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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Story of the Sun: A Look at Imam al-Ridha Life Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) Scholarly Status and Personality Every conscious Shi‘a know that the ’s (a.s.) knowledge originates from boundless Divine Knowledge, and the Almighty God has given them such knowledge that He has not given to anyone else except the Holy Prophet (S).

The purified Imams (a.s.) possess all the knowledge of the prophetic messengers and archangels.[^1] They are most learned about heavens and the earth[^2] and all in all they are the treasurers of Divine Sciences; there is nothing needed by people that is hidden from them.[^3] However, the special conditions of any Imam and the instructions given to them by God according to the demands of the time, caused some of them to have more chances to expound religious issues and express their own widespread knowledge, such as Imam ‘Ali (a.s.), Imam al-Baqir (a.s.), Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.), and of course, Imam al-Ridha (a.s.), in whose era three important events unfolded in such a way as to cause him to overflow his knowledge into the Islamic society.

First: the Waqifiyya sedition and the misconceptions they raised concerning the Imamate of Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) prompting the Imam to guide people in this respect with his profound answers.

Second: destruction of the Barmakids in the fourth year of the Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) Imamate, leading to the elimination of one of the most important enemies of the (a.s.) in Harun’s regime at the hands of Harun, after which a relatively good chance was provided for the dissemination of the ’s (a.s.) teachings.

Third: the issue of Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) heir apparency, which drew attention toward him, and the Abbasid Ma’mun who tried to humiliate his holiness before dignitaries of other religions and the scholars of religious schools by holding scientific gatherings and debate sessions; however, as the God Almighty manages the intrigue of the plotters and turns it against themselves, the very same debate sessions and circles led to familiarization with the scholarly eminence of Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) in such a way that great scholars of the time acknowledged his widespread knowledge and erudition.

Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) personality from the scholarly point of view is so sublime that Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (a.s.), the chief of Ja‘fari School, has told his son Musa b.