There is no doubt among us that after our dear Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP), our twelve Imams (AS) are the most important figures of our religion. On that account, today we want to get to know more about our first imam and the first male convert of the religion birth matter and conditions.
The faithless say, ‘You have not been sent [by Allah].’ Say, ‘Allah suffices as a witness between me and you, and he who possesses the knowledge of the Book’
The Holy Quran (13:43)
And among the people is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is most kind to [His] servants
The Holy Quran (2:207)
If the two of you repent to Allah... for your hearts have certainly swerved, and if you back each other against him, then [know that] Allah is indeed his guardian, and his supporters are Gabriel, the righteous among the faithful and, thereafter, the angels...
The Holy Quran (66:4)
If we seek the true meaning of these three verses above of our holy book, they all seek Ali (AS) as their primary target and guide us to some aspects of his life. our dear imam has been implicitly described by The Quran many times that shows us His great importance in our religion.
No one can fully describe the contributions of Imam Ali (AS) to his religion and the people and if anyone dares to do so, he can merely show a drop of the sea. That said we are about to speak about the first question that may occur to our mind: how was our first Imam born?
Thirty years after the “year of the elephant” (*) occurrence, in the 13th of Rajab (March 8), when Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) was 30 years old, 10 years before our dear The Prophet (PBUH&HP) received the first revelation from the angel Gabriel and 23 years before the great migration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina.
At this time, our dear imam's pregnant mother (Fatima Daughter of Asad) was praying at Kaaba. She felt an immense amount of delivery pain that she fled to Kaaba from that pain. Suddenly the wall of Kaaba has moved apart and given shelter to her for 3 whole days. After these days, she came out of Kaaba with her dear son, our first imam, Ali b. Abi Talib (AS). Imam’s delivery was a great honor that happened to no one And after yet; walls moving apart, mother’s presence in the holy site of Islam, and the unique birth in Kaaba were all the signs of the greatness of son of Kaaba.
Fatima Daughter of Asad was the second woman that converted to Islam (after Prophet’s wife, Khadija” SA”). She had the honor of taking care of the Prophet (PBUH&HP) from the age of eight until his youth in her (Abu-Talib) house. Their relation was as much close that Prophet (PBUH&HP) called she “mother” So we can see the early strings of Prophet (PBUH&HP) calling Imam Ali (AS) his brother.
1.Sheikh Mofid (died in 413th AH): our first imam, Ali b. Abi Talib (AS) was born on Friday the 13th of Rajab and thirty years after the year of the elephant in Mecca. No one ever has been born in Kaaba before and after him. His delivery was the great honor that God granted him to show his dignity over other men of his age.
2. Allamah Al-Hilli (died in 726th AH): Imam Ali (PBUH) was born on Friday the 13th of Rajab and thirty years after the occurrence of the year of the elephant. No one before and after him, was born in Kaaba at that time, The Prophet (PBUH&HP) was thirty years old.
Many of the Sunni scholars Believe that Imam’s birth routine was in Kaaba and some of them even think this matter exclusively was only for the Imam.
We will name some of them briefly and look at their point of view:
1. Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (died in 658th lunar year): a lot of Consecutive narrations have pointed that Fatima bt. Asad have delivered Ali b. Abi Talib in the Kaaba.
2. Sibt ibn al-Jawzi Hanafi (died in 654th lunar year): It has been narrated that when Fatima bt. Asad was pregnant and doing tawaf around the Kaaba, she sensed an immense delivery pain that she fled to Kaaba from the pain; when suddenly Kaaba’s door got opened to her so she went into the Kaaba and gave birth to his child.
Syed Ismail Himayari (who died in 173th AH) was one of the greatest poets of Arabic literature. He wrote a poem about this unique birth:
His mother gave birth to him in God’s safe site; God’s house and masque was his birthplace
He was pure and noble; her mother, her child, and her birthplace too
In one of the darkest nights, he appeared with lunar purity
No child other than Amine’s child is honored like him
References:
- Kitab al-Kafi (first Volume – page 452)
- Kitab al-Irshad (first Volume – page 5)
- I'lam al-Wara bi A'lam al-Huda (first Volume – page 306)
- Bihar al-Anwar (35th Volume – page 182)
- Description of Nahj al-Balagha (first Volume – page 6)
- Manaqib Ale Abi Talib (third Volume – page 307)
- Rawżat al-Vaeezin (page 81)
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* In that year, Kaaba invaded by faithless king Abraha and his great elephant army and ironically saved by Allah himself with an army of birds carrying small stones by their pecks that penetrate the elephant's body and skull and all of them got killed, and Kaaba was saved.
