Analyzing Zaydi Objections
In these upcoming articles, we want to look into the objections of the Zaydiyya against the Twelvers. We will begin with the introduction of the book Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya. A Zaydi polemicist called Fahd ibn Hassan Shayim, who uses the pseudo name 'Al-Kazim Al-Zaydi', has tried to compile a response about the introduction of the book.
In order to counter it he resorts to provide rebuttals from outside of the Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya and ironically avoids the actual passages.
He completely ignores the content of the book from the tongue of Imam Al-Sajjad, peace be upon him, about the characteristics of the Imam.
Insh'Allah'talah we will go over his responses one by one to highlight how inaccurate, poor and self-defeating his arguments are.
Unfortunately this Zaydi like many others claim to revere the Imams of the Twelvers like, Imam Al-Baqir and Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them but indirectly critizes them and degrades their status by portraying them as comfort-seeking individuals who preferred safety over Jihad.
The objection is that Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan, Zayd ibn Alee and Yahya ibn Zayd, and Muhammad ibn Abdullah are "السابق بالخيرات" (the foremost in deeds of goodness) referring to verse (35:32), while Imam Al-Sajjad, Imam Al-Baqir, and Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them, are "مقتصد" (those who take the middle course).
Objection One
The attribute of (the foremost in deeds of goodness) mentioned in the verse is for those who have inherited the Book of Allah (zwj):
ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ۖ فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ مُقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ
“Then We gave the Book for an inheritance to those whom We chose from among Our servants; but of them is he who makes his soul to suffer a loss, and of them is he who takes a middle course, and of them is he who is foremost in deeds of goodness by Allah's permission; this is the great excellence.”
(35:32)
Holy Qur'aan
It is evident that the referenced individuals in this verse are the exact same people whom the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, mentions as partners of the Book of Allah in the famous hadith of the Two Weighty Things. We previously cited the narration from Zaydi books.
In this particular narration the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, describes the Imams as the most knowledgeable, whereas we read in the introduction of Sahifa that Yahya son of Zayd himself confesses that Imam Al-Baqir and Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them both, are more knowledgeable than him and his father Zayd, so how can they be (the foremost in deeds of goodness) while Imam Imam Al-Baqir and Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them both, are (those who take the middle course)?!! It is rather to the contrary.
As about Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan whom the author considers one of (the foremost in deeds of goodness) his Imamate is not established even by Zaydi standards and some Zaydi Imams do not even consider his so-called uprising a legitimate uprising of an Imam, as he was just used as a symbol by Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath and as the face of his revolt against Bani Umayyah after people advised him to do so.
Abool Abbas Al-Hassani (Died 353 A.H.):
[His allegiance and uprising:]
Narrated to us Alee ibn Al-Hussain ibn Sulayman Al-Bajali through his chain from Yahya ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan ibn Alee ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them, that the beginning of the allegiance of Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan ibn Alee ibn Abi Talib was the fact that Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash'ath Al-Kindi was given the position of the governor of Sijistan, so he went there with a big army and thirty thousand people gathered around him, so he announced removal of Abdul-Malik and Al-Hajjaj (from Caliphate) and intended to invite people towards his own Caliphate, then the scholars of Kufa and Basra who were with him told him: "this position (of Caliphate) does not work except for a man from among Quraysh.", so they sent letters to Alee ibn Al-Hussain and Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan, as about Alee ibn Al-Hussain he refused the offer, as about Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan he said: "I am not refusing to rise for the affair of Allah, nor am I abstinent from reviving the Religion of Allah, however, you have no loyalty, you would pledge allegiance to me and then you would not help me.", then the letter of Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash'ath came to him in which he and those who were with him guaranteed that they will pledge allegiance to him and would take a severe covenant upon themselves and that they will not oppose him, whereupon he accepted the allegiance. From among those who joined him were: Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, Abool Bakhtari Al-Taee, Al-Sha'bee, Aboo Wahil, Shaqiq, Asim ibn Dhumra Al-Saluli, and from among the people of Basra: Muhammad ibn Sireen, Abdul-Rahman ibn Shakhir, Al-Hassan Al-Basri, Haritha ibn Mudhrib, Harish ibn Qudama, and they called Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan "Al-Ridha".
And then Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash'ath went out to Fars, and people from among Arab and non-Arab and freed-slaves gathered around him which reached one hundred thousand people. Then he went to Basra and Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf confronted him and there were intense battles between them for three years, such that they confronted each other seventy or seventy-five times, in all of them they were victorious over Al-Hajjaj, except in two battles, and a large number of people were killed in the battles between them. Then the affair of Ibn Al-Ash'ath became stronger and he entered into Kufa and Hamza ibn Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, Qudama Al-Dhubbi, Ibn Masqala Al-Shaybani and a group of jurisprudents and reciters entered upon him and said: "reveal the name of the man, we indeed pledged allegiance to him and are content with him as an Imam and satisfied.", when Friday came he let the sermons (of the Friday prayer) to be preached under his name (i.e. Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan), but at the second Friday he removed his name from the sermon.
[The battle of Jamajim, the big fierce battle]
He said: and then Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf arrived, then the battle of Jamajim started which was a big fierce battle, in which Ibn Al-Ash'ath was defeated and he left the battlefield with a group of his companions and Abdullah ibn Al-Abbas ibn Rabi'a ibn Al-Harith ibn Abdul-Muttalib stood firm, and he was leading the infantry of Ibn Al-Ash'ath who was an agent of Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan and he was a young man, he fought Al-Hajjaj until he too was defeated and he also joined Ibn Al-Ash'ath in Fars. Then they both went to Sijistan and Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan fled to Al-Hijaz and Tahama until Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan died. When Al-Walid ibn Abdul-Malik came into power he intensified the search for Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan until he arranged for someone who managed to poison him and he was carried dead by men towards Medina and was buried in Baqi' at the age of thirty-eight or thirty-seven.
