IMAM AL REZA'S JOURNEY TO KHURASAN

Third: Muhawwil al-Sajistani is reported to have narrated the following:

When the official message of summoning Imam al-Rida (‘a) to be present in Khurasan (to hold the new office of crown princeship) was received (by the governor of al-Madinah), Imam al-Rida (‘a) entered the Prophet’s Mosque to bid farewell to the Holy Prophet (s). He repeated this act many times at each of which he would return to the Holy Prophet’s tomb and raise his voice with weeping and wailing. At one of these times, I approached, greeted, and congratulated him for the new office. The Imam (‘a) greeted me back and said, “Visit me, for I will leave the vicinity of my grandfather, I will die in a strange land, and I will be buried next to Harun (the ‘Abbasid ruler).”

Shaykh Yusuf ibn Hatam al-Shami, in his book of al-Durr al-Nazim, reported the following, on the authority of a group of companions, from Imam al-Rida (‘a):

“After I had prepared myself to leave al-Madinah towards Khurasan, I gathered all my dependants and ordered them to weep for me in my presence so that I would hear them. I then distributed twelve thousand dinars among them and said, “I will never come back to my dependants.” I then took Abu-Ja’far al-Jawad to the mosque, put his hand on the edge of the Holy Prophet’s tomb, asked him to stick himself to the tomb, and prayed Allah to make Allah’s Messenger guard him. I then ordered all my deputies and retinue to listen to and obey him and warned them against disobeying him, because he would be my representative among them.”

Sayyid ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Tawus has reported that when al-Ma’mun (the ‘Abbasid ruler) ordered that Imam al-Rida (‘a) should leave al-Madinah towards Khurasan, the Imam took the way that led to al-Basrah, not al-Kufah. From al-Basrah, the Imam headed towards Baghdad from the way of al-Kufah. From Baghdad, the Imam headed towards the city of Qumm. When he entered this city, its people received him warmly and each one of them wanted the Imam to be his guest. However, the Imam referred the matter to his camel, saying, “My camel has been already ordered.” Hence, the camel headed for a certain house and sat at its door. The owner of this house had seen in dream that Imam al-Rida (‘a) would be his guest the next day.

Soon after that, this house became one of the high esteemed places. It has now become a renowned school.

THE GOLDEN CHAIN

Shaykh al-Saduq has reported the following story from Ishaq ibn Rahawayh:

When Abu’l-Hasan al-Rida (‘a) entered the city of Nayshabur and then intended to leave it, the scholars of hadith of that city gathered around him and asked, “Will you leave us before you deliver to us a tradition (hadith) from which we may benefit?” Hence, the Imam, who was in a howdah, took his head out of the howdah and said:

When the caravan moved for a few steps, the Imam (‘a) shouted at us:

Abu’l-Salt has reported that when Imam al-Rida, on his way to meet al-Ma’mun, passed by the Red Village, some of the companions said to him, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! It is midday (zohr). Shall we perform the prayer?” So, the Imam rode off and asked for some water to do the ritual ablution. When he was informed that they did not have any water with them, the Imam scratched the ground with his hand and a quantity of water, which was enough for him and his companions to do the ritual ablution with, gushed out from there. The trace of this water is still existent up to the present day.

When the Imam entered the city of Sanabad, he reclined to the mountain from which pots were made and prayed, “O Allah! Grant them benefits from this mountain and bless whatever is hewed from it.”

The Imam then ordered them to make some pots from the rocks of that mountain for him. He then said, “You may eat no food except that which is cooked in these pots.” Since that day, people were attracted to this profession and the blessings of the Imam’s prayer have been noticed.