By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

“Indeed, God has two authorities over the people; an apparent one and a hidden one. His apparent authority are the Apostles, Prophets and Imams; and the concealed authority is the intellect of the people.”
The above words are food for thought. They clearly point out to the proper paths of guidance. These dynamic words are indeed a safeguard against the pitfalls that the devil has set up to trap the children of Adam and distance them from both the apparent and concealed authorities, through such deviated elements as kings, presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and even pseudo caliphs and similar scholars, as well as the mindless pursuit of carnal pleasures.
Today we are commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of the person who presented to us such pearls of perfection. He was the Imam or Divinely-Designated Leader of his age, and achieved immortal martyrdom on this day, the 25th of Rajab, as a result of the poisoning of his food in prison on the orders a tyrannical self-styled caliph.
Born in 128 AH in Abwa between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, he was the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and was named “Musa” in honour of another Prophet – Arabic for Moses.
During the 35 years of his imamate that coincided with the reigns of four Pharaohs of the usurper Abbasid regime – Mansour Dawaniqi, Mahdi al-Abbasi, Hadi al-Abbasi, and Haroun ar-Rasheed – he displayed such remarkable patience in controlling his emotions that he is known till this day as “Kazem”.
If his God-given knowledge was a byword amongst the people, his wisdom exceeded that of Prophet Solomon, and so dedicated was he in worship that he acquired the epithet “Abd Saleh” (most pious servant of God).
In addition, he has been immortalized as “Bab al-Hawa’ej” (Gateway of Boons), a title by which he is addressed universally by one and all from all over the world, who reverently bow towards his holy shrine in Kazemayn, the northeastern suburb of Baghdad, where no traces remain of the magnificent palaces built by his assassin, Haroun Rasheed.
Once, Haroun, in trying to show off to Imam Kazem (AS) his pomp and ill-accumulated wealth, pointed to a newly built palace and asked him about the owner of such a majestic building. The Imam without being the least impressed said: “this is the home of a corrupt person. It is about such people that God says in the Qur’an (7:146):
“Soon I shall turn away from My signs those who are unduly arrogant in the earth: [even] though they should see every sign, they will not believe in it, and if they see the way of rectitude they will not take it as [their] way, and if they see the way of error they will take it as [their] way. That is because they deny Our signs and are oblivious to them.”
At the recitation of these words of God, the self-styled caliph became so incensed that he lost his composure. This was not the only instance when the boastful Haroun had lost face vis-à-vis the Prophet’s rightful successor.
Another famous encounter between the two took place in Medina at the Prophet’s shrine, where to deceive the people Haroun saluted the sacred tomb with the words: Greetings to you O Messenger of God; greetings to you O Cousin.”
Soon Imam Musa Kazem (AS) entered the holy shrine and saluted the Prophet’s tomb with the words: “Greetings to you O Messenger of God; greetings to you O Grandfather.”
The tyrant was dumbfounded and left in rage, since the people will begin to ask “when the direct descendant of the Prophet is present in our midst, who is this so-called cousin to rule the Muslim realm.”
Soon Haroun devised a plan, and after kidnapping the Imam, arranged two canopied litters atop a string of camels, sending one in the direction of Baghdad and the other in the direction of Basra, so as to keep prevent possible intervention by the people in support of the Imam.
To be brief, the 7th Imam was confined to the house of the governor of Basra, who, however, refused to do any harm to the Prophet’s venerable descendant.
Haroun then had the Imam transferred to Baghdad to the custodianship of Fadhl ibn Rabi’, who also treated Imam Kazem (AS) with respect.
The usurper went mad with rage and ordered the flogging of Fadhl ibn Rabi’. He then gave charge of the Prophet’s heir to the despicable Sindi bin Shahik, who finally on the orders of Haroun poisoned the Imam’s food.
As a result, after three days of writhing in pain, Imam Musa Kazem (AS) achieved martyrdom on the 25th of Rajab 183 AH (799 AD).
Today, it is the sprawling twin-domed gold-plated shrine of Kazemayn that majestically towers over the former Abbasid capital, Baghdad, with both Sunnis and Shi’ite Muslims saluting the Prophet’s 7th Infallible Heir at the sight of the mausoleum, and reverently bowing towards it, despite the bomb blasts that are often triggered by dastardly terrorists.
As for the tyrant Haroun, his rotten bones lie at the feet of the son of his victim in Mashhad, Khorasan, where pilgrims to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), invoke the curse of God upon the tyrannical caliph, while sending blessings on Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt.