Musa al-Kazim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim (Arabic: مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, romanized: Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim; c. 745–799) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh imam in Twelver Shia Islam. Musa is often known by the title al-Kazim (lit. 'forbearing'), apparently a reference to his patience and mild demeanor. He was born in 745 CE in Medina to Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shia imam, who died in 765 without publicly designating a successor to save his heir from the wrath of the Abbasid caliphs. The subsequent crisis of succession was eventually resolved in favor of al-Kazim, with a dissenting group, now known as the Isma'ilis, separating from the mainstream Shia.
Musa al-Kazim
مُوسَىٰ ٱلْكَاظِمSeventh Imam of Twelver Shi'ism
مُوسَىٰ ٱلْكَاظِم
al-Kazim
(lit. 'the forbearing')
al-Abd al-Salih
(lit. 'the holy servant')
c. 31 August 799 (aged 53)
(25 Rajab 183 AH)
Najma (or Tuktam)
- Ja'far al-Sadiq (father)
- Hamida Khatun (mother)
Bab al-Hawa'ij
After the death of al-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim remained in Medina, where he kept aloof from politics and devoted himself to religious teachings. He was nevertheless tightly restricted by the Abbasid caliphs and spent much of his adult life in their prisons. To counter these restrictions, he established an underground network of local representatives to organize the affairs of his followers across the Abbasid empire and to collect their religious donations. His final imprisonment, circa 795, ended with his death in 799 in a Baghdad prison, possibly poisoned at the instigation of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. The shrine of al-Kazim and his grandson, Muhammad al-Jawad, is a popular pilgrimage destination for Twelver Muslims in Kazimayn, Baghdad.
Musa al-Kazim played a key role in eradicating extreme views and exaggerations (ghuluww) from Twelver thought. His answers to legal questions have survived in Wasiyya fi al-aql, and he is credited with numerous supplications. Musa al-Kazim is also revered for his piety in Sunni Islam and considered a reliable transmitter of prophetic sayings. He is a link in the initiatic Golden Chain in Sufism, and some Sufi saints are often associated with him. Various nonprophetic miracles are attributed to al-Kazim, often emphasizing his precognition. He was succeeded to the imamate by his son, Ali al-Rida.
Life[edit]
Birth and early life[edit]
Musa was probably born on 8 November 745 CE (7 Safar 128 AH).[1][2] He was born either in Medina,[3] or in nearby al-Abwa', located between Medina and Mecca.[4][1] Alternative birth dates are September 745 and 746–747.[1] His father was Ja'far al-Sadiq, a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima, who were the cousin and daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, respectively.[5] Ja'far al-Sadiq was widely accepted as the legitimate imam by the early Shia community, who rejected the ruling Umayyad caliphs as usurpers. Musa's mother was Hamida Khatun, a Berber slave-girl.[6] She was also known as al-Musaffat (lit. 'the purified'),[1][7] a title which was perhaps a reference to her religious learning, as she is said to have taught Islamic jurisprudence to women in a seminary in Medina.[7] Abd-Allah al-Aftah and Isma'il were the elder half-brothers of Musa,[4][8] and Muhammad al-Dibaj was his younger full brother.[9] Musa was about four years old when the Abbasid revolution overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate in 750.[6] He continued to live in Medina under the authority of his father al-Sadiq,[6][4] until the latter died in 765.[10] Ja'far al-Sadiq was poisoned at the instigation of the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775), according to the Shia.[4][11]
After the death of al-Sadiq[edit]
After the death of al-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim remained in Medina,[3] where he stayed out of politics, similar to most of his predecessors.[12][13] As with his father, al-Kazim instead taught religious sciences in Medina.[1][14] Over time, he also established an underground network of representatives (wukala) to collect religious donations from his followers and organize their affairs.[15]
The Abbasids, who claimed descent from Muhammad's uncle Abbas, had rallied the support of the Shia community against the Umayyads in the name of the family of Muhammad. But many Shias were disillusioned when the Abbasid al-Saffah (r. 750–754) declared himself caliph, as they had instead hoped for an Alid leader, one who had descended from Muhammad, that is, a descendant of his daughter Fatima and Ali ibn Abi Talib.[16] The Abbasids soon turned against their former allies,[17][18] and were generally hostile to the Shia imams, especially after the abortive 762–763 revolt of the Alid pretender Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.[13] Musa al-Kazim was contemporary with the Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur, al-Hadi, al-Mahdi, and Harun al-Rashid.[19] Unlike his father, who often taught freely in Medina, al-Kazim was highly restricted by the caliphs,[14][20] and spent much of his adult life in the Abbasid prisons in Iraq.[21][22] By one Shia account, under the Abbasids' watchful eyes, al-Kazim even discouraged his followers from greeting him in public.[23]
