Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter 66: Natural History

A

Inasmuch as the sciences studied in any traditional civilization, that is, one based upon a divine revelation, depend upon the metaphysical and religious bases of that civilization, Muslim sciences have always echoed and reflected the central Islamic doctrine of unity (tauhid). Just as the Islamic religious and moral sciences have begun from and returned to the idea of divine unity, the natural sciences have tried to discover the interrelation of all created beings. It is a general feature of all medieval cosmological sciences1 that they seek to express the “unicity of all that exists.” Especially in the Muslim natural sciences this goal has been central, and the idea of the unicity of nature and the interrelatedness of all parts of the universe has remained as a complement to and necessary consequence of the oneness of the Creator.

Since the most legitimate and meaningful way of studying a science is with respect to its ultimate aim and from the point of view of those who have cultivated it, we shall best understand the Muslim sciences if we keep in mind that their primary aim, unlike that of the modern natural sciences which are only analytical and quantitative, has been to arrive at the unity lying behind the veil of multiplicity of natural forms by a synthetic and qualitative study of nature.2

This search for unity is clearly manifested in a general science like natural history. As studied by the Muslims, natural history covers a large number of fields and includes not only such subjects as geology, botany, zoology, and anthropology, but also cosmogony and sacred history3 Natural history means essentially the history of nature in the vastest sense of the word, and because Muslims have never separated the spiritual and the mundane, they have usually written natural history within the context of sacred history as is seen so clearly in the universal histories like those of Tabari and Mas'udi. The many allusions in the Qur'an to natural phenomena and the fact that the verses of the sacred book as well as the phenomena of nature are called ayat (signs) signify that in the Islamic perspective there is a fundamental affinity between the divine and natural orders and indicate, therefore, the legitimacy of connecting sacred history with natural history.

The question of the “signs” of nature leads to another basic feature of Muslim natural history. Most Muslim scientists have sought to study nature in order to observe “signs” of the Creator in it, to witness directly the “vestiges” of God in His handiwork.4 This is a feature which seems most irritating to some modern scientists who aim to discover only the immediate and the material causes of things. But from the point of view of Islam, no science can be considered legitimate which does not ultimately consider things in reference to their divine origin and which does not take into account the transcendent cause of all finite beings. The marvels and wonders of nature and the moral and spiritual lessons drawn from plant and animal life mentioned by the Muslim natural historians, which many modern historians have ridiculed, have been from the point of view of Islam itself the most beneficial and basic elements of natural history because they have led the reader to a recognition of the divine agent present in nature.

The Islamic perspective is in a way very practical. The sciences which this perspective has nourished and matured are all in a sense useful, that is, they correspond to a basic need of man as envisaged in Islam. They may, like agriculture, medicine, and the sciences of history and society, be useful in the limited sense and fulfil man's physical and social needs. Or, like logic and theology, they may be useful in preventing people from being misled by false reasoning. Or, finally, like the esoteric doctrines of Sufism, they may be useful in quenching the thirst for spiritual realization of the few, who seek God here and now. But Islam has never considered simple curiosity or intellectual pas­sion either a virtue or a basic need of man and for this reason has never legitimized a science based only on curiosity.5 The desire of natural historians to learn moral and spiritual lessons from the phenomena of nature is, there­fore, legitimate from the point of view of Islam because it is spiritually meaningful and fulfils a need, whereas finding the weight of a certain leaf of a tree to be so many grams is from this point of view a secondary and un­important inquiry unless it leads to higher knowledge. The modern criticism of Muslim natural historians on this point is, therefore, unjust and based on a misapprehension of their point of view.

There is yet another aspect of Muslim natural history which is difficult to understand from the modern point of view. It is the description of strange animals and plants and magical properties of nature which the medieval authors seem to have recorded so credulously. One finds similar accounts in ancient books like Pliny's Historia Naturalia. The creatures described in these texts, which appear strange today, are of several types. One type is of strange animals, especially sea animals, which could certainly have existed but later became very rare or extinct and the description of which, therefore, seems fantastic now for they can no longer be observed. Another type is of animals and plants like the dragon, unicorn, and mandarine, which originally had symbolic meaning only, but the symbolism of which in certain cases was so forgotten that they came to be erroneously described as living creatures.6

As to the apparent frequency of “strange” phenomena within nature and the innocence with which medieval authors recorded them, it must be noted that the minds of those people were not as “hardened” as those of the moderns, and that nature in turn then was not taken to be so “dense” and “coagulated” and far separated from its psychic aspect as now.7 Therefore, while reading ancient and medieval texts it should be kept in mind that just as the people of those ages, like the people of certain parts of Asia, Africa, and America today, regarded nature from a point of view different from that of modern science, nature also revealed an aspect of itself to them different from that which it reveals to those moderns whose mental constitution is no longer capable of receiving nature's more subtle elements. There is, of course, much misinformation due to narrative and exaggerated style characteristic of the poetic mind of many Muslims. But on the whole most of the contents of Muslim natural history can be understood in terms either of direct observation of physical realities or of symbolism, i. e., the description of the subtle aspects of nature the reality of which is not in any way affected because the modern quantitative sciences refuse to consider it from their own peculiar point of view.

B

Types of writings which contain material on natural history, particularly on plants and animals that form the centre of our interest in this chapter, are quite diverse. Muslim authors have rarely had a taste for over-specialization so that one finds a discussion of the plant and the animal kingdoms not only in scientific texts but also in literary, historical, philosophical, and theological works. More specially, the sources for natural history include the writings of historians, geographers and travellers, physicians, alchemists, philosophers, encyclopedists, cosmographers, moralists, theologians, and Sufis, and, of course, authors writing specifically on the subject of natural history.

The Tarikh al- Reful w-al-Muluk, the universal history of Tabari, the Kitab al-Buldan, the book of countries of Ya`qubi, the Kitab al-Bad' w-al-Tarikh of Maqdisi, the Muruj al-Dhahab and Kitab al-Tanbih w-al-ishraf of Mas`udi, the Tarikh-i Jahan-gusha of Juwaini, and the geography of abu 'Abd Allah ibn al-Idrisi, all dealing with history and geography, contain valuable sections on natural history. Moreover, they provide, on the one hand, the perspective of time in the light of which Muslims have viewed the life of all creatures, a time stretching between the creation and the final annihilation of the universe on the Last Day, and, on the other, they mention the geographical setting, the seven climates, and other terrestrial conditions which form the matrix of natural history.8 They demonstrate, further, how closely the study of plants and animals is bound up with that of the other parts of the universe, both terrestrial and celestial,9 and how the history of nature is intrinsically related with the history of man as well as with sacred history.

Another source for the knowledge of natural history comes from the many books of travel which survive from that period of Islamic history when the Muslim world was still more or less united and travelling from one place to another was easy. The accounts of the travels of abu al-Hasan al-Maghribi, ibn Jubair, Biruni, Nasir Khusrau, and ibn Battutah, to mention a few names, provide a wealth of information on plants and animals which these men observed themselves or the accounts of which they heard from others. The interpretation which they gave to their observations varied greatly, depending on their knowledge and experience as travellers. One often finds simple description as in the case of Maghribi, or detailed physical observation and inference based upon it as in the case of Biruni, or philosophical and metaphysical reflection upon natural forms as is found in the writings of Nasir Khusrau.

Besides these land travellers, there were several ocean travellers like Sulai­man the Merchant, who in the third/ninth century journeyed by sea to the coast of China and described many of the wonders of the Indian Ocean and the Chinese coast, and Shihab al-Din ibn Majid, Sulaiman ibn Mahri, and Phi Ra'is, who in the ninth/fifteenth and tenth/sixteenth centuries travelled extensively through the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean and gave a detailed description of these areas. The accounts of sea animals found in books of natural history and the fables of the sea encountered so often in Arabian Nights, Sindbad Nameh, and other collections of stories, both Arabic and Persian, were originally taken from the accounts of the sea travels of merchants, adventurers, and occasionally military men who roamed the then known extremities of the world.

Another source of natural history, considered from quite another aspect of our subject, is medicine. Muslim medicine, the heir both to the Greek and to the Indian science of medicine, has always had a general theory of living beings; nearly all medical treatises have included in their introduction a general treatment of the constitution (mizdj) of animals, which provides a major source of information for the internal structure of animals and the functioning of their organs10 Moreover, since much of the treatment of diseases in Muslim medicine is based on plants, medical books have usually contained sections on pharmacology treating of the medical properties of plants. In fact, one may say that, apart from the metaphysical and philosophical study of plants and animals, most of Muslim research in botany and zoology has been in the service of pharmacology, agriculture, medicine, and animal husbandry. The important medical treatises like 'Ali al-Tabari's Firdaus al-Hikmah (The Paradise of Wisdom), Muhammad Zakariya Razi's al-Hdmi (Continens), and ibn Sina's Qdnun (Canon) contain important chapters on zoology and botany.

Alchemy, a subject closely allied to medicine and botany in ancient times and later identified more with the study of the mineral kingdom, has also much to contribute to natural history. In Chinese alchemy we find a close link between the elixir and the plant life; certain modern scholars have even suggested that the Arabic word kimiya itself, from which the English word alchemy is derived, comes from the Chinese Chin-Ia, meaning the gold­making juice of a plant.11 Whatever the validity of this theory may be, there is no doubt that plant and animal symbolism has a major role to play in alchemy as the writings of so many alchemists like Jabir ibn Hayyan or in the Western world Flamel and Basil Valentine demonstrate. In Muslim alchemy certain authors like Jabir have written specific treatises on plants and animals dealing with their hidden and “occult” qualities12 Authors writing on the esoteric sciences (al-'ulum al-gharibah), like Jabir, Shams al-Din al-Buni, and Jildaki have all written treatises dealing with the psychic and symbolic aspects of both plants and animals and their influence on man's physical, psychic, and spiritual life.

The philosophers have also treated plants and animals in their general consideration of the world of “generation and corruption,” to use the termino­logy of Aristotle. It must be kept in mind that medieval philosophy is based upon the idea of hierarchy and the chain of Being which begins from the One and through the angelic and intellectual orders descends to material manifestations, to rise once again through the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms to the origin of all things. The philosophers, especially the systematic Peripatetics (Masha'iyun), therefore, have always entered into a discussion of plants and animals from the point of view of their place in the great chain of being. We find examples of this type of discussion not only in the Peripatetics like Farabi, ibn Sina, and ibn Rushd but also in the philosophers of the Illumi­nationist (ishraqi) school like Suhrawardi Maqtul and Mulla Sadra, and in Sunni and hi`ah theologians like al-Qhazali and ghwajah Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. The most detailed and profound scientific account of plants and animals in these philosophical treatises appears in ibn Sina's Shifa' (Sulfcientia), the greatest encyclopedia of philosophy and sciences ever written by one man. Here, ibn Sina deals not only with the place of plants and animals in the cosmic hierarchy but also with their morphology, genesis, and growth. Sections seven and eight of the Shifa' on natural philosophy (Tabi`iyat) are among the most important pages of medieval natural history.

Writings similar to the Shifa in the universality of their subject-matter, but not so strictly systematized, are a number of encyclopedias which have been popular from the very early centuries of Islam. We find an early example of these in the Book of Treasures of Job of Edessa written at the end of the second Islamic century.13 More important works are the Rasa'il of the Ikhwan al-Safa containing a wealth of information on plants and also on animals drawn from Indian, Persian, and Greek sources and integrated into a vast metaphysical and philosophical panorama.14

Also of great importance for natural history is the encyclopedia of Mustaufi Qazwini entitled Nuzhat al-Qulub (Delights of the Heart), written in Persian in the eighth/fourteenth century, which includes sections on plants and animals.15

Other works of this kind include the Kitab al-Await (Book of Primordial Knowledge) and al-Nuqayat al-Usud al-Muhimmah li 'Ulum Jammah (the encyclopedia of sciences) of 'Abd al­-Rahman al-Suyuti, the ninth/fifteenth-century historian, and the Kashf al-­Zunun (The Clearing of Doubts) of Haji Khalifah dealing mostly with scholars of all types including scientists of the medieval period. All these encyclopedias contain some sections on plants and animals while some like the Nuzhat al- Qulub and the Rasa'il have large chapters devoted specifically to natural history.

Works on cosmography are in a way similar to encyclopedias, but usually they do not cover as many subjects. Moreover, they are concerned more directly with the creation of the world and its subsequent development as well as with the wonders of nature. This genre of writing became popular especially during the later centuries, the most famous examples being the `Aja'ib al-Makhluqat (The Wonders of Creation) of abu Yahya Zakariya al-Qazwini and the Nuhbat al-Dahr (Choice of the Times) of Shams al-Din al-Dimashqi, both written in the seventh/thirteenth century. These works represent a combination of natural history and mythology and provide an excellent example of the attitude of the Muslim mind, which takes nature to be as displaying at every turn the power and wisdom of the Creator.

To mention all the sources for natural history, one should include the moral, theological, and Sufistic texts in which the life and qualities of plants and animals are studied with the aim of learning a moral and spiritual lesson from them. Such use of natural history, particularly of the life of animals, is very frequent in Oriental literature as for example in the Kalilah wa Dimnah,16 the Shah

Nameh of Firdausi, the Thousand and One Nights, and the Gulistan of Sa'di. Likewise, in certain theological texts animals are discussed in the light of their moral virtues. The famous Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals) of at­Jaliiz is above all a theological and moral discussion about animals.17 In Sufi writings also, plants and animals are discussed in the light of their cosmic qualities and in relation to the initiate's (salik's) journey through the cosmos. In these works plants and animals appear primarily in the light of their symbolic aspects which represent realities of a universal order. The Mathnawi of Maulanaa Jalal al-Din Rumi is particularly rich in this respect. There is also the Mantiq at-tair (Conference of the Birds) of Farid al-Din `Attar in which the whole spiritual quest of the Sufi disciple for the divine presence is presented in the language of thirty birds, each symbolizing a particular spiritual type.

