‘Ali, Imam al-Jawad (a.

‘Ali, Imam al-Jawad (a.s.): ‘A group of your opponents presume that Ma’mun has given the cognomen al-Ridha to your father since he approved him as his heir apparent.’ Imam al-Jawad (a.s.) said, “By God, they are lying and committing a sin; rather, God, the Blessed and Exalted, named him as al-Ridha since he was approved by the Almighty and Glorious God in Heaven and endorsed by His Messenger and the Imams after him on earth.” “I asked: ‘Were all your forefathers not so?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I asked: ‘So, why your father from among them was named al-Ridha?’ He answered: ‘Since his opponents approved of him, as did his friends; and this did not happen to any of his forefathers.

That is why he from among them was named Ridha.” Confirming this issue, Sulayman b. Hafs said, “Musa b.

Ja‘far named his son al-Ridha and (when he wanted to talk of him) he would say: ‘Call my son al-Ridha; I said to my son al-Ridha; my son al-Ridha told me so and so…”[^15] The Childhood and Adolescence Period of Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) History has largely kept silent about the Imams (a.s.) in their childhood and adolescent period, as the historians are more interested in the illustrious events and popular people, rather than the unpretentious people and those who are far from being boisterous and raucous, especially in relation to the (a.s.) who were intended by the state to be isolated; and the scholars of the time, out of their religious dissidence, tried to underestimate their role.

This has caused the latter generations to remain uninformed of the life of the (a.s.) before their appointment to Imamate and most probably of the period after their Imamate. Concerning what is related in history about how greatly his holiness al-Ridha (a.s.) was loved by his noble father, one of the companions of Imam Musa b.

Ja‘far (a.s.) named al-Mufadhdhal is quoted as saying: “I went to visit his holiness, I saw his son ‘Ali was sitting on his lap; the Imam was kissing him and caressing his face, raising him up to his shoulder, and pressing him to his bosom and saying: “May my father be your ransom! How sweet is your scent! How immaculate is your temperament and how evident your excellence!” I said, “May I be your ransom!

I feel such a love for this child that I have never felt for anyone else but you.” His holiness said, “O Mufadhdhal, he is to me like I am to my father; children, some of whom are descendants of the others, and Allah is All-hearing, All-knowing.