محمد بن علي بن يعقوب

I was at the place of Abu’l-Qasem, Hussain bin Ruh, may Allah sanctify his soul, and a man asked him about the meaning of Abbas to the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: «Indeed, your paternal uncle, Abu Talib, has accepted Islam by the calculation of the camel» and he counted thirty-six with his hand. So he said: By that he meant: «One God» , and the interpretation of that is that the Alif is one, the Laam is thirty, the Haa’ is five, the Alif is one, the Hhaa’ is eight, the Daal is four, the Jeem is three, the Waw is six, the Alif is one and the Daal is four. Hence, that is thirty-six.

“The exaggerators are unbelievers and those who believe in (God) turning over (all) the affairs (to the Prophet (sw)) are polytheists. Whoever associates with them; visits them; eats or drinks with them; becomes related to them; gives a daughter in marriage to or marries with one of their daughters; grants them immunity; considers them honest in keeping what they are entrusted with; or acknowledges what they say or assists them in what they say has exited from the circle of the Mastery of the Honorable the Exalted God, the Mastery of the Messenger (sw) and the Mastery of us - the Members of the Holy Household.”

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: Follow the sun, and if the sun is absent, follow the moon, and if the moon is absent, follow the Zuhra, and if the Zuhra is absent, follow the two Farqads. Then they said: O Messenger of Allah, what is the sun? And what is the moon? And what is the Zuhra? And what are the two Farqads? So he said: I am the Sun, Ali is the Moon, the Zuhra is Fatima and the Two Farqads are Hasan and Hussain.

Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, said: "If a slave of Allah were to see his appointed time of death, and how quickly it advance towards him, he would detest all his long hopes and would renounce seeking the world." He said: Abul Faraj al-Barqi al-Dawadi reported to me the following verses which he heard from a saintly old man at Baytul Muqaddas. "One waiting for death is busy every hour, diligently constructing, erecting and fortifying, He has moments, which are tested by a certain reality, (i.e. death) but his deeds are of those who is not certain. It is manifest yet denied, its knowledge treated as if its ways were unknown to even those who are certain." And may Allah bless our master, Muhammad, the Prophet and his pure progeny.

I asked Abil Hassan (s) about the reward of praying for one who is hung? The Imam (s) said, Don’t you know that my grandfather (s) prayed for his uncle (Zayd)? I said, I know this, but cannot clearly understand how. The Imam (s) said, I will explain it to you. If the face of the hanged person is towards the Qibla, you should stand on the side of his right shoulder. If his back is towards the Qibla you should stand on the side of his left shoulder. Whichever way he is facing, you should not stand away from his shoulders. Your face should be in between the East and the West. You should neither face him, nor should you have him at your back.” Abu Hashem added, “Then Al-Ridha (s) said, God willing, you understood!”The author of this book (Sheikh Sadooq) - may God have Mercy upon him - said, “This is a strange tradition which I have not found anywhere else. I have not found any other narrations of this tradition.”

I was in Khorasan with Ali bin Musa al-Rida, peace be upon them both, in his congregation, and Zaid bin Musa was present, having approached a group in the congregation, taking pride over them and saying: We are as such, and we are as such. Meanwhile, Abu’l-Hasan, peace be upon him, was facing a people which he was speaking to, and he heard the statement of Zaid, so he turned to him and said: O Zaid, have you been conceited by the saying of a food merchant in Kufa with regards to that Fatima shielded her private organ, to which Allah forbade her offspring from the Fire? By Allah, that for none but Hasan, Hussain and the children from her belly, exclusively. If Musa bin Ja’far, peace be upon them both, was obeying Allah, fasting during his day and standing during his night for prayer, and you would disobey him, and then you would both come on the Day of Resurrection as equal, you will, verily, be more honored to Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, than him. Indeed, Ali bin Hussain, peace be upon them both, used to say: To the one who is good to us are two portions of reward, and to the one who harms us are two multiples of torment. Hasan al-Washha’ said: Then he turned to me and said: O Hasan, how do you recite this verse: «He said: O Nuh, he is, indeed, not from your family; he is, indeed, an act that is not righteous» (11:46)? So I said: Among the people are those who recite: «he is, indeed, an act that is not righteous» and among them are those who recite: «he is, indeed, from the act [1] of one who is not righteous». The one who recites: «he is, indeed, from the act [2] of one who is not righteous» has negated him from his father. Then he, peace be upon him, said: «No, he was, certainly, his son, however, when he disobeyed Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, Allah negated him from his father. So is the one who is from us whilst not obeying Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He; he is not from us. You, if you obey Allah, then you are from us, the Household.

