The Eleventh Chapter: The End of Bani Umayya's Government and Imam Sadiq's Imamate
Imam Baqir (A.S) left this mortal world during the dominance of one the most powerful Caliphs of Bani Umayyah, Hisham bin Abdul Malik, while He was 57 years old. The disordered situations and conditions, and enormous involvements and troubles of Umavi state in the comprehensive country and territory of Muslims world could not strain Hisham to have an underplot and rancor towards the palpitating heart of Shiites organization - i.e. Imam Baqir-. Hisham recommended his own barraters to give poison Imam and thus the tyrant dynasty of Umavi complete its enjoyment and drunk (pleasure) of victory at western and eastern boundaries of state with killing the greatest and most dangerous enemy at interior level.
The regime of Bani Umayyah was passing one of most adventurous term, from its establishing, on the late years of Imam Baqir’s life and also on the early years of His son, Imam Sadiq’s, Imamate. Saber-rattling on the north-eastern borders -Turkistan and Khorassan,-, north -Asia Minor
and Azerbaijan-, West -Africa, Spain and Europe- from one side perpetual insurgences in the several region of Iraq of Arab, Khorasan and North Africa were generally or probably occurred by the local angry and suppressed people and sometimes by the provoking or helping of Moghol commanders in Umavi setup
. And from another side, the national unorganized and confused situation all where specially in Iraq -residency of Bani Umayyah’s great feudal [feofees], and the fertile and fruitful territory which was specified probably to the Caliph or belonged to the state commanders- and fabulous embezzlement of Hisham and his tyrant governor in Iraq -Khalid bin Abdullah Qisri
- and at last, the starvation and pest in the several regions like Khorasan, Iraq and Syria have given a strange form and face to the comprehensive Muslims habituated country which was being regulated by the regime of Bani Umayyah and by the most famous commanders of its. In addition that, we should add the most deficiency of Islamic world that is the spiritual, intellectual and psychological deficiency.
In the confused and worried environment of Islamic state where poverty, war and deceases come down like a thunder rose up from seeking-power and dictatorship of Umavi rulers on the people, burns and make cinder, in such condition, it is approximately impossible to cultivate the plant of virtue, piety, morality and spirituality. The spiritual leaders, judges, narrators and interpreters instead to be the refuge and ambush of poor and suppressed people, they would’t give relief and solve the problem but rather would probably increase on the difficulties of people in some ways and sometimes more dangerous than the rulers. The famous and outstanding figures of jurisprudence, theology, narrations and Sufism (mysticism) like Hassan Basari, Qatadah bin Dua’mah, Muhammad bin ShihabZohri, Ibn Basheer, Muhammad bin al-Munkadir, Ibn AbiLaila and dozens like them were in fact the tacos in the great setup of Caliphate or the toys in the hands of rulers and commanders.
It is regretful to say that if one researches on the biographies of these justified and respected personalities, it would embody them for the researcher in the face of those man who are sunken in their dirty wishes’ cube like the seeking-power, fame and enjoyment or in the face of goosey, craven and relaxing poor-spirited or in the face of hypocrite and idiot ascetics or in the face of pedant involved in the theological and doctrinal bleeding debates.
The Holy Quran and Narrations which should keep alive and fruitful the plant of knowledge and good virtues, while they had become inverted as the instrument for the totalitarian rulers or preoccupation for the fruitless life of these vicious and distorter ones.
In this poisoned, dream and dark environment and this eventful and difficult time, Imam Sadiq (A.S) undertook the charge of Divine Imamate [Leadership]. What necessary and vital is in fact the “Imamate” which we have known and recognized by its developed and progressed concept in Shias’ culture! The Imamate is the spring for two resuscitating movements towards the amazed [perplexed], suppressed and misunderstandingUmmah
of that dark and disastrous [calamitous] as we saw early: correct Islamic thought and justice system based on Unitary [Tawhid
]. Imam is the responsible of two kind duties: first, explanation, comparison and interpreting the school of thought -which comprised and contained struggling against distortions and ignorantly and self-interesting rectitude deeds- meanwhile it has to foundation and ground the system of equity and right based on Unitary [Tawhid
]. When such system exists, it should continue and keep alive. Now, Imam Sadiq undertakes the charge of Imamate in such disorganized situations and conditions, and become responsible for those two duties. He had both two duties at once. Which one should be one sooner than other? It is right that the political work has abundant of difficulties and it is not a thing whom HishamUmavi would forgive Him despite his all amusements and involvements for this action, and leave to take a hard and bitter revenge from Him, but the intellectual action -struggle against the distortion- is in fact alike to cut the artery of Caliphate setup which does not have any power for its existence and subsistence anything except to rely and lean on the distorted religion.
So Hisham would forgive him for this, neither Hisham nor the public [official] scholars who are going forward on the base of decadent and distorted public and prevalent values of society and even doing actively endeavor for such thing.
From another side, the conditions for spreading Shii’y revolutionary thought was ready. Because there was war, poverty and dictatorship, the three elements and factors for bringing up and cultivating revolution. The prior Imam [Imam Baqir] has made ready this ground, even He has ready and prepared the near and far region approximately [for such action].
