Without Doubt, Abd al-Azim al-Hasani Was a Self-Sacrificing Soldier for the Imam of His Time

God’s boundless grace encompasses all human beings. His favors to humanity cannot be counted. Among God’s great blessings is His placing saints through whom sinful people draw near to Him.

God Almighty has made the Fourteen Infallibles the gate of “Hittah” for this community. “Hittah” was a gate through which the Children of Israel entered, and by entering that gate all their sins were forgiven. In this community, intending and turning toward the Ahl al-Bayt brings forgiveness and remission of sins.

The blessings of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, have never been cut off from the earth. Since life and death make no difference for the Ahl al-Bayt, going to their graves likewise possesses the blessings of going toward the Ahl al-Bayt. The sacred shrines of the Ahl al-Bayt are lights that connect those on earth to heaven. Loyalty to them and visiting these graves is a covenant incumbent upon all Shi'as, and one who visits these graves has visited God.

The grace of the Lord is boundless. It is among God’s favors that the radiance of the Ahl al-Bayt shines everywhere. One ray of these sacred lights is found in the tombs of the noble descendants of the Imams. Every Imamzadeh is a ray from the light of the Infallibles, peace be upon them, and visiting them carries blessings. In narrations, a special reward has been assigned for visiting some Imamzadehs.

Regarding the visitation of Lady Fatimah al-Ma'sumah in Qom, it has been said: “Whoever visits her, Paradise becomes obligatory for him.” Regarding Abd al-Azim al-Hasani, it has likewise been said that “visiting his grave in the city of Ray has the reward of visiting Aba Abd Allah al-Husayn, peace be upon him.” Abd al-Azim is not among the Fourteen Infallibles, yet his existence is a ray of Karbala’s light. The shrine of Abd al-Azim al-Hasani is a great blessing from the Lord for the residents of Ray and its surrounding areas. Through the shrine of this noble man, the city of Ray has become connected to Karbala, and a ray of Karbala’s light emanates from this sacred resting place.

This description of Abd al-Azim al-Hasani by an Infallible, besides making the greatness of this noble shrine known to the Shi'as, also encourages and urges them to visit that luminous sanctuary. It is as though the pure Imams greatly wished for their Shi'as to visit this noble man and benefit from him. For this reason, they assigned to his visitation for the Shi'as the reward of visiting Karbala, so that the desire to visit him might grow ever greater in the hearts of Shi'as who always long to visit the Master of the Martyrs.

Without doubt, the pure Imams, who are God’s vicegerents and whose deeds and words are divine and wholly wise, assigned to visiting him the reward of visiting the Master of the Martyrs because of the rank and status of this noble shrine and Abd al-Azim al-Hasani. Although the reason for this matter has not been specified in the narration, this equivalence in the reward of visitation undoubtedly indicates the lofty station of Abd al-Azim. Without doubt, Abd al-Azim al-Hasani was a self-sacrificing and devoted soldier for the Imam of his time, just as the martyrs of Karbala were loyal and selfless helpers of the Imam of their time.

Just as the Master of the Martyrs praised his companions in Karbala, Imam al-Hadi, peace be upon him, also praised this loyal companion of his and addressed that noble man, saying: “You are truly our devotee” (Anta waliyyuna haqqan). He placed around his neck a medal of honor and regarded him as his true devotee—a medal more honorable than which there can be none in all existence.

When an Imam tells one of his Shi'as, “You are truly our devotee,” it means that Shi'a has attained the purpose of his creation; it means that he has emerged with honor from all divine tests. This statement of Imam al-Hadi, peace be upon him, means that Abd al-Azim al-Hasani’s heart was full of love and attachment to the Ahl al-Bayt of infallibility and purity, and beyond that, that his limbs and faculties were in harmony with his heart. Many have claimed friendship with the Ahl al-Bayt, yet at sensitive moments only their hearts were with the Ahl al-Bayt, while their actions opposed the command of the Imam of their time.

How many have claimed love for the Ahl al-Bayt, yet this mark of disgrace has been stamped upon their foreheads until the Day of Resurrection and forever: “Their hearts are with you, but their swords are against you.” These are two groups among those who have claimed love for the Ahl al-Bayt throughout history. Only a small group have been able to attain the great honor of having the Imam of their time say to them: “You are truly our devotee.”

