His grandfather Imam Ja’afar Al-sadiq (AS) died one month before the birth of Imam Reza(AS) The family must have been consoled by his birth which took place after such a great loss. He was brought up and instructed by his affectionate father under whose supervision he passed his boyhood and youth. He availed himself of the instructions of his learned father for thirty one years till the later was taken to Baghdad to suffer the hardship of imprisonment for four years till his death.
Imam Musa Ibn Ja’afar(AS) could foresee that the hostile Abbasid ruler would not allow him to live peacefully and circumstances would take such a turn that his followers would not be able to see him or enquire about his successor prior to his death. So while free and undisturbed in Madinah he felt the need to introduce his successor to his followers. He, therefore, assembled seventeen prominent dignitaries from the descendants of Imam Ali (AS) and proclaimed that his son Ali Ibn Musa(AS) would succeed him. He also wrote his will on which 60 respected elders of Madinah signed as witnesses. Such elaborated arrangements were never made by any other Imam and they proved to be most appropriate due to the controversy about the Imamat which ensued after the death of Imam Musa Ibn Ja’afar (AS).
Imam Reza (AS) was 35 years old when his father died in prison of Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad and the responsibilities of the Imamat devolved on him. At that time Harun Al-Rashid was the absolute ruler of Baghdad and the descendants of Imam Ali (AS) were passing as ever, through trials and tribulations because of the tyranny of the Abbasid ruler. Yet Imam Reza (AS) carried on the responsibility of administering the Divine Law of Shari’ah as taught by the Holy Prophet and Imams of the Ahlulbayt after him.
After putting an end to the life of Imam Musa Ibn Jaa’far (AS) Harun al-Rashid lived for ten years. He had less tolerance for the existence of Imam Ali Reza (AS), then he did for his revered father. But he also knew that his Government had already lost face due to its prolonged maltreatment and eventual assassination of Imam Musa Ibn Ja’afar (AS) or perhaps the tyrant felt the stings of conscience which kept him from harassing the 8th Imam. It is said that once Yahya Barmaki, his Prime Minister, in order to gain the ruler’s favour, informed Harun that Imam Ali Ibn Musa (AS) claimed Imamat in the same way his father had done, Harun coldly replied, “We have already inflicted cruelties on his father, do you expect me to annihilate this family altogether.
Still, Harun was antagonistic towards the Prophet’s descendants and persisted in maltreatment of most of them in Madina. The local Governors of Madina who wished to please the ruler could not afford to be fair to Ahlulbayt. People could not visit the Imam freely seek his knowledge, and he had little chance to teach his followers openly, for the eyes of the agents of Caliph focused unceasingly on the activities of the Imam.
Political wranglings in Baghdad between the two sons of Harun were rocking the Empire. His elder son Amin who had an Arab mother had the support of the Arabs and most of the Abbasid elders, while the younger son Mamun had a Persian mother and was supported by the Persians. To console both factions Harun took a pledge from both his sons that after his death Amin will rule the Arab part of the Empire while Mamoun will rule the Persian side. When Harun died in far away Tus, the most northern town of his Persian Empire, Mamoun was with him and buried him there. Amin in Baghdad immediately proclaimed himself the Caliph of the whole empire and immediately deposed Mamoun from the rulership of the Persian Province. Mamoun’s main concern was to subdue the persian province under any circumstances. He realised that the majority of Persians favoured the teachings of Ahlulbayt and if somehow he could persuade the Imam of the Ahlulbayt in Madina to side with him, he could confirm his rule there. Once he felt secure on that side of the Empire, he would then rise against his brother and easily depose him.
So the orders were senout for the Imam to leave his home in Madina and go to the Abasid ruler in far away Tus. Imam, as if by some miracle knew what was to come. So he left his wife and only son Muhammad Ibn Ali al Jawad, later known as Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) in Madina. He also called many elders of Madina mostly from Banu Hashim and told them of his call to go to the outpost of the Empire to see Mamoun. The date of his departure was in the month of Rajab 200 Hijri. It was a long journey to Merve and the Imam set out on this momentous journey with some of his friends who were loyal to him throughout his life.
