Muhammad al-Jawad

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox religious biography

Template:Twelvers

Muhammad al-Jawad (Template:Langx, Template:Circa – Template:Circa) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Rida (Template:Died in). He is known by the epithets al-Jawād (Template:Langx) and al-Taqī (Template:Langx). Like most of his predecessors, Muhammad kept aloof from politics and engaged in religious teaching, while organizing the affairs of the Imamite Shia community through a network of representatives (Template:Transliteration). The extensive correspondence of al-Jawad with his followers on questions of Islamic law has been preserved in Shia sources and numerous pithy religio-ethical sayings are also attributed to him.

Born in Medina in 810–811, Muhammad al-Jawad was the son of Ali al-Rida, the eighth of the Twelve Imams. In 817, the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (Template:Reign) summoned al-Rida to Khorasan and designated him as the heir apparent, possibly to mitigate the frequent Shia revolts. This appointment provoked strong opposition in Iraq, which forced al-Ma'mun to return to the capital Baghdad in 818 and abandon his pro-Shia policies. On the way back to Baghdad, al-Rida suddenly fell ill and died in Tus, likely poisoned by order of al-Ma'mun as he made concessions to the opposition. Upon the death of al-Rida in 818, the succession of his only son Muhammad to the imamate at the age of about seven became controversial. Most Imamite Shias accepted the imamate of al-Jawad because the Imam, in their view, received his perfect religious knowledge through divine inspiration, irrespective of his age. At the time, some instead turned for leadership to al-Jawad's uncle, Ahmad ibn Musa al-Kazim, and some others joined the Waqifites, but the succession of al-Jawad evidently did not create any permanent divisions in the Shia community. Twelver sources often justify the imamate of the young al-Jawad by drawing parallels with Jesus and John the Baptist, both of whom in the Quran received their prophetic missions in childhood.

In 830, al-Jawad was summoned to Baghdad by al-Ma'mun, who married his daughter Umm Fadhl to the former. This marriage, however, was to be without issue and might have been infelicitous. His successor, Ali al-Hadi, was already born in 828 to Samana, a freed slave ([[umm walad|Template:Transliteration]]). In 833, al-Ma'mun died and was succeeded by his brother, al-Mu'tasim (Template:Reign), who summoned al-Jawad to Baghdad in 835 and hosted him and his wife, possibly to investigate any links between al-Jawad and new Shia revolts. There al-Jawad died in the same year at the age of about twenty-five. All major Sunni sources are silent about the manner of his death, while Shia authorities are nearly unanimous that he was poisoned by his disaffected wife, Umm al-Fadl, at the instigation of her uncle, al-Mu'tasim. Muhammad al-Jawad was buried next to his grandfather, Musa al-Kazim, the seventh of the Twelve Imams, in the cemetery of the Quraysh, where the Kazimayn shrine was later erected. Kazimayn has since become an important center for pilgrimage.

TitlesEdit

Muhammad ibn Ali, the ninth of the Twelve Imams, is occasionally known in Shia sources as al-Taqi (Template:Langx),Template:Sfn but more commonly as al-Jawad (Template:Langx) for his munificence.Template:Sfn The Imam is cited in the Shia hadith literature as Abu Ja'far al-Thani (Template:Langx),Template:Sfn with the title Abu Ja'far reserved for his predecessor, Muhammad al-Baqir (Template:Died in), the fifth of the Twelve Imams.Template:Sfn His Template:Transliteration is Abu Ali (Template:Langx),Template:Sfn though he was also known by his contemporaries as Ibn al-Rida (Template:Langx) because he was the only child of Ali al-Rida.Template:Sfn

LifeEdit

Birth (Template:Circa)Edit

Muhammad al-Jawad was born in Medina,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn or in a village near Medina founded by his grandfather, Musa al-Kazim (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Sources seem to agree that he was born 195 AH (810–811) but the exact date is disputed.Template:Sfn Most Twelver sources record mid-Ramadan 195 AH (mid-June 811) as the birthday of Muhammad but Ibn Ayyas (Template:Died in) favors 10 Rajab 195 AH (8 April 811). This latter date agrees with Template:Transliteration, a supplication attributed to Muhammad al-Mahdi, the last of the Twelve Imams.Template:Sfn It is this date that the Shia celebrate annually.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn His father Ali al-Rida, the eighth of the Twelve Imams, was a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Template:Died in) and Fatima (Template:Died in), who were the cousin and the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, respectively. Most records agree that the mother of Muhammad al-Jawad was a freed slave (Template:Transliteration) from Nubia,Template:Sfn though her name is given differently in sources as Sabika or Durra (sometimes Khayzuran).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn She might have belonged to the family of Maria al-Qibtiyya, a freed slave of the prophet and the mother of his son Ibrahim, who died in childhood.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Reign of al-Ma'mun (Template:Reign)Edit

