 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم The Holy Eighth Imam Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Riza Peace and Blessings be upon him and his holy progeny Is revered and respected around the world He is the beacon of knowledge And the manifestation of guidance The crystallization of modesty As well as the embodiment Of generosity, kindness As well as The source of guidance for mankind He was born in the holy city of Madina In the year 148 After Hijra His father Imam Peace and Blessings be upon him Was martyred By the Abbasid Caliph Haroon Al-Abbasi in the year 183 After Hijra Of course during this time The Imam was in Madina Thereafter He enjoyed a relatively Easier number of years Whereby There was an opportunity to spread The knowledge of Ali Muhammad In the first episode Of this particular series We described and talked about His attributes, his characteristics The features about the life of Imam That drew people towards him In this episode We focus On the life of the great Holy Eighth Imam From Him reaching Toos All the way through To his martyrdom Of course Imam Al-Rida peace be upon him Was forced to Take the journey From the holy city of Madina All the way Towards Khurasan Or the land of Toos There was a bitter struggle By the sons of Haroon Al-Abbasi The Muslim world had seen Over several years thousands killed In the struggle for the caliphate In this Determination Of Ma'amoon To assume the leadership By force At the expense of his brother Amin Of course some of the Abbasids Favoured his brother Amin Over himself Why? Because Ma'amoon was born From a slave girl Whereas Amin his mother Zubaida Was well known and was in Arab After assuming the caliphate From His father Haroon Amin started to challenge Ma'amoon Who had set up Some kind of Counter Government In Khurasan The feud between Ma'amoon and Amin Was excessively violent Thousands of people were killed The battle raged on Until Ma'amoon surrounded Amin In his palace in Baghdad Killed those around him And eventually killed his own brother Placing the head of his brother At the gate of the palace For the people to enter And send their curses upon him Thereafter Ma'amoon established His caliphate in Khurasan Moving it from Baghdad To the city of ma'amoon Ma'amoon called him To his palace This time Ma'amoon had a plan First of all He welcomed Ma'amoon Praising him Saying he had a lot of admiration For him But at the same time He said to him That I want you to accept to become The caliph of the muslims Ma'amoon immediately said to him I know your plans I know that I will be killed here Ma'amoon said by whom Ma'am said if I am allowed to say I would have said Ma'amoon said then become the caliph Ma'am said no By God I will not become What you want me to be Ma'amoon said I am presenting it To you By saying this caliphate That you are giving to me Is it yours Rightfully Then you should look after it And you are not to give it to anyone else And if it is not yours What right have you got to give to me What is not yours Faced with a difficult situation And scenario Ma'amoon moves to plan B His plan was to force Imam al-Ridha To become the heir apparent He says to him You become my vice True colors He said to the Imam If you do not do so You will be killed You have no choice otherwise You will be executed Imam al-Ridha said Allah SWT commanded me to protect And look after my life And not to place it in danger Therefore I will do what you say But for one condition And that is I do not appoint I do not suck The reason why Ma'amoon wanted Imam al-Ridha To be next to him To make him the heir apparent Was number one To ensure that he can monitor The movements of the Imam Number two To give legitimacy to his own rule Because at that time There were many people calling for the rights Of the Ahl al-Bayt Number three to stop the Imam From calling for his own caliphate Al-Ma'oon was waiting for this opportunity The opportunity to declare to people That Imam al-Ridha Peace and blessings be upon him Had been appointed As the heir apparent As the one who had become The caliph after Ma'oon There were widespread celebrations In the city Food was distributed The color green Was adopted And indeed what happened thereafter Was that the name of Imam al-Ridha Was printed On the special coins That were used at that time Ma'oon did his best To ensure that people knew Of this important development Development By which he had orchestrated In order to serve His interests And the plan that he had drawn For his caliphate During the time Of Imam al-Ridha In the city of Marb In Touss, Khorasan Al-Ma'oon Al-Abbasi Played a Political attempt To try and somehow undermine the Imam Some say of course That time was Very much strife with the different Ideological Theological schools of thought And