This is an account of the Imam who was in charge (al-qā‘im) after Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far b. Muḥammad, peace be on them, (describing) who gave birth to him and the date of his birth. (It includes) the evidence for his Imamate, the age he reached and the period of his succession (khilāfa), his death, its cause, the place of his grave, the number of his children and a brief outline of the reports about him. As we have mentioned before, the Imam after Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far, peace be on him, was Abū al-Ḥasan Mūsā b. Ja‘far, the righteous worshipper (of Allāh), peace be on him, because the qualities of outstanding merit and perfection were gathered in him, because of the designation (naṣṣ) by his father of the Imamate (being) for him, and his clear indication of it being his. His birth took place at al-Abwā’ in the year 128 A.H. (745/6). He, peace be on him, died in the prison of al-Sindī b. Shāhik in Baghdād on the 6th of (the month of) Rajab in the year 183 A.H. (799). He was then fifty-five years of age. His mother was a slave-wife named Ḥamīda al-Barbariyya. The period of his succession and occupying the office of the Imamate after his father, peace be on them, was thirty-five years. His kunyas were Abū-Ibrāhīm, Abū al-Ḥasan and Abū ‘Alī. He is known as al-‘Abd al-Ṣālīḥ (the pious worshipper of Allāh) and also he is described as al-Kāẓim (the restrained), peace be on him.

 Among the shaykhs of the followers of Abū ‘Abd Allāh, peace be on him, his special group (khāṣṣa), his inner circle and the trustworthy righteous legal scholars, may Allāh have mercy on them, who report the clear designation of the Imamate by Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far peace be on him, for his son, Abū al-Ḥasan Mūsā, peace be on him, are: al-Mufaḍḍal b. ‘Umar al-Ju‘fī, Mu‘ādh b. Kathīr, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥajjāj, al-Fayḍ b. al-Mukhtār, Ya‘qūb al-Sarrāj, Sulaymān b. Khālid, Safwān al-Jammāl, and others whom it would make the book too long to mention. (That designation) is also reported by his two brothers, Isḥāq and ‘Alī, sons of Ja‘far, peace be on him. They were men of merit and piety and (therefore reliable witnesses) in so far as two such men did not differ on it.

[Mūsā al-Ṣayqal reported on the authority of al-Mufaḍḍal b. ‘Umar al-Ju‘fī, may Allāh have mercy on him, who said:] 1 I (i.e. al-Mufaḍḍal b. ‘Umar al-Ju‘fī) was with Abū ‘Abd Allāh (Ja‘far), peace be on him. Abū Ibrāhīm Mūsā, peace be on him, came in. He was still a boy. Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far, peace be on him, said to me “Indicate to those of your Companions whom you trust that the position of authority belongs to him Mūsā.” [Thubayt reported on the authority of Mu‘ādh b. Kathīr, on the authority of Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far:] 2 I (i.e. Mu‘ādh b. Kathīr) said to (Ja‘far): “I ask Allāh, Who provided your father with you for this position, to provide you with one of your offspring for the same position before your death.” “Allāh has done that,” he answered. “May I be your ransom, who is it?” I asked. He indicated al-‘Abd al-Ṣālīh (the pious worshipper of Allāh) (i.e. Mūsā) to me. He was asleep. “This one who is sleeping,” he said. He was at that time a boy. [Abū ‘Alī al-Arrajanī reported on the authority of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān b. al-Hajjāj, who said:] 3 I (i.e. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān b. al-Hajjāj) visited Ja‘far b. Muḥammad, peace be on them, in his house. He was in such-and-such a room in his house which he used as a prayer-room. He was praying there. On his right hand was Mūsā b. Ja‘far, peace be on them, following his prayer. “May Allāh make me your ransom,” I said, “you know how I have dedicated my life to you and (you know of) my service to you. Who is the master of the affair (walī al-amr) after you?” He said: “Abd al-Raḥmān, Mūsā has put on the armour and it fitted him.” “After that, I have no further need of anything,” I replied. [Abd al-A‘lā reported on the authority of al-Fayḍ b. al-Mukhtār, who said:] 4 I (i.e. al-Fayḍ b. al-Mukhtār) said to Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far, peace be on him: “Take my hand away from the fire (of Hell). Who is (the Imam) for us after you?” Abū Ibrahim (Mūsā) entered - at that time he was a boy. Then (Ja‘far) said: “This is your leader (ṣāḥib). Keep close to him.”

1 Al-Kāfī, I, 308, tradition no. 4. Al-Kulaynī’s isnād has been shortened.

2 Al-Kāfī, I, 308, tradition no. 2. Al-Kulaynī’s isnād has been shortened.

3 Al-Kāfī, I. 308, tradition no. 3. Al-Kulaynī’s isnād has been shortened. Al-Arrajānī is al Kulaynī’s reading of the name.

4 Al-Kāfī, I, 307, tradition no. 1. Al-Kulaynī’s isnād has been shortened.

To be continued.....