Name. Ali

Title: ar- Razz

Agrnomen: Abu’l-Hasan

Father’s name: Mussel-Kazim

Mother’s name: Ummu’l-Banin Najmah.

Birth: In Medina, on Thursday,11^th Zhu’l-qi’dah 148 AH.

Death: Martyred at the age of 55, in Mashahad( Khurasan- Iran), on Tuesday, 17th Safar 203 AH; poisoned by al- Mamun the Abbasid caliph; buried in Mashed, Iran.

imam Ali ar-Raza (a.s) was brought up under the holy guidance of his father for 35 years. Imam ar-Raza was a living example of the piety of the great Prophet and the chivalry and generosity of Imam Ali bin Abu Talib.

Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s) declared Imam ar-Raza as his successor in the presence of 171 prominent religious divines and called upon his all sons and his family to submit to Him and refer to him in all matter after him. He also left behind written document declaring the succession of Imam ar-Raza duly signed and endorsed by not less then 16 prominent persons. Imam ar- Raza had inherited great qualities of head and heart from his ancestor. He was versatile person and had full command over many language.

Imam was brought by forced at the age of caliph Mamun from Medina, when he reached Nayshapur. Here he quoted the Ahadith that the Kalimah is the fortress of Allah and whoever entered the fortress saved himself from His wrath. after few moment he continued that with a few conditions to entitle the entrance to fortress and the greatest of all was sincere and complete submission to the Imam of the day.

On his arrival, al-Mamun showed him hospitality and great respect , then he said to him: “ I want to get rid of myself of the caliphate and vest the office in you.” But Imam refused his offer. Mamun repeated and said that you must accept being the heir after me. Imam again refused. At the last, Imam accepted on conditions that I do not command, nor order, nor give legal decisions, nor judge, nor appoint, nor dismiss, nor change anything from how it is at present. Allama Shibli in “ al-Mamun” gave a clear picture of how Mamun decided to offer his leadership to Imam ar-Raza (a.s).

Even after the declaration of succession he did not pay any heed material comforts and devoted him completely to imparting the true Islamic conception of the Holy Quran. He spent most of his time praying to God and serving the people.

He organized the Majalis(meeting)commemorating the martyrdom of the martyrs of Karbala. These majalis were first held during Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) and Imam Jaffar Sadiq (a.s) but he gave the majalis a new impetus by encouraging those poets who wrote effective poems depicting the moral aspect of the tragedy and the suffering of Imam Hussain and his companions.

Once a day Mamun invited the Imam at dinner and fed him poisoned grapes. Imam died on 17^th Safar 203 AH and buried in Tus (Mashed- Iran) and his grand shrine speaks well for the great personality the Imam possessed.