scholars from different parts of the world Were invited to come And to debate And to take part in discussions There was of course the famous debate And the discussion surrounding the Quran And whether it was created Or not Likewise we are told that Imam al-Ridha al-Salam In numerous occasions Was invited to take part in these discussions These debates with schools Of thought And other religions As well as those who were faithless Atheists and so on We have the famous companion By the name of Abu Salt Al-Harawi Who was an individual A knowledgeable individual At the time of Imam al-Ridha He would mention That I did not see anyone more knowledgeable Than Ali ibn Mouser al-Ridha He did not meet with anyone Or debate with any individual Except that these people Recognize the degree And the status of this individual The knowledge that he had And they acknowledged that They themselves were Much less Knowledgeable Than Imam al-Ridha al-Salam There would be a place By the name of Dar al-Hikmah In Marv Where Al-Ma'moon Would want to somehow undermine Imam al-Ridha And wish that he would not be able To answer the questions of these people These scholars that have come From different parts He would request the Imam to attend Imam al-Salam would perform the wudu And would come to this area And would engage in discussions And debates with these people Using their own language Because the Imam al-Ridha al-Salam Had knowledge of the languages He would debate with them Using their own books He would discuss using the Torah Using the injeel He would present them Evidence from their own books For instance, he would speak To atheists and those who disbelieved In the presence And in the existence of Allah One of them would say Prove to me where is God And how is God Imam al-Ridha al-Salam would respond To him and say Tell me where God is not And I tell you where God is Likewise He would say that Allah is the Creator Of space and time He is not perceived by the senses Nothing can be compared to him You are He would say to this individual You are attributing Human characteristics And attributes to God God the Almighty Is everywhere Someone comes and says to him God is more than one That you have acknowledged That there is one God Why? Because the presence The existence of one God is agreed upon More than one God Is a subject of disagreement Therefore, we should stick to the area Of agreement That is, there is one God Different ways Just like how His fathers Imam al-Sadaq al-Salam Imam al-Baqir The Imam of the people of the house Al-Bait al-Alim al-Salam Would engage in the debate And discussion Because giving profound answers And inspiring and influencing many Using their own books Imam al-Rida Peace and blessings be upon him Also was emphatically powerful In refuting the misconceptions And the ideas that were spread By people of other faiths Such as Christianity and Judaism For instance In one of the debates That Imam al-Rida al-Salam had With a man by the name of Aljithliq He was a Christian monk And he came forward And he said to Imam al-Rida He said Muslims and Christians all agree That Jesus is a man To be followed And to be respected Therefore, we should stick to Jesus Because we don't believe According to jithliq The Christians We don't believe in your prophet But you believe in our prophet Therefore, we should all follow our prophet At that moment He would ask Imam al-Rida al-Salam And would say What is your opinion about Isa And his books Imam al-Rida al-Salam Would say That I believe in prophet Isa Who bought good tidings Glad tidings About the holy prophet And indeed His book The words That was truly from Allah Not the distorted one And he used to fast And pray But the holy prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم Used to fast and pray More And had more knowledge At that moment The jithliq becomes enraged And said How could you Say such a thing about Isa How could you say That prophet Muhammad Your prophet Practiced fasting And prayed more than Jesus Our lord At that moment Imam al-Rida al-Salam Would ask a jithliq Tell me If you claim that he prayed And fasted more Who was he praying and fasting Towards If you consider him your lord What was the purpose Of his praying and his fasting Jithliq was left dumbfounded He could not respond Then he said Fine But let's see this That Isa al-Salam used to bring The dead back to life He used to cure the leopard So he must be our lord Imam al-Salam Demonstrated his knowledge Of the existence of the prophets And their miracles He said But Al-Yasa Also walked on water And prophet Husqeel Bought back Thousands After 60 years That they had died He bought them back Other examples include رأس الجالوت Who is a Jewish rabbi He would debate with Imam al-Rida Al-Salam Imam al-Rida would say to him That you are