Martyrdom of the 7th Imam

Heartfelt condolences to you all on a very poignant occasion. Today, the 25 of the sacred month of Rajab, is the anniversary of the martyrdom through a fatal dose of poison, of the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

He was Imam Musa al-Kazem (PBUH), who reposes in eternal peace in the magnificent gold-plated twin-domed mausoleum of Kazemain, in the northern suburb of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Before presenting you a feature on his life and times, we recite to you passages from one of his famous supplications to God Almighty.

"O Allah, I find the paths of request leading up to You to be clear, the springs of hope in You to be perennial, and the doors of supplication to be open for those who supplicate You, and Your help is ever available for those who seek it!

"This is the revered and august month of Rajab, where by You have honoured us, the first of the sacred months You have favoured us with from among all the nations, O Lord of generosity and munificence!

"We beseech You by it and by the greatest of the greatest of the greatest of Your Names, the most glorious and the noblest, which You have created, whereat it abided in Your shadow, without being revealed for anyone except You, to bless Muhammad and the pure ones of his Progeny;

"And appoint us in this month to be among those who strive therein in obedience to You and hope therein to win intercession with You!

These passages are part of the special supplication that the faithful recite every year on the 27^th of Rajab, the Day Almighty Allah formally entrusted the universal message of Islam to His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

The person who taught us this supplication attained martyrdom this day on the 25^th of Rajab in 183 AH at the age of 55 years, having dutifully carried out his mission as the 7^th Infallible Heir of the Seal of Messengers for 35 long years during which he faced intermittent bouts of imprisonment at the hands of the self-styled caliphs of the usurper Abbasid regime.

Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) needs no introduction. He was the son of Imam Ja'far as-Sadeq (AS) – the Reviver of the Prophet's pristine practice and behaviour (Sunnah wa Seerah). In turn, he was the father of Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), who reposes in eternal peace in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad in Khorasan.        His own holy shrine is in the suburb of Kazemain, north of Baghdad, where today millions of pilgrims have gathered from all over Iraq and other parts of the world to pay homage to him, undaunted by the terrorist bomb blasts of the Takfiri cowards, while no trace remains of the graves of his tormentors, let alone their palaces of pleasure from which Haroun Rasheed and the Abbasid tyrants used to tyrannize the Muslim masses.

Born in Abwa in 128 AH, to the virtuous lady Hamida al-Barbariyya, he was in his 20^th year when the divine mantle of imamate came to rest on his shoulders. His father's assassin, Mansour Dawaniqi, had hatched a plot to assassinate him as well, if he was determined to be the next Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt, but so secretly guarded was this Godly designation, the tyrant could not succeed.

Next came the rule of the perfidious Mahdi al-Abbasi, who imprisoned the 7^th Imam but soon released him and sent him back to Medina, following a horrifying nightmare.

The next usurper caliph, Hadi al-Abbasi, during his brief rule of two years plotted to take the life of Imam Kazem (AS), but fell into the bowels of hell, before he could do so.

The debauched tyrant Haroun now took over the caliphate, and during his rule detained the Prophet's Righteous Heir several times, after being speechless in debates with him regarding the legitimacy of the rights of the Ahl al-Bayt.

The malicious Haroun never spared an opportunity to try to imprison Imam Kazem (AS) under various pretexts, especially after the incident at the shrine of the Prophet of Islam in Medina, where following the Abbasid's caliph addressing of the Prophet as "cousin" in order to hoodwink onlookers, the 7^th Imam entered and saluted the shrine with the words: "Greetings to you O Illustrious Ancestor."

Thus, on the 27^th of Rajab in the year 179 AH, Imam Kazem (AS) was again detained by Haroun, who afraid of the sentiments of the public for the Prophet's heir, set off two caravans of canopied camels in different directions – the first empty one towards Baghdad, and the 2^nd in which the 7^th Imam was placed, towards Basra.

After a long imprisonment in Basra, where the jailor refused to do bodily harm to his dignified prisoner, the Imam was transferred to Baghdad, where after other courtier had declined to harm the venerable descendant of the Prophet, Haroun gave final orders to the despicable Sindi bin Shahak to poison him to death. On the 23^rd of Rajab in the year 183 AH, the wretch mixed a fatal dose of poison in the food of the 7^th Imam. It is said a bunch of very delicious and high quality dates were injected with poison and served to the noble prisoner. Three days later, after intense pain, Imam Musa Kazem (AS) attained martyrdom, but not before his son and successor, Imam Reza (AS) had, by the Will of God Almighty, miraculously appeared in prison from far off Medina, and was entrusted formally with the divine trust of imamate. Four years earlier, before his imprisonment, Imam Musa Kazem (AS) had placed Imam Reza (AS) in charge of his affairs in Medina, and specified to the family and friends that this was the 8^th Imam after him.

The cruel wretch Sindi bin Shahak exposed the body of the 7^th Imam to public view on the bridge of Baghdad and instructed the prison wardens and the court coroners, to absolve Haroun of any foul play by displaying a long scroll of signatures saying no physical harm was done. The wardens then announced, ‘This is the Leader of the Shi’ites, and whoever wants to see the corpse of such a person should come forward. When Soleiman ibn Abi Ja’far, left his palace and went to the river bank, he heard these announcements and asked his servants to see what had happened. When he was informed that it was the body of Imam Musa Kazem and the wretch Sindi ibn Shahak was trying to deceive the people, Soleiman, although he was the paternal uncle of the tyrant Haroun, quickly went to the bridge, out of respect for the Prophet’s venerable descendant. He beat the black uniformed police officers carrying the corpse, and taking charge of the coffin of the Imam, announced: “whoever wants to see the purest of the pure -should come now.’ The people gathered and expressed sorrow, and many, along with Soleiman, accompanied the funeral barefoot to the Quraysh cemetery north of Baghdad, where the 7^th Imam was laid to rest. The tomb is now the sprawling twin-domed gold-plated mausoleum, at the sight of which the residents of Baghdad, whether Shi'a or Sunni, bow in reverence with the words "O Bab al-Hawa'ej (Granter of Boons) on their lips."

Here is another passage to ponder upon from the special supplication for the Day of Mab'ath:

"O You Who have enjoined us to pardon and overlook (others’ faults), having assured us to pardon and overlook (our faults)! O You Who pardon and overlook, pardon me and overlook my faults, O Generous One!

AS/ME