Marriage (Template:Circa)Edit

Muhammad stayed behind in Medina when his father al-Rida traveled to Merv in Khorasan at the request of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (Template:Reign).Template:Sfn The caliph designated al-Rida as the heir apparent in 202 AH (817),Template:Sfn and also changed the official Abbasid color of black to green, possibly to signify this reconciliation between the Abbasids and the Alids.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn To form a political alliance,Template:Sfn the caliph also married one of his daughters, named Umm Habib,Template:Sfn to al-Rida in 202 AH (817) and promised another daughter, named Umm al-Fadl,Template:Sfn to Muhammad, who was still a minor at the time,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn aged about seven.Template:Sfn Among Sunni historians, al-Tabari (Template:Died in), Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur (Template:Died in), and Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari (Template:Died in) agree on this report.Template:Sfn It is likely that Muhammad was absent from the ceremony,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn even though Abu'l-Hasan Bayhaqi (Template:Died in) relates that he visited his father in Merv in 202 AH (817).Template:Sfn In contrast, the Sunni historian al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (Template:Died in)Template:Sfn and the Shia-leaning historians Al-Masudi (Template:Died in)Template:Sfn and Ya'qubi (Template:Died in)Template:Sfn place the betrothal of Muhammad after the death of al-Rida in 204 AH (819), following the return of al-Ma'mun to his capital Baghdad. In particular, al-Mas'udi in his Ithbat al-wassiya writes that al-Ma'mun summoned Muhammad to Baghdad, settled him near his palace, and later decided to marry him to his daughter, Umm Fadl,Template:Sfn whose given name was Zaynab.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn According to al-Baghdadi, Muhammad was about nine years old at the time of this betrothal.Template:Sfn

Death of his father (Template:Circa)Edit

Ali al-Rida was a prominent Alid, a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. The Alids were viewed as rivals for the caliphate by the Abbasids, who were the descendants of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, a paternal uncle of Muhammad.Template:Sfn The appointment of the Alid al-Rida by the Abbasid caliph thus invoked strong opposition, particularly among the members of the Abbasid dynasty and the Iraqi supporters of Abbasid legitimism.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn These revolted and installed al-Ma'mun's uncle, Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi, as an anti-caliph in Baghdad.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The caliph and his entourage thus left Khorasan for Baghdad in 203 AH (818),Template:Sfn accompanied by al-Rida.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The latter died shortly in Tus after a brief illness,Template:Sfn possibly after being poisoned.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The death of al-Rida followed the assassination of al-Fadl ibn Sahl (Template:Died in), the Persian vizier of al-Ma'mun,Template:Sfn who had become a divisive figure.Template:Sfn Both deaths are linked in Shia sources to al-Ma'mun and viewed as concessions to the Arab party to smooth his return to Iraq.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Modern scholars similarly tend to suspect the caliph in the death of al-Rida.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn After returning to Baghdad in 204 AH (819),Template:Sfn Template:Sfn al-Ma'mun reversed his pro-Shia policies,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn and restored the traditional black color of the Abbasids.Template:Sfn Muhammad was about seven years old when his father died.Template:Sfn There are multiple Shia reports that he told others about the death of his father before the news arrived in Medina,Template:Sfn and some traditions indicate that he was miraculously present in the burial of al-Rida in Khurasan and prayed over his body.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Summoned to Baghdad (Template:Circa)Edit

