The Twelve Imams of Shia Muslims By Baba Ali Mustapha
The Twelve Imams of Shia Muslims
By
Baba Ali Mustapha
I like to make it
clear that I am Sunni (ahalal Sunna Waljama) Muslim. I wrote the article for the
purpose of knowledge to humanity, that is to impact the knowledge of Shia
ideology and their Imams in a simple term. According to the ideology of Shia
Muslims, the fourteen sinless (Masooms) include the Prophet, Fatima and the
twelve Imams.
Lineal chart of the
12 Apostolic Imams
Those four Khalifas
are called “Khulafa Rashedin” i.e. the Khalifas who were the companions of the
Prophet. Thereafter, the
Khilafat passed to to Muawiya and then Yazid, etc
Shia Muslims do
believe in the historical and worldly reign of the Khalifas, but Shia Muslims
consider that only the twelve Imams were the religious head after the Prophet.
According to Shias, the Imam or the apostolic Khalifa (the religious head)
could be appointed by the Prophet himself, and none else, and accordingly the
Prophet had appointed Ali as his successor.
Ali –The 1st Imam
Ali was born in Mecca
on 13th Rajab 23B.H. i.e. 600 A.D. in the House of God, the Ka’aba.
His mother was Fatima Bintu Asad, and father Abu Talib. He was the cousin of
the Prophet. He was one of the first to declare belief in Allah and the
Prophet. Ali, not only certified the claim of Prophet Muhammad that Muhammad
was the Messenger of God, but Ali also gave his assurance that he would support
the Prophet in every possible way. The relative position of the Prophet
Muhammad is much higher than that of Ali of his descendants.
Eide
– Milade Ali:
Eide Melade Ali is
celebrated on the birthday of Ali.
During the life time
of the Prophet, Ali fought in all the battles of Islam, viz, the battle of
Badr, Ohud, battle of Khandak and battle of Khaibar. After the death of the
Prophet, Ali did not fight any battle in times of the first three Khalifas (243/4 year). He again fought the battle of Jamal, Nehrwan
and battle of Siffin after he became Khalifa i.e. between the age of fifty
seven and sixty two.
He is the founder of
land revenue system which protected the right of the tillers of the soil. He is
the father of Arabic grammar. His famous book, collected and compiled later on,
base upon his speeches and letters is document of wisdom for all ages, and is
known as Nuhjul-Balagha. He was also a renowned poet of his time.
He was married to the
Prophet’s only daughter Fatima, after her death, he married other wives.
Fatima
(Zahra)
Fatima, the daughter
of the Prophet was born in 615 AD. In Mecca in the beginning of the Prophethood
(B.H. 8). Her mother was Khadija. Her virtue gained her the title of Az
Zahra-the beautiful light.
She was married to
Ali. She gave birth to two sons and two daughters.
She is acknowledged
as “leader of all women”, her children Hasan, Husain, Zainab and Umu-Kalsum changed the course of history later on. Her
descendants are called Syeds (Sayyids) or in other words the syeds are the
direct descendants of Muhammad, Ali and Fatima.
Fatima
and Fidak:
This important
incident took place within a few months after the death of the Prophet. Fidak
was the name of a farm left by Prophet Muhammad and was claimed by Fatima as
her inherited property after the death of her father. This incident is
described under the caption ‘Mahomet’ on page 408 of the 13th
edition of vol. 17 of encyclopedia Britanica thus:
“immediately after
the taking of Khaiber certain communities of which the most notable was Fidak,
sent tribute before they had been attack and reduced: their land was regarded
by Mahomet at his private domain, but after his death it was withdrawn from his
heirs by his successor, Abubakar in virtue of maxim that Prophet left no
inheritance which in the opinion of Fatima was contrary to Koranic doctrine…..”
This incident of the
farm land of Fidak having been forfeited by the government from Fatima, inspite
of the great representation by Fatima (accompanied by Ali, Hasan and Husain),
is also further elucided in Hadith No. 1389 of chapter Kitabul-Maghazi in
Volume II of Saheed Bukhari, stating that “Fatima, after this incident,
retrained from being on speaking terms with the Khalifa………”
Fatima died in 11
A.H, ninety five days (or six month according to certain historians) after the
death of the Prophet.
Ali: The 1st
Imam was knowledge bravery, justice and the real pious virtues personified.
He was murdered in
Kufa (near Najaf) in the mosque, while offering Sajda in the morning prayers,
at the age of sixty two years in 661 A.D. or 40 A.H. He is buried in Najab in
Iraq.
