Ali al-Hadi
Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth Imam in Twelver Shia, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Jawad. Born in Medina in 828, Ali is known with the titles al-Hādī and al-Naqī. After the death of his father in 835, most followers of al-Jawad readily accepted the imamate of Ali, who was still a child at the time. Drawing parallels with the story of young Jesus in the Quran, Twelver sources attribute an exceptional innate knowledge to Ali which qualified him for the imamate despite his young age.
As with most of his predecessors, Ali al-Hadi kept aloof from politics until he was summoned around 848 from Medina to the capital Samarra by the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, known for his hostility towards Shias. There al-Hadi was held under close surveillance until his death in 868 during the caliphate of the Abbasid al-Mu'tazz. Still, he managed to communicate with an underground network of representatives who organized the financial and religious affairs of the Shia community on his behalf. Most Shia sources hold the Abbasids responsible for his death at the age of about forty through poison, with the notable exception of al-Shaykh al-Mufid. His image in Twelver sources is that of a pacifist, persecuted Imam who endured numerous attempts by members of the Abbasid court to humiliate and dishonor him. These sources also allege more serious incidents of house search, temporary imprisonment, and even murder plots against al-Hadi.
The restricted life of al-Hadi in Samarra marks the end of the direct leadership of the Shia community by the Imams. A theological treatise on free will and some other short texts are ascribed to al-Hadi. Some miracles are also attributed to al-Hadi in Twelver sources, which often emphasize his precognition about various incidents. After his death, the majority of his followers accepted the imamate of his son Hasan al-Askari, who was also detained in Samarra until his unexplained death a few years later. Some instead followed Ja'far, another son of al-Hadi, who became known as Ja'far al-Kadhab in the Twelver sources. After the death of Ja'far, however, this branch was eventually absorbed within the mainstream Twelver Shia. The tombs of al-Hadi and his successor al-Askari are located in the Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, modern-day Iraq. A sacred site for Shia pilgrims, the shrine has been targeted by ISIS extremist militants as recently as 2007.
Titles
Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam in Twelve Imams, was known by the titles al-Hadi and al-Naqi. He was also known as al-Mutawakkil, but this title was perhaps rarely used to avoid confusion with the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil. In view of their restricted life in the garrison town of Samarra under Abbasid surveillance, Ali and his son Hasan share the title al-Askari. Ali al-Hadi is also cited in the Shia hadith literature as Abu al-Hasan al-Thalith, so as to distinguish him from his predecessors, namely, Musa al-Kazim and Ali al-Rida, the seventh and the eighth of the Twelve Imams, respectively.Life
Birth ()
Ali al-Hadi was born on 16 Dhu al-Hijjah 212 AH in Sorayya, a village near Medina founded by his great-grandfather, Musa al-Kazim. There are also other given dates in the window of Dhu al-Hijja 212 AH to Dhu al-Hijja 214 AH, though these alternatives might be less reliable. It is also 15 Dhu al-Hijja that is annually celebrated by Shias for this occasion. Ali al-Hadi was the son of Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth of the Twelve Imams, and his mother was Samana, a freed slave of Maghrebi origin. The historian Teresa Bernheimer considers it possible that Ali was instead born to Umm al-Fadl, a daughter of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, though this marriage is often considered without an issue. As for his birthplace, the Shia-leaning historian Al-Masudi differs from the prevalent view., a collective biography of the Shia Imams attributed to him, reports that Ali was first taken to Medina sometime after 830 when al-Jawad and his family left Iraq to perform Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.Reign of al-Mu'tasim ()
Ali al-Hadi lived in Medina in this period. Probably summoned by al-Mu'tasim, his father al-Jawad and his wife Umm al-Fadl traveled to the Abbasid capital Baghdad in 835, leaving Ali behind in Medina. Muhammad al-Jawad died in Baghdad in the same year, at the age of about twenty-five. During this short window, Shia sources accuse al-Mu'tasim of multiple attempts to discredit al-Jawad and finally murdering him by poison, while Sunni sources are silent about the cause of his death. Ali al-Hadi was about seven years old when his father died. Among others, multiple Shia accounts in and show Ali supernaturally alert the very moment his father died. is another early collective biography of Shia Imams, often attributed to the Twelver author Ibn Jarir ibn Rustam al-Tabari.After the death of his father, the young Ali was likely placed by the Abbasids under hostile care. In these years, even Muhammad ibn Faraj, a trusted associate of the previous Shia Imams, was probably unable to directly contact Ali, as implied by a report in, a seventeenth-century collection of Shia hadiths by the prominent Twelver scholar Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi. reports that Umar ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhaji, an Abbasid official known for his hostility to Shias, visited Medina soon after the death of al-Jawad and placed Ali under the care of a non-Shia tutor, named Abu Abd-Allah al-Junaydi. This was intended to isolate Ali from Shias to the point that reports that he was kept under house arrest. The account in also describes how al-Junaydi was so impressed with the knowledge of the child that he eventually became a Shia. This exceptional innate knowledge of the young Ali is also claimed by the prominent Twelver theologian Al-Shaykh al-Mufid in his biographical Kitab al-Irshad, which is considered reliable and unexaggerated by most Shias. In connection to these reports, the Islamicist Matthew Pierce draws parallels with the Hebrew Psalms, Christian gospels, and the Quran, particularly the Quranic verse 3:46 about Jesus, "He will speak to people in the cradle."