Imam Ridha (AS) is the eighth Shiite Imam. His original name was Ali, and his father’s name was Musa (AS). He was also known the Ra’uf Imam, which means a kind-hearted person. He was born on Dhu al-Qa’da 11th 148 H (765 AC).
Imam Ridha (AS) was the successor of his father, Imam Musa al-Kazim (AS). After Imam Kazim (AS), the Shia community faced several problems:
Firstly, a new deviated branch of the Shias emerged, called “Waghifiah”. Waghfiah believed that Imam Musa al-Kazim (AS) hadn’t died and he was still alive. They said that Imam Kazim (AS) was the promised Mahdi (AS) in Occultation and he would return one day. This rumor spread among the Shias, and many of them struggled with this test, denying the Imamate of Imam Ridha (AS).
Secondly, the situation worsened due to the belief that Imam Ridha (AS) had no living son which implied he had no successor. Those who denied the Imamate of Imam Ridha (AS) considered this as a sign that he was not a legitimate Imam. This was one of the most dangerous tests the Shias faced.
Thirdly, during Imam Ridha (AS) time, the Shia population had significantly increased, and many Shias were engaging in conflicts with the contemporary Abbasid Dynasty government. Abbasid dynasty was consistently hostile towards the Shias, subjecting them to severe oppression, especially during time of Harun ar-Rashid, one of the Abbasid kings in the time of Imam Ridha (AS). To ensure the survival of the Abbasid dynasty, Ma’mun, the successor of Harun, attempted to gain favor with the Shias by falsely declaring Imam Ridha (AS) as his successor. This led many people to believe that Imam Ridha (AS) had a good relationship with the cruel Abbasid dynasty, causing them to deny his Imamate.
Imam Ridha (AS) successfully resolved all these three problems during his time as Imam.
The beliefs of the Waghifiah were actually against the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH & HP).
They believed that Imam Kazim (AS) was the last Shiite Imam and the promised Mahdi (AS).
However, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH & HP) had foretold that there would be twelve successors (Imams) after him:
Indeed, this religion will not end until twelve successors [of me] rise among the people. (1)
Based on this and similar hadiths, Imam Ridha (AS) refuted the beliefs of the Waghifiah.
After a while, Imam Jawad (AS), the son of Imam Ridha (AS) was born. Now people could see that Imam Ridha (AS) have a legitimate successor, and their doubts were unfounded. About Imam Javad (AS), Imam Ridha (AS) said:
No more blessed child than this boy has been born for the Shias. (2)
The birth of Imam Javad (AS) served as a proof of Imam Ridha’s (AS) Imamate.
Ma’muns’ policy concerning Imam Ridha (AS) aimed to deceive the Shias, and it did deceive some of them. However, Imam Ridha (AS) had his own strategy. Initially, he refused Ma’mun’s proposal to become his successor. Still, Ma’mun forced Imam Ridha (AS) to accept it, threatening to kill him otherwise.(3) Therefore, Imam Ridha (AS) accepted under conditions. Imam Ridha (AS) said:
I accept your proposal under the condition that I can’t command or prohibit anyone, I won’t be the Judge, I won’t appoint anyone to be a ruler or to depose one. I won’t change anything. (4)
Ma’mun accepted these conditions, but he didn’t realize that this demonstrated would Imam Ridha’s (AS) disagreement with his plan. By making this condition, accepting Ma’mun’s proposal was no different from rejecting it. After a while, Ma’mun understood that he couldn’t use Imam Ridha (AS) to deceive the Shias, so he decided to kill Imam Ridha (AS), and he did.
Imam Ridha (AS) was poisoned by Ma’mun on Safar 30th, 203 H (818 AC).
