Assalam o Alaikum brothers & sisters. Welcome to Quran and Islam.
I hope you all are in the best of your health & Iman.
How many of you know about the fact that the largest mosque in the world by area
is Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran? This is indeed one of the most worth visiting complexes
which contains the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery,
the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, and vast prayer halls.
Though it is a respectable place for all the Muslims but the Shiite community holds
different sentiments for it. It's because in it lies their eighth out of twelve imams, Imam Reza.
Now for your information an ‘Imam’ is the spiritual leader of the Shia
chosen from the descendants of our Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Ali ibn Musa al-Rida
was born in 766. He became the eighth Shia Imam in 799, after his father died.
And today he is remembered as Imam Reza. He remained Imam for almost two decades.
During this time, he had gained a reputation for being a highly knowledgeable spiritual leader.
Historian Al-Dhahabi praised him as the most kind and noblest of the Hashemites of his time.
But as you know no superiority arrives without bringing enemies with it,
so according to Shia historians, Imam Reza's enemy was Al- Ma'mun,
the ruler of Abbasid caliphate. It was him who had offered Imam Reza the successorship
to the Caliphate at first. And it was also him who later on, was threatened to see that Imam Reza
had become more popular than him. This is what made him feel jealous
and he conspired to kill Imam Reza. Ibn Hisham, Mamun’s favorite henchman mixed poison in grapes
and when Imam ate those grapes, he became ill and died within three days in June 818.
Talking about his conduct, he was one of those wealthy persons,
who abandoned their riches and pomp. So,
their simple life should become a source of consolation for the poor and a model for the rich.
His humble nature never let him enjoy when people used to hype him up.
And he used to narrate the Hadith of the Prophet
that a black negro slave can be better than a person from my own family if his deeds are better.
Let me tell you another simple incident that shows how much he used to include
the Holy Prophet's (PBUH) ways in his life. Mohammed ibn Sinan reports that they once
warned the Imam about declaring his Imamate as the caliph Haroun would try to harm him.
The Imam replied, “What gave me courage are the words of the Prophet when he said, “If
Abu Jehl can harm even a hair of my head, then be witness that I am not the messenger of God.” And
I say that “if Haroun can harm even a hair of my head, then be witness that I am not a true Imam."
Although it has been centuries since his martyrdom,
his believers still commemorate his Martyrdom every year on the 30th of Islamic month, Safar.
It is considered a public holiday in Iran in which millions of Iranians participate.
Thousands of Shia pilgrims visit the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad,
Iran to pray and ask forgiveness. Brothers and sisters, we should
follow the teachings and life of such great men in the Islamic history. But do you think
we should go to the shrines to ask for forgiveness and pray for our desires instead
of asking them from Allah Almighty, who is the real provider? Let us know in the comments.