His journey began from Madina to Makka where he performed the Umra, then he took almost the same route as Imam Hussain (As) took in 61 hijri towards Kerbala. Half way through the hills of Hejaz when he crossed over to the desert of Najd his route changed to that of Imam Hussain (AS) and his caravan moved towards the eastern side and reached the town of Basra in the month of Shawwal. From Basra he crossed over the Shatt-al-Arab and reached the persian soil heading towards the town of Qum. It was in the month of Zilhijja that he reached Qum where he stayed for a while. The month of Muharram the 8th Imam spent in Qum where it is said that he established for the first time a Majlis to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS). This was the first Muharram in 201 Hijri that set the tradition of Majlis, beginning in Persia the way the Imams of Ahlulbayt had wanted it and the way it was observed in Madina and Makka and throughout the province of Hejaz and Najd and to some extent in Iraq where people thronged for pilgrimage to the Shrine of Imam Hussain(AS).
After spending the Month of Muharram in Qum the Imam proceeded towards the northern part of Persia crossing the Alburz mountains to the town of Merv where Mamoun had settled with his army to secure his empire for him.
It is thought in some historical circles that the 8th Imam involved himself in politics while his ancestors up to the 7th Imam after the martyrdom of Imam Ali(AS) refrained from this journey. Outwardly it looks like the Imam was abandoning the policy of his predecessors for the Imam could not be the heir- apparent to the caliphate without becoming involved in the politics of the day. The Imam took pains, however, to indicate that it was not his desire, but that he was acting only in accord with the summons he had received from Mamoun. He seemed to have no choice but to proceed on this hazardous journey. Indeed if he had refused to proceed or shown any reluctance, force would surely have been used which would have been more humiliating for the Imam and his family.
Yakubi in his history gave some details of this journey. From Qum the Imam moved north to the town of al-ray, the Greek Rhages, which is near the site of the present city of Tehran. From this place the caravan continued its journey until it reached the city of Tus. From Tus they travelled on to the city of Merv, in what is now modern Turkistan.
On his arrival in Merv, Mamoun welcomed him with great ceremony and pomp. Mamoun treated the Imam with great honour.
It is mentioned by various historians, Both of Shia and Sunni schools of thought, that when Mamoun initially offered the Imam his throne, the Imam declined the offer firmly and resolutely. After several attempts to bring the Imam to accept the offer failed, Mamoun told him to accept the offer of being his heir- apparent to succeed him after Mamoun’s death. Imam replied to this offer, “ I will accept this to console you, but this will never happen for I will leave this world before you.” Once Mamoun achieved his desire to get the consent of the Imam as his successor, he declared this openly to all in order to see the reaction of the Abbasid clan who were favouring his half brother Amin.
According to Yakubi it was on the 27th of Ramadan, in the year 201 Hijri that the Imam was officially designated as Mamouns’s “heir- apparent,”( Wali’ahd,) and the Imam’s name was included with his own on gold and silver coins. The inscription on these coins is well worthy of notice: “The King of God and the faith, Al-Mamoun, Amir and Khalifa of the faithful, and Al-Reza, the Imam of the muslims.” This meant more than that the Imam was to be official chaplain to him for Mamoun summoned the descendants of Abbas, men and women to come to Merv. It was an assembly of thirty three thousand and when they all assembled, the caliph Mamoun called for Ali al- Reza (AS) and gave him a place of honour among the greatest of the Abbasid nobles. He then announced to those he had summoned, that he had carefully considered all the descendants of Abbas and also the descendants of Ali, and that he had not found in his search anyone more worthy or more fit to be his successor than Ali al- Reza. He therefore took him by the hand and publicly acknowledged him as his successor(Kulaini). He then gave his daughter Umme Habib in marriage. He also sent abroad the command that the wearing of black flags which was the symbol of Abbasid rule after the destruction of the Ummayads, should be discontinued and that hereafter the use of green should be substituted. Green being the colour of Ahlulbayt and the House of Ali (AS) was the order of the day.
Once this story of succession was announced Mamoun’s political ambition was achieved. He secured the help of the Persians fully behind him. With their help his army invaded the capital of the Abbasid empire, Baghdad, Amin was killed and his head was sent to Mamoun to see for himself that he had became the sole ruler of the Abbasid Empire. But Mamoun was still not secure on his throne. The Arab party who sided with Amin, never liked the appointment of Imam Ali al- Reza(AS) as the successor of Mamoun, no matter how dubious it looked to them on the face of it. The chiefs of the Abbasid family in Iraq perceived that by this appointment the principal authority in the empire would very likely be taken from them. They got together, therefore, and proclaimed that for bequeathing the Caliphate after his death to the Imam Ali Al-Reza (AS), who was not their immediate family, Mamoun himself was declared deposed. They swore allegiance to Ibrahim al Mehdi, Mamoun’s uncle as their new caliph. This proclamation took place on the 5th of Muharram 202 Hijri.
