Sayyid Mohammed

 

One of the family members of the grandson of the Messenger of God (God’s Blessings Be Upon Him and His Pure Family) who was of a supreme level of knowledge in a way that he was thought to be the successor of his father Imam Ali El-Hadi (Peace Be Upon Them).

 

He was a true worshiper of God; therefore, God granted him the rank he deserved to the extent that he was very well-known among people.

 

Now, his holy shrine is the cynosure of so many people who make a pilgrimage to him, asking God for the rank he has before Him to fulfill their needs; he is sayyid Mohammed, son of Imam Ali El-Hadi (Peace Be Upon Them).

 

His nickname in Arabic is: “Seb’ Ed-Dejeal,” which means “The man of the lion of Ed-Dejeal (Ed-Dejeal is a river)." He was given that nickname because the pilgrims – a very long time ago – who used to make a pilgrimage to his holy shrine, where there were bandits who used to rob people, would see a lion around sayyid Mohammed’s grave, protecting the grave and the pilgrims from the bandits.

 

He is also known as the man of miracles due to what people have experienced throughout the ages; they are used to praying to God to have their needs fulfilled through the godly rank sayyid Mohammed has before God. Sunni and Shia Muslims make a pilgrimage to him, and so many miracles occured to the people who visited him.

 

His life:

He is sayyid Mohammed (Abo Je’fer), son of Imam Ali El-Hadi, son of Imam Mohammed El-Jawad, son of Imam Ali (Er-Ridha), son of Imam Musa (El-Kadhim), son of Imam Je’fer Es-Sadiq, son of Imam Mohammed (El-Baqer), son of Imam Ali (Es-Sejjad), son of Imam Hussein, son of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (Peace Be Upon Them).

 

In 212 A.H., he was born in Serea Town in Medina; this town had been built by Imam Musa El-Kadhim (Peace Be Upon Him). His father Imam Ali El-Hadi taught him from the best fountain of knowledge. Therefore, he gained piousness, god-fearing, knowledge, and worshipping from the family of the Messenger of God.

 

His mother, Seleel, was a great, god-fearing lady, and her name, as Imam El-Hadi said, means the pure lady.

 

Sayyid Mohammed lived 24 years with his father Imam El-Hadi (Peace Be Upon Them); such a long period of time with his father gained him the nobility of character in a way that he resembled two Imams: his father Imam El-Hadi and his brother Imam El-Hasan El-Eskeri (Peace Be Upon Them).

 

The time he lived was contemporary to the time of 5 Abbaside caliphs (rulers): El-Wathiq, El-Mutawakil, El-Muntasir, El-Musteeen, and El-Mu’tez. He also experienced difficulties and tragedies that the Imams and his cousins faced such as Yehya, son of Abdullah, son of Je’fer – the pious, god-fearing, and a true follower of the Ahlul-Bayet (Peace Be Upon them) – who was killed and his head was carried on a spear to Baghdad due to opposing the tyrannical Abbasside government.

 

He helped his father and his brother the Imams, he left his home the Median and went with them when they were taken to Samarra – Iraq, by the military commander of the Abbasside government Yehya, son of Herthema.

 

 

Confronting deviation:

In addition to the oppression of the Ahlul-Bayet (Peace Be Upon Them), many perverse currents emerged; those who made up false rules to serve themselves and fight the Ahlul-Bayet’s school of thought. He, therefore, had to tackle issues at that time as part of his religious duty in order to maintain the genuine Islam. Thus, he used to be known as one of the prominent clerics of Ahlul-Bayet’s family. That is why a group of Shia Muslims thought he would be the following Imam after his father Imam Ali El-Hadi (Peace Be Upon them), but Imam El-Hadi told them that the following Imam would be El-Hasan El-Eskeri (Peace Be Upon Him).

 

 

His death or martyrdom:

It is narrated that sayyid Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) used to go to an area known as Ed-Dejeal - according to the name of the river, which is called Ed-Dejeal – and he once fell sick when he was there, his health deteriorated, and then passed away.

 

Some prominent clerics narrated that the Abbasside government murdered sayyid Mohammed by poisoning him, because they were known for their hatred towards the Ahlul-Bayet (Peace Be Upon Them) and how they killed their families.

 

It is also narrated that the Imams were killed by poison or by sword. Therefore, it was thought that sayyid Mohammed was killed by the Abbasside government. Thus, sayyid Mohammed was granted martyrdom by God, and God bestowed a rank upon him through which pilgrims get blessed when they make a pilgrimage to him, and have their needs fulfilled.

 

Another blessing God bestowed upon him was that many clerics wrote books about him, talking about his nobility of character and his merits, in addition to many poems by famous poets.

 

His holy shrine:

His holy shrine has been the cynosure of all eyes. It has been renovated many times. It was built by the Buyid dynasty in 367 A.H. After that, it was renovated by Shah Ismael Es-Sefewi in 914 A.H., Mohammed Refee’ El-Khurasani in 1198 A.H., Mohammed Salih El-Quzweeni in 1250 A.H., Mohammed Hasan Esh-Sherazi in 1311 A.H., merza Mohammed Et-Tehrani in 1371 A.H., sayyid Hasan Es-Seder in 1355 A.H., and Mohammed, son of Hasan El-Qummi in 1366 A.H.

 

 

By: Mohammed Es-Seffar

Translation: Mohammed Alobaidi

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