The Imam—the bitter, malicious enemy! ʿĪsā ibn Zayd ibn ʿAlī (God forbid)

The Imam, the elder of the Prophet’s Household: ʿĪsā ibn Zayd ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him), is described as a bitter enemy according to claims put forward by some Imāmī scholars, including contemporaries. This is an intellectual clarification intended to guide you toward examining other issues, through which you will come to understand where the People of the House (peace be upon them) truly stand, and the nature of the rejection of the Imams of the Household and their uprisings. Thus, this post is intellectual, not incitement-based, and is directed primarily at researchers.

Shaykh ʿAlī al-Kūrānī, a contemporary scholar said:

“This ʿĪsā was a bitter enemy of Imam al-Ṣādiq” (Jawāhir al-Tārīkh 5/307)

And ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn al-Shabistarī said:

“Due to his ill fortune, he was among those hostile to the Imam, and among those who dared and transgressed against him. He was a transmitter of hadith with good narration, but he was blameworthy in his approach, known for malice and lack of uprightness” (al-Fāʾiq fī Aṣḥāb wa Ruwāt al-Imām al-Ṣādiq 2/529)

This is from the statements of the Rāfiḍa.

As for the statement of the notables of Banū al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, it is not like that. ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan said:

“I have indeed seen us, when we were numerous, and there was none among us better than ʿĪsā ibn Zayd” (Maqātil al-Ṭālibiyyīn, p. 247)

May God grant you success

O God, send Your prayers and peace upon Muḥammad and upon the family of Muḥammad

Translation of Ustadh Kadhim Al Zaydi (May Allah reward him)