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Imam Ali al-Hadi (Arabic: الإمام علي الهادي), also known as Imam Ali al-Naqi (September 8, 828 – July 1, 868) was the tenth Shia Imam. He was born Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali.
Birth and family life
Ali al-Hadi was born in Medina to the ninth Shia Imam, Muhammad al-Taqi, and a Moroccan slave named Samana. He was only six when his father died, and when he had to take on the Imamate. During the remaining years of the Caliphate of Mu'tasim and the five year Calipate of Wathiq, al-Hadi and the Shi'a community of Medina lived in relative peace, with al-Hadi mostly engaged in teaching.
House arrest
In 848 during the caliphate of Al-Mutawakkil, he was summoned to Baghdad and put under house arrest in Samarra, along with his son Hasan al-Askari. Although they were received hospitably and given a house in which to live, in reality he was kept here to stop all communication between himself and his followers. His time in prison was a time of great persecution against the Shia. The quarter of the city where al-Hadi lived was known as al-Askar since it was chiefly occupied by the army (askar) and, therefore, al-Hadi and his son Hasan are both referred to as 'Askari or together as 'Askariyayn (the two 'Askaris). It is reported that at least once al-Mutawakkil attempted to kill al-Hadi but was frustrated by a miracle.Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press 1985
Unique Traits and Legacy
He is described as endowed with the knowledge of the languages of the Persians, Slavs, Indians, and Nabateans in addition to foreknowing unexpected storms and as accurately prophesying deaths and other events. He is reported to have cursed Mutawakkil and to have correctly prediceted his death within three days after the caliph had either humiliated him or had him imprisoned. In the presence of Mutawakkel, he unmasked a woman falsely claiming to be Zaynab, the daughter of Imam Husayn, by descending into a lions' den in order to prove that lions do not harm true descendants of Ali (a similar miracle is also attributed to his grandfather, Ali al-Reza). A theological treatise on human free will and some other short texts and statements ascribed to al-Hadi are quoted by Ibn So'ba Harrani.Ibn So'ba Harrani, Tohaf al-'oqul, Beirut 1969
Death
He would live out his life under house arrest, and died at the age of 39 on July 1, 868. Like his predecessors, it was by poison. He was buried at his house in Samarra by his son, who was also the only person to attend his funeral. His burial spot is now the Al Askari Mosque, an important Shia shrine, though an explosion from a bomb blast that took place on February 22, 2006 damaged much of the structure *.
Notes
External links
"Ali al-Hadi"