Imamate[edit]
Designation[edit]
After the death of al-Sadiq in 765, his following became fractured,[51] for he did not publicly designate a successor to save his heir from the Abbasids' wrath.[24] The majority of his followers, the antecedents of the Twelvers, ultimately accepted the imamate of his son al-Kazim,[51][10] who also received the backing of some renowned students of al-Sadiq, including Hisham ibn al-Hakam and Mu'min al-Taq.[15][52][1] However, instead of al-Kazim, many expected the next imam to be his elder half-brother, Isma'il, who predeceased his father.[4] These were the antecedents of the Isma'ilis, some of whom waited for Isma'il to return as the Mahdi and the others instead accepted the imamate of his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il.[10][53] When the latter died, some expected him to return as the Mahdi and others followed a line of imams who claimed descent from him.[54] Even though the Isma'ilis were active against the Abbasids,[55][56] they were of marginal importance until their political success much later:[57] The Fatimid Caliphate was established in Egypt at the turn of the tenth century and the Qarmatians rose to power in Bahrain in the late ninth century.[58] Their relations with the mainstream Shia were apparently tense at the time, as some have implicated them in the arrest of al-Kazim and the murder of some of his followers.[59][60]
Isma'ilis believe that Isma'il was the designated successor,[61] and this appears to be the general consensus of the early Shia sources as well.[62][9] For the Isma'ilis, the death of Isma'il in the lifetime of al-Sadiq did not annul his divine designation (nass), as that would have contradicted their belief in the omniscience of God.[63] By contrast, the early Twelvers explained any such changes in the divine will through bada', a notion similar to abrogation (naskh) in the Quran.[64][65] Later Twelvers, such as al-Mufid, altogether rejected the claim that Isma'il was the designated successor of al-Sadiq.[66] Historical evidence indeed suggests ties between Isma'il and radical Shias, of whom the quiescent al-Sadiq did not approve.[67] Twelvers instead cite the qualifications of al-Kazim to support his fitness for the imamate after al-Sadiq.[68][33] While the Twelvers and the Isma'ilis are the two sects that have survived,[69] there were also additional branches that emerged after the death of al-Sadiq:[8][70][71] After the death of al-Sadiq, some waited for his return as the Mahdi,[72] but perhaps the majority of his followers initially accepted the imamate of his eldest surviving son, Abd-Allah al-Aftah.[8][41] This group became known as the Fathiyya.[1] Abd-Allah apparently lacked the scholarly prerequisites for the imamate and died a few months later without a male heir.[57] His followers then mostly turned to al-Kazim,[8][73][74] although for some time they still counted al-Aftah as their seventh imam.[57][75] Some other followers of al-Sadiq turned to Musa's younger brother, al-Dibaj, who staged an unsuccessful revolt against the Abbasids in 815–816.[9] Over all, it appears that many of those who had split off after the death of al-Sadiq eventually joined al-Kazim later.[30]
Legacy[edit]
All successors of al-Sadiq, including al-Kazim, were largely removed from public life by the Abbasids, through imprisonment or surveillance.[22][21] Musa al-Kazim nevertheless taught Shia beliefs,[1][14] and played a key role in eradicating extreme views (ghuluww) from mainstream Shia thought.[126] Some letters attributed to al-Kazim in his captivity years have survived,[33] and his answers to legal questions are available in Wasiyya fi al-aql.[14] He advised others that supplication (du'a') could avert even predestined calamities,[46] and numerous supplications are credited to him.[1] His saying, "The jurists (fuqaha, sg. faqih) who are believers (mu'min, i.e., Shia) are the citadels of Islam," has been reinterpreted in recent times to encourage an active social role for religious scholars.[127]
Musa al-Kazim is revered in Sunni Islam and considered a reliable traditionist by Sunni scholars,[13][14] including Ahmad ibn al-Hanbal (d. 855), who quotes from al-Kazim in support of the Alids.[33] Some traditions attributed to al-Kazim were collected by the Sunni scholar Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah al-Bazzaz (d. 965) in his Musnad al-Kazim, which is extant.[1] Musa al-Kazim is also venerated among the Sufis.[1][14] Among Sufi saints, Shaqiq ibn Ibrahim al-Balkhi (d. 809–810), for instance, regarded al-Kazim as a holy person (wali Allah, min al-abdal) and a devout worshipper,[14][128] while Ma'ruf al-Kharkhi (d. c. 815) and Bishr al-Hafi (d. 841) were affiliated with the imam.[14] In particular, a historical account credits al-Kazim with the spiritual awakening of Bishr.[129] Musa al-Kazim is also a link in the Golden Chain (Silsilat al-dhahab), which is the initiatic line connecting the Sufis with the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[130]