Birth at al-Abwa
Musa b. Ja'far (a), the seventh Imam, was born on 7 Safar 128 AH in the village of al-Abwa on the road between Makkah and Madinah, where his parents had stopped on their way back from the pilgrimage. His father, Imam al-Sadiq (a), is reported to have fed the people for three days in thanksgiving. He was four when the Abbasids replaced the Umayyads, and his whole life was lived under the new dynasty at the height of its power.
The Imam of patience
He became Imam on his father's martyrdom in 148 AH and led the Shia for thirty-five years under al-Mansur, al-Mahdi, al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid. Known for long nights of worship and for never showing anger — hence al-Kazim — he built up the network of representatives (wikala) that kept the scattered community in contact with its Imam, and debated scholars of other faiths in Madinah and Baghdad.
Legacy
Repeatedly summoned to Baghdad and imprisoned, he was martyred in the prison of al-Sindi b. Shahik in 183 AH. His shrine at Kadhimayn, shared with his grandson Imam al-Jawad (a), is one of the great pilgrimage sites of Iraq, and the Shia turn to him as Bab al-Hawa'ij, the one through whom needs are met.
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.
