Imam Askari

By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz “Peace upon you, O the Representative of Allah, and the Son of Allah’s Representatives; and the Father of His Representative… Peace upon you, O he who speaks with the Book of Allah…” The above is a passage from the ziyarah or standard form of salutation to an Infallible Member of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAWA) Household, at the news of whose martyrdom today in 260 AH (874 CE), according to contemporary accounts, the city of Samarra wore a deserted look, as grief-stricken

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi The Abbasid government did not allow 'Ulama' and jurisprudent to communicate with Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) lest his virtues and vast knowledge would be spread among people everywhere, as then people would be affected by him and would turn their backs to the Abbasids. In spite of all the severe procedures the Abbasids took to separate the imam from people, some 'Ulama' and narrators communicated with him and narrated his traditions. Here we mention the companions

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi The religious life at the time of Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) was not sound or straight. It was confused and roiled by some deviants who raised spurious arguments about the pure Islamic beliefs. Some non-Muslim jugglers tried to misguide Muslims and corrupt their beliefs. Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) resisted all those attempts and he refuted all those fabrications and illusions, and he brought out the pure face of Islam. There was another phenomenon that appeared in the

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi Historians agreed unanimously that Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) was the richest scientific personality in his talents at his time, and no one was ever comparable to him in virtue and knowledge. Historians said, 'He was the highest authority for jurisprudents in taking the rulings of the Shariah and the principles of religion. They put forward to him books of Hadith and jurisprudence, and if he permitted these books, they would act according to them. Once, a book

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi The political life in the age of Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) was very bad and unstable. Oppression, injustice, and seditions prevailed everywhere, and many revolts broke out. That, as I think, was due to the domination of the Turks over the reins of government, and their absolute control over all affairs of the state, though they were expert neither in politics nor in administration. They oppressed people, transgressed the rules, and spread terrorism. The other reason

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi The infallible imams of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s) paid excessive attention to the interpretation (tafsir) of the Holy Qur'an. Each one of them had a school of tafsir, and they were definitely the most aware of the contents of the Qur'an and all its sciences. The master of the pure progeny, Imam Ali (a.s.) was, among all the Prophet's companions, the most aware of the facts and minute details of the Qur'an, its muhkam (clear) verses and mutashabih (ambiguous) verses, and

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi The study of the age that Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) lived in is no longer a kind of luxury or ornamentation for the book, rather it is a necessity that the modern scientific research requires. Studying an age has become one of the methodical studies that a researcher cannot leave aside, because it reveals the reality of the general life which that certain person lives in, and also it sheds lights on the events that takes place during that age which naturally have a

Compiled by: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi A good collection of maxims and wonderful words on different social and educational issues were transmitted from Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.), and these are considered to be from the treasures of the Islamic literature. Here we present to readers some of the imam’s wonderful sayings: The Preference of the Ahlul Bayt (A.S) Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) said, “We have ascended to the peaks of truth by the feet of prophethood and guardianship, and lit the seven ways

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi Abu Isaaq Ibrahim bin Mahziyar al-Ahwazi He had written a book called "al-Bisharaat".[184] Isaaq bin Muhammad al-Basri narrated that Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Mahziyar said to him, 'When my father (Ibrahim) was about to die, he gave me some money and gave me a certain sign. No one knew about this sign except Allah the Almighty. He said to me, 'Whoever shows you this sign, you have to give him this money.' I went to Baghdad and stopped at an inn. On the following

By: Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi Some letters of the imam disclose an important side of the religious life which was confused at that age. The following are some of his letters to his adherents: 1. To Isaaq An-Naysaburi Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) sent a letter to Isaaq bin Isma’yl an-Naysaburi saying in it, “May Allah protect us by His protection, and take care of you in all your affairs by His favor. I understood your letter, may Allah have mercy on you. We, praise be to Allah and by His