Ali ibn Musa

Ali ibn Musa (), also known by his title Ar-Ridha (the contented), was the eighth Shia Imam, after his father Musa al-Kadhim, and before his son Muhammad al-Jawad. He was an Imam of knowledge according to the Zaydi (Fiver) Shia school and Sufis. He lived in a period when Abbasid caliphs were facing many difficulties, the most important of which was Shia revolts. The Caliph Al-Mamun tried to fix this problem by appointing Al-Ridha as the next caliph, however, according to the Shia view, when Al-Ma'mun saw that the Imam gained even more popularity, he decided to correct his mistake by poisoning him. The Imam was buried in a village in Khorasan, which afterwards gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom.Donaldson, Dwight M. (1933). The Shi'ite Religion: A History of Islam in Persia and Irak. BURLEIGH PRESS. pp. 161–170.Tabåatabåa'åi, Muhammad Husayn (1981). A Shi'ite Anthology. Selected and with a Foreword by Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i; Translated with Explanatory Notes by William Chittick; Under the Direction of and with an Introduction by Hossein Nasr. State University of New York Press. pp. 49–50 & 138–139. . Today the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad occupies a total area of 598,657 square meters (147.931 acres).

Works
Following works are attributed to him.
 Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah (The Golden Treatise)
 Sahifa Al-Ridha
 Uyun al Akhbar Al-Ridha
 Fiqh Al-Ridha (Al-Ridha's Jurisprudence)

 References 

Category:Imams
Category:History of Islam
Category:760s births
Category:810s deaths