Concise sketch of Imam Al-Kazim (p)’s life

By: Ali As-Saleh

Al-Imam Musa Al-Kazim (peace be on him), son of sixth imam Al-Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (peace be on him) and Hazrat Hamidah (peace be on her), is the seventh apostolic imam. He was born on Safar 7 in the city of Abwa between Mecca and Medina in the year 128 AH.

Well-known scholar Shaykh Mufeed in his book al-Irshad narrates on the authority of Ya`qoub as-Sarraj that once when the latter visited Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (peace be on him), he found him engrossed in playful gestures with a child in the cradle. He knew it was the 6th Imam's newborn son, and waited. Then Imam Sadiq (peace be on him) turned towards As-Sarraj and beckoning him towards the cradle said: "Approach your master (Mawla) and greet him." Sarraj says: I went near him and greeted and he replied to me eloquently. Then he (the infant) told me: "Go and change the name of your (newborn) daughter which you gave her yesterday, for it is a name which God dislikes."

The faithful Sarraj knew at once it was the future Imam, the 7th one. Not only was the infant's speech a miracle but also the name of the daughter which he had not yet divulged to anyone.

Imam Musa bin Jafar (peace be on him)’s epithet was Abu’l Hassan and his famous titles were Al-Kazim (one who suppresses his anger), Abdus Saleh (virtuous slave of God) and Babul Haw’ej (the door to fulfilling needs). He passed twenty years of his sacred life under the gracious patronage of his holy father Al-Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (peace be on him).

Allamah Al-Majlisi relates that once Abu Hanifah happened to call upon the holy abode of Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (peace be on him) to ask him about some religious matters. The Imam was asleep and so he kept waiting outside till the Imam’s awakening. Meanwhile, Imam Al-Kazim (peace be on him) who was then five years old came out of his house. Abu Hanifah after offering him his best compliments enquired: “O the son of the holy Prophet (peace be on him & his pure progeny)! What is your opinion about the deeds of a man? Does he do them by himself or does God make him do them?”

The Imam replied at once, in the typical tone of his ancestors: “O Abu Hanifah! The doings of a man are confined to three possibilities: first, that God alone does them while the man is quite helpless; second, that both God and the man do equally share the commitment; third, that man does them alone. Now, if the first assumption is true, it obviously proves the unjustness of God who punishes His creatures for sins that they have not committed. And if the second condition be acceptable, even then God becomes unjust if He punishes the man for the crimes in which He is equally a partner. But the undesirability of both these conditions is evident in the case of God. Thus, we are naturally left with the third alternative to the problem that men are absolutely responsible for their own doings.”

END