Finally, among writings dealing with natural history, there are works devoted almost exclusively to plants and animals,18 constituting perhaps the most important sources of our knowledge of natural history. We mention here a few of these texts. These works concern agriculture, pharmacology, and botany, all dealing with plants, and zoology and animal husbandry.

In agriculture, the Filahat al-Nabattyyah (Nabataean Agriculture) of ibn Wabshiyyah is the most influential of all Muslim works on the subject. Written in the third/ninth century and drawn mostly from Chaldaean and Babylonian sources, the book deals not only with agriculture but also with the esoteric sciences, especially magic and sorcery, and has always been considered to be one of the important books in Arabic on the occult sciences.19 The agricultural section of the work was systematized and elaborated by ibn 'Awwam in the sixth/twelfth century in his Kitab al-Falaltalt (Book of Agriculture) which is perhaps the most important Muslim work on agriculture. Ibn `Awwam describes over five hundred plants and fruit trees mostly from the point of view of their agricultural properties. These two works contain the experience of centuries of agriculture by the people of the Middle East and offer a great deal of descriptive material on the life of plants and animals.

In botany itself, early Arabic poetry has much descriptive material to offer. There were also many early works of a systematic nature most of which have now been lost. One of the most important of these early books was the Kitdb al-Nabdt (The Book of Plants) of abu Hanifah al-Dinawari (the celebrated third/ninth-century historian and scholar) of which only fragments have survived.20 Among later writings in which pharmacology and botany proper are combined, the most famous works are the Kitab al-Adwiyat al-Mujradah (The Book of Simple Drugs) of abu Ja'far al-Ghafiqi'21 the writings of the seventh/thirteenth-century Andalusian author, ibn al-Baitar, the best of all Muslim botanists,22 and the Hadiqat al-Azhar fi Sharh Maziyat al-'Ushb w-al­'Aqqar (Garden of Flowers in the Explanation of the Character of Herbs and Drugs) of the tenth/sixteenth-century Moroccan author, Qasim al-ahhassani.

In zoology, the Manafi' al-Hayawan (The Benefits of Animals), by abu Sa'id Bakhtishu', and the treatises on various wild and domestic animals by Asma'i are among the earliest works on animals. To this early period belongsalso the Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals) of al-Jahiz, the celebrated Mu'tazilite theologian and philologist. Being one of the most famous works of Arabic literature, this book, written in the third/ninth century, combines the account of the life of animals with tales, anecdotes, theological discussions, and frequent quotations from Arabic poetry. The sources of this book include the Qur'an, the Hadith, and Arabic poetry, especially pre-Islamic poetry, which last contains many descriptions of animals that al-Jahiz often quotes to refute Greek authors, personal observations of Aristotle, and information collected from various travellers.

Hayat al-Hayawan (Life of Animals) of Kamal al-Din al-Damiri, written five centuries after al- Jahiz, came to be acknowledged as the most important Muslim work on zoology, especially on animal psychology. It was based to a large extent upon the book of al-Jahiz as well as on the writings of the inter­vening encyclopedists and cosmographers already mentioned. Al-Damiri's is the most comprehensive work of its kind in Arabic literature and has, there­fore, been taught and studied extensively since the date of its composition.

C

The philosophical point of view in terms of which plants and animals have been studied by the great majority of the above-mentioned authors is nearly the same and is one derived mostly from the Greeks, particularly from Aristotle. According to this view, the universe is divided into two parts: the heavens and the world of change or generation and corruption; the latter occupies the sublunary region. This region is made of four elements, fire, air, water, and earth,23 arranged in concentric spheres with fire at the highest and earth at the lowest sphere. These elements combine in various ratios and when a correct proportion is reached, one of the faculties of the world-soul or nature, as some authors have called it, joins them together into a nexus24 and by this wedding, minerals, plants, and animals come into being, each having been brought about by the coming into play of a new faculty of the world-soul or, as some have called it, a new soul.25 All the kingdoms of nature are, therefore, united in having been made of the same four elements and given life by souls or faculties which belong to the same single power called the world-soul or nature running through all the arteries and veins of the universe.

As minerals, plants, and animals lie in the hierarchical order of Being, they also come into existence by means of causes which are dependent upon other orders of creation, although these causes may appear to be hidden.26 The causes are the four already mentioned by Aristotle, namely, the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final. The material cause for plants consist of the four elements; the formal cause, the set of planetary influences symbolizing various cosmic intelligences and forces which are instrumental in sublunary changes; the efficient cause, nature or the world-soul; and the final cause, which last is their use by animals as food.27 The causes for animals are the same except that their final cause is their use by man.28

The plants have the powers of the mineral soul (rise `aqdiyyah) as well as those of the vegetative soul (al-nafs al-nabatiyyah) which is possessed of the three faculties of feeding (ghadha'iyyah), growth (namiyyah), and reproduc­tion (muunllidah).29 The animals in turn possess all the faculties of the mineral and vegetative souls as well as the powers of motion (muharrikah) and comprehension (mudrikah). The animal faculties may be summarized as follows30 :

The classification of plants and animals is closely allied with the study of their faculties and is based in certain cases upon the hierarchy of the powers of the soul mentioned above. Muslim authors have followed several principles of classification, some drawn from Aristotle, especially in the case of animals, and some devised by them independently.31

The plants have been divided usually into trees, shrubs, grass, and those intermediate between trees and shrubs and shrubs and grass. A most extensive discussion of this division is found in the seventh section of the Tabl'iyat of the Shifa' where each type is clearly defined; for example, the tree is defined as a plant which stands on its stem or trunk, the shrub the stem of which spreads over the earth, and the grass or herb that which has no stem. Ibn Sina divides plants also according to the climates of regional territories in which they grow, that is, of the desert, of the semi-tropical regions, etc.

In Mustaufi Qazwini's Nuzhat al-Qulub a distinction is made between trees of which only the leaves and fruit are renewed yearly and the seed-bearing plants of which everything changes every year except the roots. The trees are divided into those that bear fruit and those that do not32 Furthermore, the seed-bearing plants are divided into the four classes of aliments (aqhdhiyah): (i) those which are daily used for food and create one of the four humours (akhlat)-cold, warm, dry, or moist-that soon becomes a part of the body; (ii) medicines and spices only a little of which can be eaten for medical purposes and which are mostly cold and wet; (iii) perfumes (mashmumat) which have a good odour and are derived mostly from flowers; and (iv) miscellaneous plants in which the qualities of aliments and medicines are present but in a lesser degree.

Most authors dealing with the classification of plants also treat of their morphology. We find an extensive treatment of this kind in the Shifa' where ibn Sina divides the parts of plants into primary and secondary organs. The primary or essential organs are root, trunk, branches, bark, wood, and pith or core and the secondary organs, fruit, leaves, and blossoms. In a somewhat different manner, the Ikhwan al-Safa divide the plant into nine parts-root, vessel, branch, bough, leaves, colour, fruit, shell, and germ­and hold that only perfect plants possess all the nine of them.

Both ibn Sina and the Ikhwan make continuous comparison of plants with the animal world; in the case of the Ikhwan as well as in the case of many later authors comparison is also made with the celestial bodies so as to draw at­tention to the symbolic correspondence existing between various cosmic orders.33

In their comparisons of plants with animals, Muslim authors were quite aware of the presence of male and female parts of plants which in most cases are united in the same plant but which in higher plants like the palm become differentiated. Ibn Sina draws an analogy between seeds of plants and eggs of birds each of which has a centre that is the source of life and a periphery which provides food for the new generation. Likewise, he compares the growth of the branch of a tree from the trunk with the birth of a new generation in the animal world.

In the classification and description of plants, one can hardly fail to men­tion ibn al-Baitar, the greatest of the Muslim botanists. Basing himself on al--Ghafaqi and other previous authors like Dioseorides and Galen and making many observations of his own, he described extremely carefully over 1,400 plants from Andalusia, his homeland, as well as from the rest of the Islamic world. Furthermore, in the Kitab al-Mughni, following the example of ibn Sina's Qanun, he gave the medical uses of these plants. The influence of ibn al­Baitar was felt everywhere within the Islamic world from Morocco to India. Three centuries later, the Moroccan botanist, al-Ghassani, was to give the best classification of plants found anywhere in Muslim literature, drawing mostly upon the information accumulated by ibn al-Baitar.

In the study of animals, like that of plants, interest evolved around the constitution of plants and their classification and description. The tempera­ment (mizdj) of animals including man was studied in the light of the qualities and nature of which the other kingdoms are possessed. Their relation with the bodily humours may diagrammatically be represented as follows.34

The animal constitution has been understood in terms of the equilibrium of the four humours each of which is connected with a particular internal organ. The organs in turn have been studied in the light of their function of preserving internal equilibrium. Likewise, the effect of plants both as food and as medicine upon animals has been considered with respect to their nature, that is, coldness, moisture, etc., which the two kingdoms share in common. This is one example of the underlying unity in terms of which the diversities of nature have been understood.

In the classification of animals, as in that of plants, several principles have been followed, some of them based upon Aristotle's works on animals. Al-Jahiz, in his Kitab al-Hayawan divides animals according to how they move. There are, according to him, four classes of animals: those that walk, which include men, quadrupeds, beasts of prey, and insects; those that fly, which include wild birds, hunting birds, and gnats; those that swim; and those that crawl. The Ikhwan al-Safa give several types of classification. One type is similar to that of al-Jahiz, and divides animals into those living in the air like birds and insects; those living in the sea, like fish, crabs, frogs, and snails; those living on land like the quadrupeds; and those dwelling in the earth like worms.35 Another classification is according to the perfection of the senses, that is, the lowest animals having only the sense of touch; grubs and others having the senses of touch and taste; marine animals and certain land creatures occupying dark places having the senses of touch, taste, and smell; insects having all the senses except sight; and finally perfect animals having all the five senses.

Many Muslim authors have followed Aristotle in classifying animals ac­cording to the manner of their reproduction. We find a simplified version of it in the Rasa'il of the Ikhwan where animals are divided into three classes: those that are most complete, which conceive their young, suckle them, and foster them; those which do not perform such functions but leap at the female and lay eggs and hatch them; and those which do none of the above things and come into being in putrefaction. More elaborate classifications of the same type are found in the writings of ibn Sina, ibn Rushd, and many later com­mentators of the shifa which contain a detailed discussion of animals.

A rather general definition of animals including the jinn36 and men is given by Qazwini in his 'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat. He divides animals into seven classes. First, there is man who possesses a rational soul (nafs natiqah) and whose body is a miniature model of the universe, a microcosm, each part of which has a spiritual meaning and purpose. For example, he stands erect because of his spiritual aspiration to transcend physical existence, and his head is round because of the perfection of the spherical figure. The second type is of the jinn who are composed of fire and appear in many forms. As Qazwini writes, God created angels from the light of fire, jinn from its blaze, and devils from its smoke. The jinn occupied the earth before the coming of man, that is, the fall of Adam, and had their own religion and prophets; but because of corruption God sent angels to purify the earth, and they were dispersed to remote islands. Satan or Iblis is himself from this species of animals.37

After the jinn come the beasts of burden like the horse, then cattle like cows, then wild beasts, then birds, and finally insects and reptiles. Qazwini has further a section on “strange” animals which are primarily mythological and symbolical and finally a chapter on angels, their forms, functions, and colour.38

In the description of animals, there is no book in Muslim writings that is as complete as Damiri's Haydt al-Hayawan in which he is concerned with the traits, instincts, and psychology of animals and their use, medical and spiritual, for man. Following ibn al-Baitar, by whom he was influenced, he classifies animals alphabetically and then gives their description drawing on Aristotle, the natural historians, theologians, esoteric writers like Shams al- Din al-Bfmi, Arabic poetry, and the Qur'an and the Hadith. In his description he often refers to the symbolic character of animals, like the royal quality of the lion, and, as is characteristic of similar descriptive works of natural history, intertwines the spiritual as well as the physical study of nature.39

In discussing the classification and morphology of plants and animals a comparison may be made between the traditional concept of gradation and the modern notion of evolution. There is no doubt that many Muslim authors like Biruni and the Ikhwan were quite aware of the meaning of fossils and of the fact that during other periods of the history of the earth flora and fauna of a different kind existed on the earth. Moreover, the idea of the gradation of Being or the passage of the One Spirit through all the realms of nature has been expressed by many philosophers and Sufis.40

Some thinkers, especially the Masha'i philosophers, envisage, like Aristotle, the gradation of fixed spheres, while the Ishraqi philosophers connect, like Plato, this gradation of spheres with the conception of archetype belonging to the transcendent “world of ideas.” There is yet another school of thinkers (al-Jahiz, the Ikhwan al-Safa, ibn Miskawaih, Jalal al-Din Rumi, etc.), what­ever their persuasion otherwise, who believe in the continuous self-develop­ment of Being from stage to stage-a position nearest to the present-day theory of evolution.

The tradition of Muslim natural history upon which we have touched briefly has had a past going back to the first Islamic century. During this long history it absorbed much of the Greek and certain of the Indian and Persian sciences and created a science which was in every way superior to what had preceded it, except the biological studies by Aristotle. This tradition was to develop as a properly Muslim science, that is, one based upon the particular genius of the Islamic perspective which is centred upon unity. This tradition is manifest in Muslim natural history in many ways, for example in the vision of the unity of nature and interrelation of all things, which Muslim natural historians asserted so often in affirming the presence of the signs of God in nature and in the study of plants and animals for the purpose of seeing divine wisdom therein.

