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A Brief HistoryOf The Lives Of The Twelve Imams

The First Imam

Amir al-mu'minin Ali - upon whom be peace - was the son of AbuTalib , theShaykh of theBanu Hashim . AbuTalib was the uncle and guardian of the Holy Prophet and the person who had brought the Prophet to his house and raised him like his own son. After the Prophet was chosen for his prophetic mission, AbuTalib continued to support him and repelled from him the evil that came from the infidels among the Arabs and especially theQuraysh .

According to well-known traditional accounts Ali was born ten years before the commencement of the prophetic mission of the Prophet. When six years old, as a result of famine in and around Mecca, he was requested by the Prophet to leave his father's house and come to the house of his cousin, the Prophet. There he was placed directly under the guardianship and custody of the Holy Prophet.

A few years later, when the Prophet was endowed with the Divine gift of prophecy and for the first time received the Divine revelation in the cave ofHira ', as he left the cave to return to town and his own house he met Ali on the way. He told him what had happened and Ali accepted the new faith. Again in a gathering when the Holy Prophet had brought his relatives together and invited them to accept his religion, he said the first person to accept his call would be his vicegerent and inheritor and deputy. The only person to rise from his place and accept the faith was Ali and the Prophet accepted his declaration of faith. Therefore Ali was the first man in Islam to accept the faith and is the first among the followers of the Prophet to have never worshipped other than the One God.

Ali was always in the company of the Prophet until the Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina. On the night of the migration to Medina (hijrah ) when the infidels had surrounded the house of the Prophet and were determined to invade the house at the end of the night and cut him to pieces while he was in bed, Ali slept in place of the Prophet while the Prophet left the house and set out for Medina. After the departure of the Prophet, according to his wish Ali gave back to the people the trusts and charges that they had left with the Prophet. Then he went to Medina with his mother, the daughter of the Prophet, and two other women. In Medina also Ali was constantly in the company of the Prophet in private and in public. The Prophet gave Fatimah, his beloved daughter fromKhadijah , to Ali as his wife and when the Prophet was creating bonds of brotherhood among his companions he selected Ali as his brother.

Ali was present in all the wars in which the Prophet participated, except the battle ofTabuk when he was ordered to stay in Medina in place of the Prophet. He did not retreat in any battle nor did he turn his face away from any enemy. He never disobeyed the Prophet, so that the Prophet said, "Ali is never separated from the Truthnor the Truth from Ali."

On the day of the death of the Prophet, Ali was thirty-three years old. Although he was foremost in religious virtues and the most outstanding among the companions of the Prophet, he was pushed aside from the caliphate on the claim that he was too young and that he had many enemies among the people because of the blood of the polytheists he had spilled in the wars fought alongside the Prophet. Therefore Ali was almost completely cut off from public affairs. He retreated to his house where he began to train competent individuals in the Divine sciences and in this way he passed the twenty-five years of the caliphate of the first three caliphs who succeeded the Prophet. When the third caliph was killed, people gave their allegiance to him and he was chosen as caliph.

During his caliphate of nearly four years and nine months, Ali followed the way of the Prophet and gave his caliphate the form of a spiritual movement and renewal and began many different types of reforms. Naturally, these reforms were against the interests of certain parties that sought their own benefit. As a result, a group of the companions (foremost amongwhom wereTalhah andZubayr , who also gained the support ofA'ishah , and especiallyMu'awiayh ) made a pretext of the death of the third caliph to raise their heads in opposition and began to revolt and rebel against Ali.

In order to quell the civil strife and sedition, Ali fought a war near Basra, known as the "Battle of the Camel," againstTalhah andZubayr in whichA'ishah , "the Mother of the Faithful," was also involved. He fought another war againstMu'awiyah on the border of Iraq and Syria which lasted for a year and a half and is famous as the "Battle ofSiffin ." He also fought against theKhawarij atNahrawan , in a battle known as the "Battle ofNahrawan ." Therefore, most of the days of Ali's caliphate were spent in overcoming internal opposition. Finally, in the morning of the 19th of Ramadan in the year 40 A.H., while praying in the mosque ofKufa , he was wounded by one of theKhawarij and died as a martyr during the night of the 21st.

