December 29

'Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Riḍā (Arabic: علي ابن موسى الرّضا‎), also called Abu al-Hasan, Ali al-Reza (b.c. December 29, 765 [11 Dhu al-Qidah 148AH], Medina, Hijaz, Abbasid Empire (now Saudi Arabia) - d. June 6, 818 [17 Safar 202 AH], Tus, Persia, Abbasid Empire (now Iran)) or also known in Iran (Persia) as Imam Reza (Persian: امام رضا‎), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and the eighth Shi'ite Imam, after his father Musa al-Kadhim, and before his son Muhammad al-Jawad. He was an Imam of knowledge according to the Zaydi (Fiver) Shia school and Sufis. He lived in a period when Abbasid caliphs were facing numerous difficulties, the most important of which was Shia revolts. The Caliph Al-Ma'mun sought out a remedy for this problem by appointing Al-Ridha as his successor, through whom he could be involved in worldly affairs. However, according to the Shia view, when Al-Ma'mun saw that the Imam gained even more popularity, he decided to correct his mistake by poisoning him. The Imam was buried at the Imam Reza shrine in a village in Khorasan, which afterwards gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom.^[4][5]

On the eleventh of Dhu al-Qi'dah, 148 AH (29 December 765 CE), a son was born in the house of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (the seventh Imam of Twelver Shia Islam) in Medina. He was named Ali and titled al-Ridha, literally meaning in Arabic, "the contented", since it was believed that Allah was contented with him. His kunya (alternative name) was Abu'l Hasan, since he was the father of al-Hasan; the naming of a father after his son being a common practice in Arab culture. However, in the Shia sources he is commonly called Abu'l-Ḥasan al-Ṯānī (the second Abu'l Hasan), since his father, Musa al-Kadhim, was also Abu'l Hasan (he was known as Abu'l-Ḥasan al-Awwal, meaning the first Abu'l Hasan). In keeping with his very high status amongst Shi'a, he has been given other honorific titles since, such as Saber, Vafi, Razi, Zakki and Vali.^[7]

Ali was born one month after the death of his grandfather, Ja'far as-Sādiq, and brought up in Medina under the direction of his father.^[8]His mother, Najmah, was also a distinguished and pious lady. It is said that the boy al-Ridha required a great deal of milk, so that when his mother was asked whether her milk was sufficient, she answered, "it is not because my milk is not sufficient, but he wants it all the time, and consequently I am falling short in my prayers."^[5] Originally a Nubian woman, she was purchased and freed by Bibi Hamidah Khatun, the wife of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was also a Um Walad of Nubian origin. Imam Ali ibn Musa was said to be shadid udmah or aswad, meaning he had a very dark skinned or black complexion.^[9] Bibi Hamidah was a notable Islamic scholar.^[10]

Disputes exist regarding the number of his offspring and their names. A group of scholars (Sunni) say that they were five sons and one daughter, and that they were: Muhammad al- Qani', al-Hasan, Ja'far, Ibrahim, al-Husayn, and 'Ayesha. Sabt ibn al-Jawzi, in his work Tadhkiratul-Khawass ( تذکرۃ الخواص, Introduced eminence of the heirs of Muhammad The Prophet of Islam), says that the sons were only four, dropping the name of Husayn from the list.^[11]

The eighth Imam had reached the Imamate, after the death of his father, through Divine Command and the decree of his forefathers,^[12] especially Imam Musa al-Kadhim, who would repeatedly tell his companions that his son Ali would be the Imam after him.^[13] As such, Makhzumi says that one day Musa al-Kadhim summoned and gathered us and entitled him as "his executor and successor."^[14] From the onset, al-Kadhim preferred al-Ridha to the rest of his sons, informing them, "This is your brother ‘Ali b. Musa’, who is the scholar of the Household of Muhammad. Question him about your beliefs and memorize what he says to you, for I heard my father, Ja'far al-Sadiq say: ‘The scholar of the Household of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his Household, is in your loins. Would that I met him, for he is the namesake of (Imam Ali) the Commander of the faithful.' "^[15]

Yazid ibn Salit has also related a similar narration from the seventh Imam when he met him on his way to Mecca: "Ali, whose name is the same as the First and the fourth Imam, is the Imam after me." Said the Imam. However, due to the extreme choking atmosphere and pressure prevailed in the period of Musa al-Kazim, he added, "What I said must remain (restricted) up to you and do not reproduce it to anybody unless you know he is one of our friends and companions."^[16][17] The same is narrated from Ali bin Yaqtin, from Imam Musa al-Kazim who has said "Ali is the best of my children and I have conferred on him my epithet"^[13] According to Wāqedī, even in his youth, Ali al-Ridha would transmit Hadith from his father and his uncles and gave Fatwa in the mosque of Medina.^[8][18] Ali al-Ridha was not looked upon favorably by Hārūn Rashīd; and the people of Medina were disallowed from visiting and learning from him.^[19] According to Donaldson he was twenty or twenty-five years old when he succeeded his father as Imam in Medina, and it was about eighteen years later, when the Caliph Al-Ma'mun "undertook to ingratiate himself with the numerous Shia parties by designating Ali ar-Ridha as his successor to the Caliphate."^[5]