On Musa Ibn Ja’far’s Will

following was his will written in his own handwriting. ‘Firstly, I wrote the will of my grandfather - the Commander of the Faithful (s), the wills of Al-Hassan (s) and Al-Hussein (s) and Ali ibn Al-Hussein (s), the will of Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir (s), and the will of Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s) letter by letter. And I will appoint my son Ali as my Trustee - along with his other brothers, God willing. If he recognizes that they have grownup enough and he likes to keep them as my Trustees - he can. If he is not pleased with them and wants them not to be my Trustees, he can. They have no authority over him. I entrust my affairs regarding charity, property, and my children to him and to Ibrahim, Abbas, Isma’il, Ahmad, Umm Ahmad. I entrust the affairs of my wives to Ali alone. He can spend one-third of the charity of my father and my household in any way he likes - as anyone would deal with his own property. He can carry out what I said regarding my wives and household - if he pleases. He can also not do what I said if he pleases. He can sell, donate or give in charity in a way other than what I have stated. According to this will, he can act just like me myself regarding my property, my family and my children. If he pleases, he can keep his brothers as Trustees - whom I named in the beginning of this document. If he likes, he can also keep them from being Trustees. No one is allowed to object to his decision. If anyone of them wants to marry off his sister, he is not authorized to do so without his permission and order. Whatever power tries to take away the authorities which I have written down for him has deviated from God the Almighty and His Messenger (s). God and His Messenger will also have nothing to do with them. God’s Curse, all those who curse, the curse of the nearby-stationed angels, the curse of the Prophets and the curse of (all) the Messengers and the believers be on such a person. None of the kings nor any of my children are allowed to take away his authority over the property I have entrusted him with. Whatever he says about its amount is acceptable to me - whether it be a small amount or large sum. The reason I mentioned the names of my other children here is that I wanted their names and the names of my other small children to be respectfully mentioned here. Those of my slave-wives who are Umm Walad and do not leave will have the same rights and privileges that they had had during my life-time, if Ali Al-Ridha (s) pleases. But if they should get married, they can no longer return and receive payments unless Ali Al-Ridha (s) deems it proper to do so. The same holds true for my daughters. The marriage of none of my daughters is entrusted to their maternal brothers (uncles) or the King. My daughters should not do anything unless they seek Ali Al-Ridha’s (s) counsel and opinion (advice). If my daughters’ maternal brothers take any steps regarding the marriage of my daughters they have disobeyed God the Almighty and His Prophet - may God’s Blessings be upon him and his Household, and have interfered in his authority. He knows best about the marriage of hisfamily members. He can marry them off if he pleases, or not marry them off if he wills. I have advised them regarding what I have written here. I set God as a witness over them. No one is allowed to open my will, or express its contents. This will is just as I have stated to you. Whoever does wrong has wronged himself. Whoever does good has done it for himself. And your Lord will not oppress any servants. No one - whether the King or others - has the right to open this letter underneath which I have placed my seal. May God’s Curse and His Wrath be upon whoever does so. And after God, the angels and the group of Muslim men and women will be my supporters.’ Then Musa ibn Ja’far (s) and the witnesses affixed their seals to it.” Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Ja’far narrated that Al-Abbas ibn Musa (Imam Ridha’a brother) (s) told Imran Al-Qadhi At-Talhi, “There is a treasure and some jewels inside this letter for us, and he wants to take it all for himself and give nothing to us. He has taken everything for himself that our father has left for us; and has left us deprived.” Then Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Ja’far yelled and swore at him. His uncle Ishab ibn Ja’far did the same thing. Al-Abbas told al-Qadhi, “May God make you prosperous! Unseal the letter and read it.” He said, “I will not unseal it. I will not do something to make me suffer from your father’s curse.” Al-Abbas said, “I will unseal it.” Al-Qadhi said, “It is up to you.” Then al-Abbas broke the seal, and noted that his father had put them aside and established Ali (s) alone (as his Trustee), and had placed all of them under the guardianship of Ali (s) - whether they like it or not. Thus they had been placed under his guardianship like orphans, and had been put aside. Then Ali ibn Musa (s) looked at al-Abbas and said, “O brother! I knew that your losses and debts made you say so.” Then the Imam (s) said, “O Sa’d! Go and see how much debt they are under. Pay it off on their behalf. Take back their receipts, and get a receipt for paying off their debts. By God, I will not hesitate to help you, be your companion, and be sympathetic to you as long as I live on the Earth. Say whatever you wish to say.” Al-Abbas said, “You are giving these payments to us from our excess property. There is much more.” He (s) said, “Say whatever you wish to say. My honor is the same as your honor. O God! Please improve them and improve their affairs. Fend off Satan from us and from them. And assist them in obeying you. ‘…Be God a witness to what we say.’ Al-Abbas said, “How well do I understand you! I have nothing left to be greedy of.” Then they all walked away.

