Hazrat Shah Abd Al-Azeem Al-Hasani (AS) biography
HIS LINEAGE
The ImÁmi scholar and biographer Shaykh al-NajÁshi (d 450 AH/1058 AD) has recorded his lineage at the beginning of his biography as: Abd al-Azeem bin
ÝAbdullah bin Ali bin
HIS LINEAGE
The ImÁmi scholar and biographer Shaykh al-NajÁshi (d 450 AH/1058 AD) has recorded his lineage at the beginning of his biography as: Abd al-Azeem bin
ÝAbdullah bin Ali bin
al-Íasan bin Zayd bin al-Íasan bin Ali bin Abi TÁlib (a)
and this is his correct lineage. However, he then writes at the end of the biography:
‘He (i.e. Abd al-Azeem) died and when he was undressed so that the funeral bath
could be given to him, a small piece of paper was found in one of his pockets in
which was written his lineage, as follows: ‚I am AbÙ al-QÁsim Abd al-Azeem bin
ÝAbdillah bin ÝAli bin al-Íasan bin Zayd bin Ali
3
bin al-Íasan bin ÝAli bin AbÐ
ÓÁlib (Ýa).‛ But the first rendering of his lineage is correct for ImÁm al-Íasan’s
progeny continued through the agency of two sons,
4
who were:
1) Zayd bin al-Íasan, and
2) Al-Íasan al-MuthannÁÞ.
5
Thus it is apparent that ImÁm al-Íasan (Ýa) did not have a son by the name of ÝAli
through whom he may have had grandchildren (as the second version of Seyyid
Abd al- Azeem’s lineage above implies).
Therefore on the basis of the above, SeyyidAbd al-Azeem was separated from ImÁm
al-Íasan (Ýa) by four generations only (as implied by the first version of his lineage).
HIS POSITION NEAR THE IMÀMS OF THE AHLULBAYT (ÝA)
His station near the ImÁms of the ahlulbayt (Ýa) comes to light in the course of their
statements in his favor. Thus he was a brilliant traditionist, a source of reference in
matters of the faith, trustworthy in matters of religion and here we mention some of
their statements.
Shaykh al-sadÙq (d 381 AH/991 AD) reports from Seyyid Abd al-Azeem that he said:
‘I visited my master ÝAli
24
bin MuÎammad bin Ali bin MÙsa bin Jafar bin
MuÎammad bin Ali bin Íusayn bin Ali bin Abi TÁlib (a). When he
caught sight of me, he exclaimed:
‚Welcome O AbÙ al-QÁsim, you are indeed our true friend!‛
So I said: ‚O son of the Messenger (Ò), I wish to present to you my beliefs. If
they are correct then I will affirm and adhere to them till I meet Allah, Great
and Exalted‛. So the Imam said: ‚Then present them O AbÙ al-QÁsim‛.
So I said: ‚I maintain that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is one. There is
nothing like Him. He is beyond the two limits, the limit of negation and
annulment (of attributes) and the limit of anthropomorphism. And that He
has neither a body nor a form, nor dimension nor a material core. Rather
He is the One who creates bodies and gives forms, the Creator of
dimensions and matter. Lord of everything and its Possessor, Creator and
Originator.
And (I maintain) that MuÎammad was His servant, His Messenger and the
Seal of the Prophets. There is no prophet after him till the Day of
Judgement.
And (I maintain) that the ImÁm, the Caliph and the Guardian of the affair
(of guidance) after him was AmÐr al-MuÞminÐn ÝAli bin AbÐ ÓÁlib, and then
al-Íasan, then al-Íusayn, then ÝAli bin al-Íusayn, then MuÎammad bin
ÝAli, then JaÝfar bin MuÎammad, then MÙsa bin JaÝfar, then ÝAli bin MÙsa,
then MuÎammad bin ÝAli and thereafter, you my master‛.
So the ImÁm said: ‚And after me will be my son al-Íasan. However, I
wonder how the people will react with regards to his successor‛ I asked:
‚Why do you say that, O master?‛ He replied, ‚Because none will see his
person, nor will it be permissible to mention his name till he appears, when he will fill the earth with justice and equity as it was previously filled with
oppression and tyranny.‛
So I responded: ‚I accept (what you have informed me) and I maintain that
their friend is the friend of Allah, their enemy is the enemy of Allah.
