Imam Muhammad Bin Ali Al-Jawad (a.s.) The Miraculous Imamate(partII)

The Al-Irshad says: "Abu al-Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad informed me on the authority of Muhammad b.Yaqub, on the authority of al-Khayrani, on the authority of his father, who said:

I (al-Khayrani's father) was standing in front of Abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), in Khurasan. Someone asked him: "My Lord, if something happens to you, to whom (will the authority belong)?"

"To Abu Jaafar al-Jawad, my son: he (a.s.) replied.

The speaker indicated that the age of Abu Ja'far was too young. So, Abu al-Hasan (al-Rida) (a.s.), replied: "God, may He be praised, sent Jesus, son of Mary, to be an apostle, a prophet, the bringer of a revealed law (sharaia), to begin (his mission) when his age was younger than that of Abu Ja'far (al-Jawad) (a.s.)."

Abu al-Qasim Ja'far b.Muhammad (a.s.) informed me on the authority of Muhammad b.Yaqub on the authority of Muhammad b.Yahyah, on the authority of Ahmad b.Muhammad b.Isa, on the authority of Mu'ammar b.Khallad, who said:

I (Muhammar b.Khallad) heard al-Rida (a.s.), say when I mentioned something (about al-Imam's characteristics): "What need have you for that? Here is Abu Ja'far, whom I have brought into my meetings and whom I have made my successor." Then he added: "We are the Family of the House. Our young inherit from our old."

Through these narrations, we notice that Imam ar-Rida (a.s.) used to emphasize that Imam al-Jawad (a.s.) has reached the level of the Imamate although he was still young. That was because ar-Rida wanted to show people who used to ask him about his successor that in the Imamate there is an unseen characteristic that did not follow the normal rules that are known to people.

It is quoted in Al-Kafi on the authority of Muhammad b. Al-Hassan b. Ammar, who said: "I was visiting Ali Ibn Ja'far ibn Muhammad in Madina, recording what he nar­rated from his brother - Musa Ibn Ja'far al-Kadhim. Abu Ja'far, Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Rida entered the mosque of the Messenger (p.) of Allah, where we were sitting, Ali Ibn Ja'far at once sprang up, barefooted and without his cloak, to receive him and kissed his hand with great respect.

"Abu Ja'far told him: 'O uncle, sit down, may Allah have mercy on you.'

He said: 'O my Lord, how could I sit while you are still standing?'

"When Ali Ibn Ja'far returned to his seat, his friends chided him for his too humble behavior, telling him: How could you do this, while you are his father's uncle?

"Stop it! He said, Allah, the Exalted, did not endow this old man- seizing his own beard - but endowed this youth and placed him where he is, could I deny his merit? May Allah protect me from what you say! Nay, I am just a servant to him."

The testimony of the honorable Ali bin Jaa'far proves that the Imamate of al-Jawad (a.s.) was clear and that the senior men of Banu Hashim used to recognize this Imamate. The most important proof on that was glorifying Al-Jawad (a.s.) and being too humble to his Imamate's position through saying: "I am just a servant to him", through his uncle.

When al-Rida (a.s.) was in Kharasn and al-Jawad was in al-Medina, al-Rida (a.s.) wrote to him (a.s.) saying: "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. May Allah prolong your life and protect you from your enemy my son. May your father be a sacrifice for you. I gave you my money and the choice of spending it as you see fit, while I am still alive. I hope that Allah will bless …. Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Holy Book: "Who is he that will loan to Allah a beautiful loan, which Allah will double unto his credit and multiply many times? It is Allah that giveth (you) Want or plenty, and "to Him shall be your return" (2:245) and "Let him who has abundance spend out of his abundance and whoever has his means of subsistence straitened to him". (65:7)

This letter reveals that Imam Al-Rida (a.s.) wanted his son al-Jawad, although still young, to hold the responsibility of kinship, play the role of his father (a.s.) when he was absent from Al-Medina and follow up the news and send them to him. We also notice through Al-Rida's saying: "May your father be a sacrifice for you", a great love and passion towards his son, especially that al-Jawad was his only son who used to fill his heart….

In another letter to his son al-Jawad (a.s.), Imam al-Rida (a.s.) said: “May my soul be sacrificed for you, I have heard that when you ride, the retainers make you go out of the small door of the garden; this is a sign of miserliness in them lest anyone should attain good from you. So I ask you though my right over you that you should go out and come in through the big door, and if you ride, Allah willing, keep with you gold and silver. When someone asks you for something, you give him. When one of your uncles asks you to give him, then do not give him less than fifty dinars; as for more than this amount, that is up to you. When one of your aunts asks you to give her, then do not give her less than fifty dinars; as for more than this amount, that is up to you. And when one of Quraysh asks you (to give him), then do not give him less than twenty-five dinars as for more than this amount, that is up to you. Surely I want Allah to give you success, so fear Allah. Give and do not fear miserliness from the Master of the Throne."

Through this message, al-Rida called upon Imam al-Jawad (a.s.) not to respond to the servants and people around him who used to be bothered when people, especially that al-Jawad's relatives used to ask him (a.s.) for their needs. That was because the retainers wanted him to be far away from the humanitarian relationship that connects him to his followers. Allah wanted Al-Jawad to rebel against those retainers and be open on people with bestowing, based on his trust on Allah Who will compensate for the givers-who give money for the poor-and will raise their ranks.