This tradition, especially that part of it which preceded the seventh/thir­teenth century, was to have a profound influence on Latin Christianity and on the formation of the science of natural history in medieval times. It is well known how much seventh/thirteenth-century authors like Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were indebted to it and how even during the Re­naissance men like Paracelsus and Agrippa were constrained to draw largely on Muslim sources. In the Orient, this tradition has continued until the present century although in a much weakened form after the ninth/fifteenth century. Scholars in India and Persia as well as those in the Maghrib have continued to study nature as the unified handiwork of God in order to discover His wisdom, to see “His sign upon the horizon” as the Qur'an states, and to learn spiritual lessons from it. Only in following this spirit has this tradition of natural history been able to be an integral aspect of Muslim learning and remain in harmony and conformity with the spiritual and intellectual perspective of Islam.

Bibliography

E. G. Browne, Arabian Medicine, Cambridge, 1921; D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine, 2 Vols, Kegan Paul, London, 1926; B. Carra de Vaux, Les penseurs de l'lalam, 5 Vole., P. Geuthner, Paris, 1921-27; Fr. Dieterici, Die Naturschauung and Naturphilosophie der Araber im zehnten Jahrhundert aus den Schriten der Lautern Brider, Verlag der Nicolai'schen, Berlin, 1861; H. Eth6, Die Wunder der Sch6pfung, Leipzig, 1868; ibn al-Qifti, Tarikh al-Hukamd', ed. A. Miller and J. Lippert, Leipzig, 1903; ibn Qutaibah, The Natural History Section from a 9th Century “Book of Useful Knowledge”: The 'Uyun al-Akhbar of ibn Qutaibah, tr. L. Kopf, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1959; ibn Sins, Kitdb al-Lhi/a' (Tabtiyat), lithograph edition, Teheran, 1882; A Treatise on the Canon of Medicine, Incorporating a Translation of the First Book by O. C. Grunner, Luzac and Co., London, 1930; Ikhwan al-Safa, Dispute between Man and the Animals, tr. J. Platts, W. H. Allen & Co., London, 1869; Raea'il, 4 Vole., Cairo, 1928; A. 'Isa Bay, Tarikh al-Nabat 'ind al-'Arab, Cairo, 1944; P. Kraus, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, 2 Vols., Imprimerie de l'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, 1942-43; L. Leclere, Histoire de la Medicine arabe, Paris, 1876; Traitls des simples par ibn al-Beithar, Notices et Extraite, Vols. XXIII, XXV and XXVI, 1877 and 1883; B. Lewin, The Book of Plants of Abu Hanifah al-Dinawari, A. B. Lundeguistska Bokhandeln, Upsala, 1953; Mas'iidi, Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, tr. Sprenger, W. H. Allen & Co., London, 1841; A. F. Mehren, Manuel de la cos­mographie du moyen-dge, Copenhagen, 1874; Geschichte der Botanik, Verlag der Gebruder Bombtrager, Konigsberg, 1856; A. Mieli, La science arabe et son role Bans l'evolution scientifique mondiale, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1939; A. Mingana, Ency­clopaedia o f Philosophical Sciences as Taught in Baghddd in c. 817 A. D., or Book o f Treasures of Job of Edesaa, Cambridge, 1935; Mustaufi Qazwini, Nuzhat al-Qulub, Shirazi, Bombay, 1311/1893; E. Nordenskiold, History of Biology, Kegan Paul, New York, 1946; A. Qazw1ni, Cosmographie, ed. F. Wustenfeld, Gottingen, 1848-49; G. Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, 3 Vole., Baltimore, 1927-48; E. Wiedemann, “Beitrage zur Geschichte der Naturwissensehaften,” Sitzungsbe­ richte d. phys. w. med. Soc., Erlangen, 1904-29.

Notes

1. By cosmological sciences we mean all sciences dealing with the cosmos, includ­ing the natural sciences. The traditional sciences should, properly speaking, be divided into the metaphysical, dealing with God and supracosmic realities, and the cosmological, dealing with beings in the cosmos. See T. Burckhardt, “Nature de la perspective cosmologique,” Etudies Traditionelles, Vol. XLIX,1948 , pp. 216-19.

2. See Seyyed Hossein Nasr, introduction to the section on “Muslim Sciences” in the Mentor Foundations of Scientific Thought. Vol. II, Signet Books, New York, (in press). In his famous 'Aja'ib al-Makhlugat (The Wonders of Creation), abu Yahya Zakariya al-Qazwini writes that the presence of divine wisdom in every atom of the universe and in all forms of multiplicity is itself a proof of divine unity, and quotes the famous verse “un g kull-i s_hai'in lahu ayatun ta`dullu 'ala annahu wahidun” (that His sign exists in all things is a proof of His unity).

3. But in this chapter we are concerned only with botany and zoology.

4. The medieval Christian scientists had a similar aim in view when they sought to observe the vestigio dei in nature.

5. Our argument does not seek to make knowledge subservient to action. Know­ledge is always superior to action in the Islamic perspective as is indicated by such sayings of the Prophet as “One hour of meditation is better than a thousand works of charity,” or “The ink of the scholar is more valuable than the blood of the one who fights the Holy War.” What we wish to show is that in Islam a mental activity for its own sake, divorced from the spiritual and religious needs of man on the one hand and from his social needs on the other, has never been encouraged.

6. Many medieval authors, especially certain alchemists, were quite aware of animal and plant symbolism and were conscious of what they were writing.

7. It is difficult for many to conceive of the possibility that nature and its laws may not have always been the same, but there is no logical or scientific reason to prove that they have been uniform. In fact, this uniformity is one of the assumptions upon which the historical aspects of modern science are based. On the other hand, sacred texts and metaphysical doctrines point to the “cyclic” change both in nature and in man's psychic and mental structure. R. Guenon, The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, Luzac & Co., London,1953 , and F. Schuon, Les Stations de la Sagesse, La Barque du Soleil, Paris,1958 , pp. 119ff.

8. For general information regarding these and other authors whose names are to follow, see G. Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, Vols. I to III, Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore,1927 -48; A. Mieh, La science arabe et son role dons l'evolution scientifique mondiale, E. J. Brill, Leiden,1939 ; B. Carra de Vaux, Les penseurs de l'Islam, Librarie Paul Geutbner, Paris,1921 -27, Vols. II and IV. Among the texts mentioned above, the Muruj al-Dkahab (Prairies of Gold) translated into English by Sprenger, W. H. Allen Co., London,1841 , especially offers useful material on the historical and geographical framework of natural history.

9. Muslim natural historians not only divided the earth into several climates, each with its own flora and fauna in conformity with its particular terrestrial con - dition, but further assigned each climate to a particular planet which acted as the archetype and “guardian angel” for that particular climate. For an example of this astrological theory, see the Rasa'il of the Ikhwan al-Safa, Cairo,1928 , I, pp. 116ff. and P. Duhem, Le systeme de monde, Vol. 11, A. Hermann et fils, Paris,1914 , pp. 267ff.

10. Regarding the internal constitution of animals, perhaps no book is so masterly and complete as ibn Sind's Qanun. See the introduction to ibn Sins, A Treatise on the Canon of Medicine, Incorporating a Translation of the First Book, by 0. C. Groner, Luzac & Co., London,1930 ; also ibn Sina, Poeme de la medicine-Urgdza f't-tibb, Societe d'edition “les Belles Letters,” Paris,1956 .

11. See S. Mahdihassan, “Chemistry, a Product of Chinese Culture,” Pakistan Journal of Science,1957 , Vol. IX, No. 1; also his “Alchemy, in Its Proper Setting, with Jinn, Sufi and Suffa, as Loan-words from the Chinese,” Igbal,1959 , Vol. VII, No. 3.

12. See P. Kraus, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, 2 Vols., Imprimerie de l'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, Cairo,1942 -43.

13. A. Mingana, Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences as Taught in Baghdad in c. 817 A. D. or Book of Treasures of Job of Edema, Cambridge,1935 .

14. An interesting section of the Rasa'il dealing with the discussion between man and animals has been translated into English as Dispute between than and the Animnals, by J. Platts, V. H. Allen Co, London,1869 .

15. See J. Stephenson, “The Zoological Section of the Nuzhat al-Qulub,” Isis,1928 , Vol. NI, pp. 285-316.

16. This famous book of tales about the animals is the Sanskrit Panchatantra translated into Pahlawi and later into Arabic by ibn Muqaffa'. Various versions of it in Arabic and Persian like Anwar-i Suhaili of Husain Wa'iz Kashifi have remained very popular throughont the centuries.

17. This genre of writing has continued to recent times. A work called Insan ua Haiwan (Men and Animals) by Haji Mulls Isma'il Sabziwhri written during the last century, treating of the moral and spiritual qualities of animals, is still widely used by Persian preachers in their sermons.

18. By “exclusive” we do not mean so strict a limitation of the subject as is found in a modern text-book on botany or zoology. Muslim sciences have been too closely united to permit a complete separation of one subject from another so that in nearly every book dealing with plants and animals there are references to other sciences as well as to philosophy and theology.

19. Ibn Khaldum in referring to this book writes that “people learned the sciences of sorcery from the work and developed its manifold branches” (Muqaddimah, tr. F. Rosenthal, Pantheon, New York,1958 , Vol. III, p. 156). Many Western historians have refused to believe that ibn Wahshiyyah could know anything about the Babylonian civilization and therefore consider his claim to be a forgery.

20. M. Hamidullah, “Dinawari's Encyclopaedia Botanica (Kitab al-Nabat) in the Light of Fragments in Turkish Libraries,” Melange F. Koprulu, pp. 195-200. See also B. Lewin, The Book of Plants of Abu Hannah al-Dinawari, A. B. Lunde­guistska Bokhandeln, Upsala,1953 , introduction, in which is discussed the influence of this early work on the later Muslim botanists.

21. This sixth/twelfth-century Maghribi botanist lies given some of the most detailed descriptions of plants found anywhere in Muslim botanical literature.

22. His two most important books are the Kitab al-Jami' ft al-Adwiyat al-Mufradah (The Complete Book of Simple Drugs), dealing with the classification of plants, and Kitab al-Mughni fi al-Adwiyat al-Mufradah (The Sufficient Book of Simple Drugs), dealing with the medical properties of plants.

23. These are not elements in the modern sense but rather the principles. They are to the sensible substances of nature what the geometric points and lines are to points and lines actually drawn on a piece of paper.

24. The union of the soul, which in Muslim cosmology lies above the cosmic spheres, with a certain combination of the elements in the sublunary region is also considered to be ad extra and not as in a compound. As the combination of elements attains more harmony and greater equilibrium, it becomes purer so that the combination naturally attracts the soul to itself. In the minerals the elements are not as perfectly balanced as in animals so that they attract a lower soul unto themselves.

25. Although minerals have been considered by many Muslim authors to be trans. mutable into one another, plants and animals have been considered to be unchangeable. Each plant, according to the Ikhwan al-Safe, for example, has a chyme (kaimii8) formed from a particular combination of elements which always reproduces the same plant as each animal has a sperm which propagates the same species.

26. “Although plants are obvious and visible creations, the causes of their exist­ence are hidden and veiled from the perception of man. It is what the philosophers call 'natural forces; what the Lari'ah calls 'the angels and troops of Allah appointed for the nurturing of plants, the generation of animals and the composition of minerals,' and what we call 'partial spirits.”' Ikhwan al-Safe, Rasa'il, II, p. 130; also R. Levy, The Social Structure of Islam, Cambridge,1957 , p. 490.

27. We are following here the teaching of the Ikhwan, but these views are shared by most Muslim authors writing on this subject.

28. The Ikhwan have a most interesting section in their Rasa'il in which the animals dispute with man over his right to use them for his own ends. They refute all of man's claims of superiority by demonstrating their own spiritual and bodily qualities and virtues. It is only by realizing that there are among men a few sages and saints who in their spiritual realization fulfil the purpose of the whole of crea­tion that animals finally agree to submit to man. See the Dispute between Man and the Animals

29. The most thorough discussion of the vegetative and animal souls appears in the sixth part of the Tabi`iyat of the Shila' of ibn Sina where he deals in detail with all the faculties of plants and animals and their functions. Cf. J. Bakos La psychologie d'Avicenne, Editions de l'Academia Tschechoslovaque des Sciences, Prague,1956 . Ibn Sina and also most other authors writing on the faculties of the vegetative and animal souls derived many of their ideas from the De Anima of Aristotle. The Ikhwan, however, enumerate the faculties somewhat differently: as attraction, fixation, digestion, repulsion, nutrition, formation, and growth.

30. For a summary of ibn Sind's views on the souls and their faculties, see E. Gilson, “Les sources greco-arabes de l'augustinisme avicennant,” Archives d'Histoire Doctrinale et Litteraire du Moyen Age, Vol. IV,1929 , pp. 5-149.

31. In general, the Muslims depended more upon the Greeks in the study of ani­mals than that of plants. Whereas Aristotle's works on animals were studied extensively, the botany of Theophrastus was nearly ignored. Muslim authors had already created a science of plants drawing their terminology mostly from the Qur'an and Arabic poetry before the first important Greek text on plants, that is, the famous work of Dioscorides, was translated into Arabic.

32. See the botanical section of the Nuzhat al-Qulub, irazi, Bombay,1311 /1893 , pp. 87 ff., where sixty-nine fruit-bearing trees and sixty-six fruitless ones are describ­ed in alphabetical order. Qazwini, like many other Muslim natural historians, gives not only the description of a tree, the quality of its fruit and its wood and the location where it is found, but also its medical uses, its nature, that is, whether hot or cold, dry or moist, and its appearance in literature and sacred books. As for seed­ bearing plants, Qazwini follows a similar procedure, describing altogether 280 kinds, each class arranged alphabetically.

