Islamic Articles

In another session, al-Mamoon invited him to debate Sulayman al-Maroozi, Khurasan's scientist in kalam, and the debate between them dealt with some significant topics which were being debated then by scholars of the science of kalam, and the starting...

In another session, al-Mamoon invited him to debat...

The Zoroastrian high priest had no more to say. The Imam then turned to the debate's witnesses, having finished debating with the chief representatives of those creeds, asking anyone else to go ahead and put forth any question he had, everyone abstai...

The Zoroastrian high priest had no more to say. Th...

Al-Nawfali tried to warn the Imam against attempting to deal with the debates of such people when the Imam asked him why al-Mamoon had invited him to debate them, for al-Mamoon had asked the Catholic archbishop, the High Rabbi, leading Sabians, the H...

Al-Nawfali tried to warn the Imam against attempti...

But Sayyid al-Amin, in his A'yan mentions an isnad (ascription) related to it alone from Shaikh Abdul-Wasi' al-Yamani al-Zaydi for the copy brought by the said Shaikh from Yemen and published in Damascus. Also, some of its copies contain its ascripti...

But Sayyid al-Amin, in his A'yan mentions an isnad...

The story of this dissertation is that al-Mamoon had a very inquisitive mind eager for knowledge, fond of obtaining more of it. During one of his scientific debates, a group of physicians and philosophers in Nishapur, including Yohanna (John) ibn Mas...

The story of this dissertation is that al-Mamoon h...

Al-Mamoon was very pleased to receive that dissertation and he expressed how much he cherished it by ordering to have it written down in gold and to be deposited at his "depository of wisdom," thus its name "the gold dissertation." In praising it, al...

Al-Mamoon was very pleased to receive that dissert...

Despite all of this, we see no reason to doubt that it was authored by the Imam if we apply the criterion generally applied to derive legislative verdicts (ahkam), or to be familiar with the principles of the creed (usool), for in that case there are...

Despite all of this, we see no reason to doubt tha...

Among such books is Al-Risala al-Dahabiyya fil Tibb (the gold medical dissertation) for which sources are counted reaching sometimes to Muhammad ibn Jumhoor, and sometimes to al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Nawfali who was accepted as trustworthy by al-Naj...

Among such books is Al-Risala al-Dahabiyya fil Tib...

The Imams were tested during various periods of their lives by pressing crises due to the trespassing of oppressive rulers on their civil liberties. They pursued their followers and sincere adherents, straitening on them in various aspects of their e...

The Imams were tested during various periods of th...

Some historians doubted the scholarship of the Imams, let alone their scholarly superiority, basing their doubts on the claim that had they been truly scholars, their books would have been made available to the public as is the case with all other sc...

Some historians doubted the scholarship of the Ima...

The Imams did, indeed privately support those successive revolutions without publicly announcing their support. They viewed them as means of public awareness against oppressive government systems. For example, Imam al-Kazim (A.S.) is quoted saying to...

The Imams did, indeed privately support those succ...

The Imam (A.S.) was not objecting to the revolution but he simply wanted to assure those persons that the revolution whose success he could not secure was one he would not join. According to his serious foresight into events, it seemed to him that th...

The Imam (A.S.) was not objecting to the revolutio...

There is a previous stance in which the Imam (A.S.) had sided with the Alawide revolution of Ibn Tabataba under the command of Abul-Saraya. Muhammad ibn al-Athram, chief of the police force of Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Alawi at Medina during the days ...

There is a previous stance in which the Imam (A.S....

What we try to get acquainted with by examining the Imam's stance towards his brother Zayd of the fire was the reality regarding the Imam's viewpoint of the revolutionary method employed by the Alawides in their revolutions against the Abbasides. We ...

What we try to get acquainted with by examining th...

Yasir the servant narrates that when Zayd entered the Imam's house, Abul-Hassan (A.S.) said, "O Zayd! Were you duped by the speech of some lowly people in Kufa who said that Fatima safeguarded her modesty, therefore God shunned Hell-fire from her pro...

Yasir the servant narrates that when Zayd entered ...

In Yemen, Ibrahim ibn Mousa ibn Ja'fer rose and took control of the government after banishing al-Mamoon's governor. In Mecca, al-Husayn ibn al-Hassan al-Aftas rose, and Muhammad ibn Ja'fer was named caliph. In Basrah, Zayd ibn Mousa ibn Ja'fer rose ...

In Yemen, Ibrahim ibn Mousa ibn Ja'fer rose and to...

Stories regarding the method al-Mamoon employed to kill Imam al-Rida (A.S.) are abundant. Abul-Faraj and al-Mufid say that he killed him by poisoned pomegranate juice and poisoned grape juice. In his Al-Irshad, al-Mufid quotes Abdullah ibn Bashir say...

Stories regarding the method al-Mamoon employed to...

The Imam (A.S.) had his own particular method in promoting the dawah, for he took advantage of some exciting situations in order to open people's eyes to see how corrupt the government and its ruling system was, having no freedom of movement due to t...

The Imam (A.S.) had his own particular method in p...

Thus did the Imam (A.S.) desire to give the Eid prayers their great spiritual meaning and separate them from the fake appearances which were attached to them by ruling caliphs who were using them to make a display of the power they commanded and to s...

Thus did the Imam (A.S.) desire to give the Eid pr...

Al-Mamoon came to know about all of that. Al-Fadl ibn Sahl Dhul-Riyasatayn said to him, "O Commander of the faithful! If al-Rida (A.S.) reaches the mosque in such a condition, people will be fascinated by him and we all will have to fear for our live...

Al-Mamoon came to know about all of that. Al-Fadl ...

The regency arrangement was the source of horror mixed with outrage and anger of the Abbasides and their followers, and this became manifest by their removal of all political influence of al-Mamoon from Baghdad and by reneging on their pledge of alle...

The regency arrangement was the source of horror m...