 I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds Then, Salat and Salam to the most honored prophets and to the most beloved of the righteous And because Allah is the most generous of all, from now to the Day of Judgment Respected viewers, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah Indeed, it is from the bounties of Allah SWT that we are blessed tonight to be within the precincts of the pure haram of Imam Al-Asqari Imam Ali Ibn Muhammad Al-Hadi, and Imam Hassan Ibn Ali Al-Asqari Salawatullahi alayhi ma ajma'in It is within this divine haram located in the city of Samarra that we gather here tonight to discuss and to shed light on a few aspects of the life of both these great, divinely appointed Imams Imam Ali Ibn Muhammad Al-Hadi, and Imam Hassan Ibn Ali Al-Asqari Peace be upon them both When we analyze and we contemplate and we study the life of Imam Ali Ibn Muhammad Al-Hadi Historians mentioned to us that Imam Al-Hadi was born in a town called Saria within the outskirts of Medina This was in essence a town that was established by his grandfather Imam Musa Ibn Jaafar Al-Qadim Salawatullahi wa salamahu alayhi This town later on developed and this is where Imam Al-Hadi was born Historians narrate that he undertook the divine responsibility of Imam at the tender age of eight And you find that this is a phenomenon that was shared by his father Imam Muhammad Al-Jawad Salawatullahi wa salamahu alayhi who also undertook the responsibility of Imam at the tender age of seven The fact that both these Imams undertook their responsibility of divine leadership at such a tender age in itself is one of the miracles of Allah SWT and this proof of the superiority of the maqhab of Ahlul Bayt over any other sect and any other religion that exists for indeed, for such a person who seemingly outwardly seems to be a child at the age of eight but Allah SWT has placed within him the knowledge of all the Ambiya from Adam and Til Khatam, the most knowledgeable person on earth at the age of eight This phenomenon in itself served as a sign that or this phenomenon in itself represents the fact that Imam Ali bin Muhammad al-Hadi alayhi salam was an ayah from the ayat of Allah SWT a sign from the very many signs of Allah SWT leading mankind towards Allah SWT For the narrations of the historians mention that Imam al-Hadi undertook the responsibility of Imam at the age of eight Upon the martyrdom of his father Imam al-Jawad, Imam al-Hadi returned back to the city of his grandfather the city of Madinah al-Munawwara in the land of Hijaz He spent the first approximately twenty years of his life in Madinah and as you can imagine at the age of eight as he would disseminate knowledge about the laws of the Sharia about the laws of Islam and he would talk about the history of the Holy Prophet and share the narrations of the Holy Prophet explaining them, expanding upon them in the right manner he became a center of attraction in that the people would gravitate towards Imam al-Hadi for ilm and come to Imam al-Hadi seeking intercession from him, seeking for their desires and their supplications to be accepted and this is no point of amazement and definitely does not constitute of shirk as many other deviant sects may believe indeed Allah SWT has selected certain individuals through them our prayers are accepted, through them we are able to seek forgiveness from Allah SWT they are the intermediaries between us and the Lord of the Universe as is mentioned within the Quran Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem Allah SWT says, O you who believe have takwa fear in Allah SWT, have fear of the day of judgment, fear the consequence of your actions and seek a wasila, seek an intermediary towards him that these intermediaries are none other than Rasulullah and his household, the Ahlul Bayt due to the divine purity which Allah SWT has ascertained for them Allah SWT says in the Quran Allah SWT says and as per itifak from the Ulama of the Amma and the Khasa this verse was revealed on Rasulullah while he was under the Kisa together with Amirul-Mu'minin, Sayyidah Fatimah al-Zahra, Imam Hassan and Imam al-Husayn and by extension it includes the nine Imams from the lineage of Imam al-Husayn Salawatullahi wa salamahu alayhi When we look into this history of Imam al-Hadi and we notice and we come to the understanding that he was a center of attraction in the city of Madinah this now began to catch the eye of the tyrants and the dictatorial regime of Bani Abbas whose leadership, whose capital was based in the city of Baghdad which they later on moved to the city of Samarra Samarra in itself was a military garrison, a massive military base you could think about it as a military base which encompassed a city, an entire city in itself therefore it was a military