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Theologian, scientist, philosopher, jurist, a man of letters, teacher, and
religious leader: these are just a few of the terms used to describe Imam Ja'far
as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) by both historians and his contemporaries. The knowledge and teachings of Imam as-Sadiq were beyond reproach and earned him
visitors from all over the world seeking to benefit from him. The fifth and
sixth Imams were aware that during their time as representatives of Allah in the
world, there would be an influx of books by Greek and Egyptian philosophers into
the Islamic world, and alarm was raised because many Muslims began accepting
these works as truths. The intellectual awakening of the Muslim world during the
second century was not due to foreign influences as many Western textbooks
allude to; rather, it was a movement led by Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and his son
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq.
Often it is thought that taqwa means piety and abstinence and so implies a negative attitude. In other words, it is maintained that the greater the amount of abstinence, withdrawal, and self-denial, the more perfect is one's taqwa. According to this interpretation, taqwa is a concept divorced from active life; secondly it is a negative attitude; thirdly, it means that the more severely this negative attitude is exercised, the greater one's taqwa would be. The meaning of taqwa in the Nahj al-Balaghah, however, is not synonymous with that of 'abstinence', even in its logically accepted sense discussed above. Taqwa, on the other hand, according to the Nahj al-Balaghah, is described as a spiritual condition which results in control and command over one's self. It explains that the result of subjugation to desires and lusts and being devoid of taqwa degrades one's personality making it vulnerable to the cravings of the carnal self. In such a state, man is like a helpless rider without any power and control, whom his mount takes wherever it desires. The essence of taqwa lies in possessing a spiritual personality endowed with will-power, and possessing mastery over the domain of one's self.
Generally speaking, the summons of all divine religions are based on the responsibility and accountability of man. The prophets and messengers of God have always declared, in the categorical manner that is peculiar to them, that in the vast world which lies before man, all of his deeds are subject to an accounting. Accordingly, they have emphatically exhorted those who have accepted their message to prepare themselves for the great event which will take place throughout creation, causing it to enter a new stage, be submitted to a new order and take on a new life. They have further commanded their followers to make use of their potentialities for growth, development and change in order to let all dimensions of their existence flourish and to prosper and attain salvation. They have warned them against doing anything which would earn them misery and wretchedness in the hereafter and cause them to burn in the fire of eternal regret. With his own hand, man sows in this life the seed of his life in the hereafter; he determines himself the fate that will be his in the next world. To express it differently, his eternal life is formed from the materials he himself provides in advance.
Imam Hasan Al-Askari (a) spent his short life in sufferings and distresses. The Abbasid kings spared no effort in oppressing him. They moved him from a prison to another. They subjected him to confinement and imposed on him an economical blockade. They prevented him from meeting with his followers as they prevented ulama and scholars from contacting with him to take from the fountains of his sciences. And this, as I think, was the worst distress the Imam suffered. They tried more than one time to assassinate him but Allah protected him from their plots. The Abbasids bore envy towards Imam Hasan Al-Askari (a) for his popularity and the great respect that all classes of society showed him, whereas the authority was in the hand of the Abbasids who received nothing of respect or honoring from people. Therefore, they plotted day and night to do away with him. Imam Hasan Al-Askari (a) departed from this world to the better world on the eighth of Rabee’ul Awwal in 260 AH, while he was twenty-eight years old and still in the prime of youth.
