Martyrdom of the 6th Imam

Heartfelt condolences to you on a very doleful day. Today, the 25th of the month of Shawwal is the martyrdom anniversary of the Leader of the Truthful, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), the 6th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

Now we have an exclusive article on the life and times of this great personality.

 “When your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am going to set a Caliph (that is, vicegerent) on the Earth…”

What you heard was ayah 30 of Surah al-Baqarah in which God tells the angels of setting Adam, the father of the human race, as His representative on Planet Earth.

Now listen to ayah 26 of Surah as-Suad of the holy Qur’an which informs us of God’s decision to make Prophet David His representative on Earth in order to establish justice in society:

“O David! Indeed We have made you a Caliph (vicegerent) on the Earth; so judge between people with justice…”

As is obvious, the above-mentioned Words of God Almighty are ample proof that caliphate or leadership of mankind is a Divine Trust, and it is the Creator Alone Who appoints the Caliph as His representative to manage in the proper way the affairs of mankind.

In other words, it means anyone styling himself a caliph is nothing but an imposter, and no individual or a group have the right to elect, select, designate or nominate any person as caliph.

As the annals of Islamic history bear testimony the Last and Greatest Messenger of God and the Best of creation, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) did not appoint his dear cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as Vicegerent (or Caliph) until he received the formal commandment of God at Ghadeer-Khom near Juhfa while returning from his Farewell Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, as is evident by revelation of ayah 67 of Surah Ma’edah, and his immortal proclamation to the massive gathering of 120,000 pilgrims:

“Man kunto Mowla fa hadha Aliyun Mowla (For whomsoever I am Master this Ali is his Master).”

We are not concerned here with the sad turn of events after the passing away of the Prophet when Imam Ali’s caliphate or political leadership of the Islamic state, but not the divinely-designated authority over all mankind, was usurped against the letter and spirit of the Holy Qur’an and the instructions of the Prophet.

It is also outside the scope of this brief radio programme to refer to the huge throngs that gathered at the doorstep of Imam Ali (AS) in 35 AH, begging him to take up the reins of the “orphaned caliphate”, which he reluctantly did after making it clear that he will only act according to the Holy Qur’an and the Precepts of the Prophet without observing any of the innovations that had crept in over the past twenty-five years – thereby proving for all time that his legitimacy to rule does not depend on the will of the masses, but is the result of Divine-Designation, no matter if some persons understand or not.

Unfortunately, the term caliphate has been misused to such an extent throughout history that the Omayyads and the Abbasids tyrants, among whom were even apostates and atheists, masqueraded as caliphs. In our own days, head-boiling and raw liver-chewing cannibalistic terrorists who indulge in the most macabre massacres of Muslim men, women, and children, shamelessly call themselves caliphs, with the backing of the US and the Zionist entity.

Today, the advent of the tragic 25^th of Shawwal brings tears to our eyes and warrants us to focus on the exemplary life of the person who rejected the offer of caliphate of a vast realm extending from the borders of China and India in the east, to North Africa and Spain in the west.

He was neither unfit nor ineligible. He was in fact the most deserving person of his age in terms of not just knowledge and piety, but a flawless pedigree reaching the Seal of Messengers, and this is the reason he gave the immortal message to all humanity that the political rule that is conferred by a group of people, cannot be considered the true divinely-ordained caliphate.

The reason that Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) burned in the flame of a nearby lamp, without bothering to open the letter containing the offer of caliphate sent by the victorious general Abu Salama after routing the ungodly Omayyads and ending their usurpation of the caliphate, was the fact that he wanted Muslims of all time to understand that as specified by God in the Holy Qur’an, mortals cannot make or unmake a truly Islamic Caliph.

To be more precise, Imam Sadeq’s (AS) divinely-designated authority as the 6^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was beyond the grasp of any usurper, and neither did it depend on the whims of a general, harbouring any ulterior motives in vesting temporal rule to the Imam of the age.

He knew that his illustrious ancestor, Imam Ali (AS), had set the lasting precedent of the true caliphate by establishing the only instance of the rule of social justice, and now it was Divine Will that only the 12th and Last Infallible Heir of the Prophet will rise as Qa’em al-Mahdi in the end times to establish the global government of justice, after God had given opportunity to every nation or ideological group to exercise political authority – albeit in its crudest and cruelest forms – so that on the Day of Resurrection no one could say that they would have formed a fair and just government if given the chance.

Glory to Imam Sadeq (AS), who continues to inspire the true believers with the immortal legacy of jurisprudence that he bequeathed to posterity by reviving in his times the genuine practice and behaviour (Sunnah wa Seerah) of the Prophet which was a household affair for him, in contrast to the guesswork of the pseudo jurisprudents of his times, who unfortunately misled masses of Muslims.

