Imam Ali Ibn Musa Al Rida (D. 203AH)
Imam ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā
Peace Be Upon Him
Imam Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Riḍā ibn Mūsā al-Kāẓim ibn Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Sayyid al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sibt ibn ʿAlī the Legatee — the blessings and peace of God be upon them. The title al-Riḍā — he was described with the verbal noun (maṣdar) for hyperbole, like ʿadl meaning “just”; it is not raḍiyy, an adjective on the pattern of faʿīl — contrary to what is stated in Al-Qāmūs.
Imam al-Ḥasan ibn Badr al-Dīn said in Al-Anwār:1
Or like ʿAlī, possessor of the noble virtues, al-Riḍā —
the sharp-witted, the learned scholar, son of Mūsā al-Murtaḍā.
— Imam al-Ḥasan ibn Badr al-Dīn, Al-Anwār
- Muḥammad al-Taqī
- Al-Ḥasan
- ʿAlī
- Ḥusayn
- Mūsā
It says in Al-Shāfī: Al-Maʾmūn, his sons, his household, and the Banū Hāshim were the first to pledge allegiance to him, then the people according to their ranks — the commanders, the military leaders, and all the troops. Al-Maʾmūn gave the people a generous donative for the pledge, struck his name on the coinage and the robe-embroidery (ṭirāz), and assigned him a place in the Friday sermon (khuṭba); so that when the preacher reached that point, he would say:
“O God, bless the Imam al-Riḍā, ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Kāẓim ibn Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn, master of the youth of the people of Paradise, ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Commander of the Faithful.”
Then he would say:
“Six forefathers — they are who they are! They are the best of those who drink the falling rain of the clouds.”
The pledge was made when two nights had passed of Ramaḍān in the year 201 AH. The colour of the ʿAbbāsid state was changed from black to green throughout all the horizons — whoever wore black had it torn off him; and likewise the covering (kiswa) of the Sacred House was changed.
The words of Imam al-Manṣūr Billāh indicate that the pledge was to the Imamate, while the words of others indicate that it was to the heir-apparency (wilāyat al-ʿahd). The People of the House and others were unanimous concerning his Imamate. Imam al-Manṣūr Billāh said in the second part of Al-Shāfī: “Moreover, we and the Banū al-ʿAbbās have agreed upon the Imamate of ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā (peace be upon him), and neither we nor they have disagreed about that.”
Then al-Maʾmūn slipped poison to him and killed him — and there has been no disagreement that he was killed by poison. Abū Firās ibn Ḥamdān said:
They incurred the guilt of killing al-Riḍā after pledging allegiance to him —
and for part of a day they saw their right course, then went blind.
— Abū Firās ibn Ḥamdān
When he died, al-Maʾmūn made a show of great grief, and buried him beside his father Hārūn al-Rashīd out of feigned affection and to make a display of fairness. So the grave of Hārūn became obscured, as though it had not been there at all, and the shrine was attributed to ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā — so that none knows that Hārūn is there except the people of special knowledge.
And thus ought truth and falsehood to be. Otherwise, the ʿAbbāsid state continued until now, and the origin of the ʿAbbāsid movement was Khurāsān — yet God belittled the falsehood and magnified the truth.
He died (peace be upon him) in the year 203 AH, at the age of fifty-five years.
His shrine (peace be upon him) is at Ṭūs in Khurāsān. His grandfather the Messenger ﷺ said concerning him:2
“A piece of me shall be killed in Khurāsān; no distressed one visits her grave but that God relieves his distress, and no sinner but that God forgives his sin.”
Scholarly References & Annotations
Al-midraḥ (with the h pronounced both in pause and in continuous speech): the sharp-witted one; used to describe the heart and the tongue. Al-Sharīf said in his gloss on Al-Kashshāf: al-madāriḥ is the plural of midraḥ, which is the spokesman of the people — the one who speaks on their behalf, because by his eloquence he repels the adversary; and it takes the h both in pause and in continuous speech — noted by the Author (peace be upon him).
Mentioned by Imam al-Manṣūr Billāh ʿAbdullāh ibn Ḥamzah (peace be upon him) in Sharḥ al-Risāla al-Nāṣiḥa, p. 279.