Imam Sadiq (PBUH) was just martyred;\nhowever, due to the political situation at the time and fear over the life of\nthe next Imam, he had introduced the Imam after him implicitly and indirectly.\nTherefore, there became a dispute among the Shiites over his successor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, a group of Shiites from\nNeishabour had collected their Khums money to hand it over to their Imam. They\nchose a person named Muhammad ibn Ali Neishabouri to take their Khums to\nMedina. The total amount of Khums collected was about thirty thousand gold\ncoins, fifty thousand silver coins, and some cloth. A woman named Shatitah\nNeishabouri took a single silver coin along with a piece of silk cloth which\nshe had weaved herself and was worth only four silver coins to the\nrepresentative and said to him, \u201dVerily Allah (SWT) is not ashamed of\n(fulfilling and explaining) the truth (1)\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides these properties, the people\nof Neishabour submitted about seventy pieces of paper to Muhammad ibn Ali. At\nthe top part of each paper, a religious question was written and the bottom of\nthe pages was left blank for the answer. They folded the papers in couple,\nsealed them, and said to Muhammad ibn Ali, \u201dGive the papers to the Imam at\nnight and get the answers back the next morning. If you find the packages\nsealed, open up five of them. If you realize that the Imam has answered the\nquestions without opening the papers and removing the seals, you will not need\nto open the rest. You should know that that person is definitely the Imam, so\nyou may leave the properties with him; if not, then return our properties to us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammad ibn Ali left for Medina, and\nwhen he got there, he went to the house of Abdullah Aftah, the son of Imam\nSadiq (PBUH). There, he tested Abdullah to see if he was the Imam. However, he\ncame out confused and said with himself, \u201dO Allah! Guide me to my Imam\u201d. As he\nwas wondering, a person approached him and said,\u201d Let us go to the one you are\nlooking for\u201d. That person took Muhammad to the house of Imam Kadhim (PBUH).\nWhen the Imam (PBUH) saw Muhammad, he said to him,\u201d Why did you lose hope? Come\nto me as I am the guardian and proof of Allah (SWT); I already answered all the\nquestions you have brought yesterday; please bring those questions, the silver\ncoin of Shatitah which is in that pouch, and her piece of cloth which is in the\nother pouch\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammad became extremely surprised\nand astonished by Imam\u2019s (PBUH) saying, and did what the Imam (PBUH) had\nordered. Imam Kadhim (PBUH) took the silver coin and the cloth of Shatitah, and\nthen said to Muhammad ibn Ali:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVerily Allah\n(SWT) is not ashamed of (fulfilling and explaining) the truth. O Aba Ja\u2019far\n(2)! Convey my greetings to Shatitah and give her this pouch of money (which\ncontains forty silver coins). I also offer him a piece of my shroud, made from\nthe cotton of Sayda (3), the village of Lady Fatimah (PBUH), and sewed by my\nsister Halima, the daughter of Imam Sadiq (PBUH). Tell Shatitah that she would\nbe alive for nineteen days from the time you will reach Neishabour. So ask her\nto spend sixteen coins for herself and save the twenty four remaining ones for\nher debts and charity money. I shall pray on her (dead body) myself. As for the\nrest of the properties you have brought, give them back to their owners. Also,\nopen these papers and see if I had already answered the questions before you\nentered\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammad ibn Ali narrates that,\u201d The\npackages were sealed and untouched; I opened some of the letters; Imam Kadhim\n(PBUH) had answered all the questions in his own handwriting…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Muhammad ibn Ali returned to\nNeyshabur, he realized that all the people whose properties he was carrying had\nturned into the Fat\u2019hi faith (4); however, only Shatitah had remained loyal to\nthe Imamate of Imam Kadhim (PBUH); he conveyed the greetings of the Imam (PBUH)\nto Shatitah, handed in the money and the cloth to her, and explained the\nadvices of Imam (PBUH) to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shatitah was alive for the same\nnineteen days as Imam Kadhim (PBUH) had mentioned. When she passed away, Imam\nKadhim (PBUH) arrived at her body riding a camel. When he finished preparations\nand the prayer on Shatitah, he got on his camel, turned towards the desert, and\nsaid to Muhammad ibn Ali,\u201d Convey my greetings to my friends, and tell them\nthat it is obligatory on me and all the other Imams to be present at your\nburial, wherever it might me. So (in order to benefit from this blessing)\nalways have fear of Allah (SWT) (deep) inside your heart\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed the Imam of our time, Imam\nMahdi (PBUH), will remain faithful to the promise of his grandfather;\nnevertheless, are we prepared for this glorious presence through obtaining\ncorrect beliefs and adhering to constant fear of Allah (SWT)? Are we practicing\nour obligatory financial duties, such as Khums and charity, non-financial\nduties, and refraining from forbidden acts? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The above is a selection\ntaken from \u201cBihar al-Anwar\u201d, vol. 48, by Allamah Muhammad Baqir Majlisi)(5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website offers condolences\nto all Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon 25th of Rajab, the anniversary\nof the martyrdom of the treasurer of wisdom and the heir of tranquility, Imam\nMusa ibn Ja\u2019far al-Kadhim (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. What Shatitah\nmeant from this statement was that I am not ashamed of having so little Khums\nmoney. What is important is that I have fulfilled my obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Aba Ja\u2019far is\nthe nickname of Muhammad ibn Ali Neyshaburi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Sayda is the\nname of a village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Those who\nbelieved in the Imamate of the other son of Imam Sadiq (PBUH), Abdullah ibn\nJa\u2019far who was known as Aftah (which means a person who has a wide forehead)\nare known as those with Fat\u2019hi faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. In\ntranslating the above mentioned Hadith, the book of \u201cThe life of Imam Kadhim\n(PBUH)\u201d, by Musa Khosravi has been consulted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imam Sadiq (PBUH) was just martyred; however, due to the political situation at the time and fear over the life of the next Imam, he had introduced the Imam after him implicitly and indirectly. Therefore, there became a dispute among the Shiites over his successor. Meanwhile, a group of Shiites from Neishabour had collected their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[22090,22089,17778,18172,21824,18418,19725,17965,18777],"class_list":["post-4487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2011-06-28","tag-a-two-way-relationship","tag-allah","tag-group","tag-imam-musa-ibn-jafar","tag-occasion-letters","tag-person","tag-success","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\n