Ali al-Rida
eighth of the Twelve Shia Imams (766–818)
Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (Arabic: علي بن موسى الرضا, romanized: ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, c. 29 December 765 – c. 5 September 818) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father Musa al-Kazim and his grandfather Ja'far al-Sadiq. His lineage traces through Ali and Fatima, via the line of Husayn. He is also part of the chain of mystical authority in Sunni Sufism. A number of works are attributed to him, including Sahifah al-Rida, Fiqh al-Rida, and Al-Risala al-Dhahabiyya, the most precious Islamic work in the Science of Medicine. Uyoun Akhbar Al-Rida includes his debates with scholars of various religions, biographical details, and even the miracles which have occurred at his shrine.
Al-Rida was born in Medina into Muhammad's household in 765. He was contemporary with the Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid, al-Amin, and al-Ma'mun. Both Shia and Sunni sources describe him as exceptionally knowledgeable in youth, engaging in scholarly discussions with the greatest scholars of his time.
The public source identifies “Ali al-Rida” as eighth of the Twelve Shia Imams (766–818). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around al-Rida, eighth and Twelve.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25105. VIAF identifies the subject as 76706594. The Library of Congress control number is n80115654. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ali al-Rida” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.