Soon after arriving in Baghdad in 204 AH (819),Template:Sfn al-Ma'mun summoned the young Muhammad who then stayed at the court of the caliph.Template:Sfn The betrothal of Muhammad and Umm Fadl or its proposal was apparently opposed by some of the Abbasids,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn reportedly because of the dark complexion of Muhammad.Template:Sfn An account of their protests appears in the biographical Kitab al-Irshad by the Twelver theologian Al-Shaykh al-Mufid (Template:Died in),Template:Sfn though the Islamicist Shona F. Wardrop suspects that it may actually refer to the designation of al-Rida as the heir apparent.Template:Sfn In any case, al-Mufid suggests that the opposition actually feared the political rise of Muhammad similar to his father al-Rida,Template:Sfn and the view of the Islamicist Wilferd Madelung is similar.Template:Sfn Those opposed to the marriage arranged for a public debate where the chief judge Yahya ibn Aktam interrogated the young Muhammad with difficult theological questions to which he answered correctly.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn An account of this is given by al-Mas'udi,Template:Sfn but the seventeenth-century hadith collection Bihar al-Anwar adds that Yahya also presented Muhammad with provocative questions about the status of the early caliphs Abu Bakr (Template:Reign) and Umar (Template:Reign), including an alleged prophetic tradition that compares the two caliphs with the archangels Gabriel and Michael. These claims al-Jawad refuted in mild language.Template:Sfn The attribution of this latter exchange to Muhammad al-Jawad is, however, uncertain since a similar exchange between al-Ma'mun and some Sunni scholars is described by the tenth-century hadith collection Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha.Template:Sfn At any rate, it is at the end of this assembly that al-Ma'mun formally married his daughter to Muhammad, according to al-Mas'udi and al-Mufid.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn This episode is thus viewed by the Twelvers as evidence of the exceptional knowledge of Muhammad al-Jawad.Template:Sfn

Kitab al-Irshad implies that Muhammad returned to Medina after this episode in Baghdad.Template:Sfn By some accounts, however, he stayed in Baghdad for about eight years, primarily engaged in teaching, before returning to Medina with his family after the death of al-Ma'mun in 218 AH (833).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn This is viewed as house arrest by the historian Jassim M. Hussain,Template:Sfn citing a report by al-Mas'udi.Template:Sfn There is not much known about this period of his life.Template:Sfn

Summoned to Baghdad (830)Edit

The marriage of al-Jawad to the daughter of the caliph was consummated in 215 AH (830),Template:Sfn when al-Ma'mun invited the former to Baghdad from Medina.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The couple stayed there until the Hajj season (January 831) when they returned to Medina after completing the Hajj ritual.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Possibly hoping to blunt the Shia opposition through al-Jawad,Template:Sfn the caliph is said to have displayed much affection towards the young man.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn By marrying his daughter to al-Jawad, the Twelver scholar Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai (Template:Died in) suggests that al-Ma'mun might have wanted to keep a close watch on him from both outside and within his household.Template:Sfn Hussain similarly suggests that al-Ma'mun intended to monitor al-Jawad and divide the Shia opposition,Template:Sfn hoping thus to mitigate their revolts, including some fresh uprisings in Qom.Template:Sfn This view is rejected by the historian Moojan Momen, who says that al-Ma'mun might have had little to fear from the revolts in Qom.Template:Sfn Medoff believes that al-Ma'mun pursued a policy of simultaneously appeasing and containing pro-Alid groups,Template:Sfn while Wardrop writes that the marriage was intended to discourage the Shia from revolution.Template:Sfn Hussain and Esmail Baghestani say that the marriage did not win the Shia support for al-Ma'mun, nor did it stop the Shia revolts.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Reign of al-Mu'tasim (Template:Reign)Edit

