Hamza ibn Musa al-Kazim

Hamza ibn Musa al-Kazim belonged to the Musawi branch of the Prophet's family. Genealogical authorities name him among the sons of Imam Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim. His identity is strengthened by agreement on his father, his kunya Abu al-Qasim, his Kufan association and the named lines of his descendants; these details help distinguish him from later descendants who also bore the name Hamza.

The sources do not preserve a reliable date or place of birth. Ibn Inaba states that Hamza's mother was an unnamed umm walad. Since his father died in the late second Islamic century and his brother Ali al-Rida lived into the early third century, Hamza belongs historically to the same late second- and early third-century Hijri family setting, but a more precise chronology should not be invented.

Umdat al-Talib describes him as Abu al-Qasim, a Kufan, and records that his continuing lineage came through two sons, al-Qasim and Hamza. It also mentions a son named Ali who died without surviving descendants and whose attributed grave was known outside the Istakhr Gate of Shiraz. Al-Shajara al-Mubaraka independently confirms the two principal lines through al-Qasim and Hamza and traces branches of their descendants in Persian lands.

Later genealogical and devotional writings praise Hamza as a respected and devout Alid and sometimes attach additional stories to his life. Such portrayals reflect his later religious memory, but the early genealogical record does not provide enough evidence to reconstruct a detailed scholarly, political or travel biography. Claims that he certainly accompanied Imam al-Rida to Khurasan or held a defined public office should therefore be presented only as later reports when specifically sourced.

No dependable early source gives Hamza's death date or conclusively identifies his burial place. The best-known later attribution places his grave at Ray, within the shrine complex associated with Abd al-Azim al-Hasani, while other local traditions have linked his name with Qom, Sirjan and Kashmar. Because these claims are late and competing, the historically safe classification is burial unknown, with several attributed shrines or maqams rather than a confirmed tomb.