Eide-Ghadeer:
Eide-Ghadeer is
celebrated on 18th of Zihij i.e. eight day after Eide-Qurban. On
this day in 10 A.H. at a place called Ghadeer, near Medina, when Prophet was
returning from his last Hajj, it was revealed to the Prophet from God, “O
Apostle of Allah, make known what has been ordered unto thee from Thy Lord, and
if thou dost it not thou wilt not have conveyed his message” (5:67). The
Prophet showed Ali to all those present by bodily lifting Ali above his
shoulders, and announced thus: “He whose master (temporal and spiritual guide)
I am, Ali is also his master, O’ Allah be friend to him who is Ali’s friend,
and be enemy to him who is Ali’s enemy, and disgrace him who disgraces Ali”.
This was declared in the presence of over 100,000 men; when all of them
congratulated Ali. Thus, Ali became the first spiritual successor and Imam
after the death of the Prophet.
The
First Four Khalifas
After the death of
the Prophet a Khalifa was to be appointed to carry on the mission of the
Prophet. Since the Imamate is spiritual-cum-secular office, the Shia Muslims
from the very beginning have believed in the Divine Right such that Imam is
appointed by the Prophet himself, and this was actually done by the Prophet
before his death at Ghadeer. It is not conceivable that the Prophet during his
life time has failed to appoint his successor.
However, when Ali was
busy in the burial of the Prophet, Abubakar was elected Khalifa only by few
persons then present in Medina. Later, the second Khalifa Umar was appointed by
nomination by Abu Bakr. Osman became the third Khalifa by selection. After Osman, Ali
was elected Khalifa by the consent of all the people of Medina and by the respresentitives
of the Islamic states. Thus Ali become the 4th Khalifa. The periods
of the Khalifa were:
Shia Muslims
considered Ali as the first Imam after the Prophet, as they believe in the
INFALLIBILITY of the Prophet, and it is impossible for the Imam to be an
ordinary man, because he is his time is the time representative of the Prophet.
In short, the leader of the Muslims should be a person who is himself divinely
guided and is full of knowledge so that he does not require guidance in any
respect. These qualifications of being knowledgeable and sinlessness along with
other virtue of piety, chivalry, etc were all found in Ali. Ali was
‘infallible’ or ‘Masoom’ in every walk of his life. His divinely knowledge was
admitted by one and all.
Sinless or infallible
or ‘Masoom’ is one who in every walk of life is clean, pure and pious, and who
is impeccable and who does never act against religious, moral, rational,
reasonable and true social atmosphere,
and who does not ever act against the true justice, and who never does anything
for his selfish motives. Thus, character is the criterion of position of a
religious head. (The Arabic word “Masoom” embrace divine qualities which are
not adequately covered by the words “infallible” or “impeccable” which are just
the literal translation of the word).
After the Prophet,
those virtues, of divine knowledge and piety could best be found in Ali. Also,
Ali was the cousin and the son-in-law of the Prophet, and had the maximum
opportunity of spending most of his time with the Prophet, and thus being the
most suitable understudy. For further detail see paras on Eide-Ghadeer in the
life history of “Ali”.
Ali
and the first three Khalifes:
Ali was born in the
House of God, and the Kaaba which is the unique honour that can be claimed by
any human being. Prophet Muhammad and Ali were cousin of each other, and they
were brought up in the same house. The Prophet was considerably older and he
looked after Ali with great love and devotion.
Ali was married to
Fatima, the only daughter of the Prophet.
Ali was undisputedly
acknowledge by all as brave, pious, just and divinely virtuous. Most of the Muslims
saints invariable attribute the source of their spiritual knowledge to Ali. All
Muslims consider Ali in such high esteem.
The Shia Muslims
consider Ali as the first Imam, and as an infallible or “Masoom”. The rest of
the Muslims consider him as their 4th Khalifa.
The Muslims consider
that the first three Khalifas were the companions of the Prophet. They ruled
the Islamic state after the Prophet. The Islamic Empire expanded during their
reign.
Hassan – The 2nd Imam
Hassan, the eldest
son of Ali was born in Medina in 3 A.H. His mother was Fatima. He resembled the
Prophet very much, and was famous for his generosity, hospitality, goodness and
gentle manners. The Prophet has said, “Hassan and Hussain are the leaders of
youths of paradise”.
After his father’s
death he was acclaimed as the fifth Khalifa. After six months rule, on the
invension by mu’awiya he retired to Medina after making a peace treaty with
Mu’awiya, with one of the condition that upon Mu’awiya’s death the Khalifa was to revert to Imam Hussain- his younger
brother. Hassan had abdicated in favour of Mu’awiya to avoid bloodshed of the
Muslims.