base that comprised of a city and the capital of the Bani Abbas regime was moved to the city of Samarra so it is over here that the governor of Madinah and the governor of Makkah who were secretly observing and keeping a watch on the activities of Imam al-Hadi when they began to realize and recognize the strength within the numbers of the people who followed Imam al-Hadi the popularity that he commanded from amongst the citizens of the state this was a point of fear for them and they had observations and they had reservations in regards to this as you know with every dictatorial regime they are not able to handle and they are not able to bear the fact that there would be one other individual within their government who the people have love, respect and look at him from an angle of authority this is Bani Abbas who had established leadership on earth on the false premise that they were the divinely appointed Khulafa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and therefore when the real Khalif of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala unveils himself and the people naturally gravitate towards him they see this as a point of threat in any case the governor of Madinah writes a letter to the Khalif of Bani Abbas stating to him the activities of Imam al-Hadi and how he was gaining popular support from amongst the masses and the governor goes on to say to the Khalif that if the Khalif at that time being Mutawakil that if you have any need for the land of Hijaz if you want to protect the land of Hijaz from any form of revolution or any form of rebellion against your government then it is imperative for you to remove Imam al-Hadi from the lands of Madinah this letter reached Mutawakil Mutawakil then called for Imam al-Hadi to be moved from Madinah and be brought to the city of Samara you find that this was a tactic of deceit in that he wrote a letter inviting Imam al-Hadi pretending to be respectful towards him and acknowledging his position and to invite him as a dignitary and as a guest to Samara this was a story that was sold towards the public however within this there was deceit and there was nothing less than pure animosity for when they called Imam al-Hadi to the land of Samara he was brought against his wishes and as soon as he came into the land of Samara he was forced under house arrest imprisoned within his own house in addition to the fact for the time that he spent in Samara he was moved in a number of prisons in fact not far from the Haram of Imam al-Hadi and Imam al-Asqari alaihi salam perhaps three or four kilometers from the Haram there is still traces of the Ta'mura Ta'mura which is an underground prison that was dug seven to ten feet perhaps underneath the earth in which Imam al-Hadi was imprisoned you find that under these extreme situations he was basically brought into Samara such that the government may be able to keep an eye on him such that they may disconnect him and make him aloof from the entire public his access to the public was to be highly limited Imam al-Hadi was brought into the city of Samara and kept under house imprisonment and tight government watch and control until the end of his life where he was eventually poisoned you find that the life and times of Imam al-Hadi were absolutely challenging for him and for the Shi'as in particular the ruler of Bani Abbas by the name of Mutawakil in particular was a bloodthirsty person who ruled heartlessly and executed thousands of Shi'as followers and lovers of Ahlu al-Bayt for the time that he was there in power he was not able to stand any person who had any form of affiliation, love or loyalty towards Amirul-Mu'minin and towards the Ahlu al-Bayt you find for example from the many massacres and many executions that took place of the lovers of Ahlu al-Bayt one that definitely stood out was the execution of one of the followers of Imam al-Hadi by the name of Ibn Sikit Ibn Sikit was a companion of Imam al-Hadi and a companion of Imam al-Jawad a highly educated person who was an expert a leading expert you could say in the fields of Arabic grammar and Arabic language and poetry and literature he was from one of the companions of Imam al-Jawad and Imam al-Hadi he was employed to teach the two children of Mutawakil Arabic grammar and literature and not out of will but out of to a certain extent from out of to a certain extent due to Takia Ibn Sikit accepted the position and the responsibility of teaching the children of Mutawakil Arabic grammar and language and when you find that scholars and when you find followers of high caliber like those of Ibn Sikit when they accept to take positions like this it is not because they are showing any sort of servitude towards the government of that time the tyrant government of that time it could have