Ma\u2019mun set various trials for Imam\nReza (PBUH), so that he would overpower the Imam (PBUH) by defeating him in\nthose trials. One of the most important among those trials was technical\ndebates with scholars of other religions. Ma\u2019mun ordered his minister, Fadl ibn\nSahl, to gather prominent scholars, among whom were religious scholars such as\nJathaliq (the great Christian Cardinal), Ra\u2019s al-Jalut (the great Jewish\nRabbi), Herbez (great Zoroastrian scholar), the Roman Nastas, some other\nscientists, etc. Then he ordered Yasir the servant to call upon the Imam (PBUH)\nfor the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, Ma\u2019mun prepared the\nstage and confronted Imam Reza (PBUH) with the scholars, and ordered everyone\nof them to have a debate with the Imam (PBUH). So he turned to Jathaliq and\nsaid,\u201d O Jathaliq! This is my cousin, Ali ibn Musa ibn Ja\u2019far, a grandson of\nLady Fatimah, daughter of our Prophet, and Ali ibn Abi Talib. I would like you\nto have a debate with him on theological beliefs, and I want you to be fair in\nyour debate\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq asked Ma\u2019mun with arrogance,\u201d\nHow can I have a debate with a person who would refer to a book which I deny,\nor a Prophet in whom I do not believe?…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Jatahliq turned to Imam Reza\n(PBUH) and asked,\u201d How many were the disciples of Jesus son of Mary? How many\nwere the scholars of the Gospel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Reza (PBUH) replied,\u201d You asked\nthe right person! The disciples were 12 people(1), the most knowledgeable of\nwhom was \u201cLuke\u201d. The Christian scholars were three: John the Great, John in\n\u201cQirqisia\u201d, and John Daylami in \u201cZakhar\u201d, who (is the one who) introduced the\nProphet of Islam (PBUH&HP) and his family. He is the one who gave glad\ntidings of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH&HP) to the nation of Jesus and the\nsons of Israel (2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Imam (PBUH) added,\u201d I swear to God\nthat we believe in the Jesus who believed Muhammad (PBUH&HP). We have\nnothing against Jesus but his weakness and the paucity of his fasting and\nprayers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jathaliq heard the last words of\nthe Imam (PBUH), he screamed,\u201d By God you corrupted your knowledge, and your\nargument has become weak. We thought you were the most knowledgeable one among\nMuslims!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam (PBUH) calmly replied to him by\nsaying,\u201d Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq said,\u201d Because you said that\n\u201cJesus used to have little fasting and prayer\u201d, while he never broke his fast\nduring the day and never slept at nights. He constantly fasted during the days\nand prayed at nights\u201d (3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this moment, Imam Reza (PBUH)\nreferred to the belief of the Christians that \u201cJesus was a God other than the\nLord and was served\u201d by saying,\u201d For who did he fast and pray?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq did not respond, because he\ndid not know what to say\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So Imam Reza (PBUH) turned to him and\nsaid,\u201d (Now) I want to ask you a question\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq said,\u201d Go ahead. I will\nrespond if I know the answer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Reza (PBUH) asked,\u201d Do you deny\nthat Jesus used to revive the dead with the permission of God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq replied,\u201d I used to deny\nthis; because whoever brings the dead to life, cures the blind, and heals\nleprous (4) is a God worthy of being worshipped\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Reza (PBUH) rejected his claim by\nsaying,\u201d Indeed Elisha did exactly what Jesus (PBUH) did. He used to walk on\nwater, revive the dead, and heal the blind and the leprous. So why do his\nnation not adopt him as a Lord and worship him? Ezekiel also brought thirty\nfive thousand dead men back to life sixty years after their death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the eight Imam (PBUH) turned to\nthe Jew Rabbi and said,\u201d O Ra\u2019s al-Jalut! Have you found (the story of) those\nyoung men of children of Israel in the Torah? When Nebuchadnezzar invaded\nJerusalem, he enslaved them and exiled them to Babylon. Then Allah (SWT) sent\nEzekiel to them who brought them back to life. These statements are in the\nTorah (6) (7), and no one can deny them but a disbeliever\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ra\u2019s al-Jalut acknowledged the\nknowledge of the Imam (PBUH) about the Torah and said,\u201d We have heard that and\nknow it\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Reza (PBUH) said,\u201d You are right\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, the Imam (PBUH) turned to a\nJewish person there and asked him to recited some verses of the Torah which\nreferred to several Prophets. The Jewish man recited those verses for the\naudience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, Imam Reza (PBUH) turned to\nJathaliq and said,\u201d Were these Prophets before Jesus or was Jesus before them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jathaliq replied,\u201d They were all\nbefore Jesus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Reza (PBUH) then said,\u201d\u2026We do not\nreject the love of any of the Prophets. If you accept Jesus as a Lord, then you\ncan accept Elisha and Ezekiel as two Lords too; because they did the exact same\nthings as Jesus did, such as reviving the dead\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You cannot deny the facts I have told\nyou, for the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms of David, and the Holy Quran have\nmentioned them. If anyone who revives the dead or heals the blind, the leprous,\nand the mad is a Lord, then you have to consider those Prophets as Lords too.