إسماعيل بن جعفر بن محمد

Muhammad ibn Ja’far went to see Harun Ar-Rashid and greeted him as the Caliph. He then told him, ‘I did not think that there were two Caliphs on the Earth until I saw that they greet my brother Musa ibn Ja’far as the Caliph.’”One of the people who said bad things behind Musa ibn Ja’far’s (s) back was Yaqoob ibn Dawood. He was one of the Zaydites.

I was in Qom, there began a discussion amongst our people about a man who had negated his son to be from his seed. They sent a man to Shaykh Siyanatullah, as I was present before him. The messenger handed to him the letter, but he did not read it and told him to go to Abu Abdullah Bazufari for the answer. I went with the messenger. Bazufari said to him, “The boy is his son and he copulated with his mother in such and such day in such and such time. Tell him to name his son Muhammad.” The messenger returned and the matter was clarified to all and the boy was named Muhammad.

`Anbasa b. Bijad al-`Abid narrated to me. He said: When Isma`il b. Ja`far b. Muhammad died and we left his funeral, al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (as) sat down, and we sat down around him. He was melancholy. Then, he raised his head and said: O people! This world is the abode of departure – an abode of crookedness and not an abode of straightness. Departure is a tragedy that cannot be repelled and a woe that cannot be deterred. Surely, people are only distinguished by beautiful mourning and good contemplation. Whoever does not mourn for his brother, his brother will mourn for him. Whoever does not have a child, then he is the one who will proceed [toward death] without a child. Then, he (as) presented the poem of Abi Khurash al-Hadhali when he mourned for his brother: “Do not think that I have forgotten his covenant, but rather, my patience – O Amim – is beautiful.”

jurisprudents, the scholars, the Quran recitors, and the military commanders all be present there during the time of the Hajj pilgrimage. He himself set out for Medina.Ali ibn Muhammad al-Nowafali added, “My father narrated for me that the reason why Yahya ibn Khalid’s (Harun’s vizier) vilification of Musa ibn Ja’far in the presence of Ar-Rashid was that Harun had entrusted his son Muhammad ibn Zubaydah to Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Ash’ath to be educated. Yahya did not like this and told himself that when (Harun) Ar-Rashid dies Muhammad (Al-Amin) will become the ruler, and this will be the end of the period of his power and that of his children. He thought that Muhammad would turn the affairs over to Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Ash’ath and his children.Yahya knew that Ja’far was a Shiite. Therefore, he acted as if he was of the same sect. Then Ja’far became happy and told him about all of his affairs, and what he thought about Musa ibn Ja’far (s). Once Yahya became informed of his beliefs, he talked about him with (Harun) Ar-Rashid.However, (Harun) Ar-Rashid supported Ja’far and took into consideration his position in the government. Thus he did not make any rush decisions about him. But Yahya kept on talking bad about him with (Harun) Ar-Rashid. One day Ja’far went to see (Harun) Ar-Rashid. Harun honored him, and they talked about his nobility and that of his father. On that day Ar-Rashid ordered that Ja’far be paid twenty-thousand Dinars. Therefore, Yahya hesitated and did not tell Ar-Rashid anything until the night.Then he told Ar-Rashid, “O Commander of the Faithful (Ar-Rashid)! I had told you some things about Ja’far and his religion before. However, you defended him and did not accept what I said. Now there has come up an issue which will make things clear.” Harun said, “What is it?” Yahya said, “Ja’far sends one-fifth of whatever property he gets to Musa ibn Ja’far. I have no doubt that he has done the same with the twenty-thousand Dinars which you ordered to be paid to him.”Then Harun said, “Yes. This could finish things off.” Then he sent for Ja’far at night. Ja’far had become informed of Yahya’s vilification behind his back, did not inform him of everything he did, and their friendship had turned into enmity.When Ar-Rashid’s messenger went to Ja’far at night, Ja’far thought that Harun might have believed what Yahya had said about him and feared that Harun had called him in to kill him. Thus he poured some water over himself, asked for some musk and camphor, rubbed them on his body and wore a shroud over his garment. Then he went to Ar-Rashid. When Harun saw him that way and smelled the camphor and saw the shroud on him, he said, “O Ja’far! What is this?” He replied, “O Commander of the Faithful! I know that they have told you bad things about me behind my back. When you sent me someone at this hour, I was not secure thinking that their backbiting had affected you and you have called me in on the mat to kill me.Harun said, “Never! However, I have been informed that you send one-fifth of whatever you get to Musa ibn Ja’far, and that you have done the same with the twenty-thousand Dinars. I want this to be clarified for me.” Then Ja’far said, “O Commander of the Faithful! God is the Greatest! Please order one of your servants to come with me and bring the money back to you sealed as it was.” Then Ar-Rashid told hisservant, “Take Ja’far’s ring (to show his family and get them to trust you), go to his house and bring me the money.” Ja’far told him the name of his slave-wife who had the money. Then she gave the servant the sealed bags of money, and he brought them to (Harun) Ar-Rashid. Then Ja’far told Harun, “This is the first case for you to see that they ascribe false things to me.” Harun said, “O Ja’far! You are right. Return home. You are secure. I will not accept anyone’s words about you.”The narrator of this tradition added, “However, Yahya did not stop in his attempts to undermine Ja’far.”Al-Nowafali added, “Ali ibn Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Umar ibn Ali narrated on behalf of some of the Sheikhs that once when Harun was performing a Hajj pilgrimage before this one, Ali ibn Isma’il ibn Ja’far ibn Muhammad met me and said, How come you have withdrawn yourself so much? Why don’t you pay any attention to the affairs of the Vizier?”Then the vizier sent someone after me, and I accompanied him. I presented my needs to him. The reason behind this was that Yahya ibn Khalid had asked Yahya ibn Abi Maryam, “Can you introduce one of the members of the household of Abi Talib who has worldly inclinations which I can fulfill?” He had answered, “Yes. I know someone with these traits. He is Ali ibn Isma’il ibn Ja’far.” Yahya sent someone after him and told him, “Inform me about the affairs of your uncle (Imam Kadhim), his followers, and the property that they bring for him.”Ali ibn Isma’il said, “Yes. I know about him.” Then he started to say bad things about the Imam (s). He said, “One instance of his extensive wealth is related to when he had bought a land called ‘Al-Yasirieh When they brought the money, the seller said, “I do not want these coins. Give me other coins.” Then the Imam (s) ordered that the coins be returned to his treasury, and thirty-thousand Dinars of the same weight and type that the seller wanted be brought for him.Al-Nowfali added, “My father narrated that Musa ibn Ja’far (s) had entrusted some of his affairs to Ali ibn Isma’il. Even some of the letters of the Imam (s) to his followers were written in Ali ibn Isma’il’s handwriting. However, he slowly became distant from the Imam (s). When (Harun) Ar-Rashid decided to return to Iraq, they informed Musa ibn Ja’far (s) that his brother was planning to go to Iraq along with theKing. The Imam (s) called his brother in and asked, “What is wrong with you? Why do you want to go with the King?” He said, “I have debts.: The Imam (s) said, “I will pay them back.” He said, “What about the expenses for my family?” The Imam (s) said, “Fine. I will pay for them.” However, Ali ibn Isma’il did not give up going with the King. The Imam (s) sent him three hundred Dinars and four thousand Dirhams by means of his brother Muhammad (ibn Isma’il) and said, “So use these for your travel expenses but do not make my children orphans.”

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.”