Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Sayyida Masoomah was poisoned, thus was martyred

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Wednesday, the 9th of Rabi’ul-Thani. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi asked a question in relation to the possibility that the holy shrine of Imam Reza, peace be upon him, is in another location and said: This opinion is rare and not correct. In fact, thousands of Shia jurists, for more than a thousand years, have verified the existing place of the shrine as the burial location of Imam Reza (peace be upon him).

Regarding the reason why Sayyida Masoomah did not marry, his Eminence said: Scholars have pointed out that Banu Abbas repeatedly approached the family of Imam Musa bin Jafar, peace be upon them, and pressured them to consent to the marriage of Sayyida al-Masoomah and her sisters to the Abbasid suitors. But the Imam (peace be upon him) had no desire to marry his daughters to Bani Abbas, because the rule of Bani Abbas was a cruel government. For this reason, Sayyida Masoumeh, peace be upon her, never had the chance to marry to someone other than the Banu Abbas.

Regarding the story of Sayyida Masoumeh’s journey, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi said: Historical accounts narrate that she travelled in a caravan consisting of her relatives, including men and women, as was customary at that time, to visit and reunite with Imam Reza, peace be upon him. She set out on a journey towards Tus, and when they reached the city of Qom, whose population were mainly Shiites, she settled there with her relatives for a while. Sayyida Masoumeh then came down with an illness that lasted for seventeen days, and passed away as a result.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi further said: Some chronicles mention that al-Ma’mun al-Abbasi secretly had her poisoned and therefore her Holiness, peace be upon her, was martyred.