History

Mu?ammad al-Baqir also known as Abu Ja'far or simply al-Baqir was the fifth Shia Imam, succeeding his father Zayn al-Abidin and succeeded by his son Ja'far al-Sadiq. He was the first Imam descended from both grandsons of Muhammad: Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. He is revered by Shiite Muslims for his religious leadership, and respected by Sunni Muslims for his knowledge and Islamic scholarship as a jurist in Medina.

Al-Baqir was born in Medina around 56 AH (676 AD), when Muawiyah I was trying to ensure that his son Yazid I could inherit the caliphate. When Al-Baqir was a child, his family was affected by the Battle of Karbala; he was three or four years old when his grandfather, Husayn, was killed.

Al-Baqir had a prominent seyyid lineage. His father was Ali ibn Husayn "Zayn al-Abidin", and his paternal grandfather was Husayn ibn Ali, while his mother was Fatima Umm Abd Allah, and his maternal grandfather was Hasan ibn Ali. His grandfathers Hasan and Husayn were the two eldest surviving sons of Ali through his first wife Fatimah, the eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

According to Ya'qubi, al-Baqir was present at Karbala. In his youth he witnessed the struggle for power among the Umayyads, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and a number of Shiite parties, whilst his father maintained a distance from local political activity. Imam died on 7th Dhu al-Hijjah. Imam al-Baqir was poisoned by Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. According to the Shi'i account, the Caliph gave Zaid a saddle treated with poison; Zaid gave it to the Imam, who used it and died. Al-Baqir was laid to rest under the dome in al-Baqi', where the Imams Hasan ibn Ali and Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin were buried.

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