By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
"O Allah send blessings upon Muhammad and his Household, and send blessings upon Muhammad ibn Ali, the Pure, the Pious, the Devout, the Loyal, the Respectful, the Immaculate,
"Peace upon you; O Abu Ja’far Muhammad son of Ali; the Pious, the Devout, the Guide, and the Loyal (to Almighty Allah)”
Today, apparently the last day of the month of Zi’l-Qa’dah is a day of grief for Muslims, especially for the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt or Immaculate Household of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to all mankind.
It is the day on which in the year 220 AH (835 AD), the 9th Infallible Heir of the Seal of Messengers was forced to leave world as a martyr through a fatal dose of poisoning, administered yet again by an usurper caliph.
As is clear from the wordings of the above-mentioned phrases of the Ziyarah or standard form of salutation to him, he was the namesake of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), and like the "Mercy unto the whole creation”, he was a picture of piety, patience, and devotion to God Almighty, to the extent that he acquired the epithets of "at-Taqi” (the Pure) and "al-Jawad” (the Generous).
Imam Muhammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (AS), who lived in an age when the Islamic realm was at its peak, both politically and intellectually – straddling vast areas of the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe – was not just generous in spending on the needy from whatever he possessed materially, but his generosity included the dispensing of knowledge and bezels of wisdom to all those who came into contact with him.
Volumes would be required to pen the virtues of the 9th Imam, whose praises the celestial angels sing. He was a mere boy of 8 years, when the Divine Trust of Imamate, which on Almighty Allah’s express orders Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) had entrusted to his dear cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) on the memorable 18th of Zi’l-Hijjah at the historic gathering of over a hundred thousand Hajj pilgrims at Ghadir-Khom in 10 AH, came to rest on his tender shoulders following the martyrdom of his father Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Reza (AS) in distant Khorasan due to a fatal dose of poison given by Mamoon the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime.
It was now clear that Mamoon, having failed to tarnish the image of Imamate, would remain a mortal enemy of the Ahl al-Bayt, but would never resort to open enmity in view of the popularity of the Prophet’s Progeny amongst the Ummah.
He therefore, having tested the God-given knowledge of the son of his victim by pitting the boy-Imam against the Mu’tazalite ideologue, Yahya ibn Aktham, who stuttered for words before the wisdom of the young opponent, connived to marry his daughter to the Prophet’s Rightful Heir, not out of devotion to him but in order to keep under surveillance what he thought were political aspirations of Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) to take over the caliphate.
He was wrong, since the 9th Imam whose spiritual powers were far greater than the wealth and political might of any king or caliph, did not need to rise and establish the rule of the Ahl al-Bayt on earth, which God Almighty had deferred for the end times through the Promised Imam Mahdi al-Qa’em (AS).
Here, it would be interesting to present a lively discourse on the advent of Imam Mahdi (AS) and the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, between Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) and his distant cousin, Abdul-Azim al-Hassani (AS) – whose shrine in Rayy near Tehran is a site of pilgrimage.  
Abdul-Azeem al-Hassani narrates: "Once, I went to my master Muhammad bin Ali bin Musa (al-Jawad) intending to ask him about Mahdi al-Qa’em; whether he was al-Mahdi himself or another one. Before I uttered a word, he said: ‘O Abul Qassim, al-Qa’em of us is al-Mahdi who must be awaited in his occultation and must be obeyed in his appearance. He is the third of my progeny. By Allah Who has sent Muhammad with Prophethood and singled us out with Imamate, if there will be only one day left for the world, Allah will prolong that day until al-Qa’em will appear to fill the earth with fairness and justice as it has been filled with injustice and oppression. Allah will prepare the affairs for him as He had prepared the affairs to Moses where he went to bring a fire and came back to be the prophet of his nation. The best deed of our Shi’a is the awaiting for deliverance.”
Abdul-Azeem al-Hassani said:  "I wish you were the Qa’em of Ahl al-Bayt  who will fill the earth with justice and fairness as it has been filled with injustice and oppression!”
Imam Jawad (AS) replied: "O Abul-Qassim, every one of us is Qa’em (executor) of the orders of Allah the Almighty and a guide to the religion of Allah, but the Qa’em by whom Allah will purify the earth from the people of unbelief and who will fill the earth with justice and fairness is he whose birth will be unknown to people and who will disappear and it will be impermissible for people to call him by his name. His name and surname are like those of the Messenger of Allah (SAWA). The earth will be submitted to him and every difficulty will be easy to him. His companions, who will be three hundred and thirteen men as the number of the men of (the Battle of) Badr, will join him from the farthest parts of the world as Allah says ("wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together; surely Allah has power over all things”). When this number of loyal men will join him, Allah will make him appear.”
The plot this day of the murderous self-styled caliph, Mu’tasem, in poisoning to death Imam Jawad (AS) in the vain hope of giving legitimacy and permanency to the usurper Abbasid dynasty, came to naught.
There is no trace of today of the tombstones of the caliphs, let alone their palaces of pleasures, while the devotees of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, whether Shi’a or Sunni, while awaiting the advent of Imam Mahdi (AS) salute the shrine in Kazemain near Baghdad, with phrases of praise to the 9th Imam, such as:
"Peace unto you the Spring of Wisdom, the Lantern of light”

Condolences on the Martyrdom of Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (AS)