Every year the 15th of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah provides us the opportunity to glance at the service to humanity of the person born on this day
Every year the 15th of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah provides us the opportunity to glance at the service to humanity of the person born on this day.
Before presenting you a special feature on his life and times, here is a beautiful passage from one of his moving supplications to God Almighty:
"O Allah, the fountains of your bestowal are brimful, the doors of your supplications for the one who has trust in you are wide-open... Whoever takes refuge with you will be secure, and whoever resorts to you will succeed..."
Named Ali (A.S) in honor of the One and Only Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (A.S), his epithets of "an-Naqi" or The Spotlessly Pure and al-Hadi or The Divinely-Inspired Guide, are indicative of the fact that he was a member of the blessed group, whose unsullied purity has been touched by none other than God Almighty in the Holy Qur'an:
"Allah desires to keep away all uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bait and keep you pure as pure can be." (The Holy Quran, 33:33)
He was the 10th infallible successor of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He was born in the Prophet's city Medina in the year 212 AH corresponding to 825 of the Christian calendar. His knowledge with certitude made him the Pride of Prophets. The fact that he was a mere boy of 8 years when the divine mantle of Imamate came to rest on his tender shoulders is ample proof of the Jesus-like wisdom he possessed. This is proven by his debates with silver-bearded scholars who were all at sea against his immaculate reasoning and explanation of facts and realities. For instance, when the famous ideologue of the Abbasid regime, Yahya ibn Aksam, who some twenty years ago had been outclassed and outwitted in a memorable debate with his father, Imam Mohammad Taqi al-Jawad (A.S), tried to pose similarly baffling questions to him by taking advantage of his young age, Imam Hadi (A.S), gave a perfect demonstration of his God-given knowledge.
Yahya said: “As the holy Qur'an says when Prophet Jacob went to Egypt along with his sons to see the kind minister of Egypt who had given them grains in times of famine, all fell down into prostration without recognizing that it was their own long lost Joseph. So why did a Prophet like Jacob, who certainly had God-given knowledge of his son, prostrate before Joseph, whereas, prostration is specified only for God?”
Imam Hadi (A.S) replied: “This prostration was not for Joseph, but as a thanksgiving to God, just like the prostration of the angels for Adam (at the dawn of creation); they did not perform it for Adam but prostrated on the orders of God as a gratitude and thankfulness regarding the creation of such a perfect being.”
Imam Hadi (A.S) groomed many great scholars who in turn spread the precepts of genuine Islam to the four corners of the world. On his authority many of the ziyaraat or standard form of salutations to the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (A.S), to the Immortal Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (A.S) and to other Infallible Imams, have been transmitted, as testified by the timeless wisdom of the famous Ziyarat al-Jame'a al-Kabira.
Imam Hadi (A.S) dealt rationally with the hypocrites remarkably. Here is a part of his statement when he saw a group of them sitting in a corner of the mosque and chanting "la ilaha il-Allah or there is no god but Allah: He said: "Do not pay attention to these deceivers for they are allies of the devils and destroyers of the bases of religion... They do not practice rites except to deceive people... No one follows them except the stupid, and no one believes in them except the fool... They endeavour to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, and Allah will not consent except to perfect His light, though the unbelievers are averse..."
Perhaps, the greatest legacy of the 10th Imam - and later his son and successor Imam Hassan Askari (A.S) - was strengthening the foolproof system of wikala or representation that withstood the tribulations of time and admirably guided the faithful during the crucial years of the Ghaybat as-Sughra or lesser occultation of his grandson, the 12th Imam, whom God will raise as Mahdi al-Qa'em (A.S) to cleanse the planet of all vestiges of oppression and corruption and fill it with the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, Inshallah....
source : sibtayn.com
