It was during his short reign that Husayn bin ‘Ali organized...

It was during his short reign that Husayn bin ‘Ali organized an uprising against Hadi which ended in an armed confrontation in Fakh. Unfortunately, Husayn and all his companions were killed. Hadi died in 170 A.H. and was succeeded by Hārun ar-Rashīd. Hārun, in spite of all the fame that he has in advancing sciences and knowledge, was a very tyrannical ruler—especially when it involved the Shi‘as and the Ahlu ’l-Bayt.

He exiled all the descendants of Imam ‘Ali in Baghdad to Medina; he used to give hefty rewards to the poets who composed verses against the Shi‘a Imams; he even made it difficult for the people to visit the grave of Imam Husayn (a.s.) at Karbala. Under such circumstances, Imam Musa al-Kādhim strongly urged his followers to refrain from working or cooperating with tyrant rulers and governments. One interesting example is of Safwan bin Mihrān al-Jammāl.

Once when Safwan came to visit him, the Imam said: “You are a good person except for one thing.” Safwan: “What is it, O Imam?” Imam: “You have rented out your camels to Hārun.” Safwan: “O Imam, I have rented them out to him for his journey to Mecca for hajj; and I have not personally gone for taking care of the animals, my employees are going with his caravan.” Imam: “Don’t you have this wish in your heart that may Hārun came back alive from this journey so that you may get back your camels and their rental?” Safwan: “Yes, O Imam.” Imam: “O Safwan, one who wishes the tyrants to live longer will be counted as one of them!” There are, however, some cases where Imam Musa al-Kādhim allowed a selected few (like ‘Ali bin Yaqtin) to work for Hārun’s government only with the condition that they would use their positions to help their fellow Shi’as.

His In spite of the difficult political atmosphere the Imam had trained great companions in knowledge as well as in piety. Ibn Abi ‘Umayr: Anyone familiar with the Shi’i hadith literature would testify that Ibn Abi ‘Umary is the source of countless ahadith on Islamic laws. Just because he was a student of Imam Musa al-Kādhim (a.s.), he suffered at the hand of the oppressive regimes of the ‘Abbāsids. Once he was arrested and asked to reveal the names of all the prominent Shi‘as of Iraq.

He refused even though he had to suffer a hundred lashes after which he was hanged between two trees. According to Shaykh Mufid, Ibn Abu ‘Umary was put in prison for seventeen years just because he was a follower of the Ahlu ’l-Bayt.