The Revivers of the Second Hijri Century.
Al-Zulaf:
24 – Muhammad, the purest of Ibrahim’s descendants… and after him, Al-Rassi – what a fine pledge of allegiance
Al-Tuhaf: This verse mentions two Imams:
Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (peace be upon him)
Imam Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma’il al-Dibaj ibn Ibrahim al-Shabah ibn al-Hasan al-Rida ibn al-Hasan al-Sibt ibn al-Wasi’ Ali ibn Abi Talib, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.
He rose up in Kufa on Thursday, the 10th of Jumada al-Awwal, in the year 199 AH, and sent his brother, Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim, to Egypt to call upon Allah, and Zayd ibn Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja’far to Basra, where he set fire to the houses of the Banu al-Abbas.
He was pledged allegiance to by Imam Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn Ali, Imam Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Sadiq, and Sayyid Imam, the scholar and devotee of the People of the House, Ali ibn Ubaydullah ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sibt—peace be upon them all—as well as Yahya ibn Adam, Abu Bakr and Uthman, the sons of Abu Shaybah; Abu Nu’aym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn; Abdullah ibn Alqama; and others. He sent his brother, Imam al-Qasim, to call people to Islam. Al-Qasim, peace be upon him, was twenty-six years old at the time.
Scholars of Ahl al-Bayt narrated from Imam Zayd ibn Ali that he said: ‘A man from among us will be pledged allegiance to at the Palace of al-Dharratayn in the year 199 AH, on the tenth of Jumada al-Awwal, and Allah will boast of him before the angels.’
It is narrated from al-Baqir, Muhammad ibn Ali, Sayyid al-‘Abidin, that he said: ‘In the year 199 AH, in the month of Jumada al-Awwal, a man from among us, Ahl al-Bayt, will deliver a sermon at your gathering places, O people of Kufa, and Allah will boast of him to the angels.’
These two reports were narrated by Imam al-Mansur bi-Allah in *al-Shafi*, by al-Shahid Hamid in *al-Hadaiq*, and by Abu al-Faraj in *Muqatil al-Talibin*, via Ahmad ibn Sa’id al-Hamadani, from Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi, through his chain of transmission, back to Imam al-A’zam Zayd ibn Ali and his brother al-Baqir, peace be upon them.
During the reigns of Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim and Imam Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd, two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers of the Abbasids were killed. The one entrusted with the ministry of Ahl al-Bayt, with their support and with waging jihad alongside them, was Abu al-Saraya al-Sari ibn Mansur al-Shaybani; may Allah have mercy on him, he was killed during the reign of Imam Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd.
His sons, peace be upon him, were: Isma’il, Ja’far, ‘Abdullah and Ahmad, who were in Egypt and elsewhere. He, peace be upon him, died a martyr on the 29th of Rajab in the aforementioned year – 199 AH.
His age: twenty-six years.
Imam al-Mansur bi-Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘He was the bravest of all those in whom the soul was breathed.’ End of quote.
Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim al-Rasi (peace be upon him)
And Imam Abu Muhammad Najm Aal al-Rasul, the Imam of reason and transmitted knowledge, al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma’il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan al-Sibt—may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.
Upon hearing of the death of his brother, Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, in Egypt in the year 199 AH, he continued to lead the people in supplication to Allah until the year 246 AH.
Some of his virtues:
It has been narrated from his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his Household, as reported by our Imams, that he, peace and blessings be upon him and his Household, said:
‘O Fatimah, from you will come al-Hadi, al-Mahdi and the one who will be born missing two lateral Incisors teeth; if there were to be a Prophet after me, it would be him.’
It was said to the learned jurist, the companion of Ahl al-Bayt, Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi: ‘People say that you did not spend much time with al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim, even though you accompanied him for a long time.’ He replied: ‘Yes, I spent twenty-five years in his company; but you imagine that whenever we wished to speak to him, we did so—yet who among us was capable of that? Whenever we met him, it was as though I were drinking sorrow, grieving for the Ummah and the tribulations it had suffered at the hands of wicked scholars and the most tyrannical of oppressors.’ It is reported that he heard the sound of a tambourine amongst his troops, whereupon he said: ‘By Allah, victory cannot be achieved with these people,’ and he abandoned them.
He prayed to Allah during one of the times of great hardship, and the house was filled with light.
His description:
Imam Abu Talib, peace be upon him, said: ‘He, peace be upon him, was of perfect physique and fair-skinned.’ End of quote.
His sons: Muhammad, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Sulayman, ‘Isa, Musa, ‘Ali, Ibrahim, Ya’qub, Daud, Isma’il and Yahya.