been rather it could have been within the intentions and within the vision and the strategy of Ibn Sikit in this position of teaching grammar and literature to the children of Mutawakil he would perhaps be able to influence them to edge the path of Ahlul-Bait in any case one day as Ibn Sikit is teaching the two children Mutawakil calls him he summons him to the court and this is because of the rumors that was spreading around in regards to Ibn Sikit's affiliation to Imam al-Hadi so Mutawakil wanted to test Ibn Sikit to see whether he truly adheres to this sect or no they summons him to the court and as they summons him to the court Mutawakil asks him a question Ibn Sikit who is more honorable in your eyes my two sons the ones whom he was teaching my two sons or the two sons of Ali ibn Abi Talib Hassan and Hussein who is more honorable who is more elite who is more exalted if you may say Ibn Sikit was filled with anger and his blood was boiling anger in the way of Allah SWT and he was not able to contain his sentiments that anyone particularly from Bani Abbas the likes of Mutawakil who are known for their fisk and their fasad and their ungodliness to even think about comparing their children to the two children of Amir al-Mu'minin Sayyid-e Shabab-e Ahl al-Jannah Ibn Sikit was not able to control his anger and he says out to Mutawakil with full confidence and with full courage he says to them that how dare you ask me about the two sons in regards to Hassan and Hussein I find that even Khambar the slave of Amir al-Mu'minin the servant of Amir al-Mu'minin to be better than your two sons and this answer struck Mutawakil like thunder from the skies and he was not able to bear this answer so he commanded his gods to take Ibn Sikit and to pull out his tongue the historians mentioned that they pulled out his tongue and in another tradition or another version of history it mentions that in addition to pulling out his tongue he had his gods stab Ibn Sikit in the stomach to death this is the way Mutawakil dealt with the Shi'a as of Amir al-Mu'minin and the Shi'a as of Imam al-Hadi these are the circumstances under which Imam al-Hadi lived we also have that during the period of Mutawakil the time in which Imam al-Hadi conducted the responsibilities of Imam Mutawakil destroyed out of his hatred for Imam Amir al-Mu'minin and his hatred for Ahlul Bayt he destroyed the shrine of Sayyid al-Shuhada in Karbala 17 times 17 times the Haram of Imam al-Hussein was raised down to the ground one of these times the entire city of Karbala the area around the Hadara the grave of Imam al-Hussein the entire area was raised down and the entire area was flooded another time when they destroyed the Haram of Sayyid al-Shuhada in Karbala the historians mention that two bulls or ox were brought such that they may plow the land over the grave of Imam al-Hussein making sure that not a single trace of the grave of Imam al-Hussein would remain why? you find that prior to Imam al-Hadi Imam al-Baqirin Imam al-Sadiq there were hundreds of traditions encouraging the Shi'a to visit to perform the Ziyara of Imam al-Hussein the importance and the thawab of crying for Imam al-Hussein for reviving the tragedy of Karbala then on this and you find that Mutawakil commands that the entire Haram of Sayyid al-Shuhada be raised not once but 17 times why? because of the power that the revolution of Imam al-Hussein wells in itself this commemoration of the Aza' of Sayyid al-Shuhada getting together reviving his memory reviving the manner in which he was persecuted the manner in which he was killed on the day of Ashura together with his family members this in itself wells within its spiritual power it creates within the masses this fervor and this sense of revolution to stand up against the Zulm to stand up and protect the rights of Ahlu al-Bayt and Mutawakil understood the potential of the potential that lies within reviving the dhikr of Ahlu al-Bayt and in particular the dhikr of Sayyid al-Shuhada he understood the power that is represented within the institution of Ziyara which is why he commanded the entire Haram of Imam al-Hussein the grave of Imam al-Hussein to be destroyed 17 times during his rulership not only that in addition to all this people who would travel from different parts of the Islamic land to perform the Ziyara of Sayyid al-Shuhada during the time of Mutawakil his gods used to tax the Zawar they would have to pay high amounts of money many times they would have to sell their houses just in order to go and pay tribute to the grave of Imam al-Hussein which they did happily when Mutawakil saw that all the financial penalties is not serving its purpose in terms of being a hindrance to edge the Ziyara when Mutawakil used to command his gods that any person who is caught or any