The struggle for power between the tottering Omayyad regime and the insurgent Abbasids, provided the 6^th Imam with the opportunity to take to towering heights the academy of Medina, whose foundation had been laid by his grandfather, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), after the tragedy of Karbala, and which had been developed by his father, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS). So thoroughly did the 6^th Imam revolutionize this academy that at its peak 4,000 scholars from various parts of the Islamic World – spread over West and Central Asia, North Africa and Southwest Europe – sat at the feet of the heir of the Prophet to learn various disciplines, including jurisprudence, theology, rhetoric, ethics, hadith, exegesis of the holy Qur’an, accounts of the past Prophets, and natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, botany, etc. Among its products was the Master of Rhetoric, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, the Theologian Aban ibn Thaghlab, and the Father of Chemistry, Jaber ibn Hayyan – known as Geber to medieval Europe.

Even Abu Hanifa, whose name was No’man bin Sabet bin Zuta, and who later developed a jurisprudential school of his own, was for two years a student of Imam Sadeq (AS), and used to say: “But for those two years, No’man would have perished.”

Imam Sadeq (AS) during his 34-year imamate continued the enlightening task of the Prophet to revive in society the genuine teachings of Islam. This naturally brought him into confrontation with persons of devious tendencies such as the self-assumed Sufis and the extremists known as the Ghullats, as well as with the pseudo jurisprudents who were for brief period his students – or actually school dropouts. Imam Sadeq (AS) deplored the double standards of the Sufis, since most of these self-styled ascetics or mystics either did not practice whatever they preached or twisted matters beyond proportion to lead naïve and simple-minded people down the self-destructive path of shunning the blessings and bounties of God. The Imam recommended spiritual purification, paying attention to spirituality and enjoying the blessings of nature and its manifestations as permitted by the holy Qur’an and the practical precedents set by the Prophet. He used to debate with the leaders of Sufism, such as Sufyan Thawri, to convince them that their religious practice was not rational, and on no account God wants His creatures to avoid the blessings of food, clothes and other lawful and permissible pleasures.

At the same time, the 6^th Imam had to confront the Ghullat or extremists who although claiming to be followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt had distorted their beliefs and were misleading people by attributing things and characteristics to the Infallible Imams that are exclusively for God Almighty.

Imam Sadeq (AS) openly cursed such persons, saying: “We are servants of Allah, Who created us and made us superior to the others of His creation. Certainly we shall die and shall stand before Allah for reckoning. He who is a friend of the extremists is our enemy; and he who is their enemy is our friend. The extremists are infidels and polytheists; curse be upon them.”

He also said: “Allah's curse upon those who claim divinity and godhood for Imam Ali. By Allah, Imam Ali was an obedient servant of Allah. Curse upon those who have slandered us; some people say things about us that we do not say ourselves. We declare that we have no connection with them.”

The famous Iranian Islamic scholar Sheikh Sadouq, who flourished over a thousand years ago, quotes Zarara ibn A'yun, a reliable companion of the 5^th and 6^th Infallible Imams, as saying: “I told Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS) that one of the persons known to him believes in “Tafwiz” – that is, delegation of divine authority. The Imam said: 'What is meant by Tafwiz?' I replied: 'The man says that Allah created Mohammad and Ali and then delegated to them His authority over the affairs of the people; so they are the creators and providers of food; they are the animators (who give life), and they are the killers (who cause death).'

Imam Sadeq (AS) said: “The enemy of Allah lies. When you go back to him, read him this ayah of the Holy Qur'an (ayah 16 of Surah Ra’d): "....Have they set up for Allah partners who have created like His creation, so that the creations seemed confusable to them? Say, ‘Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the All-Paramount.’

In the face of such intricate plots, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), as the truthful successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) saved Muslims from confusion. No wonder the code of jurisprudence that he bequeathed to the seekers of truth and which is known as “Fiqh al-Ja’fari” is actually the “Shari’at-al Muhammadi” in its most pristine and purest forms that enables the believers from falling prey to the so-called schools of jurisprudence and sects based on hearsay and guesswork.

Alas, when the tyrant Mansour Dawaniqi assumed power as the 2^nd self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, he resorted to a policy of threats, pressures, and imprisonment against the Imam of the Truthful, whom he finally martyred on this day through a fatal dose of poison.

Imam Sadeq (AS), however, continues to rule the hearts of the faithful all over the world, despite the passing away of a millennium and three centuries. Neither Mansour Dawaniqi, the Abbasid tyrant who martyred him on the assumption of ending the line of the genuine caliphate of Islam, nor the heretical Wahhabis who demolished the holy mausoleum housing the blessed graves of the Prophet’s 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th Infallible Heirs, in the vain hope of obliterating the legacy of the Ahl al-Bayt, have succeeded in their sinister aims.

AS/ME