Imam Mohammad Baqirand Emphasize on Divine Obedience

Imam Mohammad al-Baqir (A.S) was the fifth Shiite Imam. His epithet was Abu Ja'far and he was popularly titled as "al-Baqir". His mother was the daughter of Imam Hassan (A.S). Thus, he was the only Imam who was connected with Hazrat Fatima Zahra, both from the paternal and maternal sides. Imam Mohammad al-Baqir was brought up in the holy lap of his grandfather Imam Hossein (A.S) for three years. For thirty-four years he was under the gracious patronage of his father, Imam AliZain al-Abedin (A.S).

Imam Baqirwas martyred in the HeshamibnAbdolmalek’sera, because Hesham’s kingdom started from 105 to 125 A.H and according to the historians the year of Imam’s martyrdom was in 118 A.H. Considering the cruel behaviors of Hesham towards Imam Baqir and the undeniable animosity of the Omavids towards Imam Ali’s progeny, there is no doubt that Hesham had an effective role in Imam’s martyrdom.

To bring his plots into realization, Hesham took advantage of his trustees. He employed Ibrahim- ibn Valid who was from Omavids and the enemy of the Holy Prophet’s Progeny. Ibrahim in turn paved the way for another person who could be so close to Imam Baqir. He supplied him with all necessary facilities. This person was from BaniHashem’s tribe and he could put the treacherous plot into practice which led to Imam’s martyrdom.

The life of Imam Baqir (AS) led to valuable achievements for Islam including:

1. The fortification of the ideological principles and the religious beliefs of the Islamic society.

2. Criticizing and opposition towards the false beliefs and thoughts which had influenced on Muslims.

3. The development of the legal culture along with the Islamic rules.

4. Fighting with the incorrect methods of discretion and analyzing the legal rules.

5. Training the brilliant students on the fields of jurisprudence, discourse and the ethical and social issues.

6. Leading the Shiite society toward the purely Islamic thoughts.

7. Avoiding the devastation of the Shiite formations under the pressure of the dictator ways of the Omavids.

8. The promulgation of the Politico-Ideological thoughts of the Shiites along with the policy of Taqieyeh which means concealing of one’s faith.

9. Providing the society with the practical models on praying, piety, efforts and endeavors, science, ethics and the social activities.

The reasons fortifying Imam Baqir’s Imamate are:

• The narrations of the Holy Prophet on introducing the 12 Imams for guiding people after his era.
• The narrations, which originally belonged to the holy prophet and were retold later, especially devoted to Imam Baqir’s Imamate.
• JaberIbnAbdollah Ansari’s certifying on Holy Prophet’s good tiding informing that Imam Mohamed Baqir (A.S) would be born.

Imam also prescribes: Our Imamate might not be attained, except by piety and goodness, so you should fear God and act so that you will reach divine meritorious. In fact, there is no affinity between God and one of the creatures and the dearest creatures of God is one who is more pious and avoids what has been prohibited by God and obeys divine orders more. One might not be close to God, except by obeying Him and whoever is obedient to God, is considered as our friend.

During 20 years of his fruitful life, Imam Baqir spread the incitement of Shiite culture along with the ruling of Imam Ali’s descendents (Alavids) everywhere and he attracted the attention of many people.