Source: Al-Masabih. Pg. # 380-382.
As we see Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath revolted against Bani Umayyah and called people to himself, but people advised him to put someone from Quraysh in the position of leadership as the face of his movement to attract people. Imam Al-Sajjad, peace be upon him, immediately refuses to accept his offer for the same, but Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan is caught up with that deceptive offer.
It is clear that the Imamate of Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan was just a symbolic position given to him by an individual who was the real director in the background, whose name is Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath. He remained the real leader of the movement until the end of their advent when Ibn Al-Ash’ath fled to Fars after he was defeated by Al-Hajjaj and Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan fled to Hijaz.
It seems that for these exact reasons some other Zaydi Imams do not consider Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan’s allegiance and uprising a valid allegiance of Imamate and do not see him as an Imam after Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, they rather consider Zayd to be the first Zaydi Imam after Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him:
From among those Zaydi Imams who did not consider Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan an Imam is Yahya ibn Al-Hussain Al-Harooni (Died 424 A.H.) and before him Yahya ibn Al-Hussain Al-Rassi (Died 298 A.H.), Al-Mutwakkil Alallah Ahmad ibn Sulayman and others.
Yahya ibn Al-Hussain Al-Harooni (Died 424 A.H.):
The Introduction of the author:
Praise be to Allah Who chose from among His servants Prophets and Messengers and chose for the administration of the nation of our Prophet the foremost Imams from among his progeny, peace and blessings be upon them all.
This is a summary of the huge book that we wanted to collect about the reports regarding the guiding Imams whose obedience has been made obligatory by Allah and He has made the belief to their Imamate obligatory based on the Zaydiyya doctrine, excluding the rest of the Progeny who have made enjoining good and forbidding evil their path and have raised against the oppressors without claiming the position of Imamate and taking the leading role, due to them lacking its conditions and due to not completing the characteristics which are necessary for it, because the scholars of hadith and historians who have written the Zaydi books and have collected reports about those who raised from among the progeny in their time, but they have not separated the Imams from those who just chose the path of enjoining good and forbidding evil to pave the way for those who are on the right path and to annihilate the oppressors upon his arrival and to raise the standard of Religion, because their aim was to collect narrations about those who revolted and raised from among them during the time of Bani Umayyah and Bani Al-Abbas without highlighting the status of the foremost Imams and those whose obedience is obligatory from among this Purified Household.
And these (scholars and historians) were either inclined towards the Zaydiyya doctrine, and therefore, they did not pay attention to this need, or they were from among the Zaydiyya who did not complete this explanation. We named it Al-Hadaeq Fi Akhbaar Zuwi Al-Sawabiq from among the family of the Messenger, peace be upon him and his family. So, when we reached the reports regarding Al-Hussain ibn Alee, peace be upon them both, we became busy with some other things, so it was suitable to write another book and dictate it.
Therefore, we made this brief as a summary of that collection if we could finish it, so we summoned in this summary their names, their lineage, the names of their mothers, the duration of their rule and their ages, and the place of their graves and things of that sort, and in regards to their order we followed the order that Al-Hadi Ilal Haqq Abool Al-Hussain Yahya ibn Al-Hussain ibn Al-Qasim ibn Ibraheem established about their names until his time at the beginning of his book Al-Ahkaam, we then mentioned him and those who came after him, beginning by Amirul Mu'minin and the master of Muslims Alee ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and ended it by Al-Mahdi Li Deenillah Abi Abdillah Muhammad ibn Al-Hassan Al-Daee Ilal Haqq, may Allah be pleased with him.
...
[when he lists the names of the Zaydi Imams, the first Imam he mentions is Zayd ibn Alee after Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and he does not mention Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan at all.]
Source: Al-Ifada Fi Tarikh Al-A'immah Al-Saadah. Pg. # 17-18.
Al-Mutawakkil Alallah (Died 566 A.H.):
Chapter: Talking about the Imamate of Zayd ibn Alee, peace be upon them both, and the Imams who raised after him:
When Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and his family were killed, and the things that happened to them happened, they became weakened, and none from among them survived from being killed except for some small children, among them Alee ibn Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and Zayd ibn Al-Hassan and Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan, and they lived a long time and no one from among them revolted.
Alee ibn Al-Hussain reached the top status in Religion, knowledge, piousness, abstinence, and conviction and was called Zayn Al-Abideen (adornment of the worshippers). And indeed, it has been narrated from the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, that he said to Al-Hussain ibn Alee, peace be upon them both: “a son will be born to you after me who will be called Zayn Al-Abideen.”.
Source: Haqaeq Al-Ma’rifa Fi Ilm Al-Kalam. Pg. # 480.
As it is clear from this famous Zaydi Imam’s statement, he asserts that Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan lived a long life after Imam Al-Hussain’s martyrdom and did not revolt. If he considered Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan’s siding with Ibn Al-Ash’ath a legitimate allegiance and uprising of an Imam, he would not have stated that.
Furthermore, according to this Zaydi Imam, Al-Mutawakkil Alla Allah, Imam Zayn Al-Abideen, Alee ibn Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, is the person who had the top status in all attributes that is needed for an Imam, whereas we see that Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan was not at his level by far in any of those characteristics, so he cannot be considered an Imam and (the foremost in deeds of goodness) in the presence of Imam Zayn Al-Abideen.
It is also important to mention that this individual Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath was involved in the killing of Muslim ibn Aqil, the agent of Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him, in Kufa. Both, Abdul-Rahman and his father Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath were involved in Muslim’s killing. His father Muhammad ibn Al-Ash’ath played also a big role in Karbala against Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him.
