35 Facts About Musa al-Kazim

Musa al-Kazim was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh imam in Twelver Shia Islam.

Musa al-Kazim was born in 745 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.

Musa al-Kazim was nevertheless tightly restricted by the Abbasid caliphs and spent much of his adult life in their prisons.

Musa al-Kazim played a key role in eradicating extreme views and exaggerations from Twelver thought.

Musa al-Kazim is revered for his piety in Sunni Islam and considered a reliable transmitter of prophetic sayings.

Musa al-Kazim 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 Musa al-Kazim, often emphasizing his precognition.

Musa al-Kazim was succeeded in imamate by his son, Ali al-Rida.

Musa al-Kazim's 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.

Musa al-Kazim continued to live in Medina under the authority of his father al-Sadiq, until the latter died in 765.

Musa al-Kazim was contemporary with the Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur, al-Hadi, al-Mahdi, and Harun al-Rashid.

Unlike his father, who often taught freely in Medina, Musa al-Kazim was highly restricted by the caliphs, and spent much of his adult life in the Abbasid prisons in Iraq.

The resulting crisis of succession to al-Sadiq was ultimately resolved in favor of Musa al-Kazim, who spent the first ten years of his imamate under al-Mansur.

Musa al-Kazim was arrested at least once by the caliph, who around 780 briefly imprisoned him in the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.

Musa al-Kazim did not lend his support to the 786 revolt of the Alid pretender al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Abid, and a letter attributed to al-Kazim even warns al-Husayn about his violent death.

Harun arrested Musa al-Kazim, brought him to Baghdad, and was apparently intent on killing him but then set him free as a result of a dream, it is said.

Yahya is said to have tipped the caliph about the secret Shia disposition of Ja'far and suborned a relative of Musa al-Kazim to testify that the imam secretly collected religious dues from the Shia.

Harun then ordered Musa al-Kazim to be killed but Isa did not carry out the order, apparently being impressed by the piety of Musa al-Kazim.

When Harun learned about this relatively comfortable conditions of Musa al-Kazim, he gave Fadl a written order to kill the Shia imam.

Musa al-Kazim was then handed to al-Sindi ibn Shahik, the prefect of police in Baghdad, who is said to have poisoned the imam.

Musa al-Kazim died in 799 in the al-Sindi ibn Shahak prison of Baghdad, after being transferred from one prison to another for several years.

That Musa al-Kazim was murdered is the Twelver view, as represented by Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, a prominent Twelver theologian.

The shrine of Musa al-Kazim has over time acquired a reputation as a place where prayers are fulfilled, that is, a gate to the fulfilment of needs, as attested by the Sunni scholar al-Shafi'i.

The majority of his followers, the antecedents of the Twelvers, ultimately accepted the imamate of his son Musa al-Kazim, who received the backing of some renowned students of al-Sadiq, including Hisham ibn al-Hakam and Mu'min al-Taq.

However, instead of Musa al-Kazim, many expected the next imam to be his elder half-brother, Isma'il ibn Ja'far, who predeceased his father.

In line with the principle of, Musa al-Kazim even instructed Ibn Yaqtin not to practice the Shia ablution to avoid the suspicion of the Abbasid ruler.

Some other Abbasid officials whose loyalty rested with Musa al-Kazim were Abbas ibn Ja'far al-Ash'ath, governor of Khorasan, and Waddah, who was an official of the postal service in Egypt.

Musa al-Kazim is thus said to have prayed for a wild beast to ease the birthing pains of its partner.

Abbas, another son of Musa al-Kazim, became the governor of Kufa.

All successors of al-Sadiq, including Musa al-Kazim, were largely removed from public life by the Abbasids, through imprisonment or surveillance.

Musa al-Kazim nevertheless taught Shia beliefs, and played a key role in eradicating extreme views from mainstream Shia thought.

Musa al-Kazim advised others that supplication could avert even predestined calamities, and numerous supplications are credited to him.

Musa al-Kazim is revered in Sunni Islam and considered a reliable traditionist by Sunni scholars, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who quotes from al-Kazim in support of the Alids.

Some traditions attributed to Musa al-Kazim were collected by the Sunni scholar Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah al-Bazzaz in his, which is extant.

Musa al-Kazim is a link in the Golden Chain, which is the initiatic line connecting the Sufis with the Islamic prophet Muhammad.