person who is seen visiting Imam al-Hussein one of his limbs should be severed so therefore people who would go for Ziyara when they were stopped you could say at checkpoints by the army or by the guards by the military their arms would be severed you would find the person who goes for Ziyara the first year is right army severed his right army severed as a tax to go for Ziyara and another time the same person goes for Ziyara again his right hand is amputated he would give his left hand in amputation and therefore you see that when you study the life of Imam al-Hadi the difficulties, the trials and the tribulations that were rampant during that time is one that is unmatched perhaps in any other part of history and this in itself should serve as a reminder to you and I the expense and the difficulty of which we have been able to receive our religion today all this happening during the time of Imam al-Hadi the historians also mentioned that it is during the time of Imam al-Hadi that the likes of Mutawakil promoted sectarianism during their rule it was during the time of Mutawakil that he promoted sectarianism within the Islamic Ummah and this is through the funding the establishment of the insects that would then be a form of if you could say competition towards Imam al-Hadi Imam al-Hadi was recognized as the sole Khalifa of Allah SWT on earth and that Tashayyu represented the true Islam through which Allah SWT is worshipped in the way that he willed it is through the Ahlul Bayt that the Quran is understood and interpreted in the right way free of any distortions so Mutawakil and the likes of Mutawakil they began to create sects that would then compete in terms of authority against Imam al-Hadi and through this many people were deviated away from Imam al-Hadi and chaos was prevalent within the Islamic Ummah you find that from many of the deviant sects that were formed during the time of Imam al-Hadi one of them was the sect of the Ghulat they were rampant they existed even before the time of Imam al-Hadi but during every age during every period this sect of the Ghulat was revived in a personality as the head of the sect would emanate would arise to cause confusion not only draw people away from Imam al-Hadi in terms of a competing sect if you may say but at the same time to create confusion within the circles of the Shia you find that one such individual was Ali ibn Hasaka Ali ibn Hasaka was from the Ghulat the Ghulat by the way those who are guilty of the crime of Ghulu this was a sect that was formed by the enemies of Ahlulbayt as is attested to by Imam al-Rida alayhi salam you notice that the Ghulu are those people who are the Ghulat the Ghulat are those who attribute lordship to the Ahlulbayt they claim that Ahlulbayt in themselves are reincarnations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they claim that the Ahlulbayt are the manifestation of the essence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this is an important definition for us to understand unlike a definition which is prevalent today that anybody who speaks about the exalted merits of Ahlulbayt the fada'il of Ahlulbayt the fact that they have ilm ul ghaib the fact that they are able to perform miracles the fact that the power of khun faya khun is granted to them by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this does not constitute Ghulu Ghulu is to attest rububiya to them and there is a very fine difference in regards to this and a very clear difference the likes of Ali ibn Hasaka they would come around and they would preach to the people that Imam al-Hadi in essence is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he is a reincarnation of the god and that he himself Ali ibn Hasaka is the representative of Imam al-Hadi and you find that it is ideas these where they were propagated funded by the likes of mutawakkil such that people would deviate from the following of Imam al-Hadi on one side and on the other side the wider islamic ummah would look at Imam al-Hadi and they would have hatred in their hearts for Imam al-Hadi because of the likes of the teachings of Ali ibn Hasaka tab'an with a doubt Imam al-Hadi had nothing to do with this and he issued a number of statements condemning Ali ibn Hasaka and educating the shia through his wukala to stay away from the likes of Ali ibn Hasaka in fact we have that from one of the companions of Imam al-Hadi there was a companion known as father ibn Shad'an during his life he authored 180 books of hadith and from these 180 books one of his books or a couple of his books was clearing and answering back to the shubuhat or to the false ideologies preached by Ali ibn Hasaka from amongst the other trials and tribulations that Imam al-Hadi saw within his life was the establishment of these false sects