Resources
- Sahih al-Muslim, Muslim an-Neishaburi, vol.3, pg.1452
- Al-Kafi, Sheikh Koleini, vol.1, pg.321
- I’lal ash-Shara’I, Sheikh Saduq, pg.238
- I’lam al-Vara, Sheikh Tabarsi, vol.2, pg.72
After Imam Ali (AS) was martyred, Imam Hassan (AS) took over as his successor who like his father fought against Mu’aviah but he couldn’t defeat him because his army was not sufficiently loyal. His reliable followers were inadequate and he feared that they could be killed in the battle. Thus, Imam Hassan (AS) made a peace treaty with Mu’aviah, under the duress against his own will.
Mu’aviah became the Caliph under specific circumstances. For instance, he wasn’t allowed to choose the next Caliph and his son (Yazid) couldn’t be his successor. On the other hand, when Mu’aviah died, Imam Hussain (AS) was opposed to and fought against Yazid and he and his followers were brutally martyred. Both Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS) had few collaborators/ associates/ helpers; however, this did not stop him from protesting against Yazid and his tyranny.
One of the most controversial questions about Imam Hussain (AS) is that why he did not make peace with Yazid just like his bother did with Mu’aviah?
It is worth noting that it would be so irrational to think that Imam Hussain (AS) had a different disposition from Imam Hassan (AS), for example one was more of a diplomat while the other was more of a fighter. In fact the objective conditions at the times of two Imams were rather different hence, their approach apparently differed.
1. Mu’aviah was willing to make peace with Imam Hassan (AS) but Yazid wasn’t like his father. Mu’aviah did not want to fight against either Imam Hassan (AS) or Imam Hussain (AS) and they were not prepared to do so. Once the governor of Medina wrote to Mu’aviah that Hussain (AS) does not want to take over the kingdom for now but he may do in the future. Mu’avia wrote to the ruler:
Leave Hussain (AS) and do not bother him because we don’t want to conflict with him while he is in peace with us (1)
On the other hand, when Yazid became the Caliph, he ordered the governor of Medina to make Imam Hussain (AS) to either obtain the oath of loyalty (to the Caliphate of Yazid) or failing that, kill Imam Hussain (AS), cut off his head and send it to Yazid.
2. In public Mu’aviah was, at least superficially, a pious person who would not commit sins or harm innocent people. Sometimes even the followers of Imam Ali (AS) had doubts about the impiety of Mu’aviah. While Yazid had no reservations, he would commit sins in public including drinking wine, playing with dogs and monkeys and etc. As in this regard Imam Hussain (AS) said:
Yazid is an alcoholic person and kills innocent people and does sins in public, so a person like me wouldn’t accept a person like him as their king (2)
3. Mu’aviah was a very powerful king with strong army but Yazid was not as clever and strong.
4. The loyalty of many of Imam Hassan’s (AS) followers was questionable. Some abandoned him and some others tried to kill him or even surrender him to Mu’aviah. But the companions of Imam Hussain (AS), as he himself said, were of a better and more loyal caliber. (3)
5. Mu’aviah was among the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) which earned him the respect of Muslims in general whereas Yazid was not a companion of the Prophet (PBUH) was so important to Muslims in that time and people would respect him so much. But Yazid wasn’t a companion of the Prophet.
6. Mu’aviah’s sister (Um Habibah) was the Prophet’s wife. Since the prophet’s wives are called ‘’the mothers of the believers ‘’; therefore, Mu’aviah was called “the uncle of the believers”. Yazid, however, did not have such status.
7. Although he did not meet any of his commitments that he had already made, Mu’aviah could say that he is legally the caliph because of the peace agreement between him and Imam Hassan (AS) because Yazid could not claim such legitimately.
Some people think that Imam Hussain (AS) didn’t agree with his brother in making peace with Mu’aviah however because of his respect for his brother, he observed the peace treaty and did not oppose Muaviah. However, this view about Imam Hussain is not right.
If we assume/Supposing that Imam Hussain (AS) did not actually agree with his senior brother, he could fight against Mu’aviah; because, the latter broke his agreement that he had made with Imam Hassan (AS), when he made his son, Yazid, his successor and Imam Hussain (AS) had no agreement with Muaviah however the circumstances of Imam Hussain were unsuitable for an uprising against Muaviah.
References
- Bihar al-anvar, Majlesi, vol.44, pg.212
- Maghtal al-Hussain (AS), Abd ar-Razzaq al-Muqarram, pg.129
- Musnad al-Imam ash-Shahid, al-Atarodi, vol.2, pg.4