Imam Sajjad

Imam Sajjad supported his father with the uprising against Yazid. He migrated with his father from Medina to Mecca, then from Mecca to Karbala. Imam Sajjad was only 24 years old in Karbala. He became sick a few days before Ashura. On the day of Ashura, while Imam Sajjad was struggling with his illness and repeatedly falling unconscious, Imam Hossein came to see him for the last time. He embraced his beloved son, and said his final words to him. When Imam Hossein was leaving for the battlefield and Imam Sajjad saw his father’s loneliness, he leaned on a stick, attempting to walk, and proceeded to help him. While he was struggling to stand on his feet, Imam Hossein asked his sister to take care of Imam Sajjad, saying, “The earth should not be left without a representative from God.”

On the day after Ashura, Umar ibn Sa’ad and his troops, who were responsible for the tragedy of Karbala, stayed in Karbala until noon to bury the bodies of their men. They then took the surviving family of Imam Hossein and his companions to Kufa. The enemies tied their hands and made them ride camels without saddles. As the Imam was the eldest male among the captives, the enemies tied the hands of Imam Sajjad to his neck to afflict him with more suffering. Since the Imam was very sick and could fall, they also tied his legs to the underneath of the camel.

Ibn Ziyad sent a letter to Yazid to request his orders. Yazid ordered him to send the captives and the heads of the martyrs to Damascus, Syria. After about 12 days of traveling in hardship as captives, the caravan finally arrived in Damascus. This was the place Imam Sajjad recalled as the most difficult part of their captivity since Ashura.

Yazid prepared a gathering in his palace and ordered the captives’ presence. The captives were brought inside, still tied to one chain. Yazid addressed Imam Sajjad and said, “May God bless the one who killed your father.” Imam Sajjad fearlessly said, “May God curse him.” Yazid became furious. He wanted to kill Imam Sajjad, but God’s plans altered the situation. During the discussion of the Imam with Yazid, Yazid justified his actions by reciting the following verse from the Holy Quran [42:30], “Whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned; and yet He (God) pardons much.” The Imam rejected Yazid’s justification and responded, “Our situation is instead described in the Quran in [57:22], ‘No calamity occurs on earth or in your souls, but it is in a Book, even before We make it happen. That is easy for God.”

To flaunt his power to the people, Yazid took Imam Sajjad to the Mosque of Damascus and appointed a lecturer to deliver a sermon against Imam Hossein and his father, Imam Ali. The Imam rose up and asked to enlighten the people with his words. Yazid resisted, but his near ones insisted that he allow Imam Sajjad to speak. Imam Sajjad’s most important and critical sermon in Damascus was delivered in this place. The people were influenced by the Imam’s sermon and began to cry. Yazid feared the effect of the Imam’s words on the hearts of the people. Suddenly, he interrupted the Imam’s speech by ordering that the Azan, the call to prayer, be recited. When the Azan reached the verse of bearing witness to the Prophet, the Imam looked at Yazid and strongly said, “Is Muhammad your grandfather or mine? For if you say he is yours, then you’re a liar and if you believe that he is my grandfather, then why did you kill his family and capture his descendants?” When Yazid proceeded to lead the noon prayer, people dispersed, and not many followed him in the congregational prayer.

When the caravan neared Medina, Imam Sajjad requested a poet to go and recite a poem for Imam Hossein to inform the people of Medina about their arrival. The entire city of Medina was overcome with grief. The grieving people came out of the city to receive the caravan. While weeping, the Imam delivered a sermon. He praised God and mourned Imam Hossein’s martyrdom. The Imam reminded the people about the Prophet’s command of loving and respecting his progeny, the Ahlul-Bayt. The Imam said, “Even if the Prophet had commanded a war against us, it could not be worse than the tragedy that we have endured.” The people of the caravan had returned to Medina after about seven long months, but without their loved ones. They visited the tomb of the Prophet, where they sorrowfully cried and mourned.

After Ashura, for around 34 years until the end of Imam Sajjad’s life, the Imam always wept tears of sorrow for the tragedy of Karbala. The Imam is one of the five divine characters who wept the most, along with the Prophets Adam, Jacob, Joseph, and Lady Fatimah. The Imam was constantly reminded of Karbala. Every glance at water would evoke tears in his eyes. He used to fast during the day, and at night upon seeing food, tears would roll down his cheeks. Imam Sajjad was also the first person to perform his prayers on the sands of Karbala to keep the message of Imam Hossein alive. This custom exists until today.

After Yazid’s death, Medina fell under the control of Ibn Zubayr. During his government, the pressure and cruelty on Imam Sajjad and the Prophet’s family increased. Although Ibn Zubayr and the Umayyads were against each other for the caliphate, both hated the Ahlul-Bayt and their Shia followers. While the Umayyads followed Muawiyah’s legacy of cursing Imam Ali from the pulpit, Ibn Zubayr said that he had hidden his hatred against the Prophet’s family in his heart for 40 years. For 40 consecutive weeks, he removed the salutations to the Prophet from his Friday sermons, because he did not want Banu Hashim to feel the pride of belonging to the Prophet’s family. He imprisoned 26 of the Banu Hashim, and threatened to burn them alive if they did not pledge allegiance to him. In this situation, the Imam did not approve of Ibn Zubayr’s government, and was concerned about Ibn Zubayr’s plots against the Shias. The Imam continued his strategy to appear isolated from politics, and he did not involve himself in any activity that would benefit Ibn Zubayr, or the Umayyads.