The general strategy of Imamate is to create Alavi and Unitarian revolution in a place where a necessary group of people has introduced and accepted the ideology of Imamate, they are anxiously waiting to actualize [realize] it, and another necessary group has joint that intent group of struggling organization. The logical requisite of such policy is the wide-broad and comprehensive calling throughout of Islamic world for softening base for Shias’ thought preaching in all where, and it need another calling to prepare the talented and devotee persons of “secret organizations of Shia”. The difficulty of righteous calling of Imamate lays in this point. Because it is a completely doctrinal calling which wants to keep away the power from any kind of bullying, violation and infringement to the people’s right of freedom, and to perform according to the fundamental rules and criteria of Islam, so, it should inevitably rely on the consciousness and perception of people, and in the way of sensation for their natural sentiment, it should continue its progress and development.Those movements which though starts apparently with the doctrinal and sectional [Maslak
] slogans, but theypractically perform like the saber-rattling ones [power-seekers] like all other powerful one and ignore the moral and social rules and principals, don’t have such difficulties. This is the reason that the movement of Imamate had a long term and this is secret of the progress of parallel movements with Imamate movement -like Bani Abbas- and the cause of defeat of such movement relatively. We will propound and explain in more detail this point in future relying on the historical documents [In-sha-allah].
The favorable conditions an circumstances and the ground whom is carried on by the former Imam, on the base of long and difficult [excruciating]way of Tashayu’ movement, causedfor that fact that Imam Sadiq would be the symbol of the very right and correct expectation that Shias have been waiting for several years, i.e. the “Upriser (Qaim
)” who will actualize the long struggles and endeavors of His predecessors and will release the Shias’ revolution on the comprehensive level of Islamic world. The indications and sometimes clarifications of Imam Baqirwas influent in the cultivation of such wish and ideal.
Jabir bin Yazid says: somebody asked Imam Baqir (A.S) about the upriser after Him, Imam beat [put] with His hand on the shoulder of AbiAdbullah and said: by God, He is he Household[Qaim-e- All-e-Muhammad]
.
The Righteous Leader, P 54-61.
Imam Sadiq’s Biography, in the Halo of Ambiguity
Is it necessary to point out to the one of most regretful thing which is found for the researchers of Imam Sadiq (A.S)'s biography. That is the biography of Imam specially at the starting period of His Imamate which coincided with the ends of Bani Umayyah's government, is in a halo of ambiguity. His adventurous and eventful life which is observed in the conflicts and ups and downs among the hundreds of historical reports isnot reflected ordered and continuous neither in the saying of narrators nor in report of historiographers and the time and characteristics of most events are not ascertained. So, the researcher has to discover time, place and the characters of the event from other sources while he should rely on the evidences and remarking the general movements of that time and comparing each report with other information which is mentioned about other persons or events. The researcher should search one of the reasons of this being dumb and ambiguity specially about Imam's organizational activities with His supporters in the nature of these events.
The secret and organizational actions should be done secretly and concealed normally in the case those would be performed according to the rule of secrecy. It was secret on that day, so will remain concealed also.Because the secrecy and hiding owners don’t let reach any insured ones to that secret. Whenever it becomes completed and give its output and also its agents would get power, they will disclose their own secret action for the people. For this reason, the a lot of Bani Abbas' leaders and commanders' intricacies [elegances] and even the private commands and secret contacts with their own organizational personnel and followers in the duration of calling Abbasi movement have been registered and anyone knows them.
Without any doubt, if Alavi movement would get its considered outcome and get the power and government [ruling] by Shais' Imams or Their selected agents [elements], we would become informed about the all sealed secrets of Alavi calling and their over-wide and very secret organizations.
Another reason should be searched in the character of historiography and historiographers. If a suppressed and sentenced group has any name in the official and general history and any story is registered about that group, this would be according to the dominant and oppressor ruling wanted, said and pretended. Because an official historian has to mention with abundant dangers the vexatious and heart-rending reports about oppressed ones after getting them by a lot of efforts and endeavors here and there, while he can record easily and without any concern a lot of news and sayings which are in the hands of rulers and then get prizes and it does have any danger.
Now, we put this explicit reality in front of other facts. All famous and authentic histories which are assumed as the resources and documents of most afterward researches and reports,which have beenwritten forfive hundred years later than Imam Sadiq' life,have Abbasi's glazing and overlay. Because as we know that Abbasis' ruling continued till the half of seventh century A.H. and all famous ancient [towards Islamic era] historical books have been compiled during the power and dominance of this die-hard chain. Having this point, the result is what everyone can guess. No one can expect from a historian of Abbasi's duration that he would be able or want acquire the correct and orderly information about Imam Sadiq or every one of other Imams of Shias, and record [register or mention] in his book. This is the reason of a lot of the distortions and ambiguities about the life of Imam Sadiq.
The unique and only way which can introduce us to the general life of Imam's life is that we grasp the main diagrams of His Excellency's life among these ambiguities and by what we know as the overall and general rules of His Excellency's thought and morality, trace the main and essential line and route of Imam's biography, while we should wait to define the characteristics and punctilios for the historical defused [out-spread or sporadic] evidences and arguments even not-historical evidences also.
The Righteous Leader, pp. 65-68
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Author: Seyed Ali Khamenei