Caliph al-Ma'mun died in 218 AH (833) and was succeeded by his brother, al-Mu'tasim, who continued the policy of his predecessor in simultaneously appeasing and containing pro-Alid groups, according to Medoff.Template:Sfn It was perhaps to further this policy that al-Mu'tasim summoned al-Jawad to Baghdad in 220 AH (835) and hosted him and his wife.Template:Sfn The departure of al-Jawad was apparently facilitated by Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat at the behest of the caliph.Template:Sfn An exception here is the account of al-Mas'udi which does not explicitly state that al-Jawad was summoned by al-Mu'tasim.Template:Sfn At any rate, al-Jawad died there in the same year, some ten months after his arrival,Template:Sfn at the age of about twenty-five.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn During this short window, Shia sources accuse al-Mu'tasim of multiple attempts to discredit al-Jawad and finally murdering him.Template:Sfn This alleged hostility of al-Mu'tasim may have been compounded by a recent wave of Shia revolts in Qom and in Taliqan, even though there is no evidence that al-Jawad was involved in them.Template:Sfn One such attempt against al-Jawad was prevented by one of his supporters, Ahmad ibn Hammad al-Marwazi, who was nevertheless an advisor to Ibn Abi Dawud, the influential Template:Transliteration. The caliph apparently abandoned his plan to dishonor al-Jawad by parading him while intoxicated after Ahmad convinced the Template:Transliteration about the futility of this plan, saying that the ire of the caliph would only strengthen the loyalty of Imamites for al-Jawad. The Template:Transliteration passed on the advice to the caliph.Template:Sfn A different account by Ibn Awrama, quoted in Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, describes how al-Jawad unmasked false witnesses who had accused him of plotting against the caliph, though the miraculous ending of this account weakens its historical weight.Template:Sfn Another account is narrated by Zurqan, a Template:Transliteration of the Template:Transliteration Ibn Abi Dawud: The caliph is said to have solicited and preferred the judicial ruling of al-Jawad about amputating the hand of a thief in the presence of other scholars. This infuriated the Template:Transliteration, who later visited the caliph and warned him about inadvertently bolstering the public support for al-Jawad as an alternative to al-Mu'tasim. This then set in motion the plot to poison al-Jawad.Template:Sfn

Personal lifeEdit

Similar to his predecessors, al-Jawad lived modestly and gave to the poor generously, according to Dwight M. Donaldson (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Baghestani adds that al-Jawad gave charity at the beginning of every month and interceded with the officials on behalf of the people.Template:Sfn His arranged marriage in 215 AH (830) to Umm al-Fadl did not result in any children.Template:Sfn There are other indications that this marriage was not particularly felicitous, including reports that she complained to al-Ma'mun about her marriage,Template:Sfn specifically about her husband taking a concubine,Template:Sfn but the caliph rejected her complaint.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Umm al-Fadl is also commonly held responsible in Shia sources for the death of al-Jawad in 220 AH (835) by poisoning.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Ali al-Hadi, the successor of al-Jawad, was born to Samana, a freed slave (Template:Transliteration) of Moroccan origin,Template:Sfn circa 212 AH (828).Template:Sfn Other children of al-Jawad were Musa al-Mubarraqa and two or four daughters.Template:Sfn In some genealogical books, other sons have been named but there is no mention of them in the earliest sources. The daughters of al-Jawad are named differently in the sources. Here, al-Mufid gives the names Fatima and Amama, while the biographical source Dala'il al-imama lists Khadija, Hakima, and Umm Kulthum. The Sunni theologian Fakhr Razi (Template:Died in) adds Behjat and Barihe to these names, saying that none of them left any descendants. The children of al-Jawad were all born to Samana.Template:Sfn

DeathEdit

File:Al-Kadhimiya Mosque, Kadhmain Shrine.jpg

The Kazimayn shrine, where al-Jawad is buried

Muhammad al-Jawad died on 6 Dhu al-Hijjah 220 AH (30 November 835) in Baghdad, after arriving there in Muharram 220 (January 835) at the request of al-Mu'tasim,Template:Sfn who hosted him and his wife during the visit.Template:Sfn He died at the age of about twenty-five, the youngest among the Twelve Imams.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn All major Sunni sources are silent about the cause of his death, including those by al-Tabari, al-Baghdadi, and Ibn al-Athir.Template:Sfn Among medieval Sunni authors, an exception is Ibn al-Sabbagh, who accepts the possibility of murder.Template:Sfn In contrast, Shia sources hold the Abbasids responsible in the deaths of multiple Shia Imams, including al-Jawad.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In his case, Shia sources are nearly unanimous that he was murdered at the instigation of al-Mu'tasim.Template:Sfn The silence of Sunni sources here is attributed by the Shia to the atmosphere of fear and intimidation under the Abbasids. In particular, Ibn Shahrashub said that he wrote his Manaqib Ale Abi Talib "to bring forth what they [the Sunnis] have suppressed."Template:Sfn An exception here is al-Mufid who does not find the evidence for murder credible.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Among other sources, Ithbat al-wassiya attributes a hadith to al-Rida, childless at the time, in which he apparently predicts the birth of his son al-Jawad and his murder.Template:Sfn