refusing The prophethood of our prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم For what reason He says it's because we did not see it We did not encounter it Imam al-Salam says Did you then see the miracles Of Moses Were you there You have acknowledged his miracles You have acknowledged his presence Then why are you refusing The existence and the miracles Of the holy prophet And at the same time Jesus Isa al-Salam And this continued One after the other Imam al-Salam Would find no match In his depth and knowledge And his extensive understanding Of other faiths Using their language And using their books Every single scholar From different faiths Who came to meet Imam Ali ibn al-Rida Left disappointed That he had not been able To defeat him But mesmerized By the knowledge Of the grandson Of the holy prophet Of course Imam Ali ibn al-Rida Debates Were not only confided To people outside The religion of Islam But there were those Who were within The religion themselves Other sects And the denominations Other beliefs Who had these types Of ideas About the faith As well as Clarifications That needed to be made For instance Al-Ma'moun himself One day asked Imam al-Rida And said How can we And said How could you believe The narration Which says It is Ali Who divides And is the one Who distinguishes From the people Of going That go to And those who go to Hell Imam al-Rida Responded And said Do you not agree And are you not aware Of the tradition That states That states Regarding The one who loves you Is a believer And the one Who hates you Is a hypocrite He says yes He says this is exactly The understanding Behind the division Of course As the interpretation Of the narration Is concerned By our scholars And that is That whomsoever Associates himself With the Amir And the Mu'mineen Loves him And follows him Will be with people Of Jannah And whomsoever Opposes him And his teachings And does not follow him On the other side Therefore This was an example Other examples Included the debates Regarding The asma The air free The sinless nature Of the holy prophets That Imam al-Rida Alayhisalam Would undertake People would ask How about Adam Alayhisalam How is it That the Quran Said that Adam sinned واصع Adam ربه فغوى How is it That he committed A sin Imam Alayhisalam Would say no It was Jannah And in that In that particular Way And therefore When he Came to Earth When he descended On to Earth That is Or anywhere outside The Jannah That is When Allah Specifically Selected him And made this Instafar process Likewise He would dispel Any kind of Notion of The mistake By Prophet Jonah Yunus By Saying that He left quickly Without Waiting for The Almighty To Give him The go ahead Of leaving his community Of He would dispel The story Of Dawood Alayhisalam And that is found In the Israelite traditions Of him Falling in love With a lady That he saw From the top Of his Balkany Or roof He would say He would be hurtful And say This is very much Against The prophets Of God And so on This continues Even When it comes to The Isma Of Our Holy Prophet Muhammad God He would speak About The Idea Of The marriage With Zaynab These debates Are very important And can be found In books such as Bihar Al-Anwar And Oyun Which give us an indication Of the depth And the length Of time Imam Alayhisalam Spent Debating And dispelling The misconceptions And the ideas That had originated And had been gathered Around Different parts Of the Muslim Ummah Books have been written Authors Have Compiled A number Of achievements That Imam Alayhisalam Established During the Different phases Of his Illustrious life And He Fulfilled it brilliantly As far as Dispelling the myths The misconceptions The wrong teachings Of the different Ideological Groups And denominations That Were rising At that time And some of them Were being promoted By the Abbasids And What they wanted To establish For political reasons And one of the Establishments And the achievements Of the Imam Was Regarding The need To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To أن هناك من who is a Wayfarer, a Sufi who was court stealing and was bought to the courtyard of Al Ma'moon. Al Ma'moon wanted to punish him. When he saw him, he said to him, we know you as a worshipper of God, as an individual who has denounced this world. Why is it that you have stolen? He says to this Wayfarer. This Wayfarer said that I have stolen because you have stolen. At that moment, Al Ma'moon becomes surprised. He says, how dare you accuse me, your leader, your governor, your caliph of stealing. He looked at Imam Ar-Ridha. Al Ma'moon looked at Imam Ar-Ridha. And Imam Ar-Ridha said, indeed, he has spoken the truth. Al Ma'moon expected Imam Ar-Ridha to defend him. But Imam Al-Salam said the truth. Why? Because Al Ma'moon had usurped the wealth of the