Falsehood does not approach it from before or from behind...

Falsehood does not approach it from before or from behind, a revelation from The All Wise, The All Praised.’ A narrator reports, I asked Imam al-Rid}a> (A) ‘What do you say about the Qur’an?’ Imam Rid}a> (A) replied: ‘It is the word of Allah, and so do not surpass it, and do not seek guidance in anything else, for you will be deviated and go astray.’ The Ninth Imam: Imam al-Jawad Imam Muhammad al-Jawa>d (A) is the son of Imam Ali al-Rid}a> (A) and his mother is lady Sabikah.

He was born on Friday the tenth of Rajab in the year one hundred and ninety-five after the Hijrah in the holy city of Medina. He died a martyr in Baghdad after being poisoned at the end of Dhi- 174 i.e. he would always sit upright in their presence out of respect. Ed.. Qqa’dah in the year two hundred and twenty after Hijrah.

His son Imam Ali al-Ha>di prepared his body for burial and he was buried in the Quraysh cemetery – as it was then known – next to the grave of his grandfather Imam Mosa al-Ka>dim where his shrine stands now, currently in the Ka>dimiyyah district of Baghdad, Iraq. Imam Muhammad al-Jawa>d excelled all others of his time in knowledge, spiritual perfection, generosity, social and moral manners, and in the art of eloquent communications. He would carry gold and silver with him to give to the needy.

If he was asked for assistance by any of his uncles Imam al-Jawa>d (A) would give them no less than 50 gold coins, and if any of his aunts asked him for assistance, he would give them no less than 25 gold coins. More people became aware of the vast knowledge of Imam al- Jawa>d when some eighty scholars from different places met with him on his way back from Hajj and asked him various questions, to all of which the Imam provided convincing and irrefutable answers.

On one occasion an amazing event is reported that many people gathered around him to ask him various questions, which numbered around thirty thousand, and he answered all of them correctly, and at that time he was only nine years old.

Age factor, however, is not an issue in the case of the members of the Family Revelation [of the Prophet], in particular when the holy Qur’an speaks of giving the Book and Prophethood to Jesus son of Mary while he was a toddler in the cradle.175 In appreciation to the Imam’s station, Ma’mun, the ruler of the time, gave to him his daughter in marriage after the Imam answered all the questions that the ruler had asked him for trial purposes. 175 The holy Qur’an, Mary (19):30.