imam whose epithet “Baqer al-Uloum” means “Splitter and Spreader of Sciences,” stressed the importance of saluting his grand-father in the proper manner.
Thus, he taught his companion, Alqama al-Hadhrami, saying: “With face turned towards the shrine of Imam Husain (AS), first send salaams upon him and imprecate (la’n) his killers. Then after performing a two-rak’at prayer, recite it.”
Here is another passage from this Ziyarah which reads:
“O Allah, this day was celebrated as an auspicious occasion by the Omayyads and the son of her (Hind) who ate the livers of the martyrs, the accursed son of the one cursed by You and Your Prophet (SAWA)… O Allah, curse Abu Sufyan, Mu'awiyah, and Yazid son of Mu'awiyah; may Your curse be on them forever and ever.”
The 5th Imam also specified in his last will that mourning ceremonies be held every year at the plain of Mena near Mecca during the annual Hajj so that pilgrims from different parts of the Islamic world (most of them neo Muslims) will be acquainted with the sufferings of the Ahl al-Bayt for the sake of Islam and for safe-guarding of the pure and pristine teachings of their ancestor, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). He even set aside a sum of money to ensure that such gatherings could be held without interruption for at least a decade after his death.
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