Anyone interested to read about this fact they can refer to Tarikh Al-Tabari and other books of history where they report the events surrounding Muslim ibn Aqil’s martyrdom. Despite that, Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan still sides with such a known foe of his family and accepts his invitation and joins him, an advent which eventually ended as a failure for both of them.
The Zaydi claims that the belief of Imam Al-Baqir, and Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them both, was the same as Zayd and Yahya and other Zaydi Imams about Jihad and as a proof he quotes a narration from Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, that allegedly he ordered people to pledge allegiance to his younger brother Zayd and said: “he is the best of us.”, and then the Zaydi argues with the verse:
The Zaydi says:
Zaidi Imam, Al-Hadi Ilal Haqq does not mention any chain of narrators up to Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, for this narration, despite that, the Zaydi considers the narration to be authentic, as based on the Zaydi methodology a disconnected chain of narration from a Zaydi Imam is considered authentic for them.
Secondly, this narration clearly contradicts what Yahya son of Zayd said in the introduction of Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya that Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, told Zayd to not revolt as he would be killed, so how is that he tells people to pledge allegiance to Zayd according to this Zaydi narration then?!
Thirdly, Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, passed away in the year 114 A.H., and Zayd’s uprising and death was in the year 122 A.H. Historical reports are clear that the beginning of the military movement of Zayd and his call was definitely after the year 120 A.H., after his clash with Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik. These historical facts prove clearly that this Zaydi report is false.
Furthermore, how can Zayd be the best of them while his brother Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, is literally his teacher and definitely more knowledgeable than him and according to Prophet’s narration the Imam is the most knowledgeable as we already proved.
Dr. Al-Mahatwari:
[Teachers of Imam Zayd and his students]
His most famous teacher after his father is his brother Imam Al-Baqir, he is called Al-Baqir for his profound knowledge, as if he cut (Baqara) the knowledge open, or split it open. And through these two (teachers) he (i.e. Zayd) quenched the knowledge of his forefathers.
Source: Al-Zaydiyya. Pg. # 10.
Again, as we proved already, Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, was definitely more knowledgeable than Zayd, as his own son Yahya also admitted, so how can Zayd be superior to Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him?!!
In response to the Zaydi claim in regards to the superiority of Zayd with the verse [4:95] that those who do Jihad are superior to those who stay at home, we should say:
First of all, the verse is taken out of context as it is about the battle of Badr where a group of Muslims were trying to stay in Medina and do not participate in the battle of Badr together with the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, against polytheists.
Secondly, the verse does not apply to the Imam himself, because it is the Imam who decides whether Muslims should go into Jihad or not in the first place, exactly as the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, was declining requests from Muslims to fight against polytheists before the event of Al-Badr until it was the right opportunity to do so and Allah commanded him to it.
If we apply this verse to the Imams themselves then we have to consider Imam Al-Hussain superior over Imam Al-Hassan, peace be upon them both, because Imam Al-Hassan abandoned Jihad against Mua'wiyah whereas Imam Al-Hussain did not do the same against his son Yazid.
In Conclusion, we can say with certainty that Zaydi’s arguments are invalid and the narration that he quoted from their Imam, Al-Hadi Ilal Haqq, is definitely false and fabricated and there is no truth to it, regardless of it being a Zaydi narration which does not count as a proof against other factions of Islam.
The Zaydi then quotes another narration again from the collection of the Zaydi Imam, Al-Hadi Ilal Haqq, which claims that the reason Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, did not join Zayd was that Zayd commanded him to stay in Medina.
The Zaydi says:
Again, it is obvious that this is another fabricated Zaydi narration as it clearly goes against what we read in Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya that Imam Al-Sadiq did not intend to revolt against Bani Umayyah based on the knowledge that he had received from his forefathers and he clarified that it would not gain him and his followers anything but misery. The narration also goes against what we presented of proofs up to this point as well from Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya and other sources accepted by Zaydis.
The Zaydi’s attempt is basically to prove that Imam Al-Baqir, and Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them both, had the same belief about Imamah like Zayd and his son Yahya and so on as the Zaydi sect portrays, i.e. the Imam is someone from the progeny of Imam Al-Hassan, or Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon them both, who invites people to himself and takes the military lead.
This is a claim that goes against the agreed-upon sources between all Shia factions. It is obvious that the path of Zayd and Yahya regarding military movements is clearly different from Imam Al-Sajjad, Imam Al-Baqir, and Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon them, from Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya and other historical sources.
The Zaydi then claims that Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, supported Muhammad ibn Abdullah, known as Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah, and pledged allegiance to him, he quotes for this a narration from the book Maqatil Al-Talibiyeen authored by the sunni scholar Abool Faraj Al-Isfahani.
The Zaydi says:
This is against what we read in Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya itself where Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, told Muhammad ibn Abdullah and his brother in a rebuking tone that he will revolt and will be killed like Yahya son of Zayd.
In addition to that, this claim is also against what is famous in non-Shia sources let alone in Shia sources, even in Maqatil Al-Talibiyeen itself there are narrations which prove the opposite, but this Zaydi ignores those narrations and only highlights narrations that support his claims.
Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, in multiple occasions tried to prevent them from revolt and warned others as well from joining him and he, peace be upon him, called it a “sedition”.
In addition, if Imam Al-Kadhim, peace be upon him, and Abdullah, sons of Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, participated with Muhammad ibn Abdullah why there is no historical evidence for that and how is it that they survived and later did not get even arrested by Al-Mansoor for fighting alongside Muhammad ibn Abdullah let alone not being killed by him for it?!