Obedience to them is obedience to Allah; disobedience to them is
disobedience to Allah. I maintain that the (Prophet’s) night journey did
occur, that questioning in the grave will happen, that heaven and hell exist,
that accounting of deeds will occur and that the Hour will undoubtedly
arrive when Allah will resurrect those in the graves.
I further maintain that the (religious) obligations after al-WilÁya (i.e. love
and adherence to the ahlulbayt) are: Prayers, the zakÁt levy, fasting,
pilgrimage to Mecca, striving (in the path of Allah), commanding good and
discouraging evil.‛
On hearing this, ÝAli bin MuÎammad (Ýa) said: ‚O AbÙ al-QÁsim, what you
have mentioned is, by Allah, the religion which Allah has chosen for His
servants and one with which he is satisfied. So adhere to it, may Allah cause
you to stay steadfast on the established faith, in this world and in the
hereafter.‛
Further, it is clear from what ÑÁÎib bin ÝAbbÁd narrates, that Seyyid ÝAbd al-ÝAÛÐm
was a ‘source of reference’ in matters of the faith and an interpreter of Islamic law
for the ShiÝites in regard to issues which seemed ambiguous and unclear to them.
Thus AbÙ TurÁb al-RÙyÁni says:
‘I visited ÝAli bin MuÎammad (Ýa) in SÁmarrÁÞ and I asked him some
questions relating to the permissible and impermissible. He answered all of
them. When I was bidding him farewell, he said: ‚O ÍammÁd, if something
regarding religion confuses or confounds you then refer it to Abd al-Azeem,
and convey to him my regards.‛
THE HARSH CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS TIME
MaÞmÙn ascended the throne after having defeated and killed his brother AmÐn. The
prevailing atmosphere in the royal court during his reign was that of relative
freedom for the ShiÝites and the MuÞtazilites,
67
who were those who championed the
ideas of divine transcendent monotheism and divine justice (انؼدلٔ دٍحٕانت مْا). When
MaÞmÙn died in the year 218 AH/833 AD, al-MuÞtaÒim gained the pledge of
allegiance for the caliphate and the royal court became a centre for intellectuals and
theologians who would engage in polemical debates with each other. When he died
in 227 AH/841 AD, it was WÁthiq who took over the reins of the caliphate and he
continued with the tradition of intellectual and religious freedom that he had
inherited from his predecessors.
Thus it was due to and during the reign of these caliphs that the fortunes of the
proponents of divine justice (انؼدل مْا) shone luminously and polemical gatherings
between adherents of different faiths and sects took place.
However, when WÁthiq billah died and Mutawakkil assumed the throne from the
year 232 AH/846 AD to 247 AH/861 AD, he promulgated a particularly harsh policy
against the ShiÝites and the MuÞtazilites but a very favourable one with respect to the
Íashawiyya.
68
He encouraged the dissemination of ideas favouring divine
anthropomorphism and the doctrine of the physical manifestation of God as well as
hatred and enmity towards the ahlulbayt to such an extent that the people of
It is sufficient to cite the following anecdote as an example of his hatred and enmity
towards the ahlulbayt. He had charged YaÝqÙb bin al-SikkÐt,
70
an authority in the
Arabic language, with the responsibility of tutoring his two sons al-MuÝtaz and alMuÞayyad. One day he was looking at his two sons and suddenly asked Ibn al-SikkÐt:
‘who is more beloved to you, my (two) sons or al-Íasan and al-Íusayn?’ Ibn alSikkÐt replied: ‘Qambar, the client of ÝAli is better than them both!’ Outraged he
ordered Ibn al-SikkÐt’s tongue to be pulled out!
Historical records do not identify the year in which Seyyid Abd al-Azeem al-Íasani
migrated to Ray and sought refuge there, nor do they inform us of the year in which
he migrated from the ÍijÁz or ÝIrÁq to Ray. However, some have imagined that he
may have migrated to FÁrs with the purpose of visiting ImÁm ÝAli bin MÙsa alRidhÁÞ (Ýa) and thereafter remained there throughout his remaining life till his death
in approximately 252 AH/866 AD. But this supposition is difficult to accept. This is
because ImÁm al-RidhÁÞ arrived in ÓÙs in the year 199 AH/814 AD due to the
persistence of MaÞmÙn [and passed away in 203 AH/818 AD], thus to suppose that
Seyyid Abd al-Azeem stayed in FÁrs from approximately that time till the year 252
AH/866 AD is difficult to accept especially when it is known that the prevailing
circumstances during the reigns of the three caliphs mentioned above were
favourable and positive for the ShiÝites. Therefore I think that Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm
fled the ÍijÁz or ÝIrÁq during the reign of Mutawakkil when the circumstances had
changed and become particularly difficult for the ahlulbayt.