According to the testimony of friend and foe alike, Ali had no shortcomings from the point of view of human perfection. And in the Islamic virtues he was a perfect example of the upbringing and training given by the Prophet. The discussions that have taken place concerning his personality and the books written on this subject byShi'ites , Sunnis and members of other religions, as well as the simply curious outside any distinct religious bodies, are hardly equaled in the case of any other personality in history. In science and knowledge Ali was the most learned of the companions of the Prophet, and of Muslims in general. In his learned discourses he was the first in Islam to open the door for logical demonstration and proof and to discuss the "divine sciences" or metaphysics (ma'arif-i ilahiyah ). He spoke concerning the esoteric aspect of the Quran and devised Arabic grammar in order to preserve the Quran's form of expression. He was the most eloquent Arab in speech (as has been mentioned in the first part of this book).

The courage of Ali was proverbial. In all the wars in which he participated during the lifetime of the Prophet, and also afterward, he never displayed fear or anxiety. Although in many battles such as those ofUhud ,Hunayn ,Khaybar andKhandaq the aides to the Prophet and the Muslim army trembled in fear or dispersed and fled, he never turned his back to the enemy. Never did a warrior or soldier engage Ali in battle and come out of it alive. Yet, with full chivalry he would never slay a weak enemy nor pursue those who fled. He would not engage in surprise attacks or in turning streams of water upon the enemy. It has been definitively established historically that in the Battle ofKhaybar in the attack against the fort he reached the ring of the door and with sudden motion tore off the door and cast it away. Also on the day when Mecca was conquered the Prophet ordered the idols to be broken. The idol "Hubal " was the largest idol in Mecca, a giant stone statue placed on the top of theKa'bah . Following the command of the Prophet, Ali placed his feet on the Prophet's shoulders, climbed to the top of theKa'bah , pulled "Hubal " from its place and cast it down.

Ali was also without equal in religious asceticism and the worship of God. In answer to some who had complained of Ali's anger toward them, the Prophet said, "Do not reproach Ali for he is in a state of Divine ecstasy and bewilderment." AbuDarda ', one of the companions, one day saw the body of Ali in one of the palm plantations of Medina lying on the ground as stiff as wood. He went to Ali's house to inform his noble wife, the daughter of the Prophet, and to express his condolences. The daughter of the Prophet said, "My cousin (Ali) has not died. Rather, in fear of God he has fainted. This condition overcomes him often."

There are many stories told of Ali's kindness to the lowly, compassion for the needy and the poor, and generosity and munificence toward those in misery and poverty. Ali spent all that he earned to help the poor and needy, andhimself lived in the strictest and simplest manner. Ali loved agriculture and spent much of his time digging wells, planting trees and cultivating fields. But all the fields he cultivated or wells that he built he gave in endowment (waqf ) to the poor. His endowments, known as the "alms of Ali," had the noteworthy income of twenty-four thousand gold dinars toward the end of his life.

The Second Imam

ImamHasan Mujtaba - uponwhom be peace - was the second Imam. He and his brother ImamHusayn were the two sons of Amir al-mu'minin Ali andHadrat Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet. Many times the Prophet had said, "Hasan andHusayn are my children." Because of these same words Ali would say to his other children, "You are my children andHasan andHusayn are the children of the Prophet."

ImamHasan was born in the year 3 A.H. in Medina and shared in the life of the Prophet for somewhat over seven years, growing up during that time under his loving care. After the death of the Prophet which was no more than three, or according to some, six months earlier than the death ofHadrat Fatimah,Hasan was placed directly under the care of his noble father. After the death of his father, through Divine Command and according to the will of his father, ImamHasan became Imam; he also occupied the outward function of caliph for about six months, during which time he administered the affairs of the Muslims. During that timeMu'awiayh , who was a bitter enemy of Ali and his family and had fought for years with the ambition of capturing the caliphate, first on the pretext of avenging the death of the third caliph and finally with an open claim to the caliphate, marched his army into Iraq, the seat of ImamHasan's caliphate. War ensued during whichMu'awiyah gradually subverted the generals and commanders of ImamHasan's army with large sums of money and deceiving promises until the army rebelled against ImamHasan . Finally, the Imam was forced to make peace and to yield the caliphate toMu'awiyah , provided it would again return to ImamHasan afterMu'awiyah's death and the Imam's household and partisans would be protected in every way.

