The Lives of the Twelve: A Look at the Social and Political Lives of the Twelve Infallible Imams

by Sayyid Ali Musawi

The Lives of the Twelve is a pioneering work that details the lives of the Twelve Shia Imams. While most works on the Twelve Imams focuses on the basics of their lives, this text goes into the details of their social and political lives and how they affected change throughout their societies. Through extensive research, Shaykh Mahdi Pishvai has been able to craft together many details which were not widely known before. This is the first time a book of this caliber has been published in the English language. Today, we live in times where morality and a sense of right and wrong have all but disappeared. In light of this, we can turn to the teachings and wisdom of the Twelve in order to see how we can help bring back morality and that human sense of differentiating between right and wrong in our society. This work is composed of four distinct volumes, each of which goes into the lives of three of the twelve Imams. This volume deals with the social and political lives of Imam Ali (a), Imam Hasan (a), and Imam Husayn (a).

Genres: Islam

196 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2018

Reviews

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is reasonably in depth when it comes to the lives of the Imams and their roles in important political and social stances. I was able to learn a lot more about the personalities of these three imams, especially Imam Hassan’s reasons for his silence towards Mu’awiyah which proved to be so impactful and very important for the upcoming events Imam Hussain had to face, paving the way for Imam hussain’s break of silence towards the oppressors. Both Imams showed the importance of assessing the situations within society, they demonstrated patience when the religion of Islam was oppressed and shut down, for the sake of Allah swt and their trust in him. Their calculated methods and approaches saved Islam and taught me the importance of assessing the outcomes of any decision before I make it.
where else would they have inherited or learnt these traits than from Imam Ali (as) and the prophet (saw)
Alhamdullillah for the Ahlulbayt

[Murtaza Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book discusses the social and political dimensions of the time of the first three Imams. This helps the reader understand why certain decisions were taken by the Imams, which may seem contrary to reason to casual readers/listeners of historical events. The most interesting section was about why Imam Hasan decided to accede to the leadership of Muawiya despite being fully aware that he was keen to destroy Islam under the garb of being a Muslim. He fathomed that this wasn't going to be a short battle, but a long war in which first, he had to expose Muawiya's hypocrisy (which he very well did in written words in the form of a peace treaty of which Muawiya breached every single point), make society realize what their current state had become and where there were heading in the future. His mission was soon inherited by Master of Martyrs Imam Hussain whose story we all know very well.

Looking forward to reading Part 2.

[Uzma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not objective. Poorly researched in that it paints a shallow picture of the political and social atmosphere of the islamic world.