Tawu`s thought that Ibra`him b.

Tawu`s thought that Ibra`him b. al-Walïd took part in murdering the Ima`m, peace be on him.[^4] This means that Ibra`him helped other persons to murder the Ima`m, peace be on him. Some references have ignored the name of the person who assassinated the Ima`m, peace be on him. They have only mentioned that the Ima`m died of poisoning.[^5] These are some of the views mentioned concerning murdering the Ima`m, peace be on him, with poison.

Reasons for the Murder of the Ima`m The Umayyads murdered the Ima`m, peace be on him. The reasons for that are as follows: 1. The Ima`m’s high Character Ima`m Abu` Ja‘far (al-Ba`qir), peace be on him, had the highest character in the Islamic world. Moslems have unanimously greed on his high character. They have admitted his outstanding merits. All Moslem religious scholars from all Moslem countries came to him to learn his sciences and his morals.

For the Ima`m learned that from his grandfather, Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. The Ima`m, peace be on him, possessed the sentiments of the people. Thus, they admired and respected him. For the Ima`m was the most prominent figure in the family of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. Hence, the Ima`m’s high social rank displeased the Umayyads. Accordingly, they decided to murder him to get rid of him. 2.

The Events of Damascus Among the reasons that moved the Umayyads to kill the Ima`m, peace be on him, were the events the Ima`m faced in Damascus. These events are as follow: A. The Ima`m exceeded the Umayyads and others in shooting. That was when Hisha`m summoned the Ima`m to compete with the Umayyds and others for shooting. Hisha`m thought the Ima`m would fail in hitting the target.

Thus, he would be able to use the Ima`m’s failure as means to degrade the importance of the Ima`m and to mock him before the Syrians. However, the Ima`m shot and hit the target several times. The people had never seen such skillfulness in the world of shooting. Hisha`m was full of anger. So, he decided to murder the Ima`m from that moment. B. The Ima`m debated with Hisha`m on the affairs of the Ima`mate. The Ima`m defeated Hisha`m. So, the latter was full of malice towards the former. C.

The Ima`m debated with the scholar of the Christians on certain affairs. The Ima`m also defeated the scholar. So, the Syrians were busy talking about the Ima`m’s victory over the Christian scholar. We have mentioned these matters in detail in the previous chapters.