He was poisoned at
the age of forty six in 50 A.H. He is buried in Medina.
Hussain – The 3rd Imam
Hussein, the son of
Ali and Fatima was born in Medina in 4 A.H. He inherited his father Ali’s and
grandfather Prophet Muhammad’s courageous and virtuous disposition.
He did not
acknowledge Yazid as Khalifa, because, Yazid (who was the son of Mu’awiya and
grandson of Abu Sufiyan who at one time was the greatest opponent of Prophet
Muhammad) was an extremely bad charactered man. Yazid claimed to be a Muslim,
but in reality he was undermining the teachings of Islam and Prophet Muhammad. This
was the stage when Hussein stood up against Yazid.
Imam Hussein was
killed in the Martyrdom at Karbala on the 10th Muharram in 61 A.H.
at the age of fifty six. He is buried in Karbala (Iraq). He is the greatest
martyr and Muslims (Shia) mourn the martyrdom every year. He sacrificed his
life for truth and attained immortality.
Karbala
– Martyrdom of Hussain
The tenth day of
Muharram, known as Ashoura is a day great sorrow, especially for Shia Muslims.
On this day Imam Hussain was martyred by the enemies of Allah and Islam, at
Karbala in Iraq, fifty years after the demise of the Prophet.
The Imam and his
relatives and companions, all only 72 in number, were surrounded by an army of
30,000 in the desert of Karbala. They were denied water for three days. On the
Ashoora day the battle began in the morning. Once after the other went to the
battle against the enemies of Islam. First went the companions of the Imam, the
relatives, and then the Imam himself in the afternoon. It was a planned and
well considered sacrifice, and not an ordinary battle between two opposing
armies.
Among the martyrs
were his sons Ali Akbar (18 years), Ali Asghar (6 months), his brother Abbas
(34 years), his nephews and companions.
After
the Martyrdom
After the martyrdom
the enemies set on fire the tents which were sheltering the ladies and children
of his house. The enemies snatched way the “chaadars” (headgears) of the women,
and made them shelterless.
On the next day, the
ladies were made captive and sent to Kufa near Najaf, where the governor lived.
In the morning of the next day (12th Muharram) the caravan reached
Kufa, where they were imprisoned for a week, and later on were dispatched to
Yazid to Damascus through a long route covering a distance of 1439 miles.
It was this caravan, headed
by Zainab (sister of the 3rd Imam)and the 4th Imam (who
was sick), which while passing through so many places, acquainted the people
with the principles and practices of Islam as presented by the Prophet. It was
the turning point of Islamic history. Had it not been for Zainab’s brave and
eloquent speeches, it is quite possible that Imam Hussain’s sacrifices could
have gone waste as the people did not know about the truth of the martyrdom. On
this basis Zainab is very much responsible for the existence of the religion of
Islam today (according to the Shia sect) which was in danger at hands of the
then enemies of Islam, particularly Yazid.
Ali Zainul Abedon – The 4th
Imam
Ali the son of Imam
Hussain was born in Medina in 38 A.H. At the age of fifty six years he was
poisoned. He died in 95 A.H. and is buried in Medina.
His life had deep
scars of the tragedy of Karbala. He was saved from the massacre as owing to his
illness he could not go to the battle field in Karbala. His method of preaching
of Islam was through prayers, as his period was too turbulent for opening
preaching, so much so that even Medina and Mecca were destroyed during this
period.
Muhammad Baqir – The 5th
Imam
Born in Medina in 57
A.H. He was poisoned at the age of fifty six in 114 A.H. and is buried in
Medina. He was the son of the 4th Imam and was three years old at
the time of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala. He was “opener of divine
knowledge” according to the Shia sect.
Jafar Sadiq – The 6th
Imam
Jafar, the son of 5th
Imam Muhammad Baqir was born in Medina in 83 A.H and was poisoned at the age of
sixty four in 148 A.H. He is buried in Medina.
He is the father of
Islamic Jurisprudence or Sharia Law. Imam Abu Hanifa whom the Hanafi Sunnis
consider as their leader was a disciple of the 6th Imam.
Musa Kazim – the 7th
Imam
Musa, the son of Imam
Jafar Sadiq, was born in Medina in 128 A.H. He was poisoned at the age of
fifty-five in 183 A.H. He is buried in Kazimain near Baghdad. He was famous as
repressor of anger and grief. Most of his life was spent in the prison and
dungeons of Baghdad.
