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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Anecdotes From the Lives of the 14 Ma’sumeen Imam Muhammad At-taqi (a) Our 9th Imam, Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (A) had an uncle called Ali ibne Jaffar, who was a very knowledgeable, pious old man. Whenever he went to the mosque, people would surround him and ask him questions. One day Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (A) arrived at the mosque.

When his uncle who was sitting in the middle of a large group of people saw him, he immediately got up and kissed the hand of Imam (A). Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (A) asked his uncle to sit down, to which his uncle replied that he could not sit while Imam (A) was standing. When Ali ibne Jaffar returned among his friends, after Imam (A) had left, his friends told him that it was wrong for him to show so much respect to that child (Imam (A) as he was an old man and the uncle of the child.

Ali ibne Jaffar replied that he was showing respect to the child because of who he was. He continued that Imamate is an office and a station from Allah, and Allah did not deem him an old man fit and capable for the leadership of the Ummah, but considered the child capable for it. Therefore they should all obey his (Imam (A)) commands. Moral: The age of a person is not important but what kind of person they are.

Only Allah knows everything about everyone and therefore only Allah is allowed to judge people, and say what they do and do not deserve. When our 9th Imam, Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (A) was a young man, Ma'mun had arranged a question - answer session between Imam (A) and Yahya bin Athkam, who was supposed to be the most learned of men at that time. The court was full of people from near and far everyone wanted to see what the outcome would be.

Yahya asked the first question which was:What would be the kaffara of a person in Ihram who hunted and killed his prey? Imam Muhammad at-Taqi answered that he would have to be given a lot more detail before he could even begin to answer the question. For example: Was the person in Ihram Baligh or not? Was the person a free man or a slave? Did he know the laws of sharia on hunting or not? Was his Ihram for Hajj or Umra? Did he hunt intentionally or not? Was this the first time or one of many?

Did the person in Ihram hunt inside the Haram of the Ka'ba or outside. Did he hunt in the day or at night? Was the prey big or small? Was the prey a bird or an animal? Was the person sorry or not? Yahya was shocked and did not know what to say.