The Reasons of Imam Musa kadhim Martyrdom
(part 1)
Report about the Reason for him Being Killed and a Sample of the Accounts about that
The reasons for detention, imprisonment and martyrdom of Imam Musa Kadhim, peace be on him by Hurun al- Rashid, are mentioned in the following tradition:
[Ahmad b. Ubayd Allah b. 'Ammar reported on the authority of 'Ali b. Muhammad al-Nawfah on the authority of his father; and Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Sa'd (reported); and Abu Muhammad al-Hassan b. Muhammad b. Yahya: on the authority of their teachers, who said:]'
The reason for the arrest of Musa b. Jafar, peace be on them, was that al- Rashid had put his son in the care of Jafar b. Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath and Yahya. b. Khalid b. Barmak was jealous of that. He said (to himself): "If the caliphate passes on to (the son), my dominion and that of my son will be destroyed." Therefore he deceived Jafar b. Muhammad - and the latter used to maintain the belief in the Imamate - so that he managed to gain access to him and establish friendly relations with him. His visits to his house were frequent and he became acquainted with his affairs, which he would report back to al-Rashid and he used to add to these reports that which would make (al-Rashid) feel hatred towards him.
One day (Yahya b. Khalid) asked some of those he trusted: "Would you discover for me a member of the family of Abu Talib who is not in comfortable circumstances, and then he would let me know what I need?"
He was directed towards 'Ali b. Ismail b. Jafar b. Muhammad. Yahya b. Khalid took him some money. Musa, peace be on him, was friendly with `Ali b. Isma'il b. Jafar b. Muhammad and he used to bring him gifts and treat him well.
Yahya b. Khalid sent to ('Ali b. Ismail) requesting him to visit al-Rashid and drawing his attention to the kind treatment which he had given him. So he decided to do that. Musa, peace be on him, was concerned and summoned Ali.
"Where are you going, cousin?" he asked.
"Baghdad," was the reply.
"Why are you doing that?" he enquired.
"I am in debt and I am poor," he answered.
"I will pay your debt and act for you and carry out (what you need)," Musa, peace be on him, told him.
He did not pay attention to that and began to set about (preparations for his) departure. Abu al-Hassan, peace be on him, asked him to come and said to him: "Are you leaving?"
"Yes," he replied, "I must do that."
"Look, cousin," he said to him, "fear God and do not give away any confidences against my children."
He ordered him to be given three hundred dinars and four thousand dirhams. (When he stood up in front of him, Abu al-Hassan Musa, peace be on him, spoke to those who were present: "By God, he will strive against my blood and he will confide against my children."
"May God make us your ransom," they said to him, "did you know this from his state when you were giving him gifts and being generous to him?"
"Yes," he said, "my father told me on the authority of his ancestors, on the authority of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, that when kin cut themselves away, then they should be brought back, for if they cut themselves away, God will cut them off. I wanted to bring him back after he had cut himself off from me for if he cuts me off, God will cut him off.)
'Ali b. Ismail set out until he reached Yahya b. Khalid. He gave him news of Musa b. Jafar, peace be on him, and (Yahya b. Khalid) reported to al-Rashid and added additional material to it. Then he took him to al-Rashid. The latter asked him about his uncle and he gave information against him to (al- Rashid). He told him that money was being brought to him from east and west and that he had bought an estate named al-Yasir for thirty thousand dinars. Its (former) owner had said when he had brought him the money: "I will not accept this kind of currency. I will only accept such-and-such a kind of currency." Then he ordered that money be brought and then he gave thirty thousand dinars of the currency whose coinage he had asked for.
Al-Rashid listened to that from him and then ordered him to be given two hundred thousand dirhams, with which he sought to make a living in one of the areas. He chose one of the provinces of the east.
His messengers were sent to bring the money and he waited there for its arrival. One day he went into the toilet, when he was suffering from dysentery and as a result of it the whole of his stomach came out. He fell down. They tried to put it back but they could not. He was aware of his situation when the money was brought to him while he was in the pangs of death. He said: "What can I do with it? I am about to die."
That year al-Rashid went on the pilgrimage. He began it at Medina and there he had Abu al-Hassan Musa, peace be on him, arrested. It is reported that when he came to Medina, Musa, peace be on him, received him with a group of the nobles. They had gone out to meet him and then Abu al-Hassan, peace be on him, had gone on to the mosque as was his custom. Al-Rashid waited until night and then went to the tomb of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family. He said: "Apostle of God, I apologise to you for something I want to do. I want to imprison Musa b. Jafar because he is intending to bring division into your community and to cause the shedding of its blood."
Then he ordered him to be taken from the mosque and brought before him. He had him put in chains and called for two awnings to be brought He had (Abu al-Hassan) put in one of them on a mule and he had the other awning put on another mule. The two mules left his house carrying the two awnings which were closed. With each one went cavalry. The cavalry divided and some of them went with one of the two awnings on the road to Basra and the other on the road to Kufa. Al-Rashid only did that in order to confuse the people about what had happened to Abu al-Hassan, peace be on him. He ordered the men who were with the awning in which was Abu al-Hassan to hand him over to 'Isa b. Jafar b. al-Mansur, who was governor of Basra at that time.
He was handed over to him and he kept him in detention with him for a year. (Then al-Rashid wrote to him demanding (Abu al-Hassan's) blood. 'Isa b. Jafar summoned some of his close associates and trusted colleagues and sought their advice about what al-Rashid had written to him. They advised him to hold back from doing that and to ask to be excused from it. 'Isa b. Jafar wrote to al -Rashid saying:
The affair of Musa b. Jafar and his stay under my detention has been going on for a long time. I have become well-acquainted with his situation. I have set spies on him throughout this period and I have not found him (do anything except) open his mouth in worship. I set someone to listen to what he said in his prayers. He has never prayed against you or against me. He has never mentioned us with malice. He does not pray for himself except for forgiveness and mercy. Either you send someone whom I can hand him over to or I will let him free. I am troubled at detaining him.
Source:
al-islam.org
Taken from Kitab al Irshad By Sheikh al Mufid
Other Links:
The Designation of Imam Kadhim (A.S) for the Imamate by his Father (PBUH): Part 1
The Designation of Imam Kadhim (A.S) for the Imamate by his Father (PBUH): Part 2