While the manner of his death is given differently by Shia authors,Template:Sfn most say that al-Jawad was poisoned by his disaffected wife Umm al-Fadl, at the instigation of her uncle al-Mu'tasim.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn These include the Shia-leaning historian al-Mas'udi,Template:Sfn and Twelver scholars Ibn Jarir al-Tabari al-Saghir,Template:Sfn Template:Efn Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (Template:Died in), Abbas Qomi (Template:Died in), and Tabatabai.Template:Sfn The Twelver scholar Shaykh Tabarsi (Template:Died in) does not have a verdict but mentions the prevalent Shia view that al-Jawad was poisoned.Template:Sfn Sunni sources typically say that Umm al-Fadl was present in Baghdad when her husband died.Template:Sfn Citing the Sunni historian al-Baghdadi and some others, Baghestani writes that she joined the harem of al-Mu'tasim after the death of al-Jawad.Template:Sfn He was buried next to his grandfather, Musa al-Kazim, the seventh of the Twelve Imams, in the cemetery of the Quraysh on the west bank of Tigris, where the Kazimayn shrine was later erected.Template:Sfn Kazimayn has become an important center for pilgrimage.Template:Sfn

ImamateEdit

Designation as the ImamEdit

Muhammad al-Jawad was about seven years old when his father al-Rida died in 203 AH (818).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Even as the only child of al-Rida, the succession of the young Muhammad to the imamate became controversial,Template:Sfn but did not result in permanent divisions of the Shia community.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn At the time, al-Mas'udi notes the confusion (Template:Transliteration) among the Imamite Shias about the qualifications of the young al-Jawad for the imamate.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn As related by al-Mas'udi and Majlesi,Template:Sfn several supporters of al-Rida thus gathered in Baghdad at the house of Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hajjaj, a distinguished companion of the three previous Imams, namely, Ja'far al-Sadiq (Template:Died in), al-Kazim, and al-Rida.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Of those present, Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman reportedly suggested they choose a temporary leader until al-Jawad reached adulthood. But the view that prevailed was that adulthood is not a prerequisite for wisdom.Template:Sfn There is also the account in Ithbat al-wasiyya and elsewhere, saying that the prominent Shias from across the empire tested the young al-Jawad during the Hajj season and their doubts about him were dispelled.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn There are also reports about the direct or indirect designation (Template:Transliteration) of al-Jawad as the next imam by his predecessor.Template:Sfn These are often narrated by the inner circle of al-Rida,Template:Sfn thus signifying their visible role in consolidating the imamate of the young al-Jawad.Template:Sfn An example of indirect designation is the statement referring to the young al-Jawad as "the greatest blessing for the Shia," ascribed to al-Rida in the canonical Kitab al-Irshad and other sources.Template:Sfn Elsewhere when al-Husayn ibn al-Qiayama questioned the imamate of al-Rida for his lack of an heir at the time, he responded that he would have a son to succeed him.Template:Sfn

According to Wardrop, as the only son of al-Rida, recognition of al-Jawad as the heir to the imamate was to be expected,Template:Sfn adding that there is considerable evidence in the hadith literature against the horizontal transference of the imamate between brothers after Hasan ibn Ali (Template:Died in) and Husayn ibn Ali (Template:Died in), the second and third of the Twelve Imams.Template:Sfn Wardrop points out that there were very few qualified alternatives to al-Jawad anyway,Template:Sfn naming his uncles, Ahmad ibn Musa and Abdallah ibn Musa, and also a different Hasanid with the latter name.Template:Sfn That there was no clear alternative to al-Jawad is also the view of the Muslim jurist Hossein Modarressi.Template:Sfn The attention al-Jawad received from al-Ma'mun, who married him to his daughter, may have also strengthened the case for al-Jawad.Template:Sfn Wardrop thus concludes that the main challenge to the imamate of al-Jawad was his young age, given that the imamate was viewed by the Shia as the ultimate source of knowledge (Template:Transliteration) and guidance.Template:Sfn A group of followers of al-Rida thus accepted the imamate of his brother, Ahmad ibn Musa,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn who had earlier rivaled al-Rida.Template:Sfn Another group joined the Waqifites, who considered al-Kazim to be the last Imam and expected his return as Mahdi, the promised savior in Islam.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Some of these apparently argued that their imam could not be a child.Template:Sfn According to Madelung, some others, who had opportunistically backed the imamate of al-Rida after his appointment as the heir apparent, had now returned to their Sunni or Zaydi communities.Template:Sfn