This is because Mutawakkil had embarked upon promoting two corrupt ideas.
1) Spreading hatred, rancour and enmity of the ahlulbayt and the destruction
of the grave of ImÁm al-Íusayn [and related infrastructure] as well as
stopping pilgrims from visiting his grave.
2) Spreading the idea of divine anthropomorphism and exploiting the
traditionsits in fabricating and transmitting traditions which gave credence
to that idea.
Thus in those difficult and harsh circumstances against the ShiÝites and their
scholars, Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm fled to Ray and remained there far from the eyes of
the people.
Al-Dhahabi writes:
‘Mutawakkil despatched jurists and traditionists, commanding them to sit
with the people and to narrate to them traditions which refuted the
teachings of the MuÞtazilites and the Jahmiyya
71
and to narrate to them
traditions which supported the idea of the physical manifestation of God.
Among these jurists and traditionists were MuÒÝab Zubayri, IsÎÁq bin AbÐ
IsrÁÞÐl, IbrÁhim bin ÝAbdullah al-Harawi, ÝAbdullah and ÝUthmÁn the two
sons of MuÎammad bin AbÐ Shayba. He would distribute rewards and
positions among them and bestow them with luxuries and gifts.
Thus ÝUthmÁn bin MuÎammad bin AbÐ Shayba would sit in BaghdÁd, a
pulpit would be placed for him and thirty thousand people would gather
around to listen to him. And AbÙ Bakr bin AbÐ Shayba would sit in the
mosque of RaÒÁfa and he used to be even more extreme than his brother
ÝUthmÁn. Thirty thousand men would gather to listen to him.
72
Thus it becomes clear now why Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm emphasised the transcendent
attributes of God by his statement;
‚I maintain that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is one. There is nothing like
Him. He is beyond the two limits, the limit of negation and annulment (of
attributes) and the limit of anthropomorphism. And that He has neither a
body nor a form, nor dimension nor a material core. Rather He is the One
who creates bodies and gives forms, the Creator of dimensions and
matter.‛
73
He did this because some of the traditionists of his time were spreading ideas of
anthropomorphism! It is due to this very same reason that he corrected the Prophetic tradition that was being misquoted and explained its meaning to be the
descent of an angel and not the Being of God.
and this is his correct lineage. However, he then writes at the end of the biography:
‘He (i.e. Abd al-Azeem) died and when he was undressed so that the funeral bath
could be given to him, a small piece of paper was found in one of his pockets in
which was written his lineage, as follows: ‚I am AbÙ al-QÁsim Abd al-Azeem bin
ÝAbdillah bin ÝAli bin al-Íasan bin Zayd bin Ali
3
bin al-Íasan bin ÝAli bin AbÐ
ÓÁlib (Ýa).‛ But the first rendering of his lineage is correct for ImÁm al-Íasan’s
progeny continued through the agency of two sons,
4
who were:
1) Zayd bin al-Íasan, and
2) Al-Íasan al-MuthannÁÞ.
5
Thus it is apparent that ImÁm al-Íasan (Ýa) did not have a son by the name of ÝAli
through whom he may have had grandchildren (as the second version of Seyyid
Abd al- Azeem’s lineage above implies).
Therefore on the basis of the above, SeyyidAbd al-Azeem was separated from ImÁm
al-Íasan (Ýa) by four generations only (as implied by the first version of his lineage).
HIS POSITION NEAR THE IMÀMS OF THE AHLULBAYT (ÝA)
His station near the ImÁms of the ahlulbayt (Ýa) comes to light in the course of their
statements in his favor. Thus he was a brilliant traditionist, a source of reference in
matters of the faith, trustworthy in matters of religion and here we mention some of
their statements.
Shaykh al-sadÙq (d 381 AH/991 AD) reports from Seyyid Abd al-Azeem that he said:
‘I visited my master ÝAli
24
bin MuÎammad bin Ali bin MÙsa bin Jafar bin
MuÎammad bin Ali bin Íusayn bin Ali bin Abi TÁlib (a). When he
caught sight of me, he exclaimed:
‚Welcome O AbÙ al-QÁsim, you are indeed our true friend!‛
So I said: ‚O son of the Messenger (Ò), I wish to present to you my beliefs. If
they are correct then I will affirm and adhere to them till I meet Allah, Great
and Exalted‛. So the Imam said: ‚Then present them O AbÙ al-QÁsim‛.