While Imam Reza was with Mamoun in Merv, his Prime Minister Fadl ibn Sahl arranged a conference on religions to which he invited the leaders of different sects, including Zoroastrains and Christians and Jews, that they might hear what the Imam of the Ahlulbayt had to say to impress them of their spiritual abilities and excellences. It was in these discussions with leaders of other faiths that the Imam clarified the position of sinlessness of the Prophets and of the guided Imams. These conferences were so successful that atone stage Mamoun was fearful of the increasing influences of the Imam on the people as a whole.
In one such incidence on the occasion of the Eidul Fitr, the whole strategy of Mamoun and the shear hypocrisy of the drama he was playing was exposed. He had asked the Imam to lead the Eidul Fitr prayers at the end of Ramazan that year. First the Imam declined, but when Mamoun insisted, he agreed on the condition that he will direct the occasion as he would deem fit. On the morning of the EidulFitr, when the military and civil leaders assembled outside the door of the Imam to come out and lead the prayers, they saw the Imam come out of the house bare foot, wearing a white shirt and white headgear. Imam also advised his companions to follow him in the same manner. He came out on the Road to the mosque outside the city of Merv. All the citizens who saw the Imam in this fashion copied him and all walked barefoot. Even the military chiefs and civil judges walked bare foot. A huge crowd followed the Imam. He was saying Takbir loudly and all were following him and shouting Takbir (God is great). The situation became so tense that when Mamoun was informed of this huge following of the Imam he immediately sent a request to the Imam to withdraw from leading the Eid prayers. Imam withdrew and it was a great show down for the Emperor aexposed his trickery to the full.
It was after about a years stay of the Imam in Merv that Mamoun decided to do something about the situation in Iraq. He knew that his uncle Ibrahim al Mehdi had been proclaimed as Caliph there in his place. This was a thorn in his heart. He decided that it was time for him to return from Khorasan and assert his rights in person. He had already strengthened his position due to the help of the Persians. With a huge army beside him Mamoun prepared his journey back home. He was accompanied, as Yakubi mentions it in his history, by Imam al Reza (AS) as his heir apparent and by his prime minister Fadl ibn Sahl, who was known as the holder of two offices, civil and military, being the Prime Minister as well as the chief of the Army. But when they reached the town of Sarakhs, Fadl ibn Sahl was assassinated in his bath by two persons, Ghalib al Rumi and Sarraj al Khadim. They were found out by Mamoun who immediately put them to death immediately that if there was any implication of Mamoun in this murder it should not be exposed. Mamoun had his suspicions about his Prime Minister who was secretly gaining favour with the Abbasids in Baghdad. Historians did mention the name of Mamoun in disposing off Fadhl ibn Sahl.
Within two days of this murder when the army reached the town of Tus, Imam Reza fell ill and died within three days of his illness. Yakubi reported that “his sickness was no more than three days and it was reported that Ibn Hisham, Mamoun’s favourite henchman had given the Imam poison which caused his death. He mixed poison in grapes and when Imam had eaten the grapes he became ill in the same manner as Imam Hasan did and died within three days.”
Ibn Babawaih relates various reasons that have been assigned to Mamoun for poisoning the Imam and shows also the circumstances in which Imam Ali Reza (AS) is said to have designated his son Muhanmmad ibn Ali as his successor to the Immamate.
Imam Ali Reza (AS) died and was buried far off from Madina, the home of his forefathers of the Ahlulbayt of the Prophet. In Sanabad, about a mile from the village where he died, they placed him in a grave inside the tomb of Harun al- Rashid who was buried there ten years ago. Mamoun’s ambitions to get the Empire under his feet was almost accomplished for he knew that the army under his command would not run away from him at this juncture. So he cleverly killed off the Imam and reached Baghdad with the declaration that the Caliphat of Banu Abbas would remain in the family. Ibrahim al Mehdi was deposed and later killed and Mamoun became the supreme leader.
http://www.al-islam.org/kaaba14/11.htm
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