Today it is we who claim love for the Imam of our time. How good it is that whenever we visit the shrine of Abd al-Azim in the city of Ray, hoping for the reward of visiting the Master of the Martyrs—visiting one who attained this medal of honor—we quietly ask ourselves: Will we too receive this medal from the Imam of our time?

The late al-Najashi, the celebrated Shi'a bibliographer who, with great effort, compiled a catalogue of authors and book owners in the Shi'a school, listed everyone before him whose writings had influenced Shi'a culture. While introducing the book Khutab Amir al-Mu'minin, authored by Abd al-Azim al-Hasani, he translates his entry, number 653, as follows: “Abd al-Azim ibn Abd Allah ibn Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Zayd ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them, Abu al-Qasim. While fleeing from the ruler of his time, he entered the city of Ray. He lived in the cellar of the house of one of the Shi'a notables; in that cellar, while living secretly, he devoted himself to worship. He fasted by day and spent the nights standing in prayer and vigil. He would go out secretly and visit a grave which is now opposite his own noble grave. It was said that the grave belonged to one of the descendants of Musa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon them. He continued worshipping in that cellar until news of his presence there reached the Shi'as one after another, until most of them came to know him.”

One of the Shi'as sees the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, in a dream. In the dream, the Prophet tells that person: “A man from among my descendants will be carried from the Shi'as’ quarter and buried at this place, near the apple tree, in the garden of Abd al-Jabbar ibn Abd al-Wahhab,” and in the dream the Prophet points to the place where he would be buried. After waking, the man goes to buy that tree and place from the owner of the garden. The owner asks him why he wishes to buy this particular tree and place. In reply, he recounts his dream. The owner of the tree also recounts his own dream, which was like that man’s dream. Thus, the tree, the place shown by the Messenger of God, and the entire garden were endowed for the man who was to pass away. Then Abd al-Azim became ill and died. When they were removing his clothes for the ritual washing, they found a document in which his lineage was written: “I am Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Azim ibn Abd Allah ibn Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Zayd ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them.”

Abd al-Azim was among the prolific Shi'a hadith scholars. He was continually pursued by the unjust Abbasid caliphs. Many narrations have remained from him. His narrations are highly diverse and concern the various fields of Qur'anic exegesis, jurisprudence, ethics, theology, Mahdism, and more. Without doubt, Shi'a life is bound up with the narrations of the pure Imams. Whenever the Shi'a, or Shi'a society, becomes distant from the narrations, it is like a fish being removed from water; and the greater the distance from the narrations, the more certain is the death of Shi'a culture.

Abd al-Azim al-Hasani was among those who, through great striving, was able to preserve many hadiths, so that today the Shi'a hadith heritage may possess great richness and diversity. Abd al-Azim al-Hasani’s duty as a hadith scholar was to preserve the legacy of the two Sadiqs, peace be upon them. He and other hard-working Shi'a hadith scholars, through self-sacrifice and scholarly striving, transmitted to us a vast collection of the luminous hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt with the utmost precision. Yet today it is the duty of the Shi'as not to allow these hadiths to become obsolete and the books of hadith in library corners to receive nothing but dust.

Without doubt, every Shi'a has the duty to read hadiths and spread these luminous words. We must always remember this narration in the noble book al-Kafi: “One who narrates our hadith and, through hadith, strengthens the hearts of the Shi'as is better than a thousand worshippers.”

One cannot claim Shi'a culture while remaining distant from Shi'a narrations. Shi'a society can never take shape on the basis of the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt unless the hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt are spread among every social group. Building culture, triumphing over cultural assaults, and emerging from cultural challenges are no more than fantasies unless society is satiated with the luminous hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt.

How, truly, can one enjoin what is right when what is right—the Prophet’s tradition and the tradition of the Ahl al-Bayt—is isolated and unknown in our society? How can society be free of fashions and clothing styles based on foreign culture while the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt do not shape our culture? Various media shape society’s culture, and they are the most distant from the Ahl al-Bayt—if they are not enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt. A society cannot ever establish hijab as a norm in an Islamic society unless the source of its people’s thought first becomes pure, unadulterated Shi'a books—pure books into which personal opinions and non-hadith views have not entered—and...

Yes, the shrine of Abd al-Azim al-Hasani is a ray from the luminous shrine of the Master of the Martyrs. But would that, by reflecting on the narrations of the pure Imams, we place ourselves before this sacred light and divine grace—a light that is like the water of life for the culture of our society today. If the sun shines and someone stands in the shade and remains deprived of its benefit, the world-illuminating sun is not to blame.