So I said: ‚I maintain that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is one. There is
nothing like Him. He is beyond the two limits, the limit of negation and
annulment (of attributes) and the limit of anthropomorphism. And that He
has neither a body nor a form, nor dimension nor a material core. Rather
He is the One who creates bodies and gives forms, the Creator of
dimensions and matter. Lord of everything and its Possessor, Creator and
Originator.
And (I maintain) that MuÎammad was His servant, His Messenger and the
Seal of the Prophets. There is no prophet after him till the Day of
Judgement.
And (I maintain) that the ImÁm, the Caliph and the Guardian of the affair
(of guidance) after him was AmÐr al-MuÞminÐn ÝAli bin AbÐ ÓÁlib, and then
al-Íasan, then al-Íusayn, then ÝAli bin al-Íusayn, then MuÎammad bin
ÝAli, then JaÝfar bin MuÎammad, then MÙsa bin JaÝfar, then ÝAli bin MÙsa,
then MuÎammad bin ÝAli and thereafter, you my master‛.
So the ImÁm said: ‚And after me will be my son al-Íasan. However, I
wonder how the people will react with regards to his successor‛ I asked:
‚Why do you say that, O master?‛ He replied, ‚Because none will see his
person, nor will it be permissible to mention his name till he appears, when he will fill the earth with justice and equity as it was previously filled with
oppression and tyranny.‛
So I responded: ‚I accept (what you have informed me) and I maintain that
their friend is the friend of Allah, their enemy is the enemy of Allah.
Obedience to them is obedience to Allah; disobedience to them is
disobedience to Allah. I maintain that the (Prophet’s) night journey did
occur, that questioning in the grave will happen, that heaven and hell exist,
that accounting of deeds will occur and that the Hour will undoubtedly
arrive when Allah will resurrect those in the graves.
I further maintain that the (religious) obligations after al-WilÁya (i.e. love
and adherence to the ahlulbayt) are: Prayers, the zakÁt levy, fasting,
pilgrimage to Mecca, striving (in the path of Allah), commanding good and
discouraging evil.‛
On hearing this, ÝAli bin MuÎammad (Ýa) said: ‚O AbÙ al-QÁsim, what you
have mentioned is, by Allah, the religion which Allah has chosen for His
servants and one with which he is satisfied. So adhere to it, may Allah cause
you to stay steadfast on the established faith, in this world and in the
hereafter.‛
Further, it is clear from what ÑÁÎib bin ÝAbbÁd narrates, that Seyyid ÝAbd al-ÝAÛÐm
was a ‘source of reference’ in matters of the faith and an interpreter of Islamic law
for the ShiÝites in regard to issues which seemed ambiguous and unclear to them.
Thus AbÙ TurÁb al-RÙyÁni says:
‘I visited ÝAli bin MuÎammad (Ýa) in SÁmarrÁÞ and I asked him some
questions relating to the permissible and impermissible. He answered all of
them. When I was bidding him farewell, he said: ‚O ÍammÁd, if something
regarding religion confuses or confounds you then refer it to Abd al-Azeem,
and convey to him my regards.‛
THE HARSH CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS TIME
MaÞmÙn ascended the throne after having defeated and killed his brother AmÐn. The
prevailing atmosphere in the royal court during his reign was that of relative
freedom for the ShiÝites and the MuÞtazilites,
67
who were those who championed the
ideas of divine transcendent monotheism and divine justice (انؼدلٔ دٍحٕانت مْا). When
MaÞmÙn died in the year 218 AH/833 AD, al-MuÞtaÒim gained the pledge of
allegiance for the caliphate and the royal court became a centre for intellectuals and
theologians who would engage in polemical debates with each other. When he died
in 227 AH/841 AD, it was WÁthiq who took over the reins of the caliphate and he
continued with the tradition of intellectual and religious freedom that he had
inherited from his predecessors.
Thus it was due to and during the reign of these caliphs that the fortunes of the
proponents of divine justice (انؼدل مْا) shone luminously and polemical gatherings
between adherents of different faiths and sects took place.