Let’s see multiple other reports contradicting the narration that he has quoted even from the same book:
Abool Faraj Al-Isfahani (Died 356 A.H.):
Narrated to us Umar ibn Abdullah saying: Umar ibn Shabbah saying: narrated to me Isa ibn Abdullah saying: narrated to me my mother Umm Al-Hussain bint Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Alee ibn Al-Hussain who said: I asked my uncle Ja'far ibn Muhammad, "may I be your ransom, what is the affair of this Muhammad?" he said: "it is a sedition, Muhammad will be killed near the house of Rumi, and his brother from his mother and father will be killed in Iraq, while the hooves of his horse are in the water."
Source: Maqatil Al-Talibiyeen. Pg. # 220.
Al-Tabari (Died 310 A.H.):
Narrated to me Isa ibn Abdullah saying: narrated to me my mother Umm Hussain bint Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Alee ibn Hussain who said: I asked my uncle Ja'far ibn Muhammad, "may I be your ransom, what is the affair this Muhammad ibn Abdullah?" he said: "it is his sedition, Muhammad will be killed near the house of Rumi, and his brother from his father and mother will be killed in Iraq, while the hooves of his horse are in water."
Narrated to me Isa from his father saying: Hamza ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Alee joined Muhammad, and his uncle Ja'far used to prohibit him from it, and he was from among the fiercest supporters of Muhammad. He said: Ja'far used to say to him: "By God, he will be killed.", he said: "but then Ja'far stepped aside."
Source: Tarikh Al-Tabari. Pg. # 1542.
It is also very famous that Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, neutralized the attempt of Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan, father of Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who was trying to invite people to pledge allegiance to his son before too, and this was about more than fifteen years before Muhammad ibn Abdulllah’s uprising, right after Al-Walid ibn Yazid, the Umayyad caliph was murdered. Interestingly this narration is also narrated in the same book, Maqatil Al-Talibiyeen through multiple chains of narrators.
Abool Faraj Al-Isfahani (Died 356 A.H.):
Narrated to me Yahya ibn Alee and Ahmad ibn Abdul-Aziz and Umar ibn Ubaydallah Al-Ataki, all saying: narrated to us Umar ibn Shabbah saying: narrated to me Muhammad ibn Yahya from Abdul-Aziz ibn Imran from Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abdul-Rahman ibn Al-Miswar ibn Mikhrama.
Aboo Zayd said: and narrated to me Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ismaeel ibn Al-Fadhl Al-Hashimi from a man from Bani Kanana.
Aboo Zayd said: and narrated to me Abdul-Rahman Amr ibn Habib from Al-Hassan ibn Ayyub, freed-slave of Bani Numayr, from Abdul-A'laa ibn A'yan, all of them narrated this narration with different wordings, but with similar content, so I put their narrations together so that the book does not become too long as a result of repetition of the chains:
Bani Hashim gathered together and then Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan gave a sermon and praised Allah and glorified Him and then said: "you the Household, Allah indeed made you superior through Prophethood and chose you for it, and the most blessed among you O children of Muhammad, his cousins and progeny, and the most deserving about the command of Allah, is the one whom Allah put in a position like you to His Prophet. You are witnessing that the Book of Allah has been made idle and the Sunnah of His Prophet has been abandoned, the falsehood is alive, the truth is dead, so fight for Allah to achieve His satisfaction as He deserves it, before your name is taken away from you and you become insignificant in His eyes like Bani Israeel, even though they were the best of His creation in His eyes. And you know that we have been hearing from a long time that these people (i.e. Bani Umayyah ) whenever one of them kills the other, the command will be gone from their hands. Indeed, they now killed their ruler, i.e. Al-Walid ibn Yazid, so let us pledge allegiance to Muhammad, for you know that he is the Mahdi."
They said: "our companions are not present, if they gather as well, we will do it and we don't see Aba Abdillah Ja'far ibn Muhammad.", so Ibn Al-Hassan sent someone to call him, but he refused to come. He stood up and said: "I will bring him right now.", he then went himself until he reached his chamber of Al-Fadhl ibn Abdul-Rahman ibn Rabi'a ibn Al-Harth, then Al-Fadhl made space for him but did not put his hand on chest for him, so I understood that Al-Fadhl is older than him, then Ja'far stood for him and put his hand on chest for him, so I understood that he (i.e. Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan) is older than him.
Then we all left and came to Abdullah, so he invited to pledge allegiance to Muhammad, so Ja'far said to him: "you are an old man, if you want, I will pledge allegiance to you, but your son By God I will not pledge allegiance to him and abandon you."
Abdullah Al-A'laa said in his narration: that Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan said to them: "do not send to call Ja'far, because he will ruin your cause.", but they refused to do so. He said: he then came to them and I was with them, so Abdullah made space for him near him and said: "you know what Bani Umayyah did to us, and we want to pledge allegiance to this young man.", he said: "he said, don't do that, because it is not its time.", whereupon Abdullah became angry and said: "I indeed know the opposite of what you say, however, envy towards my son made you say this.", he said: "No, by God, that is not the reason, it is rather that this (i.e. caliphate) will be for this man, his brothers and their children and not you.", and he stroke his hand on the shoulder of Abil Abbas and then he stood up to leave, then he (i.e. Abil Abbas) and Abdul-Samad and Aboo Ja'far joined him and said: "O Aboo Abdullah, do you really say that?" he said: "yes, by God I say this and I know it."
Aboo Zayd said and Ibraheem ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Kiram narrated to me this narration from his father that Ja'far said to Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan: "by God, this position (i.e. caliphate) will not be yours, neither for your two sons, it will rather be theirs (i.e. Bani Abbas), and your two sons will be killed.", then those people in the gathering dispersed and did not come together again.
Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Al-Miswar said in his narration: then Ja'far came out while he was leaning on my arm and said to me: "do you see the person who is wearing the yellow garment, i.e. Aba Ja'far (Al-Mansoor)?", he said: "yes, so I said to myself: "he envied him by the God of Ka'ba, then I did not pass away until I saw him (i.e. Al-Mansoor) kill him (i.e. Muhammad ibn Abdullah)."
Narrated to me Isa ibn Al-Hussain Al-Warraq saying: narrated to us Al-Khazzaz from Al-Madaeni and narrated to me Al-Hassan ibn Alee saying: narrated to us Abdullah ibn Abi Sa'd saying: narrated to me Alee ibn Amr from Ibn Daha: that Ja'far ibn Muhammad said to Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan: "this affair by God will not be yours, neither your son's, it will be rather for this man, i.e. Al-Saffah, then for this man, i.e. Al-Mansoor, then for his children after him, it will not cease to be for them until they give the command to children and consult with women.", so Abdullah said: "by God, O Ja'far, Allah has not given you His hidden knowledge, and you didn't say this except due to your envy towards my son.", he said: "no by God I have not envied your son and indeed this man, i.e. Aba Ja'far (Al-Mansoor), will kill him near the olive trees, then kills his brother after him in deserts while the hooves of his horse are in water.", he then stood up angry dragging his cloak, so Aboo Ja'far followed him and said: "do you know what you said O Aba Abdillah?", he said: "yes, by God I know it and it will happen.", he said: then narrated to me someone who heard Aba Ja'far saying: "I left right after that and arranged my servants and organized my affairs like someone who owns it." he said: when Aboo Ja'far took over the position of caliphate he called Ja'far the truthful (Al-Sadiq) and whenever he used to mention him he would say: "Ja'far ibn Muhammad the truthful told me so and so." and this remained with him.
Source: Maqatil Al-Talibiyeen. Pg. # 224-227.
Ibn Al-Taqtaqi, who is interestingly from the progeny of the Zaydi Imam, Al-Qasim Al-Rassi, also asserts that from among Bani Hashim only Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, did not pledge allegiance to Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan.
Muhammad ibn Alee ibn Tabataba, Ibn Al-Taqtaqi (Died 709 A.H.):
Mentioning the reason why Al-Mansoor did to the children of Al-Hassan, peace be upon them, what he did:
Bani Hashim, both Talibiyeen, and Abbasiyeen, gathered at the end of the rule of Bani Umayyah and reviewed their condition and the persecution that they were facing and the condition of Bani Umayyah of how they are shaken and the inclination of people towards themselves (i.e. Bani Hashim) and their love, so that they should have a rule. They said: we have to have a leader to pledge allegiance to and they agreed to invite people secretly, they then said: "we have to have a leader to pledge allegiance to.", so they agreed upon pledging allegiance to Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan ibn Alee ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them, and he was from among the heads and notable men of Bani Hashim, in merits, in nobility and knowledge.
And in this gathering the heads of Bani Hashim, both the Alawiyeen and the Abbasiyeen participated. From among the heads of Talibiyeen Al-Sadiq, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon them both, Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan ibn Al-Hassan ibn Alee ibn Abi Talib, and his sons Muhammad, known as Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah, and Ibraheem who was killed in Bakhumri and a group of Talibiyeen were present in it.
From the heads of Abbasiyeen Al-Safah, Al-Mansoor, and others from the family of Abbas were present. Then they all agreed to pledge allegiance to Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyya except for Al-Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq, because he said to his father Abdullah Al-Mahdh: "your son will not achieve it, i.e. caliphate, and nobody will achieve it except the person with the yellow robe, i.e. Al-Mansoor, as Al-Mansoor was wearing a yellow robe in that gathering."
Al-Mansoor said: "so I sorted my servants in my imagination right at that time.", then they agreed to pledge allegiance to Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah, so they pledged allegiance to him then time passed and the rule came into the hands of Bani Abbas as we described before, then it moved from Al-Safah to Al-Mansoor, so he did not have any aim except to look for Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah to kill him or to depose him.
What made him insisting on it was the fact that people were intensely inclined towards Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah and they believed in his superiority, nobility and leadership, so Al-Mansoor asked his father Abdullah Al-Mahdh to hand him over, and Abdullah Al-Mahdh was from the heads and leaders of Bani Hashim, so Al-Mansoor pressured him to handover his two sons to him, Muhammad Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah and Ibraheem, so he said: "I don't know where they are.", as they were hiding due to fear from his (i.e. Al-Mansoor's) side. When he continued pressuring their father Abdullah, he said: "I don't care how long you ask me, by God, if they both were under my feet, I would not have raised my feet for you to catch them. Exalted is God, do you want me to handover my two sons to you to kill?!", so he (i.e. Al-Mansoor) locked him down and his family from among the children of Al-Hassan, and the description of the events about them was as already mentioned, may Allah be pleased with them and blessings be upon them.
Source: Al-Fakhri Fil Adaab Al-Sultaniyya, Pg. # 164-165.
The most detailed account about the position of Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, about Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan has been recorded in one of the oldest books written exclusively about Muhammad ibn Abdullah’s advent.
The author of this book, Abdullah ibn Ibraheem ibn Muhammad Al-Ja’fari, who is himself from among Bani Hashim, narrates the account directly from the tongue of the younger brother of Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah.
Sunni historians like Al-Tabari and his teacher Umar ibn Shabbah and Abool-Faraj Al-Isfahani himself have narrated multiple narrations from his books about Muhammad ibn Abdullah and other Zaydi Imams.
