Hawzah News Agency-Imam al-Sajjad (a.s) is referred to in several narrations for his devotion to Allah and commitment to prayer. Two of his titles are Zayn al-‘Abideen (The Adornment of the Worshippers) and al-Sajjad (The Often in Prostration).
The Imam was a survivor of the massacre at Karbala in which he witnessed the murder of his father and family. Imam al-Sajjad (a.s) thereafter played a crucial role in narrating the tragedies and confronting Yazid’s Government in Syria.
One of the Imam’s main responsibilities during this period was to awaken the people as to what had transpired at Karbala and remind them as to whom they had killed. In order to succeed in this mission, the Imam would give eloquent speeches with the purpose of shocking the masses.
The Imam had a long period of Imamate (34 years) from 61 A.H until 95 A.H, and was known for his discipline and commitment to Allah. During his tenure the Imam wrote many works which served to revive some of the religious knowledge of the Prophet (s.a.w) to the followers of Ahlulbayt in particular and Muslims in general.
The Imam left behind a legacy of works. One particular work is entitled “al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyyah,” - a compilation of numerous supplications dealing with specific themes. This work is treasured as an authentic piece of work belonging to an Imam and remains amongst Muslims today as major work of Muslim devotion. The work has several other names such as “The Psalms of Islam” (al-Zabur al-Islam) and is considered to be amongst the most beautiful of any work.
The second text the Imam left behind is entitled “al-Risalat al-Huqooq” and was unique for its time. The book’s title is often translated as the “Treatise of Rights” and is a compilation of the rights of numerous groups of people over each other, as well as the rights of more abstract objects such as “the rights of the ear” and “the rights of the self”. Numerous commentaries have been written about the text in an attempt to formulate a systematic bill of rights conforming to Islamic thought.