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5. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p) said that when Imam al-Husayn (p)
was slain, Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah (son of Imam Ali (p)) said
to Imam Zainul Abideen (p): O son of my brother, you know that the
Prophet Muhammad (p) handed over the succession and the Imamate
after him to Imam Ali (p), then to Imam al-Hasan (p), then to Imam
al-Husayn (p) your father. Imam al-Husayn (p) has been slain, and
has left no successor. I am your paternal uncle and as good as your
father. I was born of Imam Ali (p) and with my years and age I have
more right to the Imamate than you in your prime. So do not challenge
me on my succession to Imamate.
Imam Zainul Abideen (p): O Uncle, fear God and do not lay claim
to what is not yours by right. ... I admonish you so that you do
not be among the ignorant (Q, 11:46). My father made me his successor
before he set out for Iraq, and he authorized me just before he
was martyred. This is the armoury of the Prophet Muhammad (p) which
is with me. I am afraid calamity may befall you and shorten your
life. Indeed, God has made the succession and the Imamate in us
after Imam al-Husayn (p) among his descendants. If you wish to know
it, let us go together to the Black Stone (at Kaba), to seek its
judgment and question it about this.
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p) continued: This conversation between
them took place in Mecca, and they went together till they reached
the Black Stone. Then Imam Zainul Abideen (p) said to Muhammad Ibn
al-Hanafiyyah: You should begin, and beseech God, to Whom belong
Might and Majesty, and ask Him to make the Stone speak to you. Then
ask about your claim.
So, Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah supplicated, and he called the Stone,
but it did not answer him.
Imam Zainul Abideen (p): O uncle, if you had been the successor
and the Imam (p), it would have answered for you.
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah: So, supplicate God yourself, O son of
my brother, and ask (this thing) of Him.
Imam Zainul Abideen (p) supplicated God about what he wanted, and
then spoke to the Stone: I ask you in the name of Him who informed
you with the covenant, He who created the Prophets, and made the
covenant, He who made the successors and the covenant, (He made
with) all mankind to tell us who is the successor and the Imam (p)
after Imam al-Husayn (p).
The Stone shook until it almost moved from its place. Then, God
caused it to speak in eloquent Arabic and it said: By God, the succession
and the Imamate after Imam al-Husayn (p) belongs to Imam Zainul
Abideen (p), the son of Imam al-Husayn (p) and the grandson of Fatimah
az-Zahra (p), daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (p).
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah returned, having accepted the Mastership
of Imam Zainul Abideen (p).
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454.
8. Muhammad Ibn Fulan al-Waqifi said that he had a cousin called al-Hasan
Ibn Abdullah who was one of the most pious men of his time. The authorities
were very suspicious of him because of his earnestness about religion
and the efforts he exerted for it. Sometimes he confronted the authorities
using strong words, and admonished them, commanding them to be good
and forbidding them from doing evil. The authorities tolerated him
because of his righteousness. He continued in this manner, till one
day, Imam Musa al-Kazim (p) came to him when he was in the Mosque.
The Imam (p) summoned him. He approached the Imam (p), and the Imam
(p) said to him: O Abu Ali, how much I love the condition you are
in, and how it pleases me, but you have no knowledge, hence, go and
seek knowledge.
Al-Hasan ibn Abdullah: May I be made your ransom, what is that knowledge?
The Imam (p): Go and seek out the Hadith (traditions).
Al-Hasan: From whom?
The Imam (p): From the men in Medina learned in Fiqha (Islamic Jurisprudence)
and Hadith (traditions). Then bring the Hadith to me.
The narrator said that Al-Hasan ibn Abdullah went and recorded (whatever
he heard), and then came to Imam (p) and recited it before him, but
the Imam (p) proclaimed all he had collected was worthless. Then he
told him to go and (try to) find out what knowledge is. The man took
his religion seriously, and he persisted in trying to see the Imam
(p) again, till the Imam (p) left for his estate outside the town.
Then he managed to meet the Imam (p) on the road, and told him: May
I be made your ransom, I shall complain against you before God, show
me the way to knowledge.
The narrator told him about Imam Ali (p) and what happened after (the
death of) the Prophet Muhammad (p) and he told him about the two men
and he accepted (what the Imam (p) said).
Al-Hasan: Who is the Imam after Imam Ali (p)?
The Imam (p): Imam al-Hasan (p).
Al-Hasan: May I be made your ransom, who is the Imam now?
The Imam (p): Will you accept if I tell you?
Al-Hasan: Yes, may I be made your ransom.
The Imam (p): I am the Imam.
Al-Hasan: Is there any proof for this?
The Imam (p): (Pointing to a tree) Go to that tree and say to it that
Imam Musa al-Kazim (p) orders it to come to him.
Al-Hasan: I went up to it (and said what I had been told), and I saw
it cleave a furrow in the ground till it came to halt before him.
Then, he signaled it and it returned.
Then Al-Hasan accepted him as the Imam, and continued to keep silent,
and no one saw him speak out after that.”
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455.
13. Abdullah Ibn Mughir belonging to a certain sect of Islam reports
that he became doubtful about the authenticity of his faith. With
the sincere intention of seeking the right path, he went to the sacred
Mosque and stood facing the Kaba and prayed,
Abdullah: O God, you are aware of my desire. Show me the right path.
Guide me to the true religion.
At that moment, the desire of going to Imam Ali ar-Reza (p) came to
his mind. Accordingly, he went to see Imam Ali ar-Reza (p) and sought
audience with him. His request was granted and when the Imam (p) saw
Abdullah Ibn Mughir, the Imam (p) addressed him by his name and said:
God has guided you to the right path.
Abdullah Ibn Mughir immediately became an ardent devotee of the Imam
(p).
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456.
15. Umm Aslam once said to Prophet Muhammad (p): O Prophet Muhammad
(p) I have read in the divine books about the Prophets and their successors.
Prophet Musa (Moses) (p) had a successor while he was alive and a
successor after he died, so did Prophet Isa (Jesus) (p). So who is
your successor?
The Prophet (p): Umm Aslam, my successor while I am alive and also
after my death is one and the same. Umm Aslam, whoever can do what
I shall do now, is my successor.
Then he picked up a small stone from the ground and rubbed it with
his finger till it became like flour. Then he wetted it and kneaded
it, and stamped it with his seal. Then he said: Whoever can do what
I have just done is my successor while I am alive and also after my
death.
Umm Aslam left him and went to Imam Ali (p) and said: May my father
and mother be made your ransom, are you the successor of the Prophet
Muhammad (p)?
Imam Ali (p): Yes, O Umm Aslam.
Then he picked up a small stone from the ground, and rubbed it till
it became like flour. Then he wetted it and kneaded it, and stamped
it with his seal. Then he said: O Umm Aslam, whoever can do what I
have just done is my successor!
Then she went to Imam al-Hasan (p), who was (then) a youth and said
to him: O my master, are you the successor of your father?
Imam al-Hasan (p): Yes, O Umm Aslam.
Then he extended his hand and picked up a small stone, and did what
the previous two had done. Then she left him and went to Imam al-Husayn
(p) while he was very young and said to him: May my father and mother
be made your ransom, are you the successor of your brother?
Imam al-Husayn (p): Yes, O Umm Aslam, give me a small stone.
Then he did what the former three had done.
Umm Aslam grew older until she witnessed the period of Imam Zainul
Abideen (p) who, after the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (p), had returned
to Medina. She asked him: Are you your father's successor?
Imam Zainul Abideen (p): Yes.
Then he did what the four had done earlier. May God bless all of them.
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