Birth Anniversary of Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS)

Today is the 3rd of Safar, which according to a narration is the birth anniversary of Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), 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 5^th 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 a thought-stimulating statement from him.

“We are the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet. Do not compare our knowledge and perfection to others. We receive these perfections in inheritance. The Earth can never remain without our presence. We are perfect in every matter, while all other people are deficient in reaching our level.”

As we said, these words were spoken by Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS) in Damascus to a self-styled Omayyad caliph, Hesham ibn Abdul-Malik, who after having kept the Prophet’s 5^th Infallible Heir waiting for three days as a form of snub, ignored him when he entered the court where archers were testing their skills, and then disdainfully handed him a bow and a set of arrows to try his hand at marksmanship, in the vain hope of ridiculing him if his volleys were to fall short of target. Imam Baqer (AS) calmly picked up the bow and to the surprise of the gathering, hit the bull’s-eye. He then aimed another arrow which pierced the first to hit the centre of the target. Before the flabbergasted caliph stopped him, the fifth Imam shot nine arrows in succession, each piercing the other, as testimony to his marksmanship.

The scene was not the Damascus of 61 AH, when, after a similar 3-day wait at Bab at-Toma, Imam Baqer (AS), as a barely 4-year old boy, was brought in chains to the court of Yazid, along with his parents  and the rest of the survivors of the heartrending Tragedy of Karbala, including Grand Aunts Hazrat Zainab and Hazrat Omm Kolthoum, and his own aunt of his age, Hazrat Ruqa’iyya (peace upon her), while placed in a tray before the infidel caliph, was the severed head of his grandfather, Imam Husain (AS). Now, half a century later, the middle aged Imam Baqer (AS), along with his son and eventual successor, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), was forcibly brought from Medina to Damascus by the tyrant Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik, who gloating at the advance of his marauding armies across the Pyrenees into France  in the west, and into the Subcontinent in the east, thought of himself as the “Wali al-Amr” or the Vicegerent of God upon Earth, and wanted to humiliate the Prophet’s divinely-designated successors – the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.

The 5^th Imam expressed the statement mentioned at the beginning of this programme when astounded at his marksmanship, Hesham said: Who coached you in this field? 

Imam Baqer’s (AS) reply filled the self-styled caliph with rage and he said: Do you claim that the people of the time are obliged to obey you? To his further exasperation, the Imam said: “Indeed! We are those vested with authority – as the holy Qur’an says “Ulil-Amr”. Hesham laughed and said your command is effective nowhere. At this, the Imam said without hesitation: “Those who do not consider us “Ulil Amr”, are sinners.”  When the tyrant seething with anger, said: I am “Ulil Amr”, Imam Baqer (AS) said: “You are a king, made by the people, while it is we who are the “Ulil Amr”, appointed by Allah.”

Humiliated in front of his courtiers, Hesham realized that further argument in front of the court was useless, and ordered that Imam Baqer (AS) and Imam Sadeq (AS) be detained. When they were leaving, an Omayyad courtier said: Thank God, the ruler did not order your execution. The 5^th Imam stunned him and the caliph with the words: “We Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are the Announcers of Allah's Word and Expounder of the Truth; we never hesitate in this regard, and we are never afraid of death.”

Like Prophet Joseph in Egypt, the prison was an opportunity for father and son to reform the inmates and make them good Muslims. This horrified Hesham, and he released them but did not allow them to leave Damascus. Imam Baqer (AS) considered this as a blessing in disguise and visited the chief Christian prelate of Syria, who after a lively debate became a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt along with his disciples and devotees. Hesham, alarmed at the situation in Syria, had now no other choice but to send back to Medina Imam Baqer (AS) and Imam Sadeq (AS), like Yazid half a century before him who had to release Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), Hazrat Zainab (SA) and the Survivors of the Tragedy of Karbala after their electrifying sermons changed public opinion in Damascus.

Since the 3^rd of Safar, according to a narration, is the birth anniversary of the 5^th Imam in 57 AH and it was on the 1^st of Safar 61 AH that the Ahl al-Bayt were brought in chains to the court of Yazid in Damascus, it would not be out of context to refer to the 4-year old boy’s decisive confrontation with the killer of his grandfather. When the Godless Omayyad, gloating over his success over the Bani Hashem, tried to ridicule Imam Husain (AS) and the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) in front of his courtiers, Imam Zain al- Abedin (AS) in spite of being in fetters and shackles gave a fitting reply, resulting in a dialogue with Yazid, who lost the argument with the son of his victim. In anger he turned to his courtiers who advised him to kill Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). At this, the 4-year old Imam Muhammad Baqer (AS), boldly addressing Yazid, said: Your courtiers’ advice to you to kill my father is diametrically opposed to the advice of Pharaoh’s courtiers, who on being asked their opinion regarding Prophet Moses (AS) and Aaron (AS), said: Give respite to him and his brother. Yazid and his courters were confused at these words expressed in flawlessly eloquent Arabic by a boy of tender age, and asked: what is the reason.

Imam Baqer (AS) answered: The reason why Pharaoh did not order the killing of Prophet Moses was that the Egyptian tyrant was of legitimate birth, which means only those of illegitimate birth slay a Prophet or his pure progeny. On hearing these remarks the whole court hung their heads in shame.

Peace unto the Baqer al-Uloum (Splitter and Spreader of Sciences), through whom the “Ziyarah” or standard form of salutation for the Martyr of Karbala, and the famous supplication called “Du’a Alqama” that is recited on the Day of Ashura has come down to us as a treasure trove of the legacy of the Ahl al-Bayt.

AS/SS