\nNow what do you day O Christian?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, Imam Reza (PBUH) criticized\nthe Christians for adopting a Lord other than Allah (SWT); because if Jesus\nused to revive the dead and heal the blind and the leprous, such miracles were\nperformed by other Prophets as well according to the Bible; however, those\nProphets were never adopted as Lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jathaliq heard these precious\nwords from Imam Reza (PBUH), he addressed the Imam (PBUH) and said,\u201d I agree\nwith you, and I testify that there is no God but Allah\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The above is a\nsection taken from \u201cA Detailed Research on the Life of Imam Reza (PBUH)\u201d, by\nlate Hujjat al-Islam Shaykh Baqir Sharif Qurashi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website congratulates all\nMuslims, especially you dear friend, upon 11th of Dhul Qa\u2019dah, the birthday\nanniversary of the Imam of kindness and the leader of knowledge, the eighth\nImam of the Shiites, Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. \u201cNow the\nnames of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter,\nand Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip,\nand Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus,\nand Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas\nIscariot, who also betrayed him\u201d. (The Bible, Matthew 10: 2-4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Refer to the\nBible, John 14: 16-17; John 15: 26; John 16: 7-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Refer to the\nBible, Matthew 4:2; Luke 11:1; Mark 1:35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Examples of\nthese miracles of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) are mentioned in the Bible; such as\ncuring the ill (Matthew 4: 23-24), reviving the dead (Luke 7: 11-16), and\nhealing the blind (Mark 10: 46-52).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. For examples\nof the miracles of Elisha, refer to the Old Testament, Book of Kings II 2:\n12-14; 2:19-22; 5: 26-27; 6: 1-7; 6: 20-23. Also, in the book of Kings II\n4:32-37, the event of revival of a dead person by Elisha is described as \u201cWhen\nElisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went\nin and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord\u2026; the child\nsneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. \u201cThe hand of\nthe Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set\nme down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round\nthem; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said\nto me, \u201cMortal, can these bones live?\u201d I answered, \u201cO Lord God, you know.\u201d Then\nhe said to me, \u201cProphesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the\nword of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to\nenter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh\nto come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall\nlive; and you shall know that I am the Lord.\u201d So I prophesied as I had been\ncommanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the\nbones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them,\nand flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no\nbreath in them. Then he said to me, \u201cProphesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal,\nand say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O\nbreath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.\u201d I prophesied as he\ncommanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their\nfeet, a vast multitude\u201d. (The Bible, book of Ezekiel 37: 1-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Although the\ncurrent version of the Bible describes this event as an ecstatic vision rather\nthan a historical occurrence, some interpreters have considered it as an actual\nevent that took place. They speculated as to the fate of these men, both before\nand after their revitalization by Ezekiel. Some say that they were godless\npeople, who in their lifetime had denied the resurrection, and committed other\nsins; others think that they were a group of youth exiled to Babylon and\nexecute there by Nebuchadnezzar. This miracle of Ezekiel is said to have been\nperformed on the day of Yum Kippur in a valley called Dura. For further\ninformation, refer to Judah Hadasi’s “Eshkol ha-Kofer\u201d, and \u201cThe Legend of\nJews\u201d by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, vol. 4, p. 152; vol. 3, p. 512.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ma\u2019mun set various trials for Imam Reza (PBUH), so that he would overpower the Imam (PBUH) by defeating him in those trials. One of the most important among those trials was technical debates with scholars of other religions. Ma\u2019mun ordered his minister, Fadl ibn Sahl, to gather prominent scholars, among whom were religious scholars such […]<\/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":[22275,17745,18658,22163,18480,18418,22276,22274],"class_list":["post-4523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2012-09-28","tag-beliefs","tag-great","tag-imam-reza","tag-important","tag-occasion-letters","tag-technical","tag-the-bible-judges"],"yoast_head":"\n