PrecedentsEdit

As for precedents, there were no child imams before al-Jawad, even though Ali ibn Abi Talib professed Islam at the age of about ten, and Hasan and Husayn formally pledged their allegiance to the prophet when they were about six.Template:Sfn Imamite authors have noted that Jesus received his prophetic mission in the Quran when he was still a child,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn suggesting that al-Jawad also received the requisite perfect knowledge of all religious matters through divine inspiration from the time of his succession, irrespective of his age.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Similar statements are also attributed to al-Rida, "This [his age] does not harm him [al-Jawad], Isa [Jesus] became God's Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit) when he was three years old."Template:Sfn The related Quranic verse 19:12 includes, "We gave him John the Baptist Template:Transliteration (Template:Lit) as a child."Template:Sfn Even so, some among the Shia still debated as to whether the young Imam was equal to an adult Imam in every aspect,<ref name="Medoff" />Template:Sfn as evidenced by some reports in heresiographies and in al-Maqalat by al-Mufid. The latter reports that some proposed that the "pious men with religious and legal knowledge" should lead until al-Jawad matured.Template:Sfn However, the prevailing answer was that both adult and minor Imams are equal since both receive their knowledge from supernatural sources.<ref name="Medoff">Template:Harvnb</ref> Indeed, there already were traditions attributed to earlier Imams asserting that each Imam would inherit the full knowledge of his predecessor upon his death.Template:Sfn

Network of representativesEdit

To organize the affairs of a growing Shia population, which had expanded far to the east of Iraq and Arabia, the young al-Jawad relied heavily on his representatives or agents (Template:Transliteration, Template:Singular Template:Transliteration) throughout the empire.Template:Sfn This undergroundTemplate:Sfn network of agents across the Abbasid empire was founded by his grandfather al-Kazim (Template:Died in) and maintained by his son al-Rida.Template:Sfn There is even some evidence that an early network existed under al-Sadiq (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn This network guided the financial and religious affairs of the Imamite Shias.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn After the death of al-Rida, it took possibly up to four years for the imamate of al-Jawad to consolidate.Template:Sfn In this period of uncertainty, the network of Template:Transliteration likely continued to function, but did so more independently than ever before.Template:Sfn Wardrop suggests that this level of autonomy continued throughout the childhood of al-Jawad.Template:Sfn After al-Rida, some agents remained loyal to his successor, possibly after testing him during the Hajj season.Template:Sfn These included Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Muhtadi, Ayyub ibn Nuh,Template:Sfn and Yahya ibn Abi Imran.Template:Sfn Some others did not, including perhaps Safwan ibn Yahya, Muhammad ibn Sinan, Zakariyya ibn Adam, and S'ad ibn S'ad.Template:Sfn There are conflicting reports about these four and whether they withheld their collected alms from al-Jawad, but some of them are said to have later returned to the Imam.Template:Sfn Because of the relative isolation of al-Jawad by the Abbasids,Template:Sfn the Imamite Shias normally communicated with their Imam through his agents, except during Hajj when they met directly with him.Template:Sfn

