Ahmad ibn Musa al-Kazim

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Ahmad ibn Musa al-Kazim | Zaydi Info

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Among the notables of the Zaydiyya is Ahmad, son of Abu al-Hasan Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim — one of the notables of the Prophet’s House who pledged allegiance to and supported the Imam, the master of Kufa, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Tabataba, brother of Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim al-Rassi.

Lineage

Ahmad

ibn Musa al-Kazim › ibn Ja’far › ibn Muhammad › ibn Ali › ibn al-Husayn › ibn Ali › ibn Abi Talib

peace be upon them

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A house united behind the summoning Imams

Likewise, the sons of al-Kazim were among the notables of the House and the shaykhs of the Zaydiyya in commanding right and forbidding wrong, and in supporting and giving allegiance to the summoning Imams (al-a’imma al-du’at) from their own family — since their path was one and their belief concerning the Imamate was one — just as his brothers Ibrahim, Zayd, Isma’il, and others went out in revolt with Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Hasani, may God’s blessings be upon them.

All of these were the elders of the family of the Messenger. Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim — the star of the family of the Messenger, peace be upon them — was their contemporary, and he was a student of their father, Imam Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim, the shaykh of the family of the Messenger.

Imam al-Qasim is the one who said: “I reached the elders of the descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and there was no disagreement among them.”

He is also the one who said: “It is said to the Rafida: Inform us about the People of the House of the Messenger of God — peace be upon him and upon them — are they polytheists, or disbelievers, or Muslims? If you claim that they are Muslims, then it is said: the People of the House of the Messenger of God, along with their scholars, have all agreed that you are upon other than the way of Islam” — meaning the correct Islamic path.

The Collected Books and Epistles of Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim

A fabricated Imamate, and two men who waited on it

After the death of Imam al-Kazim, two men of the Imamiyya, brothers called Ibrahim and Isma’il, the sons of Abu Sammal, took it upon themselves to claim that the Imamate after him belonged to his son Ahmad ibn Musa. But Ahmad did not accept this from them, nor did he recognize it of himself. Such was the habit of the Imamiyya in that era: they would fashion Imams for themselves of their own accord and impose this as doctrine — even though al-Baqir, al-Sadiq, al-Kazim, and others were innocent of it. Rather, it was an opinion those Imamiyya deemed good for themselves, owing to some misconception, or a deliberate Abbasid contrivance and the like. The same happened with the shaykh of the House, Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hasan Musa ibn Ja’far.

Then a surprise befell these two men, Ibrahim and Isma’il, sons of Abu Sammal: Ahmad ibn Musa went out upon the path of his family, pledging allegiance to the Imamate and supporting his cousin, Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Tabataba. So they abandoned him for that reason and reverted to being “stoppers” (waqifa) upon his father.

Al-Kashshi narrates, with his chain

Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Asid related to me, saying: When what befell Abu al-Hasan [al-Kazim] — peace be upon him — befell him, Ibrahim and Isma’il, the sons of Abu Sammal, said, “Let us go to Ahmad, his son.” He said: So they frequented him for a time. When Abu al-Saraya — the commander of the army of Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim — rose up in revolt, Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hasan went out with him. So we came to Ibrahim and Isma’il and said to them, “This man has gone out with Abu al-Saraya, so what do you two say?” He said: They denounced this in his conduct and turned away from him, and said, “Abu al-Hasan is alive; we hold firm upon the waqf.”

Rijal al-Kashshi: 2/770

A single path among the descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn

What is established upon the foundational principle of the Zaydiyya is that the general progeny of al-Hasan and al-Husayn — peace be upon them — are of a single position and a single creed, and that the principle among them is allegiance to and support for the summoning Imams from the sons of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, even if history has only mentioned them in summary fashion. Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida — peace be upon them both — was likewise upon the path of supporting the summoning Imams and pledging allegiance to them.

On the account of Harun al-Musayyab — as for what may be transmitted, that Harun ibn al-Musayyab sent him to his uncle Muhammad to dissuade him from his revolt, that was by way of coercion, not choice; otherwise, far be it from Imam Ali ibn Musa that he should be a tool in the hands of the oppressors. The mention of al-Kashshi’s narration above serves as corroboration for the other account and as a plurality of epistemic sourcing. In al-Kashshi’s report there is the benefit that one may observe the Imami mindset of that period — namely, its denial of the revolts of the notables of the House and their summoning Imams, and its refusal to go out with them.

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“Abu al-Hasan is alive; we hold firm upon the waqf.” — Ibrahim and Isma’il, sons of Abu Sammal, on abandoning Ahmad ibn Musa

May God bless you all.
O God, bless and grant peace upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

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