I was married to a woman, who was the first woman I had married. I was young man and my age was less than twenty years. I copulated with her at her father’s place and then she stayed there for years. I tried much to convince them to let her move to my place, but they would not listen. The woman became pregnant from me during this time and gave birth to a girl, which lived for a while and then died. I was neither present at her birth, nor when she died, and never saw her, because of the strained relationship between me and my in-laws. Then again we agreed to let her move to my house. So I went to them, but they again declined. I again made the woman pregnant. I demanded them to bring her to my house, as agreed. They again refused and our relationship soured. I moved away from them. She gave birth in my absence to a girl. We remained in this strained condition for many years. I did not go to bring her. Then I went to Baghdad. My friend at that time in Baghdad was Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Zajzawzaji and he was like an uncle or father to me. I stayed at his house in Baghdad and complained to him about my strained relationship with my wife and in-laws. He asked me to write a letter and ask for a Dua. So, I wrote a letter and mentioned in it my condition and my sour relations with my wife’s family and their refusal to let my wife come to my house. I and Abu Ja’far took the letter to Muhammad Ibn Ali, who was at the time a contact between us and Husain Ibn Rauh, who was the Representative at that time. We gave him the letter and asked him to send it. He took the letter from me, but the answer did not come for a long while. I met him and told him that I was very uncomfortable with the delay in answer to my letter. He said, “It should not make you uncomfortable.’ He hinted to me that if the answer comes soon, it is from Husain Ibn Rauh, and if there is a delay, it is from the Divine Proof (Hujjah) (a.s). I left. After a while – which I do not remember how long, but it was not very long – Abu Ja’far Zajawzaji called me one day. I went to him. He took out a section of a letter and said, “This is the answer of your letter. If you like to copy it, copy it and then return it to me.” I read the letter, which said: “May Allah set right the differences of the husband and the wife.” I copied these words and returned the letter to him. We went to Kufa. God made the woman’s heart soft to me with no effort. She lived with me for many years and I had many children from her. At times I was very rough to her and did things that would require much forbearance from any woman to bear, but she did not utter a word of disagreement, nor did her family, until time separated us from one another.” The narrators say, Abu Ghalib said: Long before this, once I wrote a letter requesting that my orchard and property be accepted. It was not my belief at that time to seek the pleasure of God, but rather I had a desire for courtship with the Naubakhtis, because of the wealth, power and prestige they enjoyed. No reply came to me. I insisted on making my request. A reply came to me, “Choose someone and transfer the property into his name, because you will need it.” I transferred the property to Abul Qasim Musa Ibn Hasan Zajawzaji, the nephew of Abu Ja’far, because I had confidence in him and his piety. Not many days passed that Bedouins took me prisoner and looted the property I owned. All my grains, animals and instruments worth a thousand dinars were gone. I remained in their captivity for some time until I bought my freedom for a hundred dinars and fifteen hundred dirhams. I became indebted to the couriers for another five hundred dirhams. I came out from the captivity and sold the property for this sheer need.