Imam Abu Talib said: ‘Among his companions who acquired knowledge from him were the noble and distinguished, such as his sons: Muhammad, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Sulayman, Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi, al-Hasan ibn Yahya ibn al-Husayn ibn Zayd ibn Ali, and Yahya ibn al-Hasan ibn Ja’far ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn, author of the book *Al-Ansaab*; he also posed questions to the Imam. Among them was ‘Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Qumsi al-Alawi, from whom the Imam al-Nasir li-l-Haqq, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated most frequently.
Among them were: Muhammad ibn Musa, al-Hawari al-‘Abid, from whom much fiqh was narrated; ‘Ali ibn Jahshiyar; and Abu ‘Abdullah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Salam al-Kufi, a scholar of extensive fiqh and prolific transmission. The words of the Imam (peace be upon him) end here, except for the complete lineage of Yahya ibn al-Hasan, who was nicknamed al-‘Aqqiqi (peace be upon him).
Among his works is *Al-Dalil al-Kabir fi ‘Ilm al-Tawhid* (The Great Guide to the Knowledge of Tawhid). Imam al-Mansur bi-Allah ‘Abdullah ibn Hamza, peace be upon him, said in the context of a discussion on the works of Imam al-Qasim: ‘He recounts the doctrines of the philosophers and discusses their theories regarding composition and form.’
In *The Refutation of Ibn al-Muqaffa’* and his rebuttal of the latter’s arguments in *Al-Intisar*; in the book in which he recounts the debate with the atheist in Egypt; in *The Refutation of the Jabrite*; in *The Interpretation of the Throne and the Chair in Response to the Mushabbihah*; in *The Abrogating and the Abrogated*; and in his treatise *The Chapters on the Imamate* and his refutation of those who oppose the Zaydi school.
In his book *Refutation of the Christians* and his work known as *Al-Makanun* on manners and wisdom, he displayed extensive knowledge, comprehensive literary skill and beneficial exhortation.
He (peace be upon him) said: ‘Whoever wishes to know of his mastery of jurisprudence, the precision of his insight into the methods of ijtihad, and his skill in deriving subsidiary rulings and organising the hadiths, let them examine his answers to the questions put to him, such as those posed by Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Nayrusī and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Hasan al-Kallārī, as narrated by al-Nāṣir al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Atrush, and in *The Book of Purification*, *The Book of Day and Night Prayers*, the questions of ‘Ali ibn Jahshiyar, *The Comprehensive Compilation of the Exegesis of the Qawā’ir of the Qur’an*, and *The Book of Obligatory Duties and Sunnahs*, as narrated by his son Muhammad; and let him reflect upon the series of questions he addressed therein, as well as in *The Book of Pilgrimage Rites*, and other such books—for they are numerous, well-known and available to us; praise be to Allah. Thus ends the words of Imam al-Mansur bi-Allah, peace be upon him.
I said: Know that the greatest endeavour of the early Imams, may the prayers of Allah be upon them, was to expound the knowledge of Tawhid and justice, and the obligatory duties of Allah concerning which the misguided among the nations have gone astray; and none were saved from drowning except those who clung to their rope, and adhered to their teachings; for they are Allah’s proofs over His creation and the callers to His religion. They continue to strive for the religion of Allah brought by their forefather, the Prophet al-Mundhir, and followed in its establishment and proclamation by their father, al-Wasi al-Hadi, the founder of the principles of Islam, who struck down the polytheists and the rebellious hordes with Dhu’l-Fiqar, until he established the pillar of Islam with that sharp sword. May Allah’s blessings be upon them both and upon their noble and illustrious descendants. They draw from the gate of Madinah -Imam Ali- and follow in that path, as the Imam al-Nasir li’l-Haqq, al-Hasan ibn Ali, peace be upon him, said:
‘Their knowledge is narrated from the words of their forefather… from Jibril, from the Creator, when they say
This Imam and his brother, Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, were the two renewers at the end of the second century.
Imam al-Qasim passed away at the age of seventy-seven, and their father was Ibrahim ibn Isma’il, known by the title Tabataba. Some of the learned scholars have said: ‘This means “master of masters”.’
I say: It is also the title of the noble Imam, the scholar, the verifier, the glorious and the distinguished, Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma’il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan, peace be upon them all, whose words are cited by the people of eloquence:
لا تَعْجَبُوا من بِلَى غلالته … قد زَرَّ أزْرَارَه على القَمَر
Do not be surprised at how his undergarment was torn and worn away; the reason for this is that he fastened the buttons of this delicate garment onto a body that shone as brightly as the moon, and it was the moon’s light that burnt the garment and wore it away from the inside.
This is because the Arabs believe that if a linen garment is exposed to moonlight, it becomes worn and tattered.
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