10 Facts About Ali ar-Ridha

Ali ar-Ridha is part of the chain of mystical authority in Shia Sufi orders.

Ali ar-Ridha was known for his piety and learning, and a number of works are attributed to him, including Al-Risala al-Dhahabia, Sahifa al-Rida, and Fiqh al-Rida.

Ali ar-Ridha's death followed shortly after the assassination of al-Fadl ibn Sahl, the Persian of al-Mamun, who was publicly seen as responsible for his pro-Shia policies.

Ali ar-Ridha was born in Medina in 765,768, or 770.

Ali ar-Ridha's father was al-Kazim, the seventh Twelver Shia Imam, who was a descendant of Ali and Fatima, cousin and daughter of the Islamic prophet, respectively.

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Ali ar-Ridha's mother was a freed slave, probably of Nubian origin, whose name is recorded differently in various sources, perhaps Najma or Toktam.

Momen writes that Ali ar-Ridha was thirty-five years old when his father died, whereas Donaldson holds that he was twenty or twenty-five at the time.

Ali ar-Ridha initially adopted a quiescent attitude and kept aloof from politics, similar to his predecessors, namely, the fourth through seventh Shia Imams.

Ali ar-Ridha's death followed shortly after the assassination of al-Fadl ibn Sahl, the Persian of al-Mamun, who had become a divisive figure.

Ali ar-Ridha is said to have been a devoted student of al-Rida, though Bayhom-Daou regards the accounts of their encounters as apocryphal.