Beside the "infallibilty" and "knowledge of Ladon", Imam Reza (a.s) had spiritual character of remembering God all the time, the moral character which was having good attitude with people, the scientific character that no one was able to defeat him in debates and the political character which defeated Mamun in all his plans and policy.
A summary of the characteristics of Imam Reza (a.s)
Introduction:
Imam Reza (peace be upon him) is the eighth Hujjat and Guardian of God and Caliph of the Prophet (PBUH), who was born in the year 148 AH in the city of Medina. His honorable father was Imam Musa Kazem (a.s) and he was born in the same year that his grandfather Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) was martyred. His name was (Ali) and "Reza" and "A’lem A’al-Muhammad"[1] are among the most important titles of that Imam. The term of his Imamate was 20 years, and according to the famous tradition, he was poisoned and martyred by Mamun Abbasi on 29 Safar 203 AH at the age of 55. His holy shrine is located in the city of Mashhad, which welcomes pilgrims and lovers of His Holiness from all over the world every year.
Characteristics of Imam Reza "peace be upon him":
Imam Reza (peace be upon him) had the two characteristics of "infallibility" and "knowledge of Ladon", which are specific to infallible imams and divine leaders. The characteristics which are derived from each of them and were appeared in his actions, some of them are as follows:
1. The spiritual personality of Imam (a.s):
He was always remembering God and praying to God, he recited the Qur'an a lot, his prayer at the begining of the time was never delayed, even in the middle of scientific discussions when the Azan to prayer was called, he was get up to go to prayer and postponed the discussion to a later time, his prostrations were long and he fasted for many days. [2]
2. The moral character of Imam (a.s):
Imam (a.s.) had a good attitude towards people and did not do the smallest act that would belittle or insult others. He behaved kindly with his subordinates and ate with them at the same table, even when he was a crown prince. He never leaned to the wall in front of others, always had a smiling face and never laughed aloud. He was very tolerant and patient. [3]
3. The scientific personality of Imam "AS":
All the infallible imams (a.s) have knowledge of “Ladon” and were able to answer all the scientific needs of mankind, Imam Reza (a.s) like his grandfather Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) had a little opportunity to display this divine knowledge. Mamun Abbasi, in order to challenge the position of the Imam's knowledge among the people, he invited scholars of different religions and groups to debate with the Imam. In the end, they all admitted to the Imam's wisdom and knowledge and their own ignorance. [4]
Imam (a.s) has statements on various scientific issues, some of which are still in written form. One of those books is the letter "Tab al-Reza", which is considered an important source in Islamic medicine, and many commentators have written commentaries on it. [5]
4. The political personality of Imam (a.s):
The whole period of the life of Imam (a.s) was during the rule of the Abbasids, the Abbasids who, by attributing to the Prophet (PBUH) and by taking advantage of the people's feelings against the Umayyads, were able to push them aside and take power themselves, by suppressing the Umayyads, they no longer had the power to take action against the Abbasids. The Abbasids considered the most important threat to their rule from the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s), who were descendants of the Prophet and had a special position among Muslims. Therefore, they concentrated all their forces to suppress them. Imam (a.s) led the Shia community carefully and vigilantly during his entire period of Imamate and taught and published the teachings of pure Islam. He was not afraid of the Abbasid caliphs and did not fear from telling the truth and presenting the true Islam in front of them. [6]
Mamun, who by calling the Imam from Madinah and forcing him to accept the position of the crown prince, thought that he would give legitimacy to his government and pacify his opponents, but the behavior of the Imam thwarted all his plans. Imam (a.s) spread the knowledge of true Islam by organizing scientific meetings, and day by day his love in the hearts of people increased and people became more familiar with the teachings of pure Islam. This caused Ma'mun to feel a serious threat from him. Finally he killed Imam (a.s) by eating poison. Imam Reza (a.s) was buried in a city that is known today as the holy Mashhad, and now every year his shrine hosts pilgrims and lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s) from all over the world.
[1] The schollar of the Ahl al-Bayt of the prophet.
Beside the "infallibilty" and "knowledge of Ladon", Imam Reza (a.s) had spiritual character of remembering God all the time, the moral character which was having good attitude with people, the scientific character that no one was able to defeat him in debates and the political character which defeated Mamun in all his plans and policy. Imam Reza's personality can be a good model for us to achieve the peace of mind in this world and the prosperity in here after world.