“Abul Hassan (s) sent me the Commander of the Faithful’s (s) will and the list of endowments of his father (s) by Abu Ismail Mosadef (Imam Kadhim’s slave), and indicated the list of endowments of Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s) and his own as follows, ‘In the Name of God, the Beneficent the Merciful. This is the list of what Musa ibn Ja’far endows. He endows his land located in such and such places. The boundaries of the land are so and so. All the land, the date palms, parts of it that are not constructed, the water in it, its corners, the water right and the turn for its use of water, and every other right at its heights and its pastures, all its existing facilities , its yard and its streams; its cultivated and its dry parts are endowed by Musa ibn Ja’far to his children - male or female. The caretaker in charge of this land will subtract the expenses for its maintenance and development from its income - other than the income from thirty of its trees that will be divided among the poor people of the village. He will divide this income between the children of Musa ibn Ja’far . Each boy will be given twice that of each girl. The payments to each of the daughters of Musa ibn Ja’far who gets married will be cut-off until she loses her husband in which case her share will be like that of unmarried girls. Whenever one of the children of Musa dies their children will receive their father’s share - each boy will receive double the amount that each girl receives just as Musa has determined for his own children. Whenever one dies and does not have any children, then his share will be added to the others’ share. His daughter’s children will not receive any share unless their fathers are from my descendants. No one has any share in this as long as I have some descendants. If they all die and no one is left, then the income from these endowments will be paid to my brothers and sisters as long as they are living based on the same conditions that I stated for my children and my descendants. If all my brothers and sisters die, then the income from this endowment will be paid to my paternal brothers (uncles) and sisters (aunts) and their descendants as long as there is anyone. If none of these relations live, then the income from this endowment will be paid to my relatives and close friends - whoever is closest to me until the time when God the Almighty inherits whatever He will inherit. He is the best inheritor. Musa ibn Ja’far endowed thisproperty without any doubt in perfect health in a just and non-revokable manner to seek God’s pleasure and the blessings of the Hereafter. No believer who has faith in God and the Resurrection Day is allowed to sell it, buy it, donate it to someone, or change its stated conditions, until the life of man and whatever is on the Earth is over, and God inherits it. This endowment is trusted to Ali and Ibrahim. Whenever one of them dies, Al-Qasim will take his place. If anyone of these two dies, then al-Abbas will take his place. If anyone of these two dies, then the oldest son will take his place. If only one person of my generation is left, then he will be in charge of his endowment.’”The narrator of this tradition said, “Abul Hassan (s) said, ‘My father gave a higher priority to Isma’il over al-Abbas, even though he is younger than him.’”

“The year Musa ibn Ja’far (s) was arrested, we went to see Abdurrahman ibn Aslam in Mecca. We had a letter from Abil Hassan (Imam Kadhim) (s) in his own handwriting. There were instructions in the letter regarding what he needed. We told Abdurrahman ibn Aslam, ‘This way he has issued orders for these affairs. Then if there is anything related to these orders, give it to his son Ali (s) since he is his successor and he is in charge of his affairs.’” Then Ishaq and Ali added, “This conversation took place one day after the movement of the Hajj pilgrims from Mina to Mecca, and nearly fifty days after Abul Hassan (s) was arrested.” Ishaq and Ali, the sons of Abi Abdillah (s) had Al-Hussein ibn Ahmad al-Menqari, Isma’el ibn Umar, Has’san ibn Mo’awiya and Al-Hussein ibn Muhammad Sahib al-Khatm bear witness that Abul Hassan Ali ibn Musa was the Testamentary Trustee of his father (s) and was his successor. Two of them testified to this, and the other two said that he is the successor and his deputy. Then all their testimonies were accepted by the Judge Hafs ibn Ghiyath.

Ibrahim ibn Al-Hassan Musa ibn Ja’far (s) , “What do you say about our father?” Ibrahim ibn Al-Hassan Musa ibn Ja’far (s) said, “He is alive.” Bakr ibn Salih asked him, “What do you say about your brother Abil Hassan (Imam al-Rezxa) (s)?” He said, “He is trustworthy and honest.” Then Bakr ibn Salih said, “He believes that your father has died.” He said, “He knows best what he says.” Bakr ibn Salih repeated what he had said. He said the same thing again. Then Bakr ibn Salih asked, “Has your father appointed anyone as his Trustee?” He said, “Yes.” Bakr ibn Salih asked, “Who?” He said, “The five of us, and he established Ali superior to us.”