A Short Biography of Imam Jaffer As-sadiq(a.s)

Chapter 4 : Major Historic Events During the Life-time of Imam Jaffer Bin Muhammad-alsadiq (a.s) and His Non-political Stand

INTRODUCTION:

Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) was that Imam from the progeny of the Prophet who saw the rulership of the Ummayades and the Abbasides at their peak and at the lowest point of their power.

Whereas he lived through the entire rulership of Hi sham that stretched for nineteen long years, he also saw the rise of Mansoor Dawanaqi from being a fugitive to being one of the strongest rulers of the world of that time.

Several" opportunities" became available at this time to the Imam (A.S). In this chapter we shall closely look at these opportunities and examine why the Imam (A.S) chose some and rejected others.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Despite the lengthy and somewhat "successful" rulership of Hisham, it was clear that the Umrnayed rein was coming to an end. This is because the Ummayade rulers had proved to be totally ineffective and unfit to rule.

People were rising against the cruel government through out the Empire. There were uprisings in Khurasan, Central Asia, Southern Arabia, Spain and North Africa. These revolts were crushed but at a high price.

Not only did they drain the Treasury, but also made the suffering mass more determined to fight for their freedom against the tyrant Ummayades. On the other hand, the Ummayade rulers imposed heavy taxes on people so as to fill the state's ever-empty treasury.

A situation was being created for people to be more and more pushed towards a point of overthrowing the Government. This constant "war" between the government and the people created an opportunity.

A strong person who could organize the people and provide them with leadership stood a good chance of replacing the Ummayade rulership. Both Imam Muhammad Baqir (A.S) and Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) saw this opportunity but refused to go after it for reasons which we shall see in the course of this chapter. Besides these two Imams, there were others, too, who saw this plump opportunity of going after the seat of power.

At this juncture we shall briefly relate about those others who went to exploit this opportunity and the fate which befell them in pursuit of this option.

1). Zaid, son of AH bin Husain (A.S.):

Zaid, the son of Imam Zainul Abideen (A.S), was one such a person who thought it was time for him to rise against the Ummayades and their repressive rule. Zaid was a pious person who spent his nights in prayers and his days fasting.

He went to the court of Hisham to advise him to end cruelty towards Muslims. Hisham treated him with insults, abusing Imam Baqir (A.S) and the members of the Prophet's family in general. Zaid could not bear these insults. He went to Kufa and raised an army to overthrow Hisham.

Hisham sent his army under the commandership of Yusuf BinUmar Saqafi. In 122 AH after fighting bravely. Zaid was martyred. His uprising failed. He was buried secretly but Hisham found his burial place and had the body of Zaid dug from the grave and placed on the cross. Later on, his body was burnt and ashes thrown in the River Euphrates.

Zaid's son, Yahya, rose again in 125 AH but he too, was defeated, killed and his body treated with humiliation by the orders of Walid II, the successor of Hisham.

2). Muhammad Bin Abdullah Bin Hassan Musannah Bin Hassan (A.S):

On the death of Hisham in A.H 125, his brother Walid II, took over as the ruler of the Muslim Empire. Amir Ali described his as "...utterly oblivious of the ordinary rules of morality and addicted to drinking..." People were convinced that it was time the rulership be returned to the members of the House of the Prophet the Ahlul Bait.

Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) refused to get involved in the underground movement that was getting ready to overthrow the Ummayade regime. Other members of the Bani Hashim decided to do otherwise; amongst them was Abdullah Mahaz and his children.

They visited the secret meetings held in Medina where the Bani Abbasi leaders, Suffah and Mansoor. too were present - all planning to overthrow the Ummayade. At one such meeting, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah Mahz was nominated to be the Caliph to replace the Ummayade ruler.

Muhammad was a very virtuous person, so much so that he was known as Nafs-U-Zakiyar the "pu^e Soul". As he was considered the head of the house of Imanj Hassan (A.S) people nominated him as their Caliph.

Saffah and Mansoor were not happy about this but for the time being they kept quiet, waiting for the right time to come for them to act, and put forward their owtt claim to the throne.

3). Muhammad Bin Al Bin Abdullah Bin Abbas (The Abbasides) and his sons:

Muhammad was the grandson of the famous Ibne Abbas, the, companion and cousin of the Prophet (S. A.W.W). He saw the opportunity of seizing the Caliphate for himself using the name of the "Ahlul-BaiT as away to gain support from the masses. The followers of Ahlul- Bait were fooled into believing that Muhammad was fighting to return the rightful Imams to power.

Little did they suspect that Muhammad had his own hidden agenda of reserving the Caliphate for himself and his children. He started his campaign against the Ummayade administration, gaining support day by day.

However, before he could succeed in his mission, he died in AH 125. At his death bed he appointed his sons Ibrahim, Abdullah Abu Abbas (later on surnamed As-Saffah), and Abdullah Abu Jaffer (latter surnamed Al-Mansoor) as his successors, one after the other.

They continued with their mission with care and caution using the watch-word "the rights of the Ahlul Bait-People of the House."

The effort of the Abbaside propaganda was helped by the unfit ruler who succeeded Hisham: Walid II Walid II.

Walid II, in the words of Amir Ali, was of "a fickle temperament and debased nature which often broke forth in cruel deeds." The cruelty with which he got Yahya, the son of Zaid killed and his body hung on the cross, made him very unpopular.

According to Amil Ali: 'Thefateof Yahya created a great sensation in Khorasan and accelerated the downfall of the Ommeyads... and when Abu Muslim stood forth as the 'Avengor of the House' they (the people) flocked to his standard dressed in black, which hereforth became the Abbaside color..."

Besides these three personalities from among Bani Hashim who had their eyes on the Caliphate, there were two other personalities who could not have a direct claim to the Caliphate but who could play the part of "King-Makers" because of their military strength and skills. These two personalities were Abu Muslim and Abu Salma.

Abu Muslim:

He was native of Isphahan (Iran) and joined the services of Muhammad Bin Ali Bin Ibne Abas. Because of his organizational skills, he was incharge of raising the support for the ABBASIDE movement in Khorasan.

He was very successful at his job which became easier at the death of Hisham and the coming to power of Walid II, as his already been noted.

The martyrdom of Zaid's son, Yahya, offered Abu Muslim yet another golden opportunity. Young Yahya's martyrdom aroused a lot of sympathy for him and anger for the Ummayades. Abu Muslim seized this opportunity and at that very moment came out in the open to oppose the Ummayade's floundering administration, capitalizing on the sympathy of the people.

Nasra, the governor of Khorasan was busy putting down other uprisings in the West, and in Yemen. His garrisons were therefore weak and defenseless. Soon he lost to Abu Muslim who was now in complete control of Merv-(Iran).

Abu Salma Hafs Bin Sulaiman al Kahllal:

Bakayr Bin Maham was a sympathizer of the Ahlul Bayt and was part of the Abbaside propaganda machinery in Kufa. On his death, he appointed his son-in law Abu Salma Hafs to take his place.

According to TABARI, Abu Salma then traveled to Khorasan where he was welcomed and given a portion of cKhums' collected from the Shias of Khorasan. He was in constant touch with Ibrahim Bin Al Abbas who was in Syria. His designation was "the vizier of the descendants of the Prophet."

Although he was in service of Ibrahim, when the opportunity arose for the seizure of power from Ummayades, he turned to Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S). He sent a note inviting Imam 10 present himself to be crowned "as the Caliph" Imam (A.S) didn't even open the note; he burnt it and told the messenger to tell Abu Salma what he saw.

Abu Salma had no choice but to support Saffah's claim to the Caliphate.