The Beginning of the Ordeal and the Martyrdom of Imam al-Kaadhum (AS)

The Beginning of the Ordeal and the Martyrdom of Imam al-Kaadhum “a.s.”

 

The rulers of that age were harming and oppressing the prophet’s progeny, and especially Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” who faced so much of their injustice, pain, and ordeal. These pains and ordeals effected the pure heart of the lady Ma'sooma “a.s.”, while her brother Imam Ar-Ridha “a.s.” was th single consolatory of her and her family.
Imam Al-Kadhum’s life coincideded with the period of five opressive Abbasid rulers. They are Abul-Abbas As-Saffah, Al-Mansoor Ad-Dawaaniki, Al-Haadi, Al-Mehdi, and Ar-Rasheed, Each one of these oppressors tested Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.”, and all the pious people of the Alawids, various torments and tortures.

When the Lady Masooma was given birth, three years of passed from the Abbasid Haroun’s Caliphate who had the initiative in the fields of injustice, violence, and spoliation of the Muslims’ wealth and who was attached to the whim, and fond of the present life.

Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” could not keep silent in front of the injustice of Haroun and his treason of Islam and the Islamic nation for the saying of the Messenger of God:
“If the innovations appeared, it is an obligation on the scholar to reveal his knowledge, other wise, may Allah’s malediction be upon him.”

Imam Al-Kaddhum began to forbid the indecency, and stood against Haroun’s policy which was devastating the religion.

And because Haroun knew the family of Ali’s extremity and in particular Imam Al-Kaadhum in facing the tyrants and condemning their activities – he exhausted all the tools in order to suppress their voices spent a great amount of Muslims money on the poets in order to offend them.

He was imprisoning the Alawids or banishing them and killing the others after exercising much torture towards them in prison.

And when his dictatorial government was established over the Islamic states, he ordered to arrest Imam Al-Kaadum “a.s.”, and imprison him.

So Fatimal- Ma'sooma “a.s.” was deprived of her father, and of being benefited from his pure source of knowledge, and that was at the latest days of his life, so she felt great sadness for her father’s loss. Her age was suffering intensely from the deprivation of her father, and was crying for a long time over him. It was also difficult for Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” to be separated from his devoted sons, like Imam Ar-Ridha “a.s.”, and the Lady Ma'sooma.

Imam Al-Kaadhum was altering the darkness of the jail into light and  brightness by praising Allah “s.a.”, and changing those difficult days into pleasant ones by the long glorification of Allah. But his heart was beating in prison, whenever he remembered his daughter Al- Ma'sooma, and he yearned for her meeting.

During the last two years of his age, Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” was carried from a prison to another one. So he “a.s.” remained one year in the jail of Isa bin Jafar, the ruler of Basra. The guard of the prison was influenced by his good manners so that he retired from guarding prison. Afterwards, Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” was conveyed from Basra to Bahgdad according to Haroun’s order and was imprisoned at the jail of Al-Fadhl bin Rabie then that of Al-Fadhl bin Isa, and finally he was carried to the prison of As-Sindi bin Shahik.

The reason of carrying him among these prisons was that Haroun was ordering the jailor to kill Imam, but no one tried to, neither could, perform this repulsive action until Al-Sindi bin Shahik poisoned him, fulfilling Haroun’s order. Haroun knew that if people knew about Imam’s murder at his hands, he would undergo hard results. So cunningly he planed to invite a group of the Shi’as, before Imam’s martyrdom, so that they could see that Imam was ill, and might die because of this illness, and so his death would not be due to the murder of any person.

But Imam’s watchfulness and awareness of the outcomes exposed Haroun. Despite the intensity of the effect of poison in his honoured body, he told those surrounding him:
“This man has poisoned me with nine dates so my body will be turned green tomorrow, and I will die the day after it.”

And finally after two days of Imam’s speech, Imam Al-Kaadhum “a.s.” left the present life on the twenty-fiffh of Rajab month in 183 A.H. poisoned and martyred. So Imam from the Shi’as, Imams followed his immaculate fathers.

When the Shi’as heard of the news of their Imam’s martyrdom, they wore the dress of sadness and performed the funeral ceremonies with tearful eyes since they lost their leader whom they loved greatly with their full existence, and nothing can soothe their hearts’ grief, and among them, is the one whose tear could not be alleviated, Al-Ma'sooma who was still young. She was grieved at the news of her father’s martyrdom, since she had been waiting for many years expecting her father’s return one day to embrace her. But now she should be patient over the disaster of his loss and has to undergo grief and pain.
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