Let’s first read a little bit about this author and about his books regarding Zaydi Imams.
Al-Najashi (Died 450 A.H.):
Abdullah ibn Ibraheem ibn Muhammad ibn Alee ibn Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Aboo Muhammad, he was trustworthy and truthful. His father has narrated from Abi Ja'far and Abi Abdillah, peace be upon them both, but his narrations have not become famous. He has written some books, from among them are: the book of uprising of Muhammad ibn Abdullah and his killing, uprising of Sahibu Fakh and his killing.
Narrated to me a group of our companions from Al-Hassan ibn Hamza saying: narrated to me Alee ibn Ibraheem ibn Hashim from his father from Bakr ibn Saleh from Abdullah ibn Ibraheem. And these books are listed under the biography of Bakr ibn Saleh.
Source: Fehrist of Al-Najashi. Pg. # 216.
Sheikh Al-Kulayni narrates some narrations from both of these two books, but with a different chain of narrators than in Fehrist of Al-Najashi.
We will also quote the narration which is about Sahibu Fakh after quoting the first narration, to emphasize about the consistent position of Twelver Imams in regards to uprisings of Zaydi Imams.
Sheikh Al-Kulayni (Died 329 A.H.):
Certain persons of our people have narrated from Muhammad ibn Hassan from Muhammad ibn Ranjawayh from ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hakam al-Armani from ‘Abd Allah ibn Ibraheem ibn Muhammad al-Ja'fari who has said the following: “Once we went to offer our condolences to Khadijah, daughter of ‘Umar ibn Alee ibn al-Hussain ibn Alee ibn Aboo Talib, peace be upon him, for the death of the son of her daughter. We found her at the place of Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan. She was to one side near the women. We offered our condolences to all of them. We then turned to him (Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah) and he asked Aboo Yashkur’s daughter, the reader of lamentations, to recite what she wanted to recite.
She then recited the following lines: Of our family is the Messenger of Allah, and after him, the lion of the Lord, (Hamza) and thirdly is ‘Abbass, of our family is Alee, peace be upon him, the embodiment of goodness and Ja'far, Of our family is ‘Aqil, after him all leaders. “He said, ‘Very good, it was very moving. Please recite more.’ She was encouraged and said: Of our family is the leader of the pious ones, the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, And the chief of his army that purified Imam, (Alee, peace be upon him), From us is Alee his son in-law and cousin, And from us is Hamza and the well disciplined Ja'far. “We stayed with her until it was almost night.
Khadijah said, ‘I heard my uncle Muhammad ibn Alee, peace be upon him, say that a woman’s reading lines of lamentation is good only if her tears flow down. It is not proper for her to say meaningless things. When night falls then you should not disturb the angels with your lamentations.’ “We then left her and went to her house next day and discussed with her the issue of separating her residence from the house of Abooo ‘Abd Allah, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him. He (Moosa) then said, ‘This is called the stolen house.’ She then said, ‘This is what our Mahdi (meaning thereby ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan), has chosen.’ She would say such things to him in a teasing manner. “Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah then said, ‘By Allah, I can tell you a very strange matter that I experienced with my father. When my father, may Allah grant him blessings, became involved in the affairs of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah and gathered his companions to meet him he decided to go and he would lean on me.
I went with him until we came to Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him. We met him outside when he wanted to go to the mosque. My father stopped him and spoke to him. Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘This is not a proper place to talk. We, Allah willing, will meet again.’ My father returned very happy. He waited until morning or the next day and then we went to see him (the Imam). My father and I met him and he (my father) began to speak. Among other things he said to him (the Imam) was, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, you know already that I am older than you. Among your people there are those who are older than you but Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Gracious, has granted you extra excellence that is not found in any of your people. I have come to you, to depend on your virtue and I know, may Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, if you agree with me others will not differ. None of your companions will disagree with me and no one from the people of Quraysh or others will dispute me.’
“Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said to him, ‘You can certainly find other people more obedient to you than I and then you will not need me. You know that I, by Allah, want to move to an empty land or think about it but I feel heavy in doing so. I want Hajj but I cannot attain it without hard work and exhaustion and hardship for myself. You should find others to support you but do not say that you have met me.’ He (my father) then said, ‘The people look up to you. If you support me no one will disagree. You do not have to suffer fighting or hardships.’ “The narrator has said that then people surrounded us and our talks were discontinued. My father asked, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, what do you say?’ He said, ‘You will meet me, Allah willing’ He then asked, ‘Will it be the way I love?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It will, Allah willing, be the way you love in your favor.’ He came home and sent a messenger to Muhammad in the mountains at Juhayna, called al-Ashqar, two nights journey from Madina. He gave him the glad news and informed him of his success in the task that he had asked for (support from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him, for his uprising). “After three days we went again and stood before the door. We had not been stopped before. The messenger delayed but then gave us permission. We went inside and I sat on one side of the room. My father went close to him, kissed his head and said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, I have come again with hopes and expectation expanding with a wish to achieve what I need.’ “Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said, ‘O son of my uncle, I beseech Allah’s protection for you and ask you not to become involved in this matter (political uprising). I am afraid for you from evil. The talks continued between them and they ended with what he (my father) did not want. He said, ‘For what reason was al-Hussain, peace be upon him, more deserving than al-Hassan, peace be upon him, (in leaving Imamat, Leadership with Divine Authority) to his descendents?’ “Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘May Allah grant blessings to al-Hassan and al-Hussain, peace be upon them both. How could you mention this?’ He (my father) said, ‘Were al-Hussain to act with justice, he should have left it (Imamat) to the eldest son of al-Hassan.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘When Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, sent revelations to Muhammad, peace be upon him, He did so as He wanted. He did not ask anyone else for consultation. Muhammad, peace be upon him, commanded Alee, peace be upon him, for whatever he wanted and he obeyed the order. We say nothing else in it except what the Messenger of Allah has said in his (al-Hussain’s) praise and affirmation. Had he (the Holy Prophet) commanded al- Hussain, peace be upon him, to transfer it (the will) to the eldest or to the sons of both of them he would have done so. He is not accused of anything before us such as keeping for himself. He could have done anything he wanted but he did only what he was commanded to do. He is your grandfather (from mother’s side) and your uncle. It is better for you to speak good things about him. If you say meaningless things about him, then may Allah forgive you. O son of my uncle, obey me and listen to my words. By Allah, besides Whom there is no Lord, I do not refrain from giving you good advice. How is it that you do not act accordingly? There is no escape from the commands of Allah.’ My father became happy at this point.