The reason for the arrest of Musa bin Ja’far (a.s) was that Harun Rashid had put his son in the care of Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Ashath and Yahya bin Khalid Barmaki was jealous of that. He said (to himself): “If the caliphate passes on to (the son), my dominion and that of my son will be destroyed.” Therefore he deceived Ja’far bin Muhammad - and the latter used to believe in Imamate - so that he managed to gain access to him and establish friendly relations with him. His visits to his house were frequent and he became acquainted with his affairs, which he reported back to H¡r£n Rashid and he added to these reports that which would make (Harun Rashid) feel hatred towards him. One day (Yahya bin Khalid) asked some of those he trusted: “Would you find for me a member of the family of Abu Talib, who is not in comfortable circumstances, and then he would let me know what I need?” He was directed to Ali bin Ismail bin Ja’far bin Muhammad. Yahya bin Khalid took him some money. Musa (a.s) was friendly with Ali bin Ismail bin Ja’far bin Muhammad, used to bring him gifts and treat him well. Yahya bin Khalid sent to (Ali bin Ismail) requesting him to visit Harun Rashid and drawing his attention to the kind treatment, which he had given him. So he decided to do that. Musa (a.s) was concerned and summoned Ali. “Where are you going, cousin?” he asked. “Baghdad,” was the reply. “Why are you doing that?” he enquired. “I am in debt and I am poor,” he answered. “I will pay your debt and act for you and carry out (what you need),” Musa (a.s) told him. He did not pay attention to that and began to set about (preparing for his) departure. Abul Hasan (a.s) asked him to come and said to him: “Are you leaving?” “Yes,” he replied, “I must do that.” “Look, cousin,” he said to him, “fear God and do not give away any confidences against my children.” He ordered him to be given three hundred dinars and four thousand dirhams. (When he stood up in front of him) Abul Hasan Musa (a.s) spoke to those who were present: “By God, he will strive against my blood and will confide against my children.” “May God make us your ransom,” they said, “did you know this from his state when you were giving him gifts and being generous to him?” “Yes,” he said, “my father told me on the authority of his ancestors, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah (s) that when kin cut themselves away, then they should be brought back, for if they cut themselves away, God will cut them off. I wanted to bring him back after he had cut himself off from me for if he cuts me off, God will cut him off. Ali bin Ismail set out until he reached Yahya bin Khalid. He gave him news of Musa bin Ja’far (a.s) and (Yahya bin Khalid) reported to Harun Rashid and added additional material to it. Then he took him to Harun Rashid. The latter asked him about his uncle and he gave information against him to (Harun Rashid). He told him that money was being brought to him from east and west and that he had bought an estate named Al-Yasir for thirty thousand dinars. Its (former) owner had said when he had brought him the money: “I will not accept this currency. I will only accept such-and-such currency.” Then he ordered that money be brought and gave thirty thousand dinars of the currency whose coinage he had asked for. Harun Rashid listened to that and then ordered him to be given two hundred thousand dirhams, with which he sought to make a living in one of the areas. He chose one of the provinces of the east. His messengers were sent to bring the money and he waited there for its arrival. One day he went to the toilet when he was suffering from dysentery and as a result of it the whole of his stomach came out. He fell down. They tried to put it back, but they could not. He was aware of his situation when the money was brought to him while he was in the pangs of death. He said: “What can I do with it? I am about to die.” That year Harun Rashid went on the pilgrimage. He began it at Medina and there he had Abul Hasan Musa (a.s) arrested. It is reported that when he came to Medina, Musa (a.s) received him with a group of nobles. They had gone out to meet him and then Abul Hasan (a.s) had gone on to the mosque as was his custom. Harun Rashid waited until night and then went to the tomb of the Messenger of Allah (s). He said: “O Messenger of Allah (s), I apologize to you for something I want to do. I want to imprison Musa Ibn Ja’far, because he intends to divide your community and cause bloodshed.” Then he ordered him to be taken from the mosque and brought before him. He had him put in chains and called for two awnings to be brought. He had (Abul Hasan) put in one of them on a mule and had the other awning put on another mule. The two mules left his house carrying the two awnings, which were closed. With each one went the cavalry. The cavalry divided and some went with one awning on road to Basra and the other to Kufa. Harun Rashid only did that in order to confuse the people about what had happened to Abul Hasan (a.s). He ordered the men who were with the awning in which was Abul Hasan to hand him over to Isa bin Ja’far bin Mansur, who was governor of Basra at that time. He was handed over to him and he kept him in detention for a year. He then wrote a letter to Harun saying, “You