33. The famous scientist and compiler, Biruni gives a good example of this astrological correspondence. He writes: “The various organs of a plant are distri­buted to different planets. Thus the stem of a tree is appropriated to the Sun; the roots to Saturn, the thorns, twigs, and barks to Mars; the flowers to Venus; the fruit to Jupiter; the leaves to the Moon; and the seed to Mercury” (Elements of Astrology, tr. R. Ramsay Wright, Luzac & Co., London,1934 , p. 236).

The correspondence between plants or animals and the planets is not to show astral “influences” as is done in contemporary astrology which is only a residue of the real subject known by the same name in medieval times. It is to show rather that the physical world is a symbol of the intelligible world, that there is an analogy between the archetypes symbolized by the planets and their earthly shadows which are the physical forms.

34. This is a schematization of ideas presented in ibn Sina's medical poem as well as in the Qanun to which we have already referred. Pathology based on the doctrine of humours is a heritage from the Hippocratic tradition of medicine as systematized by Galen.

35. Mustaufi Qazwini in the Nuzhat al-Qulub follows a somewhat similar pro­cedure dividing animals into those living on land, in sea, and in air, and sub­dividing each of the classes according to its more specific features

36. They may be said to symbolize psychic forces.

37. A similar account is to be found in the Rasa'il of the Ikhwan

38. We see in Qazwini's writings a good example of the blending of the natural and supernatural order to which we have already referred. His description of the colours and forms of animals and angels served as an inspiration for later Persian miniaturists

39. Damiri also interrupts his discussion of animals at several places in order to write about Islamic history, prayers based on the divine names, the science of jafar (symbolism of letters), and other subjects.

40. A beautiful expression of this doctrine appears in the Mathnawi of Maulana Jalal al-Din Rami. See Book IV, verses3637 to3647 of the text of Mathnawi ed. R. A. Nicholson, E. J. Brill, Leiden,1929 .

Dedication

To him who has given a new life and knowledge to generations.

To the renewer of the intellectual renaissance in Islam.

To Imam Abu 'Abd Allah, Ja'far al-Sadiq, Peace be on him.

With both my hands I raise this humble effort with which I have been honored through writing a research on the life of his son Imam Musa; his testamentary trustee and his only successor in (taking) part in his ordeal and affliction, hostage to prisons, ally of pain, like of the Messiah, Isa b. Mariyam, in devotion, piety, and asceticism. So, be bounteous to me, great Imam, through accepting (this research) that it may be a store for me on the day of Coming to Allah.

The Author

INTRODUCTION

(1)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

If a researcher reviews any side of the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him, he will surely find a generous, brilliant legacy full of good and beauty, having bountiful giving and a brilliant guidance for the community.

Surely Imam Musa’s life in all dimensions is distinguished by firmness for the right, steadfastness in front of events, luminous behavior concerning which no deviation and crookedness have been reported. It is marked by balance and is harmonious with that of the great Prophet, with his line and direction, and with his literal sticking to Islam.

Among the unique aspects that marked his personality is the steadfastness in front of the difficult events and the hard ordeals showered upon him by his contemporary tyrants, who went too far in persecuting him and punishing him severely. (For example), Harun al-Rashid insisted on wronging him; he intentionally arrested him and threw him in dark prisons where he remained for many years suffering from pain and misfortunes; nevertheless he showed no grumble, no complain, and no impatience toward that which had befallen him; on the contrary he showed gratitude to Allah and praised Him very much for giving him devotion to serve Him and giving him dedication to obey Him.

The biographers have unanimously agreed that Imam Musa was the greatest of the people in obeying and worshiping Allah to the extent that he had calluses like that of a camel because of too much prostration (for Allah); he had calluses just as his grandfather, Imam Zayn al-Abidin had and had been given the nickname of Dhu al-Thafanat (the one with calluses). He stunned the intellects through his too much worship when he was a prisoner. He fasted by day and spent the night sleeplessly for worshiping Allah, so al-Fedl b. al-Rabi‘ made a statement about the worship of the Imam, peace be on him, when he was a prisoner in his house. This shows that the Imam freed himself from the world and devoted himself to Allah. We will mention this statement when we speak about the imprisonment of the Imam.

Harun was astonished at the Imam’s too much piety and worship. He showed his astonishment when he said: “Surely, Musa is one of the monks of the Hashimites.”

When Imam Musa was imprisoned in al-Sindi’s house, he dedicated himself to worshiping Allah; he was always busy remembering Him, the Exalted. Al-Sindi’s family looked down upon the Imam and saw his behavior which was similar to that of the Prophet’s, so al-Sindi’s sister believed in the Imamate, and as a result of the Imam’s behavior, Kashajim, al-Sindi’s grandson, became one of the eminent Shi‘ites of his time.

Surely, this behavior dominates hearts and feelings, for it is full of the meanings of highness, nobility, renouncing the world, and devotion to Allah.

Yet among the qualities of the Imam’s noble personality is generosity. The historians have unanimously agreed that he was the most generous of the people, the greatest of them in giving to the needy; his purses were proverbial, so the people said: “We wonder at him to whom Musa’s purses come while he complains of poverty.” He bestowed upon the poor and the deprived in the dark night lest someone should recognize him; he generously spent what he had on the weak and the afflicted; he showered them with too much giving; and he saved many of them from the bitterness of poverty and deprivation.

The narrators have unanimously agreed that Imam Musa, peace be on him, had immense abilities of knowledge; he was the most knowledgeable of the Muslims of his time. The (religious) scholars and the reporters surrounded him; they hurried to write down his religious edicts concerning all mishaps and events; they reported on his authority all kinds of knowledge and art, especially as concerning Islamic legislative system; he provided them with his own generous abilities. In this respect he is regarded as the first of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt to split open the chapter of the lawful and the forbidden[1] .

After his father Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, Imam Musa, peace be on him, managed the affairs of his science university. The university is regarded as the first cultural foundation in Islam and the first institute from which a group of great scholars on whose top were the Imams of the Islamic school graduated. It played an important role in developing the intellectual life and growing the scientific movement in that time. It lasted for many times conveying the sprit, guidance and message of Islam. It aimed at spreading awareness and an intellectual renaissance. We will talk about its results in the chapters that follow.

Imam Musa was the most brilliant of the Imams of the Muslims in knowledge, taking care of spreading the Islamic culture and displaying the Islamic reality.

In addition to his many unique tendencies is his clemency and his restraint of anger; clemency was among his qualities and elements. The historians have unanimously agreed that he repelled offence with kindness and guilt with pardon just as his grandfather the great Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, had done. He repelled offence, harm, and detested things issued from those who had harbored malice against him with patience and beautiful forgiveness, to the extent that he was nicknamed al-Kazim (the restrained); this nickname is the most famous of all his nicknames.

If we review the Imam’s unique tendencies and abilities and what has been reported on his authority in the fields of behavior and morals, we will find him full of all the elements of humanity and its constructive, good concepts. I (the author) hope that this book will include some sides of the Imam’s brilliant tendencies or at least shed light upon him.

(2)

The Shi‘a do not sanctify the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, with sanctification void of deep awareness; rather with sanctification really and essentially depends in all dimensions on accuracy, scrutiny, and perception according to their reliable proofs that are far from argument and discussion. Surely the faith of the Shi‘a, rather of all the Muslims, concerning the requirement of showing love toward Ahl al-Bayt is taken from the reality and essence of Islam and from the core of it’s message. For Islam has made it incumbent on all Muslims to have in their souls and inner souls the deepest affection and the sincerest love. This has been shown in Ayat al-Mawada, in which Allah, the Exalted, says: “Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relative.”[2] The explainers of the Qur’an have unanimously agreed that this verse has been revealed concerning Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them[3] . Imam al-Shafi‘i refers to the meaning of the verse through his statement:

O Family of Allah’s Messenger, love for you is a religious duty revealed by Allah in the Qur’an.

Authentic hadiths on the requirement of the love for Ahl al-Bayt have been ensured by many lines of transmission. The Prophet said: “I fight him who fights them and make peace with him who makes peace them.” He compared them to the Holy Qur’an when he, may Allah bless him and his family, said: “I leave behind me among you two things which, if you cleave to them, you will never go astray, one is greater than the another-that is Allah’s Book which is a rope extended from the heaven to the earth, and my family, my household. They never scatter until they come to me at the (sacred) waters (of Heaven). Take care how you follow me with regard to them.”[4]

The Muslims have unanimously agreed on reporting Hadith al-Thaqalayn, which is the most authentic of the prophetic traditions and most famous of them. It contains one of the important sides of the Islamic faith. Besides it is the clearest of all the proofs on which the Shi‘ites depend regarding devoting the Imamate to Ahl al-Bayt and regarding their being protected from errors and inclinations. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, compared them to the Holy Qur’an, to which falsehood shall not come from before it nor from behind it; they do not leave each other. It is natural that any disobedience issued from (Ahl al-Bayt) in respect with the religious precepts was regarded as scatter from the Holy Qur’an, for the Messenger, may Allah bless him and his family had negated their leaving each other until they would come to him at the sacred waters (of the Heaven). Therefore, the meaning of the tradition about the infallibility of Ahl al-Bayt and the requirement of love for them is manifest and clear.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, repeated this tradition in other places, for it aims at saving the community and its straightness from deviation in the ideological fields and others. That is if it does not cleave to Ahl al-Bayt, does not go before them and does not stay behind them.[5]

He, may Allah bless him and his family said: “My household is like Noah’s Ark. Whoever embarked it was safe and whoever remained behind it drowned. My household among you is like the gate of forgiveness (Baab Hitta) among the children of Israel; whoever entered through it was forgiven.”[6] In his valuable book al-Muraja‘at, Imam Sharaf al-Din has said: “And you know that the meaning of their being like Noah’s Ark is that whoever resorts to the blessed Imams to take the fundamentals and branches of the religion from them is safe from the chastisement of the fire. Whoever remains behind them is like him who took refuge in the mountain on the Day of the Flood, that it might protect him from Allah’s punishment; yet that drowned into the water and this is in the fire; I seek refuge in Allah.

“The meaning of their compared to the Gate of Forgiveness (Baab Hitta) is that Allah appointed that gate as one of the aspects of humbleness before His magnificence and as a sign of submitting to His decree; in this manner it was a reason for forgiveness. This is the point of resemblance. Ibn Hajar tried it when he said: ‘After he had mentioned these traditions and the like.’

“And the point of their being compared to the Ark is that whoever loves and magnifies them as gratitude for the favor of Him Who has honored them and follows the guidance of their scholars is safe from the darkness of the acts of disobedience. Whoever remains behind them drowns in the see of the ingratitude for the favors and perishes in the deserts of tyranny. And as for the Gate of Forgiveness (Baab Hitta), it is that Allah had regarded entering that gate, the Gate of Ariha or Bayt al-Maqdis, along with humbleness and seeking forgiveness as a reason for forgiveness. And He has appointed for this community the love for Ahl al-Bayt as a reason for it (forgiveness).”[7]

These are some traditions in respect with Ahl al-Bayt. They are clear in their meaning about the requirement of the love for them. The Muslims have unanimously agreed on this matter. However, the thing that concerns us is that we should mention the aspects of this sincere love the Shi‘a have and which really has the mark of excessiveness and immoderation toward Ahl al-Bayt, just as their opponents have accused them while they are innocent of that. I (the author) think that the speech about such researches is one of the reasons for spreading friendship among Muslims and making peace among them. Meanwhile it removes from our way the evil enmities, the results of disunity and division the generations have left behind them.

Surely the aspects of the love the Shi‘a show toward the pure family (of the Prophet) are as follows:

Firstly, surely the Shi‘a take the fundamentals and branches of the principal features (ma’alim) of the religion from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt. They have unanimously agreed that the worship according to their sayings, their deeds, and their justificatives are part of the Sunna which should in kind be put into practice. In this manner the Shi‘a have built their ideological frame on what has been handed down from Ahl al-Bayt. In the legislative fields they do not follow other than them from among the rest of the Muslim schools. That is not because of the partiality or fanaticism for Ahl al-Bayt. Rather, this has been stipulated by the decisive traditions reported from the great Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. Among these hadiths is Hadith al-Thaqalayn and other authentic ones. The hadiths are ensured by many lines of transmission. The Muslims have unanimously agreed on them. The hadiths clearly indicate the requirement of cleaving to the pure family (of the Prophet). They also require the Muslims to worship according to what has been reported from them after dogmatization or regarded supposition regarding issuing them (the haditihs) from them. This meaning has fully been clarified, explained, and proved by His Eminence, the late, Sharaf al-Din, may Allah have mercy on him. He has said in his valuable book al-Muraja‘at: “Surely, our worship in the basics of jurisprudence (Usool) through other than al-Ash‘ari’s school and in branches through other than the four schools is not because of partiality, fanaticism, doubt about the independent reasoning (ijtihad) of the Imams of these schools. (And not because) the fact that they have no justice, no faithfulness, no honesty, and no exaltedness in knowledge and deed.

“But it is due to the fact that the religious proofs have made it incumbent on us to adopt the school of the Imams from among the Prophet’s household, (who were) the place of the message, frequently visited by the angels, place of descent of inspiration and revelation. So we have devoted ourselves to them in the branches and beliefs of the religion, the principles and rules of jurisprudence, the knowledge of the Sunna and the Book, the sciences of ethics and behavior and good manners. (That is out of) yielding to the rule of the evidences and proofs, and (due to) worshiping according to the Master of the prophets and the messengers, may Allah bless them all.