In this wayMu'awiyah captured the Islamic caliphate and entered Iraq. In a public speech he officially made null and void all the peace conditions and in every way possible placed the severest pressure upon the members of the Household of the Prophet and theShi'ah . During all the ten years of his imamate, ImamHasan lived in conditions of extreme hardship and under persecution, with no security even in his own house. In the year 50 A.H. he was poisoned and martyred by one of his own household who, as has been accounted by historians, had been motivated byMu'awiyah .

In human perfection ImamHasan was reminiscent of his father and a perfect example of his noble grandfather. In fact, as long as the Prophet was alive, he and his brother were always in the company of the Prophet who even sometimes would carry them on his shoulders. Both Sunni andShi'ite sources have transmitted this saying of the Holy Prophet concerningHasan andHusayn : "These two children of mine are Imams whether they stand up or sit down" (allusion to whether they occupy the external function of caliphate or not). Also there are many traditions of the Holy Prophet and Ali concerning the fact that ImamHasan would gain the function of imamate after his noble father.

The Third Imam

ImamHusayn (Sayyid al-Shuhada ', "the lord among martyrs"), the second child of Ali and Fatimah, was born in the year 4 A.H. and after the martyrdom of his brother, ImamHasan Mujtaba , became Imam through Divine Command and his brother's will. ImamHusayn was Imam for a period of ten years, all but the last six months coinciding with the caliphate ofMu'awiyah . ImamHusayn lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. This was due to the fact that, first of all, religious laws and regulations had lost much of their weight and credit, and the edicts of the Umayyad government had gained complete authority and power. Secondly,Mu'awiyah and his aides made use of every possible means to put aside and move out of the way the Household of the Prophet and theShi'ah , and thus obliterate the name of Ali and his family. And above all,Mu'awiyah wanted to strengthen the basis of the caliphate of his son,Yazid , who because of his lack of principles and scruples was opposed by a large group of Muslims. Therefore, in order to quell all opposition,Mu'awiyah had undertaken newer and more severe measures. By force and necessity ImamHusayn had to endure these days and to tolerate every kind of mental and spiritual agony and affliction fromMu'awiyah and his aides- until in the middle of the year 60 A.H.Mu'awiyah died and his sonYazid took his place.

Paying allegiance (bay'ah ) was an old Arab practice which was carried out in important matters such as that kingship and governorship. Those who were ruled, and especially the well-known among them, would give their hand in allegiance, agreement and obedience to their king or prince and in this way would show their support for his actions. Disagreement after allegiance was considered as disgrace and dishonor for a people and, like breaking an agreement after having signed it officially, it was considered as a definite crime. Following the example of the Holy Prophet, people believed that allegiance, when given by free will and not through force, carried authority and weight.

Mu'awiyah had asked the well-known among the people to give their allegiance toYazid , but had not imposed this request upon ImamHusayn . He had especially toldYazid in his last will that ifHusayn refused to pay allegiance he should pass over it in silence and overlook the matter, for he had understood correctly the disastrous consequences which would follow if the issue were to be pressed. But because of his egoism and recklessness,Yazid neglected his father's advice and immediately after the death of his father ordered the governor of Medina either to force a pledge of allegiance from ImamHusayn or send his head to Damascus.

After the governor of Medina informed ImamHusayn of this demand, the Imam, in order to think over the question, asked for a delay and overnight started with his family toward Mecca. He sought refuge in the sanctuary of God which in Islam is the official place of refuge and security. This event occurred toward the end of the month of Rajab and the beginning of Sha'ban of 60 A.H. For nearly four months ImamHusayn stayed in Mecca in refuge. This news spread throughout the Islamic world. On the one hand many people who were tired of the iniquities ofMu'awiyah's rule and were even more dissatisfied whenYazid became caliph, corresponded with ImamHusayn and expressed their sympathy for him. On the other hand a flood of letters began to flow, especially from Iraq and particularly the city ofKufa , inviting the Imam to go to Iraq and accept the leadership of the populace there with the aim of beginning an uprising to overcome injustice and iniquity. Naturally such a situation was dangerous forYazid .