About five years after the tragedy of Karbala, Mokhtar took revenge from the Kufans who had been responsible for the tragedy. Mokhtar had a brief government of about one-and-a-half years, and was eventually suppressed by Mus’ab, the brother of Abdullah ibn Zubayr, and his governor in Basrah, Iraq. Upon his victory, Mus’ab ordered the beheadings of around 7,000 of Mokhtar’s troops, who had surrendered and left Mokhtar without support. This incident showed the cruelty of Ibn Zubayr’s caliphate against Shias, and also highlighted that the Shias of Kufa were not fully dedicated to their faith and were still untrustworthy. Due to the political circumstances, the Imam did not directly endorse Mokhtar’s movement. However, there are historical records that show his consent for the revenge for the blood of Imam Hossein.

During this situation, the Imam was planning an ideal Islamic government in the long-term. His goal was to influence the people with his prayers and moral actions, and to attract them towards true Islamic teachings. The Imam also trained real Muslims in a society where everyone called themselves Muslims, yet did not abide by the Prophetic values. The Imam illustrated the framework of an ideal Islamic government in his book, Risalat al-Huquq.

Imam Sajjad was a symbol of prayer and piety in society. He fasted and prayed one thousand units of prayer daily. His face would become pale in worship in the presence of God. His prayers would often remind people of the prayers of Imam Ali. Imam Sajjad had multiple honorable titles reflecting his worship. He was known as ‘Sajjad’, which means ‘the one who prostrates abundantly’, and ‘Sayyid al-Saajideen’ which means ‘the Master of the Prostrators’. He received these titles because he was constantly in prostration and prayer to God for every blessing he had received. He was also known as ‘Dhu Thafanaat’, which means ‘someone who has grown calluses or hard thickened skin on all places touching the ground while prostrating’, and he used to treat his hardened skin twice a year. He was also known as ‘Zayn al-Abidin’ which means ‘the Adornment of the Worshippers’.

The Imam tried to attract the people to the true Islamic teachings. He wanted to open their relationships with God through the language of prayers. This was not suspicious for the governors, nor did it repel the people. Many supplications have been narrated from the Imam, such as the famous supplication of Abu Hamza al-Thumaali, which the Imam used to recite during the dawns of the month of Ramazan. A collection of 54 of the Imam’s supplications is compiled in a book called al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya. This book is the greatest Shia book after the Quran and Nahj al-Balagha. It is also called ‘Sister of the Quran’, ‘Gospel of the Holy Household’, and ‘Psalms of Muhammad’s progeny’, which clearly indicate the importance of the book. In this book of supplications, the Imam expresses Islamic knowledge regarding various aspects of individual, social, political, and cultural life. The famous Makarim Al-Akhlaq is just one of the supplications in al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya.

Imam Sajjad also worked hard to raise Muslims with true Islamic values. The Imam, who had started with only three companions, expanded to tens of companions during his lifetime. The names of more than 170 companions of the Imam are recorded in history. The Imam offered classes to teach Islamic lessons in the Mosque of the Prophet and in his own home. He would purchase enslaved men whom he didn’t need, and would train them to become model Muslims. The Imam would even take them to Hajj with him, provide them with financial resources, and eventually free them into society. He would never keep any of them for more than a year, and every year at the end of the month of Ramazan, he would free about 20 slaves. The men freed by the Imam are estimated to be in the thousands. The Imam’s actions conveyed his message against the discrimination of slaves in society.

Imam Sajjad taught how an ideal Muslim should act and live through his book, Risalat al-Huquq. In this book, the Imam stated 50 rights that every person should recognize and respect. These rights cover all of the rights involved in the relationships between an individual with God, an individual with himself, and an individual with others. These rights include the rights of God and our deeds to Him, of different organs of the body, and of the social relationships such as family, various members of the society, and the government. Some of these rights are compulsory by Islamic rulings, but the majority of them are recommendations only identified in a true Muslim.

Imam Sajjad’s efforts to guide the Muslims and reconstruct Islamic society had made him the center of attention and respect from the Muslims. For example, the famous reciters of Quran in Medina would not leave for Hajj until Imam Sajjad left the city and they would follow him in large numbers, and the people would not return until the Imam left Mecca. The Umayyads, who were afraid for their own power, could not tolerate the Imam’s social popularity and influence among the people. Thus, Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik, who hated the Imam due to his observations at Hajj, encouraged his brother, Valeed, to order the poisoning of the Imam.

After Imam Sajjad was poisoned, he called his children and chose his son, Muhammad, as his successor in the Imamat. He addressed him with the title of Baqir. The Imam then recited the chapters of Waqi’ah and Fath from the Holy Quran. The chapter of Waqi’ah describes the Day of Judgment and the categorization of the people on that day. The chapter of Fath describes the treaty of Hudaybiyyah during which the Muslims achieved victory peacefully. The Imam then recited the following verse [39:74], “Praise be to God, who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us inherit the land, enjoying paradise as we please. How excellent is the reward of the workers.” Then, his soul ascended, and he passed away on the 25th of Muharram, in the year 95 Hijri, at the age of 58.