“If the proofs allow us to oppose the Imams from among Mohammed’s family or if we are able to obtain the intention of seeking nearness to Allah, the Glorified, in the place of performing (worship) according to the school of other than them, we will follow the majority (jamhur). For that is as a sign of confirming the agreement of friendship and of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood. However it is the proofs that interrupts the believer’s viewpoint and come between him and what he desires.”

And he added: “I do not think that someone dare to say that they (the Imams of the schools) are better in knowledge or deed than our Imams. For our Imams belong to the pure family (of the Prophet). They are the life ships of the community, the gate for its forgiveness, security for it from difference in religion, eminent men for guiding it, the important men of Allah’s Apostle, and his survival ones among his community. And he (the Prophet), may Allah bless him and his family, had said: ‘Do not go before them nor remain behind them, lest you should be perished, for they are more knowledgeable than you.’ However, it is policy, and what will make you realize what it required in the early stage of Islam!’’[8]

The head of al-Azhar, Shaykh Saleem, has confirmed this brilliant side of Imam Sharaf al-Din’s speech. He has said: “Rather, it may be said that your twelve Imams are better to be followed than the four Imams and other than them. For all the twelve (Imams) are in agreement on one school they had clarified and confirmed while the difference in all the chapters of the jurisprudence of the four (schools) is famous. So its sources cannot be understood and set right; and it is well-known that what one person clarifies is not exactly equal to what twelve Imams clarify, all this is of (the things) concerning which the just has no pause and the unjust has no viewpoint.”[9]

Shaykh Shaltut, head of al-Azhar Mosque, has confirmed this aspect. He has declared that the Imami jurisprudence is the firmest of all Islamic jurisprudence in original thought, deep reasoning, and closeness to reality.

It is natural that this aspect to which the Shi‘a have cleaved and declared in all fields has no side of immoderation; yet it is distinguished by moderation and has no deviation in all dimensions.

Secondly, the Shi‘ites have unanimously agreed that the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, are from among the honored servants of Allah, that they say nothing before Him and act according to His commands, and that they are the followers of the Reminder. They maintain that their Imams were charged with authority, Allah’s residue, His choice, His party and containers of His knowledge, that they are the rulers over mankind, pillars of the country, gates of faith. They think that Allah preserved them from temptations, purified them from defilement, kept away the uncleanness from them, and thoroughly purified them. Imam ‘Ali, the commander of the faithful has described them in his statement: “They are the life of knowledge and death of ignorance; their clemency tells you of their knowledge; their outward (tells) you of their inward, and their silence (tells you) of their wise reason; they do not oppose the truth nor do they differ over it; they are the supporters of Islam, intimate friends for seeking refuge; through them the truth has returned to its origin, the falsehood has been removed from its place and its tongue has been cut off from its source; they have comprehended the religion with the mind of awareness and care, not with the mind of hearing and narration, for the narrators of knowledge are many (while) those who take care of it are few.”[10]

The great poet of Islam, al-Kumayt, has described them in one of his wonderful poems, saying:

They are close to generosity and far from the injustice in the ties of the precepts.

They give right answer on the matter over which the people differ. They have established the rules of Islam.

They are sufficient protectors at war when it becomes hot.

They are like rain when the people suffer from drought; they are like a shelter for the nursemaid of orphans.

They are overweighing in opinion, having perfect justice in behavior, and knowledgeable at heavy affairs.

They are leaders, but they are not like those who rule the people and the sheep in the same way.[11]

These are some qualities of Ahl al-Bayt described by the poet of faith, al-Kumayt. It is worth mentioning that al-Kumayt was a contemporary of them. He associated with them, tried their ethics, so he believed in them, Allah’s peace be on them, as a copy having no second in the history of mankind in knowledge, generosity, and taking care of the religion. He hurried to struggle for them, composing on them his poems called al-Hashimiyat, which give an account of a great side of the Shi’ite beliefs giving proofs of them, sometimes through verses of the Holy Qur’an and sometimes through the Prophet’s traditions (sunna).

Any way, the Imami Shi‘a renounce immoderation concerning their Imams and they have unanimously agreed that the excessive are deviated and rebels against the religion.

Surely the reality of excessiveness means raising the Imam to the rank of Allah, the Worshiped. The excessive said to Imam ‘Ali, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him: “You are! You are!”

“What am I,” he asked them.

“You are Allah, the Creator,” they answered.

He asked them to repent, but they did not withdraw from their error, so he intended to burn some of them. While they were driven to the fire, they said: “Surely, he is Allah! It is He who chastises with fire!”[12] This is the thinking of the excessive: atheism in the religion, rebellion against worshiping Allah, and apostasy from Islam. As for the attitude of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt toward them, it was severe and violent. They decided that the excessive had to be killed, that it was forbidden for the Muslims to associate with them, and that they had to be isolated from Muslim masses. Imam Musa, peace be on him, cursed Muhammed b. Bashir when he was excessive in respect with him. He invoked Allah against him and renounced him.[13]

Surely, the belief of the Shi‘a concerning the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt has been taken from the spirit and core of Islam, and it has, praise belongs to Allah, has no excessiveness nor deviation from wise thinking, but it is clear and pure; besides it is distinguished by originality, logic, and proof.

Thirdly, surely the most prominent aspect of worshipping the Shi’a show toward their Imams is that they commemorate their remembrance and praise their outstanding merits. They hold commemorative ceremonies to mention the heavy misfortunes and calamities that had befallen their Imams. They review their behavior and their ideals full of fear of Allah, love for good, general deeds, devotion to the way of truth and service of the community. The Shi‘a also visit their pure shrines in order to ask the blessing of them and to seek nearness to Allah through them, for such visitations are the greatest of all kind of aspects of love Allah has made incumbent on Muslims to show toward the Prophet’s family.

These are some aspects of the friendship the Shi‘a show toward the Imams, peace be on them; such friendship has neither defect of excessiveness nor immoderation in love for them; according to this moderate love, we will talk about Imam Musa, peace be on him, with faithfulness and sincerity. In this respect I am (the author) a researcher loyal to truth through every possible way.

(3)

The thing that requires a question is that we find no Imam from among the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt could peacefully and tranquilly live and was far from fear, terror, and exhaustion. All the Imams suffered from the severest kind of wrong, injustice, and persecution; their sorrowful end was either killing or poison. Perhaps, the most important reasons for that, as we think, are as follows:

According to their social rank and their general authority over the community, the Imams, peace be on them, were responsible for taking care of the community, keeping its rights, and securing its interests. They did not confirm the surfeit of the oppressive and the hunger of the oppressed. They criticized the rulers of their times for their policy. It is worth mentioning that the rulers paid no attention to good, general acts. They depended on selfishness, enslavement, and forcing the people to do what they had disliked. Many of those rulers such as Muawiya b. Abu Sufyan, Yazid b. Muawiya, Merwan b. al-Hakam, and the like were not earnest in the affairs of the subjects or were loyal to their matters or looked after their interests. Rather it has been reported that they were serious in spreading social oppression and showing injustice toward their subjects, that they devoted themselves to pleasures and impudence; for example, their palaces were full of a sector of singers, songstresses, and wine. They did not remember Allah and the hereafter though they claimed that they represented Islam, which entrusted them with undertaking the affairs of the religion. However, they did not represent it at any way, for their behavior was contrary to all its laws and precepts; that is according to the unanimous agreement of all the historians.

The attitude of the infallible Imams, peace be on them, toward the ruling tyrants of their times was distinguished by severity and strictness; toward them they did not incline to peace and silence; rather they declared resistance and opposition against them, and that is of two kinds:

1. Positive Resistance

Yazid b. Mu‘awiya, the tyrant of his time, made public unbelief and atheism. He rebelled against the will of the community. He decided to debase it, to enslave it, and to force it to do what it disliked. So Imam Husayn, peace be on him, chose this revolutionary way. He, peace be on him, was forced to declare the revolution. For he, peace be on him, came to know that his supporters were few in number, that his friends would desert him, that the swords and the spears would compete with each other to plunder his holy body. He stated that when he was in Holy Mecca, saying: “I am as longing for my ancestors as Ya’qub was longing for Yousif. The death I will meet is better for me; I can see the desert wolves cutting off me limbs between al-Nawawis and Karbala, filling their empty stomachs with my own flesh; their is no escape from the day has been written by the pen.”[14]

Imam al-Husayn told the people about what he would meet in Kerbela such as cutting off his limbs on its highland, his yearning for this brilliant fate through which his beliefs aiming at achieving social justice among people won a victory.

The Master of Martyrs, Imam al-Husayn, performed this great sacrifice to remove from the body of the community that error practiced by the Umayyad government. His holy martyrdom played an effective role in waking and enlightening the Muslim masses, for revolutionary operations were increased to the extent that they were able to overthrow the Umayyad government and remove all its traces from the Arab and Muslim world.

2. Negative Resistance

This sound way was chosen by some pure Imams because they knew that the positive resistance would be not useful for overcoming the events due to the standing political conditions which would certainly abort the revolution and damage the Islamic matter. Accordingly they declared the negative resistance of whose aspects were that it was forbidden to cooperate with the ruling machinery of government and to plead cases in its courts just as it has been written down by the Imami jurists in the book of judgment. This was a useful way with a great effect on achieving the sound objectives the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, wanted. This negative way was confirmed by Imam Musa, peace be on him during his talk with Saffwan al-Jammal; we will mention it in the chapters that follow.

This brilliant policy was followed by Mr. Ghandi during his liberating India, for he made it forbidden for the Indians to cooperate with the British Colonialism and to respond to it. This policy was wonderfully successful, for the colonists were forced to withdraw from India and to grant it a political independence.

Unfortunately, the ‘Alawid revolutionists from among the Hassanid and the like did not follow this moderate, constructive policy whose slogan the Imams, peace be on them raised. For they hoisted the flag of the revolution against the Umayyad and the Abbasid governments. Their revolution was unsuccessful because they did not carry it out according to some sound plans, so their revolution failed and brought about to them many problems and difficulties and made them lead a life full of immortal pain and misfortunes.

The ruling authorities were fully aware of this negative resistance on which the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, depended. For this reason they spread detectives among all the circles and they in detail informed them about what happened in they country. They reported to Harun al-Rashid the story of Saffwan al-Jammal when he intended to sell his camels he hired out to him during the season of the hajj responding to the advice of Imam Musa, peace be on him. So Harun sent for him and wanted to killed him, but he changed up his mind; any way, the then standing governments used all their organs to work against Ahl al-Bayt and used against them all the following ways:

1. They met them with increasingly violence and persecution. They went too far in abasing and wronging them to the extent we cannot describe because of its atrocity and bitterness. Concerning this Abu al-Ferajj al-Asfahani has singled out a book called “Maqatil al-Talibiyyin”, in which he has mentioned all kind of the hard ordeals and heavy punishments that included all the ‘Alawids.

2. They laid an economic siege to the ‘Alawids to undermine their power. For example, Harun al-Rashid intended to practice this policy against Imam Musa. When he traveled to Yethrib (Medina), he generously gave to the children of the Prophet’s companions except Imam Musa. He did not give him any thing suitable to his rank. So (his son) al-Ma’mun asked him about that and he answered: “Surely, his poverty is more loveable to me than his riches; if I gave him something of which he is worthy, he would mutiny against me.” He appointed observers and spies over the people who gave money to the Imam. This measure brought to him severe financial straits and troubles. Such was the policy of those rulers toward the infallible Imams. It was marked by imposing poverty on them; all the ‘Alawids suffered from abject poverty during the days of al-Mutawakil, who subjected to displeasure and vengeance all those who gave money to them; the Imams were so poor that they had nothing in their houses except one cloak. When one of them wanted to go out, he put on the cloak as a garment.[15] Al-Mutawakil intended to stop all their economic incomes.

3.They veiled them from the Islamic world, imposed severe observation and fearful pursuit on all those who cooperated with them. Of course, this led to the appearance of different tendencies among the Shi‘a, and the Imam of guidance had no room to unite the ranks of the Shi‘ites and to remove the ideological tendencies that took place among them.[16]

4. They went too far in practicing severity against the Shi‘a and poured upon them severe kind of painful torture. Imam al-Baqir spoke of the hard ordeals the Shi‘a faced during the days of the Umayyad government. He said: “Our Shi‘ites (followers) are killed everywhere. Their hands and their legs are cut off due to suspicion and accusation. Those who show love toward us and devote themselves to us are imprisoned; their money is plundered and their houses are demolished.”[17]

All the Umayyad and the ‘Abbasid governments employed their propaganda organs against the Shi‘a to the extent that the love for Ahl al-Bayt became shame and defect. The Shi’ite was regarded as unsuccessful and loser. Some Umayyads and ‘Abbasids decided that love for Ahl al-Bayt was an apostasy from the religion and rebellion against Islam. To all of this, the poet of the faith and struggle, al-Kumayt, refers:

They indicate with their hands to me and their statement is: verily this is unsuccessful, while the indicters are more unsuccessful (than me).

A sect has accused me of unbelief and a sect says that I am an evil-doer and guilty.

They criticize me for (my) love for you out of their deception and deviation; rather they mock (at me), while I wonder at them.

They say: “His inclination and opinion are Turabi; (such was) I called and nicknamed by them.”[18]

Any way, the authorities opposed the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, when they took severe measures against the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them. For the Prophet ordered the community to show love toward his family, to take care of them, and to honor them in all things.

The ruling authorities of those times thought that the Imams had no objectives in government except that they aimed at spreading justice and equality, applying the precepts of the Qur’an on the general, real life of the Muslims. However, this did not agree with their policies aiming at selfishness, enslavement, and spending the money in the public treasury on the dissolute and the mischievous. They harbored malice against all those who demanding social reform and justice.

