Today the 7th of Safar affords us the opportunity to renew our allegiance to the 7th Imam of the Infallible Household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Although out of respect for the heartrending tragedy of Karbala and its equally tragic aftermath that saw the Godless Umayyads subject the blessed family including women and children to imprisonment, we do not celebrate with festivities the blessed birthday of Imam Musa al-Kazem (PBUH), nonetheless it is an occasion to dwell on the pivotal role of the Ahl al-Bayt in guiding societies. Here we present you a thought-provoking statement from the 7th Imam regarding the importance of leadership in Islam.

"O Hesham! The Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali) has said: No one should lead a number of people without enjoying three qualities. He should be able to provide answers for every question posed to him. He should be able to speak plainly when other people fail to do so. And he should be able to offer the counsel, which benefits people. He is certainly a fool who lacks these three qualities but seeks the leadership.”

This statement addressed to the master-debater Hesham ibn Hakam, is indeed food for thought. It is from the mouth of the person whose epithet Kazem means "Restrainer of Anger". Not that he was easily incited to anger and therefore felt the need to quickly suppress it. Nor does it mean that he ever did feel in his heart the flames of vengeance towards enemies despite being subjected to calamities that would make long dead corpses shake in their graves. He was patience personified. Throughout his eventful life that was cut short at the age of 55 years through foul play by his faithless foes, never did he resort to force to reclaim the leadership that rightly belonged to him and his family from the Abbasids who masqueraded as leaders of people, when in the light of the Imam's hadith, they lacked not just those three qualities that make a true leader, but were bereft of all human virtues. Subjected to frequent bouts of prison, he praised and thanked the Lord Most High for granting him free time without the bothers of daily life, to spend days and nights in prayers and supplications.

He was born in 128 AH in Abwa, between Mecca and Medina, five years before the Umayyad oppressors were sent into oblivion by a new breed of usurpers, called the Abbasids. Those were the crucial times when his father Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (PBUH) in 133 AH had coolly turned down the offer of caliphate by one of the leading generals of the anti-Umayyid uprising, in view of the fact that as the Prophet’s rightful heir his spiritual powers far exceeded the changing temporal boundaries of the Muslim realm. Moreover true caliphate is a God-given right that he already possessed and which was not subjected to any offers, elections, selections, nominations and occupation through military means. As for his mother, she was from North Africa and her name was Hameeda (peace upon her). Regarding her, his grandfather Imam Muhammad Baqer (PBUH) had said: “You are Hameeda or the Praised One in this world, and you are also Mahmouda or the Praiseworthy One in the Hereafter." A further proof for the excellence of his mother was the habit of his father, Imam Sadeq (PBUH), when the ladies of Medina would come to him to ask juristic questions, to direct them to his wife Hameeda (peace upon her) saying: “Her answers will be those given by me.”

The boy born this day was named Musa, the Arabic equivalent of Prophet Moses. During his 35-year mission as the Imam of mankind following the martyrdom of his father, he shook the thrones of more Pharaohs than Prophet Moses did. Although he neither unsheathed the sword nor brandished any miraculous staff, his majesty rattled the seats of power of four pharaohs of the usurper Abbasid dynasty, more bloodthirsty than the Egyptian god-king, more richer in the treasures they had accumulated by looting the peoples of the east and the west, and more extensive in terms of their authority that extended from the Atlantic shores of North Africa to the banks of the Rivers Indus and Jaxartes in the heart of Asia. Yet Imam Musa Kazem (PBUH) defeated their might, to the extent that today he reigns over hearts and minds all over the globe from the very seat of power of his pompous tormentors, whose rotten bones have turned into dust in unmarked graves. Moses may have found a resting place on Mount Sinai but the miracles that his staff wrought have long ceased. However, Imam Musa Kazem (PBUH) continues to perform miracles, as all those who flock to his magnificent golden-domed shrine in Kazemain near Baghdad in Iraq, will testify.

Nay, the spiritual powers granted by God Almighty to him as the 7th infallible successor of the Last Divine Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) are not bound by time or place, since Leadership in its strict sense is a Divine Trust for the most deserving. This is not a matter of surprise since God says in explicit terms in verse 12 of Surah Yasin of the Holy Qur'an: "…And We have gathered everything in a Manifest Imam." In view of this fact, Wilayat al-Mutlaqa or Divinely-Decreed Authority over mankind is not the product of fallible minds. It is something sanctioned by God Himself. Since Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) was chosen by the Almighty as the Last Messenger to mankind, anyone lacking credentials that are not certified by the Creator will not be considered the legitimate leader of Islam. Thus, the authority of Imam Kazem (PBUH) was God-given and this was the reason why the Abbasid usurpers tormented him. An example of his virtuous standing in the sight of God Almighty could be gauged from the incident, when the aged Christian monk Burayha came to him towards the end of his almost 50-year quest for the right path. The 7th Imam proved to the monk the truth of Islam by reciting passages from the original version of the Evangel, to the extent that the latter cried out that it seems he was hearing the tone of Prophet Jesus himself, and he thus became a Muslim.

Till this day, despite the passing of over a millennium, the mere expression on lips of the term Ya Bab al-Hawa’ej, which means "O Gateway of Needs", brings tranquility to hearts, enlightens minds, firms up the feet, and makes life pleasant in the midst of the most adverse conditions. In fact adversity yields to affinity by the Grace of God in the same manner as the torrent waters had parted to make way for Moses through the Red Sea. Imam Kazem (PBUH) certainly brought freshness to life. His is an eternal spring that pales into insignificance the season of springs that we enjoy every year. In other words, there is no autumn to this eternal spring of the Ahl al-Bayt and neither does it experience the torridness of summer or the frigidity of winter. That is the reason virtuous Muslims adhere to holy Qur’an and the supplications that have been left to them as the legacy of the Ahl al-Bayt including the wise aphorisms of the 7th Imam. To end this brief programme here is a wonderful aphorism from Imam Musa al-Kazem:

"O’ Hesham, the one who does not take stock of his deeds every day is not from us, since the person who has done good will strive to increase his good deeds and if he has done bad, he will seek forgiveness from God for his faults."