During al-Jawad's imamate, Shia activists were dispatched to Egypt and elsewhere, as reported by the Twelver traditionist Ahmad ibn Ali al-Najashi (Template:Died in). They were apparently successful and an account by the Twelver traditionist Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (Template:Died in) describes how Ali ibn Asbat visited al-Jawad on behalf of the Egyptian Imamites.Template:Sfn Among the agents of al-Jawad were Ali ibn Mahziar Ahvazi in Ahvaz, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Hamdani in Hamedan, Yahya ibn Abi Imran in Rayy, Yunus ibn Abdulrahman and Abu Amr al-Hadhdha' in Basra, Ali ibn Hasan W'aseti in Baghdad, Ali ibn Asbat in Egypt, Safwan ibn Yahya in Kufa, Saleh Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sahl and Zakaria ibn Adam Ash'ari Qomi in Qom. In addition to these agents, al-Jawad sometimes sent special representatives to cities to collect religious taxes,Template:Sfn including Khums.Template:Sfn Some followers of al-Jawad received permission to work within the Abbasid government for the benefit of the Shia community.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn These included Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Baz'i and Ahmad ibn al-Hamza al-Qomi in the vizierate, Husayn ibn Abd-Allah al-Neishaburi, the ruler of Bost and Sistan, Hakam ibn Alia' al-Asadi, the ruler of Bahrain, and Nuh ibn Darraj, the Template:Transliteration of Baghdad and then Kufa.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Some of these figures are now known to have secretly paid their Khums to al-Jawad.Template:Sfn Towards the end of al-Jawad's life, the organization and activities of his agents further expanded.Template:Sfn Some of his followers became integrated within the Abbasid army, while he announced his successor, Ali al-Hadi, through his main agent, Muhammad ibn al-Faraj,Template:Sfn or through another companion, Abu al-Khayrani.Template:Sfn

Role in Shia revoltsEdit

Muhammad al-Jawad adopted a quiescent attitude and kept aloof from politics, similar to many of his predecessors.Template:Sfn Nevertheless, Hussain links the 210 AH (825) uprising in Qom to the political activities of al-Jawad's agents, even though the Imamite sources are silent about any military involvement of his underground organization.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Prior to this revolt, residents of Qom, a rising Shia center,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn had called on al-Ma'mun to lower their taxes as he had done for the city of Rayy.Template:Sfn The caliph rejected their appeal, then suppressed their subsequent revolt, and substantially raised their taxes.Template:Sfn This is detailed by the Twelver traditionist Ibn Shahrashub (Template:Died in),Template:Sfn who writes that the Abbasid army demolished the wall surrounding the city, killed many, and nearly quadrupled the taxes.Template:Sfn Among those killed was a prominent participant in the uprising, named Yahya ibn Imran,Template:Sfn who might have been a representative (Template:Transliteration) of Muhammad al-Jawad.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The attitude of al-Jawad towards this uprising, however, remains unclear,Template:Sfn as the Imamite sources are silent about this uprising and its connection to al-Jawad or lack thereof.Template:Sfn Probably connecting al-Jawad to Shia rebellions, al-Ma'mun summoned the former from Medina to Baghdad in 215 AH (830) and married his daughter Umm Fazl to him. This marriage, however, did not win al-Ma'mun the Shia support, nor did it stop the uprisings in Qom.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Indeed, some reports by al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir add that among the rebel leaders who had been exiled to Egypt, Ja'far ibn Dawud al-Qomi later escaped and rose again in Qom,Template:Sfn defeating the Abbasid army in 216 AH. The Shia uprisings continued even after his execution in 217 AH by the Abbasids. After succeeding al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'tasim summoned al-Jawad to Baghdad in 220 AH (835) and held him under close surveillance, probably to ascertain his role in the Shia uprisings.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Companions and narrators of hadithEdit

Shaykh Tusi (Template:Died in) has listed one hundred and sixteen narrators of hadith from al-Jawad, though only a few of them were his trusted companions, including Ali ibn Mahziar Ahvazi, Abu Hashim Dawud ibn al-Qasim al-Ja'fari, Abd al-Azim al-Hasani, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Bazanti, Ali ibn Asbat Kufi, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, and Amro ibn Firat.Template:Sfn In particular, Ibn Mahziar was the agent of al-Jawad in Ahvaz and wrote two books, namely, Kitab al-Malahim and Kitab al-Qa'im, about occultation,Template:Sfn which is the eschatological belief that Mahdi, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, has already been born and subsequently concealed from the public.Template:Sfn The two sons of Ibn Mahziar, named Ibrahim and Muhammad, later served as the representatives of the twelfth Imam in Ahvaz.Template:Sfn The Imam distanced himself from the Ghulat (Template:Lit) who believed in the divinity of Imams.Template:Sfn Among them were Abu l-Khattab, Abu al-Samhari, and Ibn Abi Zarqa, who are said to have defamed Shia by forging traditions and attributing them to the Imams and introducing themselves as their representatives.Template:Sfn

