'Ali al-Hadi

Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Musa ibn Ja'far, known as Ali al-Hadi. ²

Al-Mas'udi relates that he was reported to al-Mutawakkil, and it was said that there were weapons and books in his house. They attacked his house at night and found him alone in a room wearing a rough woollen garment, with nothing in the room but sand and pebbles, chanting verses of promise and threat. ²

He was brought to al-Mutawakkil, who honoured him and seated him beside himself. He asked him what the sons of his father said about al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (may God be pleased with him), and his answer led al-Mutawakkil to order him a hundred thousand dirhams. ²

Al-Mas'udi says that he died on Monday, four nights before the end of Jumada al-Akhira 254 AH, aged forty, and was buried in his house in Samarra. He relates that Yahya ibn Harthama had him brought from Medina, and that they searched his house and found in it only a copy of the Qur'an and a supplication. ³

'Ali al-Hadi, Abu '1-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad, is commonly known as al-Naqi and al-Hadi, and the Twelver Shi'a count him the tenth imam. He was the son of the ninth imam, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Rida, and was born at Medina. Most Shi'i authorities give his birth as Rajab 214 AH (September 829); others place it in Dhu '1-Hijja 212 or 213 AH (February-March 828 or 829). His mother is given either as Umm al-Fadl, a daughter of al-Ma'mun, or as a Maghribi umm walad called Sumana or Susan, and the second account is the more likely, since the marriage to Umm al-Fadl is said not to have been consummated. ⁴

His father died in 220 AH (835), and he became imam while still a small child, which gave rise to doctrinal problems that Shi'i theological works discuss. He lived quietly in Medina until the accession of al-Mutawakkil, whose anti-'Alid policy soon brought him trouble. In 233 or 234 AH (847-849), after reports reached the caliph that he was engaged in sedition, Yahya ibn Harthama was sent to Medina to bring him to Samarra. There he won the caliph's respect and, though kept under surveillance, was not molested, and he was esteemed for his piety and modesty. ⁴

He remained in Samarra until his death in Jumada II or Rajab 254 AH (June-July 868), and was buried in his house in that town; his nisba al-'Askari derives from Samarra's garrison (Askar Samarra). Shi'i tradition holds that the caliph poisoned him, although the Talibiyyin of Abu '1-Faraj does not list him among the 'Alid martyrs. ⁴

His son Abu Muhammad al-Hasan, also called al-'Askari, is recognised by the Twelver Shi'a as the eleventh imam. A group that held his son Muhammad, who died before him, to be the hidden imam is also recorded. The entry notes the bab 'Amri (died 304 or 305 AH, 916-918), whose father 'Uthman ibn Sa'id had been the agent of the eighth and ninth imams. Possibly connected with the same circle was Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Namiri, who attributed divine status to 'Ali al-Naqi and claimed to be his bab; he is regarded as the founder of the Nusayriyya. ⁴