His elder brother
Ismail died in the lifetime of his father. Those who believe in Ismail as 7th
Imam, among the Shia are called Ismails (or Khojas Agha Khan). Another link
which believe Ismail to be the Imam is known as Bohras.
Ali Raza – the 8th Imam
Ali Raza the son of
Imam Musa Kazim was born in Medina in 153 A.H. and poisoned at the age of fifty
in 203 A.H. He is buried in Meshad in Iran. On the death of Haroon-ur-Rashid,
the then Khalifa, his two sons Amin and Mamoun started fighting. Fearing that
someone might take advantage of the domestic dispute. Mamoun made a clever move
to enlist the support and sympathy of the general public. He sent for the 8th
Imam and appointed him as heir apparent, inspite of Imam’s refusal and gave him
large tracts of land. Later on Mamoun changed his plan as soon as the danger to
his throne was gone, when he poisoned the Imam.
Muhammad Taqi – The 9th
Imam
Muhammad, the son of
Imam Ali Raza was born in Medina in 195 A.H. and was poisoned at the age of
twenty five years in 220 A.H. He is buried in Kazimain near Baghdad. During his
lifetime Islamic tolerance was replaced by military tyranny, and it then
appeared that Islam was forced in and confined to the mosque. The Imam’s
teachings through his letters were of great importance for keeping the true
Islam alive during such a difficult period.
Ali Naqi – The 10th
Imam
Ali, the son of
Muhammad Taqi was born in Medina in 214 A.H. and was poisoned at the age of
thirty nine in 254 A.H. He is buried in Samarra in Iraq. In his time the rulers
of Baghdad became more powerful, proud and arrogant, but they could not buy the
regard of the people for the Imam with all their wealth and military might.
He was kept in
dungeons in Samarra, where he was tortured for many years by the rulers.
Hassan Askari – The 11th
Imam
Hassan, the son of
Imam Ali Naqi was born in Medina in 232 A.H. and poisoned at the age of twenty
seven in 260 A.H. He is buried at Samarra in Iraq by the site of his father.
Like other Imams he
was gifted with divine grace, great spiritual knowledge and power. The then
ruler tried to force the Imam to subjugation and tried to frighten him in many
ways, particularly by the show of the army, but the ruler failed in his design,
and therefore imprisoned the Imam and poisoned him.
Muhammad Mehdi – the 12th
Imam
Muhammad, the son of
Imam Hassan Askari, was born in Medina in 256 A.H. On the 15th of
Shabaan (his birthday is celebrated as “Shabe –Barat” by the Shia Muslims).
Owing to the
persecution of the rulers, the Imam according to Shia sect first disappeared in
261 A.H., and finally in 328 A.H. at the age of seventy two when his Ghaibate
Kubra started. He is alive but Ghaib (not visible).
The Shia believed
that he will appear on the earth before the Qiyamat. Furthermore, even the
Sunni (ahlal Sunna wal Jama’a( believed that a man will rise in Middle East
toward the end of the world, whose name is Muhammad Mehdi. He will conquer the
whole world and rule for sometime before the descend of Isa Ibn Maryam to earth
to take charge. This believe is supported by Hadith of the Prophet Mohammad.
According to Shia
when the 12th Imam reappears, the Kingdom of God will be established
on this earth.
His Ghaibat or
invisibility is necessary for his long life to helpful against the vicissitudes
of time and for his immediate presence in any sport of the world whenever
needed for divine guidance to humanity.
According to Shia
sect he will emerge in Mecca. They also believed that the Imam helps everyone
in time of need.
Note- They believed
that as Allah has kept alive the Prophets like Khizi, Isa and Ilyas, so he has
kept the 12th Imam alive. He is the Imam of the time. He has
therefore, the information of all the action of the people of the world.
Note- It will be
interesting and illuminating to give thought to the fact as to how the imamate
was saved by God. All the Imams were poisoned or killed by the enemies. None of
them lived a rich life. Some of the Imams were imprisoned and forced to live in
dungeons. But still, one after another, the successor of the 12 Imams was made
to be fulfilled by God’s command, as was predicted by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).
Baba Ali Mustapha is of Ngrannam
Ward, behind the New Ultra Modern General Hospital, Ngrannam Bolori II,
Maiduguri, Borno State.
Reference:
Introduction to Islam
by Sayyed Mujtaba Musavi Lari, published by Foundation of Islamic C.P.W, 21
Eritezam Street, Qom Islamic Republic of
Iran.
Shiism, religion and
revolution by Hans Halm published by S.H. Beck,Munich (Introduced by Echo of
Islam, July, 1995)
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