--- title: "Imam al-Kadhim: The Prisoner of Baghdad" event: "The Lantern of the Path" session_number: 32 published_at: "2025-08-27" canonical_url: "https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/imam-al-kadhim-the-prisoner-of-baghdad" event_url: "https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-lantern-of-the-path" type: "event-session" scripture_reference: "Mafatih al-Jinan, Supplications (Duas), Munajat 15: The Whispered Prayer of the Ascetics, Line 1" --- # Imam al-Kadhim: The Prisoner of Baghdad *Session 32 of [The Lantern of the Path](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-lantern-of-the-path) — 27 August 2025* Imamah, Part 12 His Imamate lasted thirty-five years, and for years of it his own community walked past his prison to visit a grave instead. Imam Musa al-Kadhim, peace be upon him, led for thirty-five years, from 148 to 183 AH, through what the tradition counts among the most dangerous stretches of the whole 250-year struggle of the Imams. Visitors to his private chamber reported seeing three objects: a coarse garment, never worn; a sword, hung from the ceiling; a Qur'an, placed open before him — struggle, readiness, and the goal itself, side by side. The Imam judged his followers case by case. One held a senior post inside the government; the Imam ordered him to keep it, since his presence there shielded other believers. Another rented out his camels for the state's official journeys — for that alone, the Imam rebuked him: wishing for the survival of an unjust power, even just to collect a fee, was enough to place a person among them. When the Imam was martyred by poison, his body was laid on a bridge in Baghdad under a placard naming him leader of the Rafidha, "those who refuse" — a slur his household had already reclaimed: they refused falsehood, and upheld the truth. Where were the Shia while their own Imam sat in chains? What the evening covers Three objects in one room. A coarse garment, a hanging sword, an open Qur'an — the Imam's mission laid out for any visitor. Two believers, two rulings. Why the Imam ordered one man to keep his post, and rebuked another for renting out his camels. Thirty-five years, four rulers. The longest, and among the most dangerous, Imamates of the entire 250-year struggle. The bridge in Baghdad. How a slur meant to shame the Imam's household became a title of honour in their own mouths. ## Scripture > المناجاة الخامسة عشرة: ماجاة الزّاهدين مناجات پانزدهم: رازونياز پارسايان به نام خدا كه رحمتش بسيار و مهربانى اش هميشگى است > بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ إِلَهِي أَسْكَنْتَنَا دَارا حَفَرَتْ لَنَا حُفَرَ مَكْرِهَا وَ عَلَّقَتْنَا بِأَيْدِي الْمَنَايَا فِي حَبَائِلِ غَدْرِهَا فَإِلَيْكَ نَلْتَجِئُ مِنْ مَكَائِدِ خُدَعِهَا وَ بِكَ نَعْتَصِمُ مِنَ الاغْتِرَارِ بِزَخَارِفِ زِينَتِهَا فَإِنَّهَا الْمُهْلِكَةُ طُلابَهَا الْمُتْلِفَةُ حُلالَهَا الْمَحْشُوَّةُ بِالْآفَاتِ الْمَشْحُونَةُ بِالنَّكَبَاتِ إِلَهِي فَزَهِّدْنَا فِيهَا وَ سَلِّمْنَا مِنْهَا بِتَوْفِيقِكَ وَ عِصْمَتِكَ وَ انْزَعْ عَنَّا جَلابِيبَ مُخَالَفَتِكَ وَ تَوَلَّ أُمُورَنَا بِحُسْنِ كِفَايَتِكَ، > > O Allah, You have settled us in an abode whose pits of deception You have prepared for us, and in whose nets of treachery You have hung the hands of death. We seek refuge in You from its snares of deceit, and we cling to Your grace against being beguiled by its adorned ornaments. For this world destroys those who seek it and annihilates those who enter it; it is filled with calamities and laden with misfortunes. O Allah, make us indifferent to this world, and by Your guidance and protection keep us safe from it. Strip from our being the garments of disobedience, and with Your excellent sufficiency, be the guardian of our affairs. — *Mafatih al-Jinan, Supplications (Duas), Munajat 15: The Whispered Prayer of the Ascetics, Line 1* ## Programme - [Watch the full session](https://youtu.be/wqsQDysIgK8) - [Sermon: Imam al-Kadhim: The Prisoner of Baghdad](https://youtu.be/wqsQDysIgK8) - [Nohe: O Hayder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSDaCh4edAc) - [Ziyarah: Ziyarah of Sayyedah Fatimah al-Ma'oumeh (Qum)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcSlsKmqm4) ## Other sessions in this event - [Session 69 — Shaykh al-Ta'ifa](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/shaykh-al-taifa) — 12 August 2026 - [Session 26 — Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba: A Life of Strategic Sacrifice](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/imam-hasan-al-mujtaba-a-life-of-strategic-sacrifice) — 20 May 2026 - [Session 3 — Keeping God's Limits](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/keeping-gods-limits) — 10 December 2025 - [Session 44 — Guardian of the Final Proof](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/guardian-of-the-final-proof) — 19 November 2025 - [Session 43 — The Imam of Preparation](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-imam-of-preparation) — 12 November 2025 - [Session 42 — Networks of Guidance Under Siege](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/networks-of-guidance-under-siege) — 5 November 2025 - [Session 41 — The Charter of Wilayah and The Light in the Garrison](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-charter-of-wilayah-and-the-light-in-the-garrison) — 29 October 2025 - [Session 40 — Generous Protection and The Fortress of Faith](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/generous-protection-and-the-fortress-of-faith) — 22 October 2025 - [Session 39 — Youthful Authority and Eternal Clarity](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/youthful-authority-and-eternal-clarity) — 15 October 2025 - [Session 38 — The Theology of Her Ziyarah](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-theology-of-her-ziyarah) — 8 October 2025 - [Session 37 — The Journey That Founded a City](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-journey-that-founded-a-city) — 1 October 2025 - [Session 36 — Imamate Beyond Thrones](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/imamate-beyond-thrones) — 24 September 2025 --- _Read this session on the web: https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/imam-al-kadhim-the-prisoner-of-baghdad_