In addition to all of that, many of those rulers harbored malice against the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt because the Muslims unanimously agreed on honoring, magnifying, and praising them and their merits. Al-Mansur was fully aware that Imam al-Sadiq was away from the political movements of his time, that he did not intend to assume a government or an authority, and that he prevented the ‘Alawids from declaring a revolution against him. Besides he came to know that the Imam had given him good news of his assuming the Caliphate. Nevertheless, he did not leave him to lead a life of tranquility and security that he might spread the knowledge of his grandfather among the Muslims. He brought him more than one time to his capital trying to assassinate him. There was no reason for that except having malice against him due to his great personality and rank among the Muslims. Yet another example of that is Harun al-Rashid. He knew that Imam Musa did not intend to dispute with him for his authority or to transgress against him. That is because the Imam had no forces on whom he depended to dispute with him and to revolt against him. Nevertheless, he severely punished him, threw him into dark prisons, put poison in food and gave it to him to eat in order to put an end to him. The reason for that is that he envied the Imam and had grudge against him because of his high rank among the Muslims.

(4)

The time of Imam Musa was full of heavy crises and events of which were the revolts marked by violence and shedding blood. The most important revolt was that which overthrew the Umayyad government, for the Muslim people enthusiastically hurried to declare a revolt against that government that spared no effort to debase them and to deprive them of all the life requirements.

The slogan of the revolt was the summons to al-Rida from among Mohammed’s family; the people responded to him, for their hearts were thirsty for him, and for Mohammed’s family were the first base of great objectives the Muslim society wanted, such as justice, freedom, and equality.

The masses supported this revolution to protect and preserve it, and to offer for it much more sacrifices. For they believed that there was no way for their dignity and protection from selfishness and persecutions except assuming government by the ‘Alawids, the rulers of justice, protectors of truth, the refuge for the oppressed and the persecuted.

None thought that the revolt implied the summons to the ‘Abbasids, for this family had no positive deed for serving the masses. They met no oppression or persecution from the Ummayad family. They were happy and tranquil because the authorities spent too much money on them, secured for them livelihood and wealth as well as they had no brilliant past; rather the history of some of them was full of perfidy and treason toward the community.

Any way the revolt deviated from its original plan and headed for conveying the government to the ‘Abbasids, who appointed Abu Muslim al-Khuresani as a general leader of the revolt and trusted him, but he went too far in shedding blood for no reason. So the historians have unanimously agreed that he was a sinful blood-shedder. They have maintained that he paid no attention to any crime he committed, regarded as easy destroying selves and souls, punished the innocent because of the guilty, punished those who came to him due to those who turned away from him, killed out of suspicion and accusation. They have said that he killed thousands of people. This indicates that he had no faith in Allah and the hereafter; nevertheless, the ‘Abbasids adopted all his terrorist plans; some sources show that it was the ‘Abbasid who entrusted him with that.

Any way, the ‘Abbasids undertook the government through shedding seas of blood and heaping up mountains of the bodies of the innocent. When they took the reins of government, they massacred the ummayyads and their followers, spread among them murder and severe punishment. As for Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, he did not confirm that; he asked the authorities to pardon and forgive them. This shows us the unique humanity of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them. For they did not incline to quenching their thirsty for revenge upon their enemies whatever their offences toward them were, for their custom was pardon, gentleness, and kindness to those who showed enmity toward them and wronged them.

Abu Salama, a head in the ‘Abbasid government and an active member in leading their revolution, tried to entrust the caliphate to the ‘Alawids. Whether this was as a deception and a trick of him or out of seriousness and loyalty, he sent messages to Yethrib (Medina) and his messenger handed one of his messages to Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, who ordered the message to be burnt in a fire was in front of him. The messenger demanded him of a reply and he said to him: “The answer is just as you have seen.” Then the messenger went to Dhu al-Nafs al-Zakiya and his brother handed to them the letters of Abu Salama; he found in them an urgent response to his request. Imam al-Sadiq advised them not to be deceived by that, for they would not assume the affair, but they did not take his advice and thought that it was as sign of envy of him toward them, as the narrators say. Shortly after that, the ‘Alawids declared their revolt against al-Mansur; the masses surrounded them; the jurists and the eminent Muslim thinkers confirmed their revolt, but it failed because the Abbasid forces were able to suppress it and put an end to it-this has fully been explained in this book.

When the ‘Alawids lost their revolt, their heads were carried on the tops of the spears and were displayed in all countries and cities just as was the condition during the days of the Umayyad government. Al-Mansur paid no attention to the bonds of the womb relationship between him and the ‘Alawids. For, after that, he spared no effort to kill and pursue them. In this respect, he excluded neither old men nor children; rather he included them all in a torture which cannot be described because it was very severe to the extent that the ‘Alawids wished that the Umayyad government would return though it was severe and torturing.

These severe measures taken be al-Mansur against the ‘Alawids left deep sadness in Imam al-Sadiq’s and his son, Imam Musa’s souls, for they saw al-Mansur severely punishing their cousins, while they had no way to support and save them from that in which they were.

Among the problems of which the time of Imam Musa was full of was the destructive intellectual movements such as unbelief and the like that aimed at putting an end to Islam and to demolish its supports. These movements extended to many Islamic countries and did their best to play with the philosophy of the Islamic ethics, to deny all the religions, to urge the people to perform the forbidden, to play with the general manners, and to corrupt the rest of the social regulations.

Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, and his son Imam Musa faced and resisted those beliefs and to refute them with scientific proofs.

In addition to these destructive beliefs there were other beliefs attacked the Islamic world in those times. The beliefs summoned their followers to disunite the social ties, to divide the Muslims, and to mislead the public opinion in many sides of their ideological life, so Imam Musa and his father Imam al-Sadiq undertook enlightening the Muslims and warning them against them. The book has objectively contains a speech about all of that.

(5)

In the fields of the social service, there is nothing more important than spreading the merits of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be of them, display their behavior and affairs, for they supply the society with the requirements of renaissance and progress. The Muslims are in need of a brilliant guidance arising from the message of Ahl al-Bayt aiming at self-denial, sacrifice in the way of Allah, and the movement toward the fruitful, constructive deeds.

Surely, the Muslims live in bitter conditions; they lead a life of discords and disorders. For the colonial forces have played with their own constituents, deprived them of their fates, strengthened among them all factors of weakness and corruption to the extent that they have led a life of abasement and disgrace. We believe that the Muslims cannot make any progress unless they follow the behavior and teachings of Ahl al-Bayt, for in every side of them there is a meeting of original, free awareness, ideals, and perfect belief in the rights of the community. Perhaps, we participate in the field of the social service through our research on the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him.

This book was published in 1378 A. H. and was out of print. Those who are concerned in such researches asked me to reprint it; I (the author) put their request before the great beneficent, al-Hajj Muhammed Jewad ‘Ajeena, the son of the notable Hajj, Muhammed Jewad Ajeena, and he responded to me, may Allah protect him. We thank him and may he be successful in printing the book. I ask Allah to grant him a success that he may give life to the remarkable deeds of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, and to give him much more reward. Surely He, the Exalted, is the Guardian of that and has power over it.

My brother, His Eminence, great Shaykh, Hadi al-Qarashi did me a favor through revising the chapters of the book; His Eminence also did me a favor through revising many books and benefited me in finding some information relating to the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him. After the serious research, I have found that some chapters of the book I have written are in need of re-writing and analyzing; also I have changed my mind concerning some researches of the book. The reader will find that this edition is different from the previous one because it contains an addition; moreover it is distinguished by the good printing of which al-Adab Press is famous.

In the end of the introduction, I hope that those who are concerned in these researches will do me a favor through criticizing and re-writing this work, that we may all be able to serve this community; surely He, the Exalted, has power over rightness and success.

Baqir Sharif al-Qarashi

Holy Najaf

Dhu al-Hijja 1st, 1389 A. H.

Notes

Dedication

To him who has given a new life and knowledge to generations.

To the renewer of the intellectual renaissance in Islam.

To Imam Abu 'Abd Allah, Ja'far al-Sadiq, Peace be on him.

With both my hands I raise this humble effort with which I have been honored through writing a research on the life of his son Imam Musa; his testamentary trustee and his only successor in (taking) part in his ordeal and affliction, hostage to prisons, ally of pain, like of the Messiah, Isa b. Mariyam, in devotion, piety, and asceticism. So, be bounteous to me, great Imam, through accepting (this research) that it may be a store for me on the day of Coming to Allah.

The Author

INTRODUCTION

(1)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

If a researcher reviews any side of the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him, he will surely find a generous, brilliant legacy full of good and beauty, having bountiful giving and a brilliant guidance for the community.

Surely Imam Musa’s life in all dimensions is distinguished by firmness for the right, steadfastness in front of events, luminous behavior concerning which no deviation and crookedness have been reported. It is marked by balance and is harmonious with that of the great Prophet, with his line and direction, and with his literal sticking to Islam.

Among the unique aspects that marked his personality is the steadfastness in front of the difficult events and the hard ordeals showered upon him by his contemporary tyrants, who went too far in persecuting him and punishing him severely. (For example), Harun al-Rashid insisted on wronging him; he intentionally arrested him and threw him in dark prisons where he remained for many years suffering from pain and misfortunes; nevertheless he showed no grumble, no complain, and no impatience toward that which had befallen him; on the contrary he showed gratitude to Allah and praised Him very much for giving him devotion to serve Him and giving him dedication to obey Him.

The biographers have unanimously agreed that Imam Musa was the greatest of the people in obeying and worshiping Allah to the extent that he had calluses like that of a camel because of too much prostration (for Allah); he had calluses just as his grandfather, Imam Zayn al-Abidin had and had been given the nickname of Dhu al-Thafanat (the one with calluses). He stunned the intellects through his too much worship when he was a prisoner. He fasted by day and spent the night sleeplessly for worshiping Allah, so al-Fedl b. al-Rabi‘ made a statement about the worship of the Imam, peace be on him, when he was a prisoner in his house. This shows that the Imam freed himself from the world and devoted himself to Allah. We will mention this statement when we speak about the imprisonment of the Imam.

Harun was astonished at the Imam’s too much piety and worship. He showed his astonishment when he said: “Surely, Musa is one of the monks of the Hashimites.”

When Imam Musa was imprisoned in al-Sindi’s house, he dedicated himself to worshiping Allah; he was always busy remembering Him, the Exalted. Al-Sindi’s family looked down upon the Imam and saw his behavior which was similar to that of the Prophet’s, so al-Sindi’s sister believed in the Imamate, and as a result of the Imam’s behavior, Kashajim, al-Sindi’s grandson, became one of the eminent Shi‘ites of his time.

Surely, this behavior dominates hearts and feelings, for it is full of the meanings of highness, nobility, renouncing the world, and devotion to Allah.

Yet among the qualities of the Imam’s noble personality is generosity. The historians have unanimously agreed that he was the most generous of the people, the greatest of them in giving to the needy; his purses were proverbial, so the people said: “We wonder at him to whom Musa’s purses come while he complains of poverty.” He bestowed upon the poor and the deprived in the dark night lest someone should recognize him; he generously spent what he had on the weak and the afflicted; he showered them with too much giving; and he saved many of them from the bitterness of poverty and deprivation.

The narrators have unanimously agreed that Imam Musa, peace be on him, had immense abilities of knowledge; he was the most knowledgeable of the Muslims of his time. The (religious) scholars and the reporters surrounded him; they hurried to write down his religious edicts concerning all mishaps and events; they reported on his authority all kinds of knowledge and art, especially as concerning Islamic legislative system; he provided them with his own generous abilities. In this respect he is regarded as the first of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt to split open the chapter of the lawful and the forbidden[1] .

After his father Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, Imam Musa, peace be on him, managed the affairs of his science university. The university is regarded as the first cultural foundation in Islam and the first institute from which a group of great scholars on whose top were the Imams of the Islamic school graduated. It played an important role in developing the intellectual life and growing the scientific movement in that time. It lasted for many times conveying the sprit, guidance and message of Islam. It aimed at spreading awareness and an intellectual renaissance. We will talk about its results in the chapters that follow.

Imam Musa was the most brilliant of the Imams of the Muslims in knowledge, taking care of spreading the Islamic culture and displaying the Islamic reality.

In addition to his many unique tendencies is his clemency and his restraint of anger; clemency was among his qualities and elements. The historians have unanimously agreed that he repelled offence with kindness and guilt with pardon just as his grandfather the great Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, had done. He repelled offence, harm, and detested things issued from those who had harbored malice against him with patience and beautiful forgiveness, to the extent that he was nicknamed al-Kazim (the restrained); this nickname is the most famous of all his nicknames.

If we review the Imam’s unique tendencies and abilities and what has been reported on his authority in the fields of behavior and morals, we will find him full of all the elements of humanity and its constructive, good concepts. I (the author) hope that this book will include some sides of the Imam’s brilliant tendencies or at least shed light upon him.

(2)

The Shi‘a do not sanctify the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, with sanctification void of deep awareness; rather with sanctification really and essentially depends in all dimensions on accuracy, scrutiny, and perception according to their reliable proofs that are far from argument and discussion. Surely the faith of the Shi‘a, rather of all the Muslims, concerning the requirement of showing love toward Ahl al-Bayt is taken from the reality and essence of Islam and from the core of it’s message. For Islam has made it incumbent on all Muslims to have in their souls and inner souls the deepest affection and the sincerest love. This has been shown in Ayat al-Mawada, in which Allah, the Exalted, says: “Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relative.”[2] The explainers of the Qur’an have unanimously agreed that this verse has been revealed concerning Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them[3] . Imam al-Shafi‘i refers to the meaning of the verse through his statement:

O Family of Allah’s Messenger, love for you is a religious duty revealed by Allah in the Qur’an.