Template:TransliterationEdit

In Shia sources, al-Jawad is credited with some Template:Transliteration (Template:Singular Template:Transliteration),Template:Sfn that is, supernatural acts or miracles sometimes attributed to saints in Islam.Template:Sfn These include speaking at the time of his birth, Template:Transliteration (teleportation in Islamic mysticism) from Medina to Khorasan for the burial of his father al-Rida, miraculously healing the sick, fulfillment of his prayers for friends and against his enemies, informing about the inner secrets of people, predicting future events, and particularly his death. These are often cited by the Shia as proof of his imamate.Template:Sfn A subtle story of this kind in Bihar al-Anwar and Kitab al-Kafi is told on the authority of Abd-Allah ibn Razin. When visiting the Imam, he decided to gather some of the earth upon which al-Jawad had set foot, a desire that he later deemed sinful. However, his attempts to tactfully do so were all thwarted by al-Jawad, who subtly changed his daily routines. This continued to the point that it surprised the attendant of Imam and let Abd-Allah realize that al-Jawad was aware of his sinful determination. It was only after Abd-Allah resolved to give up that al-Jawad returned to his usual routine.Template:Sfn

SuccessorEdit

After the death of al-Jawad in 220 AH (835),Template:Sfn the majority of his followers acknowledged the imamate of his son Ali,Template:Sfn later to be known by the epithets al-Hadi (Template:Lit) and al-Naqi (Template:Literal translation).Template:Sfn Similar to his father, Ali was also a minor when he succeeded him in 220 AH (835) at the age of about seven.Template:Sfn The will attributed to al-Jawad in Kitab al-Kafi stipulates that Ali would inherit from him and be responsible for his younger brother, Musa, and his sisters.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Muhammad al-Jawad is also said to have announced the succession of Ali through his main agent, Muhammad ibn al-Faraj,Template:Sfn or through Abu al-Khayrani.Template:Sfn This messenger relayed the designation to the assembly of companions after the death of al-Jawad and the majority there is reported to have agreed on the imamate of Ali al-Hadi.Template:Sfn

LegacyEdit

Muhammad al-Jawad was engaged in teaching during his eight years in Baghdad,Template:Sfn and he was renowned for his public defense of Islamic tradition, according to Edward D.A. Hulmes.Template:Sfn His extensive correspondence with his followers on questions of Islamic law (Template:Transliteration) about marriage, divorce, and inheritance has been preserved in Shia sources. Ali al-Rida is even said to have praised his son for writing "extremely elegant" letters while still a young boy.Template:Sfn According to Hamid Mavani, most Shia hadiths about Khums (Islamic alms, Template:Lit) are attributed to al-Jawad and his successor, al-Hadi.Template:Sfn Mavani regards Khums as an example of the Imams' discretionary authority as Shia leaders, which in this case countered the redirection of Zakat (another Islamic alms) to sustain oppressive regimes and support the affluent lifestyle of caliphs.Template:Sfn Among the Shia, the titles al-Qa'im (Template:Lit) and less frequently al-Mahdi refer to the messianic figure in Islam.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn This apparently created confusion and al-Jawad is reported to have identified the two, saying that Qa'im Al Muhammad is the last Imam and that he would be al-Mahdi.Template:Sfn Verses 81:15–16, "O, but I call to witness the planets, the stars which rise and set,"Template:Sfn were also interpreted by al-Jawad and his predecessor al-Baqir as referring to the reappearance of al-Mahdi, thus likening him to a shooting star in the dark night.Template:Sfn Musnad al-imam al-Jawad lists the collections of hadith that contain the sermons and sayings attributed to al-Jawad, including al-Tazkirat al-Hamdouniya by the Sunni scholar Ibn Hamdan (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Among many pithy religio-ethical sayings attributed to al-Jawad,Template:Sfn Donaldson quotes a few:Template:Sfn

Muhammad al-Jawad related from Ali ibn Abi Talib that, once when the prophet sent him to Yemen, he said to him, "O Ali, he is never disappointed who asks for good (from God), and He never has a motive for repenting who asks (His) advice."
Muhammad al-Jawad reported that the prophet had said to Ali, "Rise betimes in the name of God, for God hath bestowed a blessing on my people in their early rising."
"Whosoever gaineth for himself a brother in God, hath gained for himself a mansion in Paradise."
Muhammad al-Jawad related from the prophet, "Make it a point to travel by night, for more ground can be got over by night than by day."Template:Sfn