Biography of Imam Muhammad Bin Ali (a.s.)(al-taqi)

Chapter Three : Imam Muhammad Taqi (a.s.): His Character

INTRODUCTION:

All Imams are born Imams. The excellence of their characters therefore appear since their childhood. However, with the exception of our last four Imams (Imam Muhammad Taqi (A.S.), Imam ali Naqi (A.S.), Imam Hasan Askari (A.S.) and Imam Mehdi (A.S.), all other Imams had the fortune of spending with their fathers.

Their duties as Imam of time came in their adulthood. They did not face the challenge of leading the Ummah which was reluctant to accept them owing to their tender age. Imam Muhammad Taqi (A.S.) was the first Imam to face this challenge.

To enable our Imam (A.S.) to conduct his duties well, Allah endowed him with some special qualities while he was still a child. In this way the Imam (A.S.) could convince the genuine but confused followers of his "Imamat"

We shall examine these unique qualities of our nineth Imam under the light of his character.

CHARACTER

We all love children! How many of us however, would entrust them with the safety and security of our lives?

Imam Muhammad Taqi (A.S.) proclaimed his Imamat at the tender age of nine. Even the most genuine followers of Imam Reza (A.S.) found it hard to accept him.

Imam Taqi (A.S.) needed to conduct himself in an exceptional way to convince even the most sympathetic followers that, indeed, he was their spiritual leader and the representative of Allah on earth. He did this through the excellence of his character.

The greatest strength of Imam's personality was his intelligence. Not only was he the most knowledgeable person of his times, but his knowledge was also supported by three other qualities:

Ability to think very fast and give immediate answers; Excellent speaking manners that would charm even his most avowed enemies; and Ability to explain difficult ideas in a simple language using common examples.

To see how these qualities in the Imam (A.S.) worked, consider again his question-answer session in Mamoon's court with Kazi Yahya Bin Aksam.

Notice how politely but firmly did he deal with both Mamoon and Kazi Yahya despite their age and position. As a matter of fact, his charm, his confidence and his courage melted the hard hearts of his enemies, the Bani Abbas, like heat melts butter. They all accepted his supremacy in knowledge and wisdom, despite their prejudices.

Over and above his intelligence, our ninth Imam (A.S.) had other excellent qualities which are described in the following lines.

PIETY

Youthfulness is always associated with playfulness. But this was not so with our ninth Imam. His love for a pure life that is devoted to Allah was such that he came to be known as Taqi or the Pious one.

GENEROSITY

Imam Muhammad Taqi (A.S.) is also known as "Jawad" or the generous one. His generosityknew no bounds. He was there for the needy as well as for any one else who sought for his help. It is said that whenever he went out of his home he made sure that he had with him enough money as to enable him to meet the demands of those who went to him for help.

Following his father's advice, he would give to his relatives not less than 50 Dirhams at one time. Like his great-grandparents, he used to visit the needy in the darkness of the night and meet their demands without them knowing who their benefactor was.

For those whom the Imam (A.S.) could not reach in person, he would meet their needs through his agents.

Those who visited Medina or Baghdad depending upon where the Imam (A.S.) was at that time, ad who did not have a place to stay, would go to Imam's house. On one such occasion a visitor paid the Imam (A.S.) a visit late at night.

The Imam (A.S.) welcomed him and asked him if he was hungry. The visitor replied that he was, indeed, hungry but he did'nt wish to have any food as this would inconvenience Imam (A.S.).

The Imam's (A.S.) reply was "No one sleeps hungry in my house."

The Imam (A.S.) then awakened his maid requesting her to make dough for bread whereas he would himself heat the stove. The maid volunteered to do both the jobs herself but the Imam (A.S.) insisted on making fire in the stove arguing that he too wanted to earn reward from Allah for serving the guest.

Noticing the Imam's sincerity, the visitor burst into tears. He then said "How unfortunate it is that the world does not recognise and value such a personality as this one."

HUMILITY

His unsurpassable knowledge, and his high position in the court of Mamoon and his special relationship with Mamoon as his father-in-law never got into the head our Imam (A.S.).

His close friends who had expected his living-style and his behaviour towards them to change after his marriage to the princess of the land were shocked to see that he ramained as humble as before.

Once Imam (A.S.) was very sick. A visitor came to see him for some urgent matters. Imam's family members wanted to send away the visitor but the Imam (A.S.) saw he must meet him. The Imam (A.S.) was helped by his servants to get out of his bed.

The visitor had wished that the Imam (A.S.) would visit the former's father who was on his death-bed and wanted to relate his will to the Imam before dying. The visitor then said, "But seeing your condition, I cannot ask you to come with me to see my father."

The Imam (A.S.) insisted on visiting in the sick person and did so despite his own sickness.

BRAVERY

All along, Mamoon and his Abbaside clan had thought that despite his super-intelligence, the Imam (A.S.) would be controlled through the power of the Palace. The Imam (A.S.) proved them wrong. The Imam's refusal to give away his God-given right to mary more than one wife, when appropriate, illustrates this point.

Neither Ummul FazFs complaints nor the pressure of the Bani courtiers would force him to divorce his Nubian wife.

He did no! make it secret that to him the one with nobility of character was better than the one with nobility of blood in support of his excellent stand, Allah continued ;tie of the Prophet through Samannah the Nubian not Ummul-Fazl the "Pure" Quraish!

It needed real courage to stand against Ummul Fazl's and later, Muttasim's pressures, and the Imam (A.S.) did just that, not caring for the consequences. Such a brave person he was.