Muslims from Beytul Maan, from the Treasury. And this man, this individual, had nothing to live upon. Therefore, he had to steal in order to survive. And at that moment, that individual, the Wayfarer said to Al Ma'moon, He said to him, you belong to me. You are my servant and my slave. This father enraged Ma'moon. He said to him, how dare you accuse me of being your servant? That individual said, yes, you are my servant. Because your father, Haroon, in Baghdad one day, was playing a game with his wife Jamila. And he said to her that if I win this game of chess, Then I will command you to do whatever you want, whatever I want. And if you win, you can command me to do whatever you want. And after humiliating her by asking that she walks around without any clothes in the palace, She wins the next game. And she says to him that you have to spend the night with a lady who was the ugliest in the palace. And she is your mother. And she was a slave girl. And the slave girl was born from there while belonging to Muslims. And you were born from this. In other words, Ma'moon was born from this relationship. Therefore, because you were born from this relationship between your father Haroon and the slave girl. And you belong to the Muslims. And therefore, you are an individual who belonged to me as a Muslim. Ma'moon was further enraged. He looked at Imam for support. Imam says لله الحجة البالغة. To Allah belongs the clear proof, the clear evidence. Meaning that what this man has spoken is indeed the truth. Imam Al-Ridha was not afraid to speak the truth in the face of oppression and injustice. Two individuals would come to visit Imam Al-Ridha. They would say, Do we pray full or do we pray Qasr? Half. Imam Al-Ridha would ask the first. What purpose has brought you here? You would say, oh the grandson of the Prophet. I've come to visit you. Then you'd ask the second. The second would say, I've come to visit Ma'moon. Imam would say to the first, you pray Qasr because you've come to visit me. Your visitation, your traveling is valid. Yet for the second, you have to pray full. Why? Because your journey is battle. You've come to see an oppressive unjust ruler. And Imam Al-Ridha spoke the truth. He was the crystallization of seeking justice as the Quran says that the representative of Allah سبحانه وتعالى seek to establish justice and righteousness on this earth. Before reaching the city of Nesapur. Narrations tell us that Imam Al-Ridha Al-Ridha reached this area here behind me. There he performed his prayers. And whilst doing so, he stood on a piece of rock. His footprints remained on that rock. And today the area is referred to as Qadam Gah. The idea being is that people come to this area in order to acknowledge the fact that it is possible that the rock that is inside this building behind me contains the footprints of Imam Al-Ridha. So they pray their prayers here and ask for the intercession of Imam Al-Ridha. At the same time next to it, there is a well. The tradition and historical records tell us that Imam Al-Ridha Al-Ridha blessed this well. Drank the water from this particular well. And people also do the same. They come to take part of this water due to its blessed nature as well as its Baraka. From this area, Imam Al-Ridha Al-Ridha moved on to the city of Nesapur. Throughout the few years that Imam Al-Ridha was in the city of Merv in Khurasan, we are told that Ma'amoon tried to somehow utilize the presence of the Imam for his own agenda. And one of those occasions was on the day of Eid whereby Ma'amoon had informed Imam Al-Ridha that he should lead the prayers for Eid. Imam Al-Ridha A.S. told him that he did not wish to do so, that this was not what he had come to do. Yet Al-Ma'oon insisted that Imam Al-Ridha would lead the prayers for Eid. Imam Al-Ridha said that if you are insisting then what I will do is that I will perform Salat Al-Aid exactly how Prophet of Islam, my grandfather, as well as Amir al-Mu'mineen, peace be upon them, did so. So he performed the Ghusl, the ritual bath. And at the same time he wore clean clothes and he wore white turban. And he walked barefooted. He started to recite the Takbirat. الله أكبر, الله أكبر, الله أكبر. والله الحمد. When he started to do so, people around him started to do so. And the city itself was reverberating with the Zikr of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as mentioned by Imam Al-Ridha, peace be upon him. At that moment, Mu'moon was told that if Imam Al-Ridha would continue with this remembrance that his power and grip over the Islamic Ummah would collapse and Mu'moon sent a message to Imam Al-Ridha saying him and asking him to return back and not to lead the Eid prayers. Mu'moon now realized that Imam Al-Ridha, peace be upon him and his influence had intensified and had grown in Khurasan. And