Imam Askari

By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz Another Imam of Prophet Muhammad's (SAWA) Infallible Household was martyred today by another of those caliphs, who used to style themselves as heirs of the Prophet's political legacy, although neither they were aware of any iota of Islamic polity nor was their claim to rule Muslims was based on God's commandment in the holy Qur'an or any hadith of the Messenger of Mercy. On the contrary, the authority of their noble victims is explicitly confirmed both by the Book of God in many ayahs and the sayings of the Seal of Prophets, who exhorted Muslims to hold fast to the Ahl al-Bayt, lest they go astray. The murderous caliph who committed the foul deed of administering a fatal dose of poison was Mo'tamed of the Abbasid clan of usurpers, while the Prophet's descendant who left the mortal world today on the 8th of Rabi al-Awwal 260 AH (874 AD) at the young age of 28 years was Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS). He was 11th in the line of the 12 Successors so explicitly spelled out by the Prophet in several hadith. That was the real reason of despair for the caliph, who murdered the Imam in the prime of his youth, since the Prophet had made it clear that his 12th descendant will rise as Qa'em al-Mahdi (AS) to cleanse the world of all vestiges of oppression and corruption and to establish the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice. These ideas were anathema, not just for Mo'tamed but to all his predecessors because of their corrupt and oppressive nature that had tarnished the image of Islam beyond recognition and split Muslims into sects and groups. No wonder, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) had emphasized in the famous Hadith Thaqalayn regarding the prime position of the holy Qur'an and the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt: "Hold fast to them and you will never go astray, for the two never separate with each other, even when they return to me at the Pool (Kowthar on the Day of Judgement)." The Rasekhouna fil-Ilm (firmly grounded in esoteric knowledge) – to use the Qur'anic term in the honour of the Imams – were the divinely-decreed vicegerents of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) on earth. In other words, neither imprisonment could hamper their mission nor could martyrdom. Imam Askari (AS) in his brief period of spiritual leadership of the ummah, in between the bouts of imprisonment to which he was subjected or held under house arrests, expounded to the faithful the true meaning of the holy Qur'an. There is a Tafsir or Exegesis of part of the Book of God attributed to him, as part of his explanation of divine ayahs to a group of youngsters that had visited him in Samarra from distant Khorasan. In addition, the 11th Imam's knowledge of the heavenly scripture is also evident in the books that were written by his disciples. Another proof of his God-given authority was his message to the Philosopher of the Arabs, Ya'qoub bin Ishaq al-Kindi, through one of his disciples that finally dissuaded the so-called rationalist from writing a blasphemous work on the holy Qur'an. Al-Kindi, realizing the wisdom of Imam Askari's (AS) words that what had come to his philosophical mind was not necessarily correct since there are other vistas of knowledge well outside the scope of fallible brains, burned the blasphemous book he was writing. Thus, it is clear that without a divine guide in society, even the most knowledgeable persons are at risk of falling into error, let alone those who masqueraded as caliphs and usurped the political rights of the Ahl al-Bayt through treachery, deceit, spurious committees, forced wills in their favour, and by resorting to the sword. It is outside the scope of this brief column to dwell on the incidents of memorable life of the 11th Imam in Samarra, or to mention the details of the letters he was busy writing on the eve of his martyrdom to several people in various parts of the Islamic realm, especially to certain scholars in Medina, considering the exigencies of faith and how to safeguard the trust of God in societies. Unknown to the authorities, God had provided Imam Askari (AS) with a son and successor, who was born five years before his martyrdom and who was being brought up in secrecy. The Imam knew that because of the manhunt and spate of murders the Abbasids would launch after him, God will raise the 12th Imam in the state of occultation before reappearance in the end times to fulfill the divine promise on earth. In the meantime, in order to help Muslims stay firm on the path of God during the long period of occultation of the Promised Mahdi (AS), the 11th Imam expressed the following gem of a statement: "It is obligatory for the people to follow the jurist who refrains from committing wrong, emphasizes his faith, opposes carnal desires, and obeys Allah's command." We offer heartfelt condolences to the Imam of our Age on his being orphaned at such a tender age.