Martyrdom of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir

Hawzah News Agency-After the death of the 4th Shia Imam on October 20, 713 AD, the caliphs in Damascus were so preoccupied with their conquests of foreign lands that they did not have time to worry about the people in Medina, their loyalties or their hostilities.

They were also satisfied that the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt would not divulge in any rebellion against them due to the most peaceful and quite life of the 4th Imam Zainul Abedeen (as) . They left the people of Medina to their activities in some peace. This was the time Imams of Ahlul Bayt were waiting for. Our 5th Imam opened a school to teach Qur’an and Hadith as it was taught by the Holy Prophet and Imam ‘Ali AS).

Imam Muhammad el Baqir was said to have been high esteemed for his learning and eloquence as well as on account of his noble birth. According to Ibn Khalikan, the Imam received the title of Baqir (Splitter of knowledge) due to his ample knowledge of religion and his enthusiasm to teach to other people.

Many historians like Yakubi asserts that the Imam split open knowledge, that is scrutinized it and examined the depths of it so that it can be spread to all people truly and correctly.

In his life of respectable and scholarly retirement at Medina, the Imam was frequently called upon to explain particular teachings in regard to Imamate. A synopsis of his teaching in the Ma’athirul-Baqir is given in Cannon Sell’s Ithna Ashariya, an interesting part of which may well be quoted, as it shows the emphasis at this early period on the intellectual and spiritual character of the Imamate.

A man one day said to the Imam, “Was the Prophet heir to all the knowledge of the Prophets?" He replied, “Yes” then he was asked whether he had inherited it. He said he had. He was then asked if he could raise the dead to life, restore sight to the blind, and cleanse the leper.

He said yes, by valor of God, the most high. He therefore put his hand on the blind eyes of a man sitting next to him and prayed. The next moment the blind man’s eyesight was restored. Many more such stories were told by various historians of the time.

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