may take him (i.e. Imam Kadhim) from me and hand him over to any other person; otherwise, I will release him. I have tried all means to find any overwhelming evidence against him, but I failed. In fact, I even eavesdropped on him hoping that I would hear him invoking God’s curse upon me or you, but I always heard him supplicating God for himself and imploring Him for mercy and forgiveness. So, Harun order someone to go and receive the Imam from Isa. The Imam was then detained with al-Fadhl ibn al-Rabi in Baghdad where he spent a very long time of detention. However, Harun wanted al-Fadhl to kill the Imam, but the later refused. As a result, Harun ordered him through a letter to give the Imam to al-Fadhl ibn Yahya who also refused to obey Harun's orders of killing the Imam. Harun, while residing in al-Riqqah, was then informed that the Imam was living in luxury under the custody of al-Fadhl ibn Yahya; so, he ordered his servant Masrur to go to Baghdad, immediately come to Musa ibn Jaffar and gather information about his actual situation there. Harun instructed, “If you see him enjoy luxury as has been told, you mus then take this letter of mine to Abbas ibn Muhammad and take this another letter to Sindi ibn Shahak and order both of them to carry out my instruction mentioned in these letters immediately.” Obeying his master, Masrur came to Baghdad and resided in the house of al-Fadhl ibn Yahya without letting anyone know what he had come for. He then visited Musa ibn Jaffar and found him enjoying luxury, as exactly as Harun had been told. As soon as he left, he headed for Abbas and Sindi and delivered them the two letters of Harun. At once, the messenger left for al-Fadhl ibn Yahya running. When he was there, the people noticed that al-Fadhl rode with the messenger while he was overcome by astonishment and surprise. Once he met Abbas, he asked for lashes and a lashing wood. He assigned the mission to Sindi and ordered that al-Fadhl should be stripped of his clothes and lashed one hundred lashes. When he left, al-Fadhl was extremely astounded that he unconsciously went on greeting people. Masrur the servant transmitted this news to Harun in a letter and the latter ordered him to had over Imam Musa Kadhim (a.s) to Sindi ibn Shahak. Harun gathered the people and delivered a speech, saying, “O people, al-Fadhl ibn Yahya has disobeyed and challenged my orders. So, I see that you should invoke curse on him.” Cries of curse on al-Fadhl were uttered by all people from every corner of Harun's house that shook with these cries. Upon receiving these news, Yahya ibn Khalid came to Harun and entered from another door than the one usually used by people. He thus surprised Harun from his back and said to him, “Would you please listen to me, O Amir al-Mu'minin?” Panicked by this move, Harun paid his attention to Yahya who said to him, “It is true that al-Fadhl has committed a mistake, but we can set aright what he has ruined.” These words gladdened Harun who thus turned his face towards the attendants and said to them, “Because al-Fadhl had disobeyed me, I asked you to invoke curse upon him. Now that he repented and returned to my obedience, you should now accept him as your chief.” Acceding to him, the attendants shouted, “We always are friends of those whom you befriends and enemies of those whom you alienate. So, we are now loyalists to al-Fadhl.” Yahya ibn Khalid himself undertook the mission of transferring the ruler’s letters. When he arrived in Baghdad, the people surged and began to doubt everything. So, Yahya had to pretend that he had come for setting aright all their affairs and observing the performance of the governmental officials. While he was implementing some of these reformations, he summoned Sindi and conveyed to him the instructions of the ruler. Of course, Sindi went on carrying out these instructions. At the hour of his death, Imam Musa (a.s) asked Sindi to bring to him one of his servants who lived in the house of Abbas ibn Muhammad so that he would perform the ritual bathing of his body after his death. Sindi did. The reporter added: I asked Imam Kadhim (a.s) to allow me to enshroud him, but he refused and said, “We, the Ahl al-Bayt, manage the affairs of the dowries of our wives, our journeys to the Hajj pilgrimage and the shrouds that are used for enshrouding our dead bodies from our purest legally gotten money. I have my own shroud.” When the Imam passed away, master scholars and celebrated personalities of Baghdad, one of whom was al-Haytham ibn Adi, were allowed to see his dead body so that they would witness that he was not killed; rather, his death was natural. His dead body was then taken out and put on the bridge. A caller shouted, “This is the body of Musa ibn Jaffar. You people may come and look at it.” So, the people came to look at his face fixedly. The Reporter added: A man from the descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib reported to me that the caller who stood on the dead body of Imam Kadhim shouted, “This is Musa ibn Jaffar whom the Rafidah claim that he would not die. Come on and look at him.” So, people came and gazed at the body. The Imam’s body was then carried and buried in the cemetery of Quraysh; so, his grave was next to a man from the Nawfar family, whose name was Isa ibn Abdullah.”