The stay of ImamHusayn in Mecca continued until the season for pilgrimage when Muslims from all over the world poured in groups into Mecca in order to perform the rites of the hajj. The Imam discovered that some of the followers ofYazid had entered Mecca as pilgrims (hajjis) with the mission to kill the Imam during the rites of hajj with the arms they carried under their special pilgrimage dress (ihrami ).

The Imam shortened the pilgrimage rites and decided to leave. Amidst the vast crowd of people he stood up and in a short speech announced that he was setting out for Iraq. In this short speech he also declared that he would be martyred and asked Muslims to help him in attaining the goal he had in view and to offer their lives in the path of God. On the next day he set out with his family and a group of his companions for Iraq.

ImamHusayn was determined not to give his allegiance toYazid and knew full well that he would be killed. He was aware that his death was inevitable in the face of the awesome military power of theUmayyads , supported as it was by corruption in certain sectors, spiritual decline, and lack of will power among the people, especially in Iraq. Some of the outstanding people of Mecca stood in the way of ImamHusayn and warned him of the danger of the move he was making. But he answered that he refused to pay allegiance and give his approval to a government of injustice and tyranny. He added that he knew that wherever he turned or went he would be killed. He would leave Mecca in order to preserve the respect for the house of God and not allow this respect to be destroyed by having his blood spilled there.

While on the way toKufa and still a few days' journey away from the city, he received news that the agent ofYazid inKufa had put to death the representative of the Imam in the city and also one of the Imam's determined supporters who was a well-known man inKufa . Their feet had been tied and they had been dragged through streets. The city and its surroundings were placed under strict observation and countless soldiers of the enemy were awaiting him. There was no way open to him but to march ahead and to face death. It was here that the Imam expressed his definitive determination to go ahead and bemartyred ; and so he continued on his journey.

Approximately seventykilometres fromKufa , in a desert named Karbala, the Imam and his entourage were surrounded by the army ofYazid . For eight days they stayed in this spot during which the circle narrowed and the number of the enemy's army increased. Finally the Imam, with his household and a small number of companions were encircled by an army of thirty thousand soldiers. During these days the Imam fortified his position and made a final selection of his companions. At night he called his companions and during a short speech stated that there was nothing ahead but death and martyrdom. He added that since the enemy was concerned only with his person he would free them from all obligations so that anyone who wished could escape in the darkness of the night and save his life. Then he ordered the lights to be turned out and most of his companions, who had joined him for their own advantage, dispersed. Only a handful of those who loved the truth - about forty of his close aides - and some of theBanu Hashim remained.

Once again the Imam assembled those who were left and put them to a test. He addressed his companions andHasimite relatives. Each could benefit from the darkness of the night and escape the danger. But this time the faithful companions of the Imam answered each in his own way that they would not deviate for a moment from the path of truth of which the Imam was the leader and would never leave him alone. They said they would defend his household to the last drop of their blood and as long as they could carry a sword.

On the night of the month the last challenge to choose between "allegianceor war" was made by the enemy to the Imam. The Imam asked for a delay in order to worship overnight and became determined to enter battle on the next day.

On the tenth day of Muharram of the year 61/680 the Imam lined up before the enemy with his small band of followers, less than ninety persons consisting of forty of his companions, thirty some members of the army of the enemy that joined him during the night and day of war, and hisHashimite family of children, brothers, nephews, nieces and cousins. That day they fought from morning until their final breath, and the Imam, the youngHashimites and the companions were all martyred. Among those killed were two children of ImamHasan , who were only thirteen and eleven yearsold ; and a five-year-old child and a suckling baby of ImamHusayn .

