By; Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

    

“It is obligatory for the people to follow the jurist who refrains from committing wrong, emphasizes his faith, opposes carnal desires, and obeys Allah’s command.”

Heartfelt condolences on the doleful day of the martyrdom anniversary of the person who expressed this golden piece of advice to all practicing Muslims before his departure from the mortal world, so that in the absence of a Divinely Designated Guide they firmly adhere the Holy Qur’an and the “sunnah wa seerah” (practice and behaviour) of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

He was the 11th Infallible Heir of Allah’s Last and Greatest Messenger who had told the Ummah that of his Twelve Righteous Successors Last will reappear in the end-times after a long and lengthy period of occultation.

If this tiding of the Seal of Prophets had firmed up the hearts of his true followers, it had made the hypocrites who had seized political power of the Islamic realm after him, to belie this prediction by persecuting the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt and martyring them through poison in a bid to avoid blame.

We are on the eve of the 8th of Rabi al-Awwal the day when the subject of this brief column, after a bout of imprisonment, was martyred in his home through food poisoning in the city of Samarra in Iraq in 260 AH (874 AD) by a self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime.

He was none other than Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) who was forced to leave the mortal world in the prime of youth at the age of a mere 28 years on the assumption that the Twelfth Imam awaited eagerly for ending corruption on Planet Earth and filling it with peace, prosperity, and justice would not be born.

Contrary to their devilish desires and unknown to them, the son and heir was already born five years earlier in 255 AH to the Eleventh Imam, who while raising in secrecy the Promised Mahdi al-Qaem (AS), instructed his adherents to follow during occultation those highly qualified virtuous persons possessing the above mentioned characteristics for the orderly function of the society.

Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) needs no introduction. Born in 232 AH in Medina to Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi (AS), he was a picture of piety. He inherited all the perfections of his Infallible Ancestors bestowed by Allah with virtue and knowledge. 

As historians and hadith narrators, including even from amongst our Sunni brethren, have testified, he was the excellent person of his age. Even non-Muslims have acknowledged his excellence. For instance, Bakhtshou, the Christian physician said to his disciple Batriq (Patrick) about the 11th Imam: “He is the most knowledgeable of all those under the sky in our day.”

Alas, if the Abbasid usurpers had not subjected the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt to persecution and confinement, the righteous successors of the Prophet would have filled the world with their knowledge and sciences, and humanity would have received the kind of knowledge and intellectual development that it had never obtained throughout all ages and times. 

The Abbasids perceived that if they did not prevent the people of knowledge and intellect from associating with the Infallible Imams, they the Imams would enlighten the masses and open new horizons, not only in the fields of sciences but also in the political and social arenas. This would shake their thrones, and therefore they indulged in every satanic stratagem to separate the Ummah from its real leaders.

Imam Askari (AS) always suppressed his emotions and treated whoever wronged him with kindness and forgiveness. The Abbasid regime tried in vain to implicate him in the uprisings against their misrule in different parts of the vast Islamic realm.  

The Eleventh Imam appointed representatives in most of the Muslim lands, and entrusted them to receive the legal dues and spend them on the poor and the deprived, to reconcile estranged persons, and strive to ensure the welfare of the people.

According to a narrator named Abu Hashem al-Ja’fari, who in a letter complained to the Imam about the distress of imprisonment, he received the reply: “You shall offer the Zohr (Noon) Prayer in your house today.” 
The Imam’s lofty morals had profound effect on some of his opponents as well, and they turned to be his loyal followers. Indeed, the Imamate is the firm base of political and social development in Islam. The scholars and men of intellect, who were contemporary with Imam Hasan alk-Askari (AS), have glorified him, and acknowledged his virtue and preference to all others for his talents, geniuses, vast knowledge, and piety.
Ahmad bin Obaydollah bin Khaqan, a senior statesmen of the Abbasid state, has said about the 11th Imam, “I have neither seen nor known in Samarrah, a descendant of the Prophet like Hasan bin Ali (AS). Even Obaydollah the father of this Ahmad, is on record as saying: If the Abbasids lose the caliphate, no one from the Hashimites deserves it, except this man – that is Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS). 
The Imamate is one of the most important pillars on which rest civilization, safety, public welfare, and amity among members of the society. It provides people with the ideal life they desire on the basis of faith. Under the blessings of Imamate, there are no racial or other superficial differences amongst human beings. The Imamate is a gift of Allah for all creatures. 
This is what Imam Askari (AS) proved to the Ummah during the 6 years of his Imamate by ably discharging his duties in awakening the conscience of the people and guiding them towards perfection. Once when someone wrote to him asking for a supplication, the 11th Imam replied: Pray Allah in this manner: 
“O’ You the Best of Listeners, the most Perceptive of seers, the best of lookers, the promptest of Reckoners, the Most Merciful of the merciful, the Wisest of judges, send blessings on Muhammad and on the progeny of Muhammad. Increase my livelihood, prolong my age, favour me with Your mercy, make me from those who defend Your religion, and do not replace me by other than me…!” 
On another instance, when someone asked him whether the holy Qur’an was created or not, the Imam replied: “Allah is the Creator of everything, and everything other than Him is created.” 
Imam Askari (AS) was martyred through a fatal dose of poison by the caliph Mo’tamed, but before death overcame him, the 11th Imam passed to his 5-year son, the Divine Mantle of Imamate, thereby ensuring that God’s promise of the rising of Qa’em al-Mahdi in the end times to fill the world with justice will eventually come true.