therefore the decision was made to assassinate him because in essence Mu'moon himself did not wish for Imam Al-Ridha to grow in popularity. Because Imam Al-Ridha himself was deeply influential. He was very much inspirational for people. And of course after the incident of the Day of Eid whereby Mu'moon was told that Imam Al-Ridha's popularity has shot up, the decision was made. There were ministers and those around Mu'moon who had encouraged him to assassinate Imam Al-Ridha. And therefore he decided to do so. Narrations tell us that Imam Al-Ridha, peace be upon him was indeed assassinated by Mu'moon. But the way in which this happened is a matter of dispute in Islamic history. Some have suggested that grapes were poisoned and presented to Imam Al-Ridha. Others say that some of the close associates of Mu'moon were told to immerse their hands in poison after prolonging their nails and thereafter extracting juice from pomegranates the Roman and presenting this to Imam Al-Ridha, peace be upon him. Mu'moon did this and was very much tense. He outwardly expressed love to Imam Al-Ridha but indeed he was a hypocrite and wanted to get rid of the grandson of the Holy Prophet. What happened was that when Imam Al-Ridha slowly began to drink the juice of the pomegranate the impact of the poison began to be witnessed in his Holy Body. Mu'moon told him drink more, oh the grandson of the Holy Prophet yet Imam would drink only a little and then would look at Mu'moon and say what you wanted to achieve has indeed materialized. Imam, peace be upon him knew exactly that he would be marted. And before all this because he would say that it would be in this place that I would be buried in Tous in Khurasan. In terms of the burial place of Imam Al-Ridha, peace be upon him this was identified by him of course a while back before his martyrdom. The house that belonged to a man by the name of Humaid Ibn Qahtaba there were common well-known traditions at that time because ذو القرنين who is said to be Cyrus the Great had seen a dream that the representative of God will be buried on this land and therefore what happened was that هارون العباسي thought that he would be buried here. When he was buried in the house of Humaid Ibn Qahtaba Imam Al-Ridha would say that I would be buried there certain individuals would say never that this cannot happen. And even afterwards they said that Imam Al-Ridha would be buried at the feet of Haaroun yet Imam Al-Ridha said never will this occur that Haaroun will be at the feet of Imam Al-Ridha Al-Ridha Later after the martyrdom of Imam Al-Ridha and peace and blessings be upon him there was a procession that people in this particular area in Tous in Maaf, Khurasan had staged this funeral many were weeping and crying the whole city was in mourning Imam Al-Abbasi of course had staged this fake funeral process and he followed the funeral, the body the holy body of Imam Al-Ridha to its resting place what had happened of course was that miraculously the son of Imam Al-Ridha Imam Muhammad Al-Jawad صلى الله عليه وسلم came all the way from Madina he himself performed the Salah over the body of the Imam whilst many had not recognized him and it was he Imam Al-Jawad who played the body in its position because the body of the Imam has to be buried by an Imam Imam Al-Ridha was buried exactly where he has said that he would be buried despite the efforts of certain individuals for this not to happen and his shrine today constitutes a place whereby Imam Al-Ridha has visited throughout the year paying their respects and standing in solidarity acknowledging the great legacy and the many lessons to be learned from the holy 8th beacon of light from the ship of salvation the ship of the Ahl al-Bayt Imam Ali ibn al-Ridha صلى الله عليه وسلم there are abundant narrations that encourage believers from across the world to make the journey and to perform the Ziyara the visitation of the shrine of the holy 8th Imam Imam Ali ibn al-Ridha صلى الله عليه وسلم indeed the emphasis is great Imam Al-Ridha عليه السلام is known as غريب الغرباء the one who is buried by himself away from the rest of the imams and the imams themselves would encourage the people to make the journey the immense rewards and the great opportunities to obtain the blessings and the شفاعز of the Imam peace and blessings be upon him and for instance the famous book عيون أخبار الرضا we find a narration from the holy prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم which states ستتفن بضعة مني بخراسان that a part of me shall be buried in the land of خراسان لارها مكروبا إلا رفع الله كربا whomsoever has anguish or difficulty and goes to visit this individual الله سبحانه وتعالى will remove that difficulty ولا مذنبا إلا غفر الله ذنبا and anyone who is a sinner who visits Almighty سبحانه وتعالى will remove their sins due to the blessings of the visitation if performed correctly of course we find there is a famous narration regarding إمام الرضا عليه السلام whom he says من زارني على بوعد داري whomsoever visits me despite the fact that I am far تيته يوم القيامة on the day of judgment I shall come to him in three places first of all when the book is given to the human being whether it is given on the right or to the left secondly at the bridge and the road and thirdly at the mizan in other words when the scale and the balance is placed between the good deeds and the bad deeds إمام الرضا in this narration states that whosoever visits him he will come to assist them and help them likewise you find that he himself in the same book أخبار الرضا says هذه البقعة روضة من رياض الجنة at this land is the land of tous where إمام الرضا is buried is part of paradise where the angels descend continuously until the trumpet is blown so many such narrations that whosoever visits إمام الرضا peace and blessings be upon him it is as if they have visited الله سبحانه وتعالى in his throne metaphorically meaning that this area is with mercy and forgiveness and the almighty سبحانه وتعالى rewards those who go there with a heart full of submission with a heart seeking to attach themselves to the great إمام and to obtain his intercession millions of people make the journey to the wonderful shrine and the many courtyards of إمام علي ابن موس الرضا peace and blessings be upon him throughout the year many of them come anticipating this special atmosphere and truly they do not leave disappointed many people will narrate a story or two about the greatness of the visitation towards the shrine of إمام الرضا عليه السلام these are known as karamat special blessings people have been cured others have been guided and inspired there is a special section at the shrine itself whereby these miracles are recorded and documented within the shrine itself there is this particular section which documents these stories and of course these miracles are not just contemporary but they had been witnessed throughout the times some are recorded in the book عيون أخبار الرضا بأشيخ الصدوق رضوان الله تعالى عليه هذا الشيخ الصدوق عميقث that this man was truly who hated the Ahle Al-Bait he says that I did not find anyone more hating of the Ahle Al-Bait than this person to the extent that when they recite the salawat they stop at Allahumma sallalahu ala Muhammad and they would not mention the family the progeny this man himself states that I was given and entrusted with the same ويجب أن أتعلم مع فئة المناء. أدخلها أجل ويجب أن أدخلها أين أدخلها. والذي who came back and wanting it requested it from me. لم أكن أعرف أين هو. أدخلت. أقلت لقائق أجل من المشاكلين أن يتعلموا إلى المجرد من علي بن موسى الرضا. أدخلت. أقلت لقائق لقائق أجل من الله. بعد ذلك الليل ، في my dream a man came to me who is illuminating and pointed me towards an area and said This is where the money that has been entrusted to you can be found When I woke up I did not believe my dream yet I told this individual just simply to give him hope Later this man returned and said yes I found what I had entrusted upon you in that area From that moment this individual became a lover of Imam Al-Ridha عليه السلام And called for people to visit him Another story is told in the same book عيون أخبار الرضا با الشيخ الصدوق Where by one day an individual came with his slave They made a sajdah, they prayed to Allah سبحانه وتعالى Close to the shrine and the mausoleum The Darih of Imam Al-Ridha عليه السلام The servant was a few meters away The master was a few meters ahead In sajdah they were both praying to Allah سبحانه وتعالى When the master lifted his head he looked at the servant and said come towards me The servant came towards him He said to him do you wish to be free He said yes He said then I free you for the sake of Allah And I will marry you to one of my servants And I will look after the dowry And whatever is required for you to get married The servant broke down in tears And said by God this is what I had just requested When I was in sajdah here next to the shrine And the Darih of Ali ibn Mausal-Ridha Indeed we are not surprised by the countless accounts And narrations found about the Barakah And the fact that the Hajat of people are fulfilled And their supplications are answered And the shrine of the 8th Holy Imam The grandson of the Holy Prophet Peace and blessings be upon them all Those who seek the Ahl al-Bait And want to be illuminated by them And ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى through them Through Tawasul and Che'a Has been mentioned in the Quran And is legislated and practiced And encouraged by Muslims throughout generations Indeed it is one that highlights The importance of these Holy Individuals And the visitations to their shrines