The army of the enemy, after ending the war, plundered theharam of the Imam and burned his tents. They decapitated the bodies of the martyrs, denuded them and threw them to the ground without burial. Then they moved the members of theharam , all of whom were helpless women and girls, along with the heads of the martyrs, toKufa . Among the prisoners there were three male members: a twenty-two year old son of ImamHusayn who was very ill and unable to move, namely Aliibn Husayn , the fourthImam ; his four year old son, Muhammadibn Ali, who became the fifth Imam ; and finallyHasan Muthanna , the son of the second Imam who was also the son-in-law of ImamHusayn and who, having been wounded during the war, lay among the dead. They found him near death and through the intercession of one of the generals did not cut of his head. Rather, they took him with the prisoners toKufa and from there to Damascus beforeYazid .

The event of Karbala, the capture of the women and children of the Household of the Prophet, their being taken as prisoners from town to town and the speeches made by the daughter of Ali,Zaynab , and the fourth Imam who were among the prisoners, disgraced theUmayyads . Such abuse of the Household of the Prophet annulled the propaganda whichMu'awiyah had carried out for years. The matter reached such proportions thatYazid in public disowned and condemned the actions of his agents. The event of Karbala was a major factor in the overthrow of Umayyad rule although its effect was delayed. It also strengthened the roots ofShi'ism . Among its immediate results were the revolts and rebellions combined with bloody wars which continued for twelve years. Among those who were instrumental in the death of the Imam not one was able to escape revenge and punishment.

Anyone who studies closely the history of the life of ImamHusayn andYazid and the conditions that prevailed at that time, and analyzes this chapter of Islamic history, will have no doubt that in those circumstances there was no choice before ImamHusayn but to be killed. Swearing allegiance toYazid would have meant publicly showing contempt forIslam, something which was not possible for the Imam, forYazid not only showed no respect for Islam and its injunctions but also made a public demonstration of impudently treading under foot its basis and its laws. Those before him, even if they opposed religious injunctions, always did so in the guise of religion, and at least formally respected religion. They took pride on being companions of the Holy Prophet and the other religious figures inwhom people believed. From this it can be concluded that the claim of some interpreters of these events is false when they say that the two brothers,Hasan andHusayn , had two different tastes and that one chose the way of peace and the other the way of war, so that one brother made peace withMu'awiyah although he had an army of forty thousand while the other went to war againstYazid with an army of forty. For we see that this same ImamHusayn , who refused to pay allegiance toYazid for one day, lived for ten years under the rule ofMu'awiyah , in the same manner as his brother who also had endured for ten years underMu'awiyah , without opposing him.

It must be said in truth that if ImamHasan or ImamHusayn had foughtMu'awiyah they would have been killed without there being the least benefit for Islam. Their deaths would have hadnot effect before the righteous-appearing policy ofMu'awiyah , a competent politician who emphasized his being a companion of the Holy Prophet, the "scribe of the revelation," and "uncle of the faithful" and who used every stratagem possible to preserve a religious guise for his rule. Moreover, with his ability to set the stage to accomplish his desires he could have had them killed by their own people and then assumed a state of mourning and sought to revenge their blood, just as he sought to give the impression that he was avenging the killing of the third caliph.

The Fourth Imam

ImamSajjad (Aliibn Husayn entitledZayn al-'abidin andSajjad ) was the son of the third Imam and his wife, the queen among women, the daughter ofYazdigird the king of Iran. He was the only son of ImamHusayn to survive, for his other three brothers Ali Akbar, aged twenty-five, five year oldJa'far and AliAsghar (or 'Abdallah ) who was a suckling baby were martyred during the event of Karbala. The Imam had also accompanied his father on the journey that terminated fatally in Karbala, but because of severe illness and the inability to carry arms or participate in fighting he was prevented from taking part in the holy war and being martyred. So he was sent with the womenfolk to Damascus. After spending a period in imprisonment he was sent with honor to Medina becauseYazid wanted to conciliate public opinion. But for a second time, by the order of the Umayyad caliph, 'Abd al-Malik , he was chained and sent from Medina to Damascus and then again returned to Medina.