Authentic hadiths on the requirement of the love for Ahl al-Bayt have been ensured by many lines of transmission. The Prophet said: “I fight him who fights them and make peace with him who makes peace them.” He compared them to the Holy Qur’an when he, may Allah bless him and his family, said: “I leave behind me among you two things which, if you cleave to them, you will never go astray, one is greater than the another-that is Allah’s Book which is a rope extended from the heaven to the earth, and my family, my household. They never scatter until they come to me at the (sacred) waters (of Heaven). Take care how you follow me with regard to them.”[4]

The Muslims have unanimously agreed on reporting Hadith al-Thaqalayn, which is the most authentic of the prophetic traditions and most famous of them. It contains one of the important sides of the Islamic faith. Besides it is the clearest of all the proofs on which the Shi‘ites depend regarding devoting the Imamate to Ahl al-Bayt and regarding their being protected from errors and inclinations. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, compared them to the Holy Qur’an, to which falsehood shall not come from before it nor from behind it; they do not leave each other. It is natural that any disobedience issued from (Ahl al-Bayt) in respect with the religious precepts was regarded as scatter from the Holy Qur’an, for the Messenger, may Allah bless him and his family had negated their leaving each other until they would come to him at the sacred waters (of the Heaven). Therefore, the meaning of the tradition about the infallibility of Ahl al-Bayt and the requirement of love for them is manifest and clear.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, repeated this tradition in other places, for it aims at saving the community and its straightness from deviation in the ideological fields and others. That is if it does not cleave to Ahl al-Bayt, does not go before them and does not stay behind them.[5]

He, may Allah bless him and his family said: “My household is like Noah’s Ark. Whoever embarked it was safe and whoever remained behind it drowned. My household among you is like the gate of forgiveness (Baab Hitta) among the children of Israel; whoever entered through it was forgiven.”[6] In his valuable book al-Muraja‘at, Imam Sharaf al-Din has said: “And you know that the meaning of their being like Noah’s Ark is that whoever resorts to the blessed Imams to take the fundamentals and branches of the religion from them is safe from the chastisement of the fire. Whoever remains behind them is like him who took refuge in the mountain on the Day of the Flood, that it might protect him from Allah’s punishment; yet that drowned into the water and this is in the fire; I seek refuge in Allah.

“The meaning of their compared to the Gate of Forgiveness (Baab Hitta) is that Allah appointed that gate as one of the aspects of humbleness before His magnificence and as a sign of submitting to His decree; in this manner it was a reason for forgiveness. This is the point of resemblance. Ibn Hajar tried it when he said: ‘After he had mentioned these traditions and the like.’

“And the point of their being compared to the Ark is that whoever loves and magnifies them as gratitude for the favor of Him Who has honored them and follows the guidance of their scholars is safe from the darkness of the acts of disobedience. Whoever remains behind them drowns in the see of the ingratitude for the favors and perishes in the deserts of tyranny. And as for the Gate of Forgiveness (Baab Hitta), it is that Allah had regarded entering that gate, the Gate of Ariha or Bayt al-Maqdis, along with humbleness and seeking forgiveness as a reason for forgiveness. And He has appointed for this community the love for Ahl al-Bayt as a reason for it (forgiveness).”[7]

These are some traditions in respect with Ahl al-Bayt. They are clear in their meaning about the requirement of the love for them. The Muslims have unanimously agreed on this matter. However, the thing that concerns us is that we should mention the aspects of this sincere love the Shi‘a have and which really has the mark of excessiveness and immoderation toward Ahl al-Bayt, just as their opponents have accused them while they are innocent of that. I (the author) think that the speech about such researches is one of the reasons for spreading friendship among Muslims and making peace among them. Meanwhile it removes from our way the evil enmities, the results of disunity and division the generations have left behind them.

Surely the aspects of the love the Shi‘a show toward the pure family (of the Prophet) are as follows:

Firstly, surely the Shi‘a take the fundamentals and branches of the principal features (ma’alim) of the religion from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt. They have unanimously agreed that the worship according to their sayings, their deeds, and their justificatives are part of the Sunna which should in kind be put into practice. In this manner the Shi‘a have built their ideological frame on what has been handed down from Ahl al-Bayt. In the legislative fields they do not follow other than them from among the rest of the Muslim schools. That is not because of the partiality or fanaticism for Ahl al-Bayt. Rather, this has been stipulated by the decisive traditions reported from the great Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. Among these hadiths is Hadith al-Thaqalayn and other authentic ones. The hadiths are ensured by many lines of transmission. The Muslims have unanimously agreed on them. The hadiths clearly indicate the requirement of cleaving to the pure family (of the Prophet). They also require the Muslims to worship according to what has been reported from them after dogmatization or regarded supposition regarding issuing them (the haditihs) from them. This meaning has fully been clarified, explained, and proved by His Eminence, the late, Sharaf al-Din, may Allah have mercy on him. He has said in his valuable book al-Muraja‘at: “Surely, our worship in the basics of jurisprudence (Usool) through other than al-Ash‘ari’s school and in branches through other than the four schools is not because of partiality, fanaticism, doubt about the independent reasoning (ijtihad) of the Imams of these schools. (And not because) the fact that they have no justice, no faithfulness, no honesty, and no exaltedness in knowledge and deed.

“But it is due to the fact that the religious proofs have made it incumbent on us to adopt the school of the Imams from among the Prophet’s household, (who were) the place of the message, frequently visited by the angels, place of descent of inspiration and revelation. So we have devoted ourselves to them in the branches and beliefs of the religion, the principles and rules of jurisprudence, the knowledge of the Sunna and the Book, the sciences of ethics and behavior and good manners. (That is out of) yielding to the rule of the evidences and proofs, and (due to) worshiping according to the Master of the prophets and the messengers, may Allah bless them all.

“If the proofs allow us to oppose the Imams from among Mohammed’s family or if we are able to obtain the intention of seeking nearness to Allah, the Glorified, in the place of performing (worship) according to the school of other than them, we will follow the majority (jamhur). For that is as a sign of confirming the agreement of friendship and of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood. However it is the proofs that interrupts the believer’s viewpoint and come between him and what he desires.”

And he added: “I do not think that someone dare to say that they (the Imams of the schools) are better in knowledge or deed than our Imams. For our Imams belong to the pure family (of the Prophet). They are the life ships of the community, the gate for its forgiveness, security for it from difference in religion, eminent men for guiding it, the important men of Allah’s Apostle, and his survival ones among his community. And he (the Prophet), may Allah bless him and his family, had said: ‘Do not go before them nor remain behind them, lest you should be perished, for they are more knowledgeable than you.’ However, it is policy, and what will make you realize what it required in the early stage of Islam!’’[8]

The head of al-Azhar, Shaykh Saleem, has confirmed this brilliant side of Imam Sharaf al-Din’s speech. He has said: “Rather, it may be said that your twelve Imams are better to be followed than the four Imams and other than them. For all the twelve (Imams) are in agreement on one school they had clarified and confirmed while the difference in all the chapters of the jurisprudence of the four (schools) is famous. So its sources cannot be understood and set right; and it is well-known that what one person clarifies is not exactly equal to what twelve Imams clarify, all this is of (the things) concerning which the just has no pause and the unjust has no viewpoint.”[9]

Shaykh Shaltut, head of al-Azhar Mosque, has confirmed this aspect. He has declared that the Imami jurisprudence is the firmest of all Islamic jurisprudence in original thought, deep reasoning, and closeness to reality.

It is natural that this aspect to which the Shi‘a have cleaved and declared in all fields has no side of immoderation; yet it is distinguished by moderation and has no deviation in all dimensions.

Secondly, the Shi‘ites have unanimously agreed that the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, are from among the honored servants of Allah, that they say nothing before Him and act according to His commands, and that they are the followers of the Reminder. They maintain that their Imams were charged with authority, Allah’s residue, His choice, His party and containers of His knowledge, that they are the rulers over mankind, pillars of the country, gates of faith. They think that Allah preserved them from temptations, purified them from defilement, kept away the uncleanness from them, and thoroughly purified them. Imam ‘Ali, the commander of the faithful has described them in his statement: “They are the life of knowledge and death of ignorance; their clemency tells you of their knowledge; their outward (tells) you of their inward, and their silence (tells you) of their wise reason; they do not oppose the truth nor do they differ over it; they are the supporters of Islam, intimate friends for seeking refuge; through them the truth has returned to its origin, the falsehood has been removed from its place and its tongue has been cut off from its source; they have comprehended the religion with the mind of awareness and care, not with the mind of hearing and narration, for the narrators of knowledge are many (while) those who take care of it are few.”[10]

The great poet of Islam, al-Kumayt, has described them in one of his wonderful poems, saying:

They are close to generosity and far from the injustice in the ties of the precepts.

They give right answer on the matter over which the people differ. They have established the rules of Islam.

They are sufficient protectors at war when it becomes hot.

They are like rain when the people suffer from drought; they are like a shelter for the nursemaid of orphans.

They are overweighing in opinion, having perfect justice in behavior, and knowledgeable at heavy affairs.

They are leaders, but they are not like those who rule the people and the sheep in the same way.[11]

These are some qualities of Ahl al-Bayt described by the poet of faith, al-Kumayt. It is worth mentioning that al-Kumayt was a contemporary of them. He associated with them, tried their ethics, so he believed in them, Allah’s peace be on them, as a copy having no second in the history of mankind in knowledge, generosity, and taking care of the religion. He hurried to struggle for them, composing on them his poems called al-Hashimiyat, which give an account of a great side of the Shi’ite beliefs giving proofs of them, sometimes through verses of the Holy Qur’an and sometimes through the Prophet’s traditions (sunna).

Any way, the Imami Shi‘a renounce immoderation concerning their Imams and they have unanimously agreed that the excessive are deviated and rebels against the religion.

Surely the reality of excessiveness means raising the Imam to the rank of Allah, the Worshiped. The excessive said to Imam ‘Ali, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him: “You are! You are!”

“What am I,” he asked them.

“You are Allah, the Creator,” they answered.

He asked them to repent, but they did not withdraw from their error, so he intended to burn some of them. While they were driven to the fire, they said: “Surely, he is Allah! It is He who chastises with fire!”[12] This is the thinking of the excessive: atheism in the religion, rebellion against worshiping Allah, and apostasy from Islam. As for the attitude of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt toward them, it was severe and violent. They decided that the excessive had to be killed, that it was forbidden for the Muslims to associate with them, and that they had to be isolated from Muslim masses. Imam Musa, peace be on him, cursed Muhammed b. Bashir when he was excessive in respect with him. He invoked Allah against him and renounced him.[13]

Surely, the belief of the Shi‘a concerning the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt has been taken from the spirit and core of Islam, and it has, praise belongs to Allah, has no excessiveness nor deviation from wise thinking, but it is clear and pure; besides it is distinguished by originality, logic, and proof.

Thirdly, surely the most prominent aspect of worshipping the Shi’a show toward their Imams is that they commemorate their remembrance and praise their outstanding merits. They hold commemorative ceremonies to mention the heavy misfortunes and calamities that had befallen their Imams. They review their behavior and their ideals full of fear of Allah, love for good, general deeds, devotion to the way of truth and service of the community. The Shi‘a also visit their pure shrines in order to ask the blessing of them and to seek nearness to Allah through them, for such visitations are the greatest of all kind of aspects of love Allah has made incumbent on Muslims to show toward the Prophet’s family.

These are some aspects of the friendship the Shi‘a show toward the Imams, peace be on them; such friendship has neither defect of excessiveness nor immoderation in love for them; according to this moderate love, we will talk about Imam Musa, peace be on him, with faithfulness and sincerity. In this respect I am (the author) a researcher loyal to truth through every possible way.

(3)

The thing that requires a question is that we find no Imam from among the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt could peacefully and tranquilly live and was far from fear, terror, and exhaustion. All the Imams suffered from the severest kind of wrong, injustice, and persecution; their sorrowful end was either killing or poison. Perhaps, the most important reasons for that, as we think, are as follows:

According to their social rank and their general authority over the community, the Imams, peace be on them, were responsible for taking care of the community, keeping its rights, and securing its interests. They did not confirm the surfeit of the oppressive and the hunger of the oppressed. They criticized the rulers of their times for their policy. It is worth mentioning that the rulers paid no attention to good, general acts. They depended on selfishness, enslavement, and forcing the people to do what they had disliked. Many of those rulers such as Muawiya b. Abu Sufyan, Yazid b. Muawiya, Merwan b. al-Hakam, and the like were not earnest in the affairs of the subjects or were loyal to their matters or looked after their interests. Rather it has been reported that they were serious in spreading social oppression and showing injustice toward their subjects, that they devoted themselves to pleasures and impudence; for example, their palaces were full of a sector of singers, songstresses, and wine. They did not remember Allah and the hereafter though they claimed that they represented Islam, which entrusted them with undertaking the affairs of the religion. However, they did not represent it at any way, for their behavior was contrary to all its laws and precepts; that is according to the unanimous agreement of all the historians.

The attitude of the infallible Imams, peace be on them, toward the ruling tyrants of their times was distinguished by severity and strictness; toward them they did not incline to peace and silence; rather they declared resistance and opposition against them, and that is of two kinds:

1. Positive Resistance

Yazid b. Mu‘awiya, the tyrant of his time, made public unbelief and atheism. He rebelled against the will of the community. He decided to debase it, to enslave it, and to force it to do what it disliked. So Imam Husayn, peace be on him, chose this revolutionary way. He, peace be on him, was forced to declare the revolution. For he, peace be on him, came to know that his supporters were few in number, that his friends would desert him, that the swords and the spears would compete with each other to plunder his holy body. He stated that when he was in Holy Mecca, saying: “I am as longing for my ancestors as Ya’qub was longing for Yousif. The death I will meet is better for me; I can see the desert wolves cutting off me limbs between al-Nawawis and Karbala, filling their empty stomachs with my own flesh; their is no escape from the day has been written by the pen.”[14]

Imam al-Husayn told the people about what he would meet in Kerbela such as cutting off his limbs on its highland, his yearning for this brilliant fate through which his beliefs aiming at achieving social justice among people won a victory.

