Misfortune of Jaludi

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After the martyrdom of Imam Kadhim (a.s.), Haroon Al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliph dispatched one of his commanders, a person by the name of Jaludi, to Madinah and instructed him: “Attack the houses of the progeny of Abu Talib, loot the womenfolk and leave behind nothing, except one apparel for each of them!”

Once in Madinah, Jaludi started to execute Haroon’s orders. As he neared the house of Imam Ridha (a.s.), the Imam (a.s.) gathered all the ladies of the house into one room and stood at the door, preventing Jaludi from entering.

Jaludi insisted that he must enter the house and loot the ladies and take away their apparels. The Imam (a.s.) promised that he himself would collect their clothes and ornaments and hand them over to Jaludi, on the condition that he should abstain from entering the room.

Jaludi eventually acquiesced to the Imam’s request, whereupon he entered the room, gathered the ornaments and clothes of the ladies and, together with the other things of the house, placed them at Jaludi’s disposal, which he promptly dispatched to Haroon.

After Haroon, it was his son Mamun, who took over the reins of the Caliphate. It so happened that one day he became angry with Jaludi and sought to punish him with death. Imam Ridha (a.s.) had been present in that assembly and requested Mamun to forgive him.

Jaludi, recollecting his previous wickedness with respect to the Imam, thought that he (a.s.) would complain about it to Mamun and so, turning to Mamun, he said:

“I place you under the oath of God! Do not accept his words in connection with me.”

Mamun said: “By God! I shall not accept his words.” Saying this, he then ordered Jaludi to be beheaded.( Raahnama-e-Sa’adat, vol. 1, pg. 177; Aa’yaan al-Shia’h, vol. 1, pg. 60. )

Reference : Anecdotes for Reflection – Part 1