The fourth Imam, upon returning to Medina, retired from public life completely, closed the door of his house to strangers and spent his time in worship. He was in contact only with the elite among theShi'ites such as AbuHamzah Thumali , Abu Khalid Kabuli and the like. The elite disseminated among theShi'ah and the religious sciences they learned from the Imam. In this wayShi'ism spread considerably and showed its effects during the imamate of the fifth Imam. Among the works of the fourth Imam is a book calledSahifah sajjadiyah . It consists of fifty-seven prayers concerning the most sublime Divine sciences and is known as "The Psalm of the Household of the Prophet."

The fourth Imam died (according to someShi'ite traditions poisoned byWalid ibn 'Abd al-Malik through the instigation of the Umayyad caliphHisham ) in 95/712 after thirty-five years of imamate.

The Fifth Imam

Imam Muhammadibn AliBaqir (the wordbaqir meaninghe who cuts and dissects, a title given to him by the Prophet) was the son of the fourth Imam and was born in 57/675. He was present at the event of Karbala when he was four years old. After his father, through Divine Command and the decree of those who went before him, he became Imam. In the year 114/732 he died, according to someShi'ite traditions poisoned by Ibrahimibn Walid ibn 'Abdallah , the nephew ofHisham , the Umayyad caliph.

During the imamate of the fifth Imam, as a result of the injustice of theUmayyads , revolts and wars broke out in some corner of the Islamic world every day. Moreover, there were disputes within the Umayyad family itself which kept the caliphate busy and to a certain extent left the members of the Household of the Prophet alone. From the other side, the tragedy of Karbala and the oppression suffered by the Household of the Prophet, of which the fourth Imam was the most noteworthy embodiment, had attracted many Muslims to the Imams. These factors combined to make it possible for people and especially theShi'ites to go in great numbers to Medina and to come into the presence of the fifth Imam. Possibilities for disseminating truths about Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet, which had never existed for the Imams before him, were presented to the fifth Imam. The proof of this fact is the innumerable traditions recounted from the fifth Imam and the large number of illustrious men of science andShi'ite scholars who were trained by him in different Islamic sciences. These names are listed in books of biographies of famous men in Islam.

The Sixth Imam

ImamJa'far ibn Muhammad, the son of the fifth Imam, was born in 83/702. He died in 148/765 according toShi'ite tradition, poisoned and martyred through the intrigue of the Abbasid caliph Mansur. After the death of his father he became Imam by Divine Command and decree of those who came before him.

During the imamate of the sixth Imam greater possibilities and a more favorable climate existed for him to propagate religious teachings. This came about as a result of revolts in Islamic lands, especially the uprising of theMuswaddah to overthrow the Umayyad caliphate, and the bloody wars which finally led to the fall and extinction of theUmayyads . The greater opportunities forShi'ite teachings were also a result of the favorable ground the fifth Imam had prepared during the twenty years of his imamate through the propagation of the true teachings of Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet.

The Imam took advantage of the occasion to propagate the religious sciences until the very end of his imamate, which was contemporary with the end of the Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid caliphates. He instructed many scholars in different fields of the intellectual and transmitted sciences, such asZararah , Muhammadibn Muslim,Mu'min Taq ,Hisham ibn Hakam ,Aban ibn Taghlib ,Hisham ibn Salim ,Hurayz ,Hisham Kalbi Nassabah , and Jabiribn Hayyan , the alchemist. Even some important Sunni scholars such asSufyan Thawri , AbuHanifah , the founder of theHanafi school of law,Qadi Sukuni ,Qadi Abu'l-Bakhtari , and others, had the honor of being his students. It is said that his classes and sessions of instructions produced four thousand scholars ofhadith and other sciences. The number of traditions preserved from the fifth and sixth Imams is more than all thehadith that have been recorded from the Prophet and the other ten Imams combined.

But toward the end of his life the Imam was subjected to severe restrictions placed upon him by the Abbasid caliph Mansur, who ordered such torture and merciless killing of many of the descendants of the Prophets who wereShi'ite that his actions even surpassed the cruelty and heedlessness of theUmayyads . At his order they were arrested in groups, some thrown into deep and dark prisons and tortured until they died, while others were beheaded or buried alive or placed at the base of or between walls of buildings, and walls were constructed over them.

