During the time of Imam Sadiq (pbuh), it was divinely predestined — though not as an inevitable, predetermined decree — that a change would take place in favor of the Imams of Guidance (pbut). This fact can be understood from numerous hadith. In one narration from Imam Sadiq (pbuh), he stated, "Indeed, God decreed this matter for the year 70." Almighty God had predestined this matter — that is, the matter of Imamate in the true sense of the word — for the year 70 AH in His divine plan.
You see, when Imam Hassan Mujtaba (pbuh) signed a peace treaty with Muawiyah, some people came and complained or objected. The Imam said, "You don’t know. Perhaps this is a trial for you and an enjoyment for a time." [That is,] this [situation] was temporary. So in Imam Hassan’s (pbuh) words, he indicated that this event — that is, the dominance of disbelief and hypocrisy — wasn’t going to be permanent. According to the divine decree, it was to be temporary. Until when? Until the year 70 AH.
So according to this narration, it had been decreed that whoever was alive from the Ahl al-Bayt in the year 70 AH would rise up and take control of the government, and the true Imamate would be established. Then the Imam said, "But when Hussain (pbuh) was killed, God’s anger with the people of the earth increased, so He delayed this until the year 140 AH."
In other words, the effect of the tragedy in Karbala, the people's disregard for religious principles, and their turning away was that this divine predestination was postponed until the year 140 AH. The year 140 AH corresponds to the time of Imam Sadiq (pbuh). He passed away in the year 148 AH. The Shia knew this. That is, the distinguished figures among the Shia were aware of this. For example, in one hadith, Zurarah — one of the close companions [of Imam Sadiq (pbuh)] — told his friends, "You won’t see anyone on this pulpit except Jafar." A’wad refers to the structure of the pulpit — the pulpit of the caliphate. So he was saying, "I see that Jafar will sit on this pulpit.” That's how it was.
There’s another hadith, which is again from Zurarah. Since Zurarah resided in Kufa, he sent a message to Imam Sadiq (pbuh) in which he said, “One of our friends from among the Shia has fallen into debt, and his creditors are pursuing him. Since he has no money, he has fled the city and has no place to stay. If this matter, the matter of the caliphate, will be resolved in a year or two — in the narration it says haza al-amr, which means "this matter" —this person [who is in debt] can wait until you come to power and all problems are solved. But if it’s going to take a long time, our friends can collect money and pay his debt.” In other words, someone like Zurarah was expecting the matter [of the caliphate] to be settled within just one or two years. The reason you see that people came to Imam Sadiq (pbuh) and repeatedly asked, "Why don’t you rise up? Why don’t you rise up?" is because they were waiting. [That is,] they had heard something. Some news had reached their ears.
In the continuation of that same narration in which the year 140 AH was mentioned, he [Imam Sadiq] said, "You’ve exposed this, so God has delayed it." So if the Shia had been discreet and not revealed this matter, perhaps the matter would have been resolved at that very time. Just imagine how much history would have changed! The entire path of humanity would have taken a different course, and today the world would have been entirely different. In other words, our shortcomings — speaking without restraint at one time, our failure to help at other times, our unnecessary objections, our lack of patience, and our flawed analyses of situations — sometimes have consequences, historical consequences. They can truly alter the course of events. Therefore, we must be very careful.
And of course, Imam Sadiq’s (pbuh) life was extraordinary, unique, and successful in terms of spreading the divine laws and in terms of the numerous narrations that have been related from that magnanimous Imam and his companions. Of course, regarding the 4,000 students that have been attributed to him, one may imagine that the Imam would begin a lesson and 4,000 people would sit there in front of him. That’s not how it was. Over the course of his life, 4,000 individuals narrated from him, as recorded in that book. There are 4,000 people who narrated from him. That’s what is meant by 4,000 students. It doesn’t mean 4,000 people would sit and listen to his lessons while he taught.
We are far removed from the lives of the Imams. We have little knowledge about their words, statements, narrations, and how they lived.
As for the events mentioned in some of the narrations where they state that he [Imam Sadiq] was taken to Mansour, Mansour showed intense anger, and the Imam said, "O cousin! Noble figures and prophets were oppressed, but they forgave. You forgive us as well." I say with full certainty that these [narrations] are lies. They’re definitely not true. The Imam would never speak to anyone like that, regardless of whether or not his life was in danger. Whatever. The Imam would never talk like that. And who is the narrator of this story? Rabi'. The narrator is Rabi’, the servant! Rabi’ was Mansour’s servant. He was Mansour’s right-hand man. He was a lying courtier.
He [this person] came and narrated that this was what Imam Sadiq had said. Well, this was a good tool for undermining the morale of the Shia. Therefore, we must avoid narrating such things. Some people carelessly narrate these things, but these narrations are not authentic. The Imams taught lessons about steadfastness, perseverance, and logic. And they taught about the use of logic when speaking and using logic and reasoning to win arguments.
Look at how Lady Zainab spoke in the court of Ibn Ziyad and in the court of Yazid. That is the correct way. That way is the true way of the Imams. Whoever stands firm is moving along the way of these noble figures. Today too, those who are standing firmly in Gaza and Lebanon are, in fact, acting in accord with the way of these same Imams of the religion — the Imams of Guidance (pbut).
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