Reign of al-Wathiq ()
Ali al-Hadi emerged from isolation with the accession of the less hostile caliph al-Wathiq in 842, who had earlier led the funeral prayer for al-Jawad. The Shia community was relatively free in this period, and the early historian Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani reports that stipends were given to the Alids, that is, the descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam. An Alid himself, Ali al-Hadi was also less restricted in this period. He engaged in teaching in Medina after reaching adulthood, possibly attracting a large number of students from Iraq, Persia, and Egypt, where the House of Muhammad traditionally found the most support. An account by Ibrahim ibn Mahziyar al-Ahwazi describes a visit to Ali al-Hadi in 228 AH to deliver some goods, accompanied by his brother Ali. The two brothers were both trusted associates of al-Jawad. According to the Islamicist Shona F. Wardrop, this may be an indication of the young Ali beginning to renew links with the loyal followers of his father, al-Jawad. In the next five years, Ali al-Hadi successfully established contact with representatives from several regions. An account in from this period might show the political awareness of the young Ali, even though it has been given a miraculous aspect in some other sources. This account is dated 232 AH and narrated by a servant in the court of al-Wathiq, named Khayran al-Khadim, whom Ali al-Hadi inquires about the caliph's health. Khayran tells him that al-Wathiq is dying, adding that the general view is that he would be succeeded by his son. Ali, however, correctly predicts the accession of the caliph's brother Ja'far al-Mutawakkil.Reign of al-Mutawakkil ()
Partly due to renewed Zaydite Shia opposition, al-Mutawakkil persecuted Mu'tazilites and Shias, to the point that even Sunni sources have noted his hostility towards Shias. The caliph may have imposed the penalty of death by flagellation on anyone who defamed the companions or the wives of the prophet, some of whom are viewed negatively in Shia. He also openly cursed Ali ibn Abi Talib and ordered a clown to ridicule Ali in his banquets, writes the Twelver scholar Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai. By his orders, the shrine of Ali's son, Husayn ibn Ali, was demolished in Karbala, water was turned upon the tomb, and the ground was plowed and cultivated to remove any trace of the tomb, so as to stop Shia pilgrimages to the site, which he also outlawed.The campaign of arrests and torture by al-Mutawakkil in 846 led to the deaths of some associates of Ali al-Hadi in Baghdad, al-Mada'in, Kufa, and the Sawad. These were replaced by new representatives, including Hasan ibn Rashid and Ayyub ibn Nuh. The policies of al-Mutawakkil also pushed many Alids in the Hejaz and Egypt into destitution. The caliph is said to have punished those who traded with the Alids, thus isolating them financially. The village of Fadak, which had previously been returned to the Alids by al-Ma'mun, was now confiscated by al-Mutawakkil and awarded to a descendant of the early caliph Umar, named as Abd Allah ibn Umar al-Bazyar. The caliph also dismissed officials suspected of Shia sympathies, including the governor of Saymara and Sirawan in the province of Jibal. As the governor of the holy cities in the Hejaz, al-Mutawakkil appointed Umar ibn Faraj, who prevented Alids from answering religious inquiries or accepting gifts, thus pushing them into poverty. The caliph also created a new army, known as Shakiriyya, which recruited from anti-Alid areas, such as Syria, al-Jazira, the Jibal, the Hejaz, and from the Abna, a pro-Abbasid ethnic group. He implemented these policies with the help of his officials, particularly Ahmad ibn al-Khasib al-Jarjara'i and al-Fath ibn Khaqan.
Summoned to Samarra ()
It was during the caliphate of al-Mutawakkil that the governor of Medina, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, wrote to the caliph and warned him about the subversive activities of al-Hadi, claiming that he had concealed arms and books for his followers. Alternatively, attributes the affair to Burahya al-Abbasi, the leader of prayers in Medina, who may have advised the caliph to remove al-Hadi from the city because he was allegedly agitating against the caliph. When al-Hadi learned about the allegations, he too wrote to al-Mutawakkil and defended himself. The caliph responded respectfully but also requested that he with his family relocate to the new Abbasid capital of Samarra, a garrison town where the Turkish guards were stationed, north of Baghdad. This letter also announced the dismissal of Abd Allah from his post in Medina, and is recorded in and, a comprehensive collection of Shia hadiths by the prominent Twelver scholar Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni. The Islamicist Wilferd Madelung suggests that the letter is authentic, while Wardrop views the reverential and conciliatory tone of the letter as an indication that the caliph was cautious not to provoke an Alid rebellion in Medina, even though there is no evidence that al-Hadi actually intended to revolt. The Muslim academic Jassim M. Hussain suggests that al-Hadi was summoned to Samarra and held there because the investigations of caliph's officials, including Abd Allah, had linked the Shia Imam to the underground activities of the Imamites in Baghdad, al-Mada'in, and Kufa. The caliph thus decided to follow the policy of his predecessor, al-Ma'mun, who had attached the imams al-Rida and al-Jawad to his court in order to monitor and restrict them.The caliph's letter was probably dated Jumada al-Thani 233 AH, but transmitted incorrectly as Jumada al-Thani 243 AH by al-Mofid, the author of. Both Wardrop and Madelung consider the latter date unlikely, while the first date is also corroborated by, which states that al-Hadi spent twenty years of his life in Samarra. The escort who accompanied al-Hadi to Samarra is named variously in different sources as Yahya ibn Harthama, Yahya ibn Hubayra, or Attab ibn Abi Attab. The account of al-Mas'udi adds that this escort searched the residence of al-Hadi in Medina, without finding any evidence of subversion. He also calmed the public disorder by ensuring the locals that al-Hadi would not be harmed. A similar report is given by the Sunni historian Ibn Khallikan.