Hisham , the Umayyad caliph, had ordered the sixth Imam to be arrested and brought to Damascus. Later, the Imam was arrested bySaffah , the Abbasid caliph, and brought to Iraq. Finally, Mansur had him arrested again and brought toSamarrah where he had the Imam kept under supervision, was in every way harsh and discourteous to him, and several times thought of killing him. Eventually the Imam was allowed to return to Medina where he spent the rest of his life in hiding, until he was poisoned and martyred through the intrigue of Mansur.

Upon hearing the news of the Imam's martyrdom,Marsur wrote to the governor of Medina instructing him to go to the house of the Imam on the pretext of expressing his condolences to the family, to ask for the Imam's will and testament and read it. Whoever was chosen by the Imam as his inheritor and successor should be beheaded on the spot. Of course the aim of Mansur was to putand end to the whole question of imamate and toShi'ite aspirations. When the governor of Medina, following orders, read the last will and testament, he saw that the Imam had chosen four people rather than one to administer his last will and testament: the caliph himself, the governor of Medina, 'Abdallah Aftah , the Imam's older son, and Musa, his younger son. In this way the plot of Mansur failed.

The Seventh Imam

Imam Musaibn Ja'far Kazim , the son of the sixth Imam, was born in 128/744 and was poisoned and martyred in prison in 183/799. He became Imam after the death of his father, through Divine Command and the decree of his forefathers. The seventh Imam was contemporary with the Abbasid caliphs, Mansur,Hadi ,Mahdi andHarun . He lived in very difficult times, in hiding, until finallyHarun went on the hajj and in Medina had the Imam arrested while praying in the Mosque of the Prophet. He was chained and imprisoned, then taken from Medina to Basra and from Basra to Baghdad where for years he was transferred from one prison to another. Finally he died in Baghdad in theSindi ibn Shahak prison through poisoning and was buried in the cemetery of theQuraysh which is now located in the city ofKazimayn .

The Eighth Imam

ImamRida (Aliibn Musa) was the son of the son of the seventh Imam and according to well-known accounts was born in 148/765 and died in 203/817. The eighth Imam had reached the imamate, after the death of his father, through Divine Command and the decree of his forefathers. The period of his imamate coincided with the caliphate ofHarun and then his sonsAmin andMa'mun . After the death of his father,Ma'mun fell into conflict with his brotherAmin , which led to bloody wars and finally the assassination ofAmin , after whichMa'mun became caliph. Until that day the policy of the Abbasid caliphate toward theShi'ites had been increasingly harsh and cruel. Every once in a while one of the supporters of Ali ('alawis ) would revolt, causing bloody wars and rebellions which were of great difficulty and consequence for the caliphate.

TheShi'ite Imams would not cooperate with those who carried out these rebellions and would not interfere with their affairs. TheShi'ites of that day, who comprised a considerable population, continued to consider the Imams as their religious leaders to whom obedience was obligatory and believed in them as the real caliphs of the Holy Prophet. They considered the caliphate to be far from the sacred authority of their Imams, for the caliphate had come to seem more like the courts of the Persian kings and Roman emperors and was being run by a group of people more interested in worldly rule than in the strict application of religious principles. The continuation of such a situation was dangerous for the structure of the caliphate and was a serious threat to it.

Ma'mun thought of finding a new solution for these difficulties which the seventy-year old policy of his Abbasid predecessors had not been able to solve. To accomplish this end he chose the eighth Imam as his successor, hoping this way to overcome two difficulties: first of all to prevent the descendants of the Prophet from rebelling against the government since they would be involved in the government themselves, and secondly, to cause the people to lose their spiritual belief and inner attachment to the Imams. This would be accomplished by having the Imams become engrossed in worldly matters and the politics of the caliphate itself, which had always been considered by theShi'ite to be evil and impure. In this way their religious organization would crumble and they would no longer present any dangers to the caliphate. Obviously, after accomplishing these ends, the removal of the Imam would present no difficulties to the Abbasids.

In order to have this decision put into effect,Ma'mun asked the Imam to come toMarw from Medina. Once he had arrived there,Ma'mun offered him first the caliphate and then the succession to the caliphate. The Imam made his apologies and turned down the proposal, but he was finally induced to accept thesuccessorship , with the condition that he would not interfere in governmental affairs or in the appointment or dismissal of government agents.

