1. Birth & Imamate in Childhood
ImamMuhammadat-Taqiwasbornin195/ 809 inMedina.Thenewsof
hisbirthcausedextraordinaryjoyamongthe Shi‘asofthat time.Imam
ar-Ridha waschildlesstill the age of forty,andsome Shi‘as werecon-
cernedaboutthecontinuationofimamate:whowouldsucceedImamar-
Ridha?SothebirthoftheninthImambroughtaboutamoodoffestivity
among the Shi‘as of Ahlul Bayt.
Imam‘Aliar-Ridhadiedin 203 A.H.;andMuhammadat-Taqibecame
theImam atthe ageofeight.Theage oftheImam causedaconcernin
the minds of someeldermembers of the Shi‘a communitybecause no
Imam hadreached the position of imamateatthis youngage. Mu‘alla
binMuhammadnarratesthatafterthedeathofImam ar-Ridha,hesaw
Imamat-Taqiandcloselyobservedhisphysicalsizeandageinorderto
reportittoothers.Atthatmoment,Imamat-Taqisaid,“OMu‘alla,Allāh
hasarguedabout imamatjustashearguedabout nubuwwatwhenHe
said,‘AndWegaveprophethoodtohim[i.e.,Yahya]whenhewasstilla
child.’”
After the death of Imam ar-Ridha, a group of eighty scholars from
Baghdad and other places came to Mecca for hajj. On the way, they
stoppedatMedinaandmetImamat-Taqi.Theywereparticularlyinter-
ested in meeting the young Imam and wanted to satisfy themselves
abouthiscapabilities.Themeetingwentonforalongtimewiththevisit-
orsaskinghimquestionsandtheImamreplyinginaconvincingandsat-
isfyingmanner.AllleftfullyconvincedthathetrulywastheImamap-
pointed by Allāh,subhanahu wa ta‘ala, and endowed with knowledge.
Ishaqwasoneof theeighty personsin thatmeeting.He narrateshis
impression as follows: I had written ten questions in a letter for the
Imamandhaddecidedthatifheanswersmyquestions,thenIwillask
himtoprayformethatthechildthatmywifeiscarryingbeamalechild.
Themeeting,however,wentonforalongtimesoIdecidedtopresent
my letter to him the nextday. But asI wasabout to leave, the Imam
calledmeandsaid, “OIshaq!Allāhhas acceptedmyprayer; therefore,
nameyourson‘Ahmad’.”Theanswertohisprayerwithoutevenstating
ittotheImamfullyconvincedIshaqthatMuhammadat-Taqi,inspiteof
his young age, was the Imam!