By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

 

“The most complete gift of God is a life based on knowledge”.

This is among the bezels of wisdom which the Commander of the Faithful and the Leader of the Pious, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), has bequeathed to us in his capacity as the “Gateway of Wisdom”. 

This is one of the epithets bestowed upon him by Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), who also expressed another famous phrase on the merits of his Divinely-Designated Vicegerent that reads: “I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gateway; whoever likes to enter this City should do it through the Gateway.”

The Prophet neither errs nor speaks out of desire, and his words are revelation revealed by God Almighty – as the first few Ayahs of Surah Najm say. 

Thus, throughout history those who spent their life in quest of knowledge, which is indeed a gift of God Almighty, made it a point to enter the City of Wisdom in the proper manner, that is, through its Gateway, because only thieves and trespassers break through the walls, and in such cases, whatever they acquire on the assumption of knowledge neither benefits them in the world nor in afterlife. 

Every year the 15th of the month of Shawwal, reminds us of a knowledgeable scholar who departed from the mortal world this day in 252 AH (866 AD) in the city of Rayy, which is now one of the southernmost suburbs of the modern Iranian capital, Tehran. 

As the direct descendant of the Prophet and the Imam, he acquired knowledge in the most proper way, and among his works is a book on the eloquently wise sermons of Imam Ali (AS), titled “Khutab Amir al-Mu’minin” – compiled a hundred-and-a-fifty years before Seyyed Radhi’s famous collection “Nahj al-Balagha” (Highway of Eloquence).

He is none other than Seyyed Abdul-Azeem al-Hasani (AS), who was born in the Prophet’s city, Medina in 173 AH (789 AD), and reposes in eternal peace in an imposing shrine under a golden domed mausoleum, which is thronged by pilgrims day and night throughout the year – reciting the Qur’an and seeking intercession with God. 

They salute him as “Shah”, although he neither had a worldly kingdom nor was a king, but continues to rule the hearts of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt.

His lineage reads: Abdul-Azeem, son of Abdullah, son of Ali, son of Hassan, son of Zayd, son of the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS) – the son of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

He was in the prime of manhood when Imam Reza (AS) was forced to leave Medina for Khorasan by the Abbasid tyrant Mamoun. This means, Seyyed Abdul-Azeem had benefitted from the knowledge of the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Heir. 

Though senior by twenty-two years to Imam Muhammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (AS), he was a devoted companion of the Prophet’s 9th Infallible Successor, as is evident by his following discourse on the advent of Imam Mahdi (AS) and the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

Seyyed Abdul-Azeem 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 is it another one. Before I uttered a word, the Imam said:

“O Abu-l Qassim, the al-Qa’em of us is al-Mahdi who must be awaited during his occultation and must be obeyed on his appearance. He is the third of my descendants. By Allah Who has sent Muhammad with Prophethood and singled us out with Imamate, if there will be only a 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 of (Prophet) Moses when he went to fetch fire (on Mount Sinai) and returned as Prophet of his nation. The best deed of our Shi’a is the awaiting for deliverance.”

Abdul-Azeem said:  “I wish you were the Qa’em of the 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 Abu’l-Qassim, every one of us is Qa’em (or Implementer) 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 submit to him and every difficulty will be easy to him. His companions will be three hundred and thirteen men, as the number of the men of (the Prophet’s Battle of) Badr, will join him from the farthest parts of the world as Allah says (in Ayah 148 of Surah Baqara) – “wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together; indeed Allah has power over all things” – and when this number of loyal men will join him, Allah will make him appear.”

According to the famous Iranian scholar Shaikh Sadouq, once Abdul-Azeem asked Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi (AS), the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir (AS): “O son of Allah’s Messenger, I wish to present to you my beliefs. If they are correct then I will affirm and adhere to them till I meet Allah, Great and Exalted. I affirm Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, is One and Only. There is nothing like Him. He is beyond the two limits, the limit of negation and annulment (of attributes) and the limit of anthropomorphism. He doesn’t have a body, neither form, nor dimension, or material core. Rather He is the One who creates bodies and gives forms, the Creator of dimensions and matter. Lord of everything and its Possessor; the Creator and the Originator. And (I affirm) Muhammad is His servant, His Messenger and the Seal of the Prophets. There is no prophet after him till the Day of Judgement. And (I affirm) after him the Imam, the Caliph and the Guardian of the affair (of guidance) is Amir al-Mu’minin Ali bin Abi Taleb, and then al-Hasan, then al-Husain, then Ali bin al-Husain, then Muhammad bin Ali, then Ja’far bin Muhammad, then Musa bin Ja’far, then Ali bin Musa, then Muhammad bin Ali and thereafter, you my master.”

Imam Hadi (AS) added: “And after me will be my son al-Hasan (al-Askari). However, I wonder how the people will react with regards to his successor” 

Abdul-Azeem says: I asked: “Why do you say that, O master?”

Imam Hadi (AS) replied: “Because none will see his person, nor will it be permissible to mention his name till he appears, when he will fill the earth with justice and equity as it was previously filled with oppression and tyranny.”

Seyyed Abdul-Azeem, as a missionary of the Ahl al-Bayt in Iran, enlightened many people with the genuine teachings of Islam, before passing away at the age of 79. Thus, according to Imam Hadi (AS), in those days of Abbasid tyranny when pilgrimage was forbidden to Karbala, visiting the shrine of Abdul-Azeem in Rayy is equivalent to performing the pilgrimage of Imam Husain (AS).