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said to him, ‘By Allah, you know that the oblique eyed with few hairs on his forehead will be killed at the doorway of al-Ashja‘, near the bottom of the water bed.’ My father said, “That is not him. By Allah, he will fight them a day for a day, an hour for an hour and a year for a year. He will avenge for all of the descendents of Aboo Talib.’
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said, ‘May Allah forgive you, how much I fear the applicability of this line to him: Your soul in private gave you false hopes. ‘No, by Allah, he will not gain more than the walls of Madina and cannot reach Taef no matter how hard he may try. What must happen happens. Be pious before Allah and have mercy on yourself and on the sons of your father. By Allah, I consider him to be the most unfortunate seed that man has ever deposited in the wombs of women. By Allah, he will be killed at the doorway of al-Ashja‘ among their houses. By Allah, it is as if I see him. He is dropped dead and looted and a brick placed between his legs. Nothing that is said to him benefits this boy.’ Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah has said, ‘Such words were a reference to me.’ “The Imam then said, ‘He will take part in the uprising but will be defeated and his companion will be killed. He then will take part in another uprising under another banner.
Their leader will be killed and their soldiers will disperse. If he will obey me, immunity for him may be achieved from the descendent of ‘Abbas until Allah will grant relief. You already know that this matter will not become successful. You know and we know that your son, the oblique eyed with few hairs on his forehead, will be killed at the doorway of al-Ashja‘, near their house in the bottom of the water bed.’ “My father stood up saying, ‘In fact, Allah will make us needless of you or you will change or He will make you come back with the others. You only in this way are keeping others from helping us or have become a reason for them not to help us.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said, ‘Allah knows that I only want to give you good advice and guidance and that is all I can try.’ “My father then left with his clothes dragging behind him due to anger. Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, reached him out and said, ‘I heard your uncle who also is your maternal uncle mention that you and the sons of your father will be killed. If you can obey me and do what is good then do it. By Allah beside Whom there is no Lord, Who knows the unseen and what is present, the Beneficent, the Merciful, The Most Great, the Most High, you are important to me. Nothing is more important to me than you. I love to sacrifice the most beloved of my sons and most beloved person in my family to protect you. Do not think that I have cheated you.’
“My father left with anger and regrets. Thereafter we did not wait for more than twenty nights or so. The messengers of Aboo Ja'far (the Abbassid ruler) came and arrested my uncles. Sulayman ibn Hassan, Hassan ibn Hassan, Ibraheem ibn Hassan, Dawud ibn Hassan, Alee ibn Hassan, Sulayman ibn Dawud, Hassan, Alee ibn Ibraheem ibn Hassan, Hassan ibn Ja'far ibn Hassan, Taba taba Ibraheem ibn Ismaeel ibn Hassan and ‘Abd Allah ibn Dawood were my uncles. “They were tied in chains and placed on camels’ backs without covering. They were placed on display in the Musalla area (open space for congregational prayer) so that people could condemn them. People did not do so. In fact, they sympathized with them because of their poor conditions. Then they were released. They stood before the door of the mosque of the Messenger of Allah. “`Abd Allah ibn Ibraheem al-Ja'fari has said that Khadija daughter of ‘Umar ibn Alee said to us, ‘When they were made to stand before the door of the mosque, called the Gate of Jibril, Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, came to them, while his gown dragged behind him in a hurry. He came out of the door of the mosque saying, ‘May Allah condemn you, O people of Madina–three times. The messenger of Allah did not covenant with you for this nor had you pledged allegiance to him for such things. By Allah, I was hopeful, but I am defeated and there is no escape from the decision of Allah.’ He then left one shoe on his foot and one in his hand with his gown dragging behind. He went home and suffered from fever for twenty days weeping day and night and we became very afraid for his life,’ narrated Khadija. “Al-Ja'fari has said that Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hassan narrated that when they appeared on the backs of the camels Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, came out of the mosque and bent over ‘Abd Allah ibn Hassan to speak to him. He was harshly stopped and the security man pushed him aside saying, ‘Get away from him. May Allah fend off your evil intents and others like you.’
They then were taken to the streets and Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, went home. Before they reached the graveyard al-Baqi‘, the security man faced a severe misfortune. His camel hit him at his leg and crushed it and he died very soon. The people were taken away. After a while Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hassan came and told that his father and his uncles were killed. Aboo Ja'far (the Abbassid ruler) killed them. Only Hassan ibn Ja'far, Taba taba, Alee ibn Ibraheem, Sulayman ibn Dawud, Dawud ibn Hassan, and ‘Abd Allah ibn Dawood were not killed. “At that time Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah rose and called people for a pledge of allegiance to him. I (the narrator) was one of the three people to pledge allegiance to him. No one from Quraysh, from Ansar (people of Madina) or an Arab opposed him. He consulted ‘Isa ibn Yazid, a trusted person to him and a commander of his army. He consulted with him in the matter of sending a message to the leaders of his people. ‘Isa ibn Yazid said to him, ‘If you just call them, they may not respond. You must become strong and strict with them. Thus, allow me to handle it for you. Muhammad agreed and said, ‘Do what you like.’ He then said, ‘Send to their leader and the greatest among them, namely Aboo ‘Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him. If you become strict with him, all will learn that they also will experience what he has been through.’
