Birth at Surayya
Ali b. Muhammad (a), the tenth Imam, was born in the middle of Dhu l-Hijja 212 AH — the 15th in the common calendar — at Surayya, a village near Madinah that his great-grandfather Imam al-Kadhim (a) had founded. Al-Kulayni, al-Mufid and al-Tusi give this date; a minority place it in Rajab. His father Imam al-Jawad (a) was himself only seventeen, and was martyred in Baghdad when the boy was eight.
Imam at eight
Like his father before him he became Imam as a child, and like him confounded the scholars sent to test him. He lived in Madinah until the caliph al-Mutawakkil, alarmed by reports of his following, summoned him to Samarra in 233 AH, where he spent the remaining twenty years of his life under surveillance. From there he guided the Shia through his deputies and answered their questions on the Qur'an, theology and law; the comprehensive ziyarah, al-Jami'a al-Kabira, is his composition.
Observance
His birthday falls between Eid al-Adha and the Eid of Ghadir, in the festive close of the year. He was martyred by poison on 3 Rajab 254 AH and lies with his son Imam al-Askari (a) in the shrine of Samarra.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