This event occurred in 200/814. But soonMa'mun realized that he had committed an error, for there was a rapid spread ofShi'ism , a growth in the attachment of the populace to the Imam and an astounding reception given to the Imam by the people and even by the army and government agents.Ma'mun sought to find a remedy for this difficulty and had the Imam poisoned and martyred. After his death the Imam was buried in the city ofTus in Iran, which is now called Mashhad.

Ma'mun displayed great interest in having works on the intellectual sciences translated into Arabic. He organized gatherings in which scholars of different religions and sects assembled and carried out scientific and scholarly debates. The eighth Imam also participated in these assemblies and joined in the discussions with scholars of other religions. Many of these debates are recorded in the collections ofShi'ite hadiths .

The Ninth Imam

Imam Muhammad (ibn Ali)Taq (sometimes calledJaway andIbn al-Rida ) was the son of the eighth Imam. He was born in 195/809 in Medina and according toShi'ite traditions was martyred in 220/835, poisoned by his wife, the daughter ofMa'mun , at the instigation of the Abbasid caliphMu'tasim . He was buried next to his grandfather, the seventh Imam, inKazimayn . He became Imam after the death of his father through Divine Command and by the decree of his forefathers. At the time of the death of his father he was in Medina.Ma'mun called him to Baghdad which was then the capital of the caliphate and outwardly showed him much kindness. He even gave the Imam his daughter in marriage and kept him in Baghdad. In reality he wanted in this way to keep a close watch upon the Imam from both outside and within his own household. The Imam spent some time in Baghdad and then with the consent ofMa'mun set out for Medina where he remained untilMa'mun's death. WhenMu'tasim became caliph he called the Imam back to Baghdad and, as we have seen, through the Imam's wife had him poisoned and killed.

The Tenth Imam

Imam Aliibn MuhammadNaqi (sometimes referred to by the title ofHadi ), was the son of the ninth Imam. He was born in 212/827 in Medina and according toShi'ite accounts was martyred through poisoning byMu'tazz the Abbasid caliph, in 254/868.

During his lifetime the tenth Imam was contemporary with seven of the Abbasid caliphs:Ma'mun ,Mu'tasim ,Wathiq ,Mutawakkil ,Muntasir ,Musta'in andMu'tazz . It was during the rule ofMu'tasim in 220/835 that his noble father died through poisoning in Baghdad. At that time Aliibn MuhammadNaqi was in Medina. There he became the Imam through Divine Command and the decree of the Imams before him. He stayed in Medina teaching religious sciences until the time ofMutawakkil . In 243/857, as a result of certain false charges that were made,Mutawakkil ordered one of his government officials to invite the Imam form Medina toSamarrah which was then the capital. He himself wrote the Imam a letter full of kindness and courtesy asking him to come to the capital where they could meet. Upon arrival inSamarrah the Imam was also shown certain outward courtesy and respect. Yet at the same timeMutawakkil tried by all possible means to trouble and dishonor him. Many times he called the Imam to his presence with the aim of killing or disgracing him and had his house searched.

In his enmity toward the Household of the ProphetMutawakkil had no equal among the Abbasid caliphs. He was especially opposed to Ali, whom he cursed openly. He even ordered a clown to ridicule Ali at voluptuous banquets. In the year 237/850 he ordered the mausoleum of ImamHusayn in Karbala and many of the houses around it to be torn down to the ground. The water was turned upon the tomb of the Imam. He ordered the ground of the tomb to be plowed and cultivated so that any trace of the tomb would be forgotten. During the life ofMutawakkil the condition of life of the descendants of Ali in theHijaz had reached such a pitiful state that their womenfolk had no veils with which to cover themselves. Many of them had only one old veil which they wore at the time of the daily prayers. Pressures of a similar kind were put on the descendants of Ali who lived in Egypt. The tenth Imam accepted in patience the tortures and afflictions of the Abbasid caliphMutawakkil until the caliph died and was followed byMuntasir ,Musta'in and finallyMu'tazz , whose intrigue led to the Imam's being poisoned and martyred.