The Master of Martyrs, Imam al-Husayn, performed this great sacrifice to remove from the body of the community that error practiced by the Umayyad government. His holy martyrdom played an effective role in waking and enlightening the Muslim masses, for revolutionary operations were increased to the extent that they were able to overthrow the Umayyad government and remove all its traces from the Arab and Muslim world.

2. Negative Resistance

This sound way was chosen by some pure Imams because they knew that the positive resistance would be not useful for overcoming the events due to the standing political conditions which would certainly abort the revolution and damage the Islamic matter. Accordingly they declared the negative resistance of whose aspects were that it was forbidden to cooperate with the ruling machinery of government and to plead cases in its courts just as it has been written down by the Imami jurists in the book of judgment. This was a useful way with a great effect on achieving the sound objectives the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, wanted. This negative way was confirmed by Imam Musa, peace be on him during his talk with Saffwan al-Jammal; we will mention it in the chapters that follow.

This brilliant policy was followed by Mr. Ghandi during his liberating India, for he made it forbidden for the Indians to cooperate with the British Colonialism and to respond to it. This policy was wonderfully successful, for the colonists were forced to withdraw from India and to grant it a political independence.

Unfortunately, the ‘Alawid revolutionists from among the Hassanid and the like did not follow this moderate, constructive policy whose slogan the Imams, peace be on them raised. For they hoisted the flag of the revolution against the Umayyad and the Abbasid governments. Their revolution was unsuccessful because they did not carry it out according to some sound plans, so their revolution failed and brought about to them many problems and difficulties and made them lead a life full of immortal pain and misfortunes.

The ruling authorities were fully aware of this negative resistance on which the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, depended. For this reason they spread detectives among all the circles and they in detail informed them about what happened in they country. They reported to Harun al-Rashid the story of Saffwan al-Jammal when he intended to sell his camels he hired out to him during the season of the hajj responding to the advice of Imam Musa, peace be on him. So Harun sent for him and wanted to killed him, but he changed up his mind; any way, the then standing governments used all their organs to work against Ahl al-Bayt and used against them all the following ways:

1. They met them with increasingly violence and persecution. They went too far in abasing and wronging them to the extent we cannot describe because of its atrocity and bitterness. Concerning this Abu al-Ferajj al-Asfahani has singled out a book called “Maqatil al-Talibiyyin”, in which he has mentioned all kind of the hard ordeals and heavy punishments that included all the ‘Alawids.

2. They laid an economic siege to the ‘Alawids to undermine their power. For example, Harun al-Rashid intended to practice this policy against Imam Musa. When he traveled to Yethrib (Medina), he generously gave to the children of the Prophet’s companions except Imam Musa. He did not give him any thing suitable to his rank. So (his son) al-Ma’mun asked him about that and he answered: “Surely, his poverty is more loveable to me than his riches; if I gave him something of which he is worthy, he would mutiny against me.” He appointed observers and spies over the people who gave money to the Imam. This measure brought to him severe financial straits and troubles. Such was the policy of those rulers toward the infallible Imams. It was marked by imposing poverty on them; all the ‘Alawids suffered from abject poverty during the days of al-Mutawakil, who subjected to displeasure and vengeance all those who gave money to them; the Imams were so poor that they had nothing in their houses except one cloak. When one of them wanted to go out, he put on the cloak as a garment.[15] Al-Mutawakil intended to stop all their economic incomes.

3.They veiled them from the Islamic world, imposed severe observation and fearful pursuit on all those who cooperated with them. Of course, this led to the appearance of different tendencies among the Shi‘a, and the Imam of guidance had no room to unite the ranks of the Shi‘ites and to remove the ideological tendencies that took place among them.[16]

4. They went too far in practicing severity against the Shi‘a and poured upon them severe kind of painful torture. Imam al-Baqir spoke of the hard ordeals the Shi‘a faced during the days of the Umayyad government. He said: “Our Shi‘ites (followers) are killed everywhere. Their hands and their legs are cut off due to suspicion and accusation. Those who show love toward us and devote themselves to us are imprisoned; their money is plundered and their houses are demolished.”[17]

All the Umayyad and the ‘Abbasid governments employed their propaganda organs against the Shi‘a to the extent that the love for Ahl al-Bayt became shame and defect. The Shi’ite was regarded as unsuccessful and loser. Some Umayyads and ‘Abbasids decided that love for Ahl al-Bayt was an apostasy from the religion and rebellion against Islam. To all of this, the poet of the faith and struggle, al-Kumayt, refers:

They indicate with their hands to me and their statement is: verily this is unsuccessful, while the indicters are more unsuccessful (than me).

A sect has accused me of unbelief and a sect says that I am an evil-doer and guilty.

They criticize me for (my) love for you out of their deception and deviation; rather they mock (at me), while I wonder at them.

They say: “His inclination and opinion are Turabi; (such was) I called and nicknamed by them.”[18]

Any way, the authorities opposed the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, when they took severe measures against the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them. For the Prophet ordered the community to show love toward his family, to take care of them, and to honor them in all things.

The ruling authorities of those times thought that the Imams had no objectives in government except that they aimed at spreading justice and equality, applying the precepts of the Qur’an on the general, real life of the Muslims. However, this did not agree with their policies aiming at selfishness, enslavement, and spending the money in the public treasury on the dissolute and the mischievous. They harbored malice against all those who demanding social reform and justice.

In addition to all of that, many of those rulers harbored malice against the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt because the Muslims unanimously agreed on honoring, magnifying, and praising them and their merits. Al-Mansur was fully aware that Imam al-Sadiq was away from the political movements of his time, that he did not intend to assume a government or an authority, and that he prevented the ‘Alawids from declaring a revolution against him. Besides he came to know that the Imam had given him good news of his assuming the Caliphate. Nevertheless, he did not leave him to lead a life of tranquility and security that he might spread the knowledge of his grandfather among the Muslims. He brought him more than one time to his capital trying to assassinate him. There was no reason for that except having malice against him due to his great personality and rank among the Muslims. Yet another example of that is Harun al-Rashid. He knew that Imam Musa did not intend to dispute with him for his authority or to transgress against him. That is because the Imam had no forces on whom he depended to dispute with him and to revolt against him. Nevertheless, he severely punished him, threw him into dark prisons, put poison in food and gave it to him to eat in order to put an end to him. The reason for that is that he envied the Imam and had grudge against him because of his high rank among the Muslims.

(4)

The time of Imam Musa was full of heavy crises and events of which were the revolts marked by violence and shedding blood. The most important revolt was that which overthrew the Umayyad government, for the Muslim people enthusiastically hurried to declare a revolt against that government that spared no effort to debase them and to deprive them of all the life requirements.

The slogan of the revolt was the summons to al-Rida from among Mohammed’s family; the people responded to him, for their hearts were thirsty for him, and for Mohammed’s family were the first base of great objectives the Muslim society wanted, such as justice, freedom, and equality.

The masses supported this revolution to protect and preserve it, and to offer for it much more sacrifices. For they believed that there was no way for their dignity and protection from selfishness and persecutions except assuming government by the ‘Alawids, the rulers of justice, protectors of truth, the refuge for the oppressed and the persecuted.

None thought that the revolt implied the summons to the ‘Abbasids, for this family had no positive deed for serving the masses. They met no oppression or persecution from the Ummayad family. They were happy and tranquil because the authorities spent too much money on them, secured for them livelihood and wealth as well as they had no brilliant past; rather the history of some of them was full of perfidy and treason toward the community.

Any way the revolt deviated from its original plan and headed for conveying the government to the ‘Abbasids, who appointed Abu Muslim al-Khuresani as a general leader of the revolt and trusted him, but he went too far in shedding blood for no reason. So the historians have unanimously agreed that he was a sinful blood-shedder. They have maintained that he paid no attention to any crime he committed, regarded as easy destroying selves and souls, punished the innocent because of the guilty, punished those who came to him due to those who turned away from him, killed out of suspicion and accusation. They have said that he killed thousands of people. This indicates that he had no faith in Allah and the hereafter; nevertheless, the ‘Abbasids adopted all his terrorist plans; some sources show that it was the ‘Abbasid who entrusted him with that.

Any way, the ‘Abbasids undertook the government through shedding seas of blood and heaping up mountains of the bodies of the innocent. When they took the reins of government, they massacred the ummayyads and their followers, spread among them murder and severe punishment. As for Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, he did not confirm that; he asked the authorities to pardon and forgive them. This shows us the unique humanity of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them. For they did not incline to quenching their thirsty for revenge upon their enemies whatever their offences toward them were, for their custom was pardon, gentleness, and kindness to those who showed enmity toward them and wronged them.

Abu Salama, a head in the ‘Abbasid government and an active member in leading their revolution, tried to entrust the caliphate to the ‘Alawids. Whether this was as a deception and a trick of him or out of seriousness and loyalty, he sent messages to Yethrib (Medina) and his messenger handed one of his messages to Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, who ordered the message to be burnt in a fire was in front of him. The messenger demanded him of a reply and he said to him: “The answer is just as you have seen.” Then the messenger went to Dhu al-Nafs al-Zakiya and his brother handed to them the letters of Abu Salama; he found in them an urgent response to his request. Imam al-Sadiq advised them not to be deceived by that, for they would not assume the affair, but they did not take his advice and thought that it was as sign of envy of him toward them, as the narrators say. Shortly after that, the ‘Alawids declared their revolt against al-Mansur; the masses surrounded them; the jurists and the eminent Muslim thinkers confirmed their revolt, but it failed because the Abbasid forces were able to suppress it and put an end to it-this has fully been explained in this book.

When the ‘Alawids lost their revolt, their heads were carried on the tops of the spears and were displayed in all countries and cities just as was the condition during the days of the Umayyad government. Al-Mansur paid no attention to the bonds of the womb relationship between him and the ‘Alawids. For, after that, he spared no effort to kill and pursue them. In this respect, he excluded neither old men nor children; rather he included them all in a torture which cannot be described because it was very severe to the extent that the ‘Alawids wished that the Umayyad government would return though it was severe and torturing.

These severe measures taken be al-Mansur against the ‘Alawids left deep sadness in Imam al-Sadiq’s and his son, Imam Musa’s souls, for they saw al-Mansur severely punishing their cousins, while they had no way to support and save them from that in which they were.

Among the problems of which the time of Imam Musa was full of was the destructive intellectual movements such as unbelief and the like that aimed at putting an end to Islam and to demolish its supports. These movements extended to many Islamic countries and did their best to play with the philosophy of the Islamic ethics, to deny all the religions, to urge the people to perform the forbidden, to play with the general manners, and to corrupt the rest of the social regulations.

Imam al-Sadiq, peace be on him, and his son Imam Musa faced and resisted those beliefs and to refute them with scientific proofs.

In addition to these destructive beliefs there were other beliefs attacked the Islamic world in those times. The beliefs summoned their followers to disunite the social ties, to divide the Muslims, and to mislead the public opinion in many sides of their ideological life, so Imam Musa and his father Imam al-Sadiq undertook enlightening the Muslims and warning them against them. The book has objectively contains a speech about all of that.

(5)

In the fields of the social service, there is nothing more important than spreading the merits of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be of them, display their behavior and affairs, for they supply the society with the requirements of renaissance and progress. The Muslims are in need of a brilliant guidance arising from the message of Ahl al-Bayt aiming at self-denial, sacrifice in the way of Allah, and the movement toward the fruitful, constructive deeds.

Surely, the Muslims live in bitter conditions; they lead a life of discords and disorders. For the colonial forces have played with their own constituents, deprived them of their fates, strengthened among them all factors of weakness and corruption to the extent that they have led a life of abasement and disgrace. We believe that the Muslims cannot make any progress unless they follow the behavior and teachings of Ahl al-Bayt, for in every side of them there is a meeting of original, free awareness, ideals, and perfect belief in the rights of the community. Perhaps, we participate in the field of the social service through our research on the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him.

This book was published in 1378 A. H. and was out of print. Those who are concerned in such researches asked me to reprint it; I (the author) put their request before the great beneficent, al-Hajj Muhammed Jewad ‘Ajeena, the son of the notable Hajj, Muhammed Jewad Ajeena, and he responded to me, may Allah protect him. We thank him and may he be successful in printing the book. I ask Allah to grant him a success that he may give life to the remarkable deeds of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be on them, and to give him much more reward. Surely He, the Exalted, is the Guardian of that and has power over it.

My brother, His Eminence, great Shaykh, Hadi al-Qarashi did me a favor through revising the chapters of the book; His Eminence also did me a favor through revising many books and benefited me in finding some information relating to the life of Imam Musa, peace be on him. After the serious research, I have found that some chapters of the book I have written are in need of re-writing and analyzing; also I have changed my mind concerning some researches of the book. The reader will find that this edition is different from the previous one because it contains an addition; moreover it is distinguished by the good printing of which al-Adab Press is famous.

In the end of the introduction, I hope that those who are concerned in these researches will do me a favor through criticizing and re-writing this work, that we may all be able to serve this community; surely He, the Exalted, has power over rightness and success.

Baqir Sharif al-Qarashi

Holy Najaf

Dhu al-Hijja 1st, 1389 A. H.

Notes