In the Name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful
Imam’s Biography
After Imam Hossein (Pbuh), Imam Ali Ibn al-Hosein (Pbuh)
inherited Imamate from him. He was called” Abu Mohammad”
and “Zein-ul-Abedin” and some times “Abol Hassan” as well. His mother
was Kasra’s daughter (the last king of the Sasanides)
whose name was “ Shahrbanoo”. Imam Ali (Pbuh) appointed Harith
Ibn Jaber Hanafi as his officer for governing the eastern part of
the Islamic government’s kingdom. Then Harith
sent the daughters of Yazdgerd III for Imam Ali (Pbuh). Sharbanoo
married Imam Hossein (pbuh) and the other one
married Mohammad Ibn Abubakr.
Imam Sajad (another nickname of Imam Zein –ul-Abedin) was born
in 38 A.H (Sha’ban 5th) in Medina. He was 23 when he lost his
father ” Imam Hossein (Pbuh)” and he lived for
another 34 years. He passed away in the 25th
of Moharram, 95 A.H at the age of 56 in Medina. His
Imamate lasted for 34 years .His tomb is located in Baghi’
Cemetery (In Medina) next to Imam Hassan’s
(Pbuh) tomb.
The Reasons of Imam Sajad (Pbuh)’s Imamate
The reasons of Imam Ali Ibn Hossain (Pbuh)’s Imamate are so many
among which are:
- After his father ”Imam Hossein (Pbuh)” he was the most qualified
person from scientific point of view. It is wisely to say that
Imamate is a position, which is
appropriate for the one who possesses all
the good attributes. He was the closest person to the ex-Imam and
much more deserved to be Imam, in comparison with the others
both for the sake of possessing good attributes and enjoying the
membership of a noble progeny. He deserved
to accept this responsibility as an Imam
due to the Quarnic verse Zavel Arham and the story of Hazrat-e
Zacharias (Pbuh) which is explained in Quran.
- According to common sense Imamate is necessary in any time and
the claims of those who claimed to possess
it (of course they were liars) in Imam’s
time and the other times was nonsense so the validity of his Imamate
is proved, for it is impossible to have no Imam in any time.
- From logical point of view and also according to the narrations
, it is proved that the status of Imamate
is specially restricted to the Progeny of
Holy Prophet(SW)and the claim of the one who considered “Mohammad
Hanafiyeh “ as Imam is null and void. The reason is that
about his Imamate there has been no clear
narration from The Holy Prophet (SW) and the other
Imams. Thus; it is proved that Imamate just belongs to Ali
Ibn Hossain (Pbuh), for there has been no
claim about it among The Holy Prophet’s Progeny and as it
was mentioned earlier that Mohammad Hanafiyeh is not the
holder of this position.
- The other reason is the clarification of The Holy Prophet (SW)
on his Imamate so that “ Revayat-e Loh” is
indicative of this fact .The one which has been
narrated by Jabir Ibn Abdollah Ansary who himself had heard
from The Holy
Prophet (SW).
Imam Sajad(Pbuh)’s Characters
“Abdol Aziz Ibn Abi Hazim “ states that : “ I have heard from my father
that ‘among the Bany Hashim Progeny no one could be found
who would be better than Ali Ibn Hossein (Pbuh)’ ”.
“Sa’id Ibn Kolthum “ states: “ I was with Imam Sadiq (Pbuh) then, we
talked about Imam Ali (Pbuh). He praised him a
lot, then he said: ” I swear to God! That Ali
Ibn-e Abi Talib (Pbuh) never earned money from the illegal ways.”
And there was no one among the Moslem nation who could deal with
the Holy Prophet (SW)’s affairs. Ali (Pbuh)’s
situation was like the state of a man who saw
himself between the Paradise and The Hell , hoping to be granted a
prize and at the same time being afraid of punishment (Seeking
God’s satisfaction and hoping to be saved from
the fire of the Hell), Imam Ali (Pbuh) freed
thousands of slaves, with money which he earned through hard works.
Along with his wife and children he, consumed olive, vinegar, and
dates. His clothes were made of canvas. If his
sleeves were too long, he would cut them.
He led a simple and ordinary life .No one would resemble him among his
Progeny, in scientific matters, but Ali Ibn-e Hossain (Pbuh).”
The Personality of Imam Sajad (Pbuh)’s Point of View
Along with the previously mentioned narration, Imam Sadiq (Pbuh) states
that: “One day Imam Baqir (Pbuh) came to his
father “ Imam Sajad (Pbuh)”. He saw his father
praying in such a way that no one could interrupt him. He found
out that due to staying up late at night (for the sake of praying), his
face turned pale, and his eyes were weak due
to crying so hard and his feet were swollen due to
much of praying.
Imam Baqir (Pbuh) states:” When I saw my father’s attitude, I began to
cry uncontrollably because I felt a sympathy
toward him. He was deep in thought. After a
while he said; “My dear son, give me some of these books in which there
has been mentioned the points about Ali Ibn Abi Talib’s way of praying.”
I did so, he read them for a while, then he
put them down so sadly and said: “ Who has the
power to pray just like Imam Ali (Pbuh)?
Related Link:
Sahifeh Sajjadieh
