Shrine of Imam Hasan Askari in Samarra
Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
The 8th day of third Islamic month
Rabi-ul-Awwal marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hasan Askari. Born on December
4,846 AD (Rajab 10,232 Hijri), he was 11th in the illustrious series
of twelve infallible Imams. His period of Imamate lasted for only six years as
he was martyred at the age of 28 on January 1, 874 AD (8th Rabi-ul-Awwal,
260 Hijri) at the behest of Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutamid Billah. A major part of his brief life passed in prison or under
house arrest in view of Holy Prophet’s tradition, stating that he would be
succeeded by twelve prices and the last would be Mehdi, Qaim Ali Muhammad.
Aware of the fact that Imams were true successors of Prophet and Imam Hasan Askari
was 11th in the series, Abbasid regime kept him under strict
surveillance. The ruler made repeated attempts to extinguish his holy life so as
to prevent anyone from succeeding him. Instead of keeping him under house
arrest like Imam Ali Naqi, the regime preferred to confine him to dungeon cells.
But neither persecution nor confinement could stop Imam from imparting teachings
of Ahle-Bait. He fulfilled the responsibilities of Imamate vested upon him by appointing
certain confidants as his deputies on the basis of their knowledge of
jurisprudence. They satisfied the curiosity of those who sought teachings of
Ahle-Bait to the best of their abilities and approached Imam whenever they got
opportunity to meet him to find answers of those questions that they were
unable to answer. Two such deputies Usman ibn Said and his son Abu Jafar
Muhammad ran a large shop and traded in oil to remain in constant touch with
pro-Ahle-bait people. They did so to outsmart the powerful secret intelligence
service of the government. These deputies also collected secretly Khums and
spent the amount on religious matters and to sustain the descendants of the
prophet. Through this arrangement, Imam managed to run the system of divine law
unsuspected in the most trying and hostile environment.
Imam was
matchless in knowledge, generosity, sacrifice, piety and forgiveness. Whenever caliph
enquired about him, he was always informed by his men that Imam fasted during
the day, adored his Lord at night and uttered words only in remembrance of Allah.
Once the Caliph asked his Minister of Charities Ahmed ibn Abdullah about Imam
and he reported “I don’t know anybody who is more distinguished that Hasan Al
Askari .None can surpass him in dignity, knowledge, piety and abstinence, nor
can anybody match him in nobleness, majestic grandeur, modesty and honesty.” Despite
persecution from ruling regime, Imam always responded positively to government’s
cry for help and advice in any crisis that involved the grace of Islam. When a Christian
sage was able to attract a large number of Muslims towards his faith by
demonstrating that he could bring rain whenever he prayed to Almighty. To
prevent conversion of Muslims to Christianity, Caliph sought intervention of
Imam. He was brought from prison. He observed the sage raising his hands for
prayers with a bone in his hand. Then, he told the gathering that the bone
belonged to one of the Prophets and it was the reason behind the rain on demand.
In a bid to prove his point, he also prayed likewise and the rain started and
his efforts removed doubts from the minds of people and they remain firm on their
faith.
The regime expressed
its gratitude to Imam’s services by confining him to a tunnel under the Caliph’s
home where there was no space to stretch one’s legs, nor room to be able to
stand. This has been narrated by Ahmed ibn Ishaq In his account. He says” I cried
when I saw Imam’s condition. His food was only one glass
of water and a piece of dry bread a day.”.Yet Imam never left the legacy of generosity
inherited by him from his illustrious predecessors. Once he sold his only Yemini
sheet to entertain some guests and preferred to brace chilly weather. Likewise,
he offered pomegranates received from one of his followers to prison’s guard. The
moment he noticed the guard eyeing pomegranates in a greedy manner, Imam gave
him one but he did not eat. Upon coming to know that he was not eating because
he had five children and thinking how to distribute one pomegranate among them,
Imam gave him all. Imam was extremely humble in nature. He
never distinguished between high and low and people from all walks of life had
great reverence and affection for him. The crowd that attended his funeral was
so multitudinous that it was not seen even in the burial of the ruler.The two-month eight days period of Ayam-e-Aza (mourning) reaches its climax with the martyrdom of Imam Hasan Askari. Ever since his martyrdom his shrine in Samarra(Iraq) has been a sacred place for his admirers
and visited daily by thousands of pilgrims every day.(Reference:1-Kerbala and
Beyond by Yasin T. Jibouri-The article has been posted as today is 8th Rabi ul Awwal, the martyrdom day of Imam Hasan Askari and as a condolence to his son-The Awaited Imam Mehdi . Photo Courtesy by Google Image)
No comments:
Post a Comment