However, when WÁthiq billah died and Mutawakkil assumed the throne from the
year 232 AH/846 AD to 247 AH/861 AD, he promulgated a particularly harsh policy
against the ShiÝites and the MuÞtazilites but a very favourable one with respect to the
Íashawiyya.
68
He encouraged the dissemination of ideas favouring divine
anthropomorphism and the doctrine of the physical manifestation of God as well as
hatred and enmity towards the ahlulbayt to such an extent that the people of
It is sufficient to cite the following anecdote as an example of his hatred and enmity
towards the ahlulbayt. He had charged YaÝqÙb bin al-SikkÐt,
70
an authority in the
Arabic language, with the responsibility of tutoring his two sons al-MuÝtaz and alMuÞayyad. One day he was looking at his two sons and suddenly asked Ibn al-SikkÐt:
‘who is more beloved to you, my (two) sons or al-Íasan and al-Íusayn?’ Ibn alSikkÐt replied: ‘Qambar, the client of ÝAli is better than them both!’ Outraged he
ordered Ibn al-SikkÐt’s tongue to be pulled out!
Historical records do not identify the year in which Seyyid Abd al-Azeem al-Íasani
migrated to Ray and sought refuge there, nor do they inform us of the year in which
he migrated from the ÍijÁz or ÝIrÁq to Ray. However, some have imagined that he
may have migrated to FÁrs with the purpose of visiting ImÁm ÝAli bin MÙsa alRidhÁÞ (Ýa) and thereafter remained there throughout his remaining life till his death
in approximately 252 AH/866 AD. But this supposition is difficult to accept. This is
because ImÁm al-RidhÁÞ arrived in ÓÙs in the year 199 AH/814 AD due to the
persistence of MaÞmÙn [and passed away in 203 AH/818 AD], thus to suppose that
Seyyid Abd al-Azeem stayed in FÁrs from approximately that time till the year 252
AH/866 AD is difficult to accept especially when it is known that the prevailing
circumstances during the reigns of the three caliphs mentioned above were
favourable and positive for the ShiÝites. Therefore I think that Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm
fled the ÍijÁz or ÝIrÁq during the reign of Mutawakkil when the circumstances had
changed and become particularly difficult for the ahlulbayt.
This is because Mutawakkil had embarked upon promoting two corrupt ideas.
1) Spreading hatred, rancour and enmity of the ahlulbayt and the destruction
of the grave of ImÁm al-Íusayn [and related infrastructure] as well as
stopping pilgrims from visiting his grave.
2) Spreading the idea of divine anthropomorphism and exploiting the
traditionsits in fabricating and transmitting traditions which gave credence
to that idea.
Thus in those difficult and harsh circumstances against the ShiÝites and their
scholars, Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm fled to Ray and remained there far from the eyes of
the people.
Al-Dhahabi writes:
‘Mutawakkil despatched jurists and traditionists, commanding them to sit
with the people and to narrate to them traditions which refuted the
teachings of the MuÞtazilites and the Jahmiyya
71
and to narrate to them
traditions which supported the idea of the physical manifestation of God.
Among these jurists and traditionists were MuÒÝab Zubayri, IsÎÁq bin AbÐ
IsrÁÞÐl, IbrÁhim bin ÝAbdullah al-Harawi, ÝAbdullah and ÝUthmÁn the two
sons of MuÎammad bin AbÐ Shayba. He would distribute rewards and
positions among them and bestow them with luxuries and gifts.
Thus ÝUthmÁn bin MuÎammad bin AbÐ Shayba would sit in BaghdÁd, a
pulpit would be placed for him and thirty thousand people would gather
around to listen to him. And AbÙ Bakr bin AbÐ Shayba would sit in the
mosque of RaÒÁfa and he used to be even more extreme than his brother
ÝUthmÁn. Thirty thousand men would gather to listen to him.
72
Thus it becomes clear now why Seyyid ÝAbd al-AÛÐm emphasised the transcendent
attributes of God by his statement;
‚I maintain that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is one. There is nothing like
Him. He is beyond the two limits, the limit of negation and annulment (of
attributes) and the limit of anthropomorphism. And that He has neither a
body nor a form, nor dimension nor a material core. Rather He is the One
who creates bodies and gives forms, the Creator of dimensions and
matter.‛
73
He did this because some of the traditionists of his time were spreading ideas of
anthropomorphism! It is due to this very same reason that he corrected the Prophetic tradition that was being misquoted and explained its meaning to be the
descent of an angel and not the Being of God.