“The narrator has said, ‘In very little time they brought Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, and made him stand up before him (Muhammad). ’Isa ibn Yazid said, ‘Submit and you will be safe.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then asked, ‘Have you invented a prophethood after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him?’ Muhammad then said, ‘No, but pledge allegiance and your life, property and children will be protected and you will not have to fight.
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said, ‘I have nothing to do with war and fighting. I advised your father and warned him against what he went through, but warning does not help what is already measured. Son of my brother, find the young ones and leave the elderly alone.’ Muhammad said, ‘There is not much difference between my and your age.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘I am not here to defeat you or compete with you in what you do.’ Muhammad said, ‘By Allah, you must pledge allegiance.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘Son of my brother, I do not want a war, or to gain any worldly thing. I want to go out in the open land, but it is heavy for me. Even my family has asked me several times to do so. Only weakness holds me back. By Allah, and for the sake of family relations, save us from misfortune through your hands.’
“He then said, ‘O Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, by Allah, Aboo Dawaniq (Abbassid ruler) has died.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘What has that to do with me?’ He said, ‘I wanted honor through you.’ He then said, ‘There is no way for you to do that. By Allah, Aboo Dawaniq has not died, except in (your) dreams.’ He said, ‘By Allah you must pledge allegiance to me, voluntarily or by force but, then, if by force your pledge will lose its value.’ He (Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him) refused it strongly. He was sent to prison. ‘Isa ibn Yazid said, ‘There is not enough security in the prison and without tying him up he may run away.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, laughed and said, ‘There is no means and power without Allah, the Most High, the most Great. Will you imprison me?’ He said, ‘I swear by the One Who honored Muhammad, peace be upon him, with prophecy that I will imprison you severely.’ ‘Isa ibn Yazid said, ‘Keep him today in the stable that belongs to Rita.’
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, then said, ‘By Allah I will soon say it and I will be confirmed.’ ‘Isa ibn Yazid said, ‘Be quiet or I will break your mouth.’ Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘You who are blue eyed and bald say this. I can see you looking for a hole in which to hide. You are not even worthy to be mentioned. On meeting (the enemy) even if one would clap his hands behind you, you will run away like an ostrich. Muhammad ordered ‘Isa ibn Yazid to imprison him and be strict with him.’
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘By Allah it is as if I see you coming out of the doorway of al- Ashja‘ to the bottom of the waterbed in the valley. A man on a marked horse has attacked with a spear in his hand, half white and half black, riding a brown horse with a white forehead. He hits you but it does not kill you. You hit the nose of his horse and it is injured. Another man attacks you from the alley of Ale Aboo ‘Ammar al-Du’iliyyin. He has two bands of hair coming out of his helmet with a thick moustache. He, by Allah, is your adversary. May Allah have no mercy on his bones.’ “Muhammad said, ‘O Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, you have calculated but you have made a mistake.’
At this time Al-Suraqi ibn al-Salkh al-Hut came to him and pushed him (Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him) into the prison. They looted his (Aboo ‘Abd Allah’s, peace be upon him) properties and the properties of those of his people who did not come out with Muhammad. After this they brought Ismaeel ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja'far ibn Aboo Talib who was very old and weak. One of his eyes was gone and both of his legs did not work. He had to be carried. He was asked to pledge allegiance to him. He said, ‘Son of my brother, I am an old man and weak. I need your kindness and support.’ He (Muhammad) said, ‘You must pledge allegiance.’ He asked, ‘What is the benefit of my pledge of allegiance? By Allah, my name will only waste the space for the name of a man.’ He said, ‘You must do so.’ He used strong language with him. Ismaeel then said, ‘Call for me Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him, perhaps we both pledge allegiance for you.’
“The narrator has said that when Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him, was brought, Ismaeel said to him, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, if you explain to him we perhaps will all be spared.’ He said, ‘I have decided not to talk to him. Let him do whatever he wants.’ Ismaeel said to Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, ‘By Allah, tell me if you remember the day I came to see your father, Muhammad ibn Alee, peace be upon him, and I had two pieces of yellow cloth on me. He looked at me for a long time and wept. I asked for the reason. He said, ‘I wept because you will be killed when very old for no reason and not even two goats will fight for you (no one will ask justice for you).’ I asked, ‘When is that?’ He said, ‘It will happen when you will be called to follow falsehood and you will refuse. When you will see the abusive oblique-eyed person whose people from the family of al-Hassan, peace be upon him, on the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, call people to follow him and will give himself a name that he does not deserve. At such time you must renew your covenant, make your will; you will be murdered on that day or the next day.’
Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘Yes, by the Lord of the Ka‘ba he (Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah) does not fast in the month of Ramadan except for a few days. I leave you in the trust of Allah, O Aboo al-Hassan. May Allah grant us great rewards for loosing you. May He grant well-being to those whom you leave behind. We are for Allah and to Him we will return.’ “The narrator has said, ‘`Isma‘il was carried away and Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, was sent to prison.’ He has said, ‘By Allah, only that evening the sons of his brother, the sons of Mu‘awiya ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja'far went on him and crushed (his bones) under their feet. Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah released Ja'far, peace be upon him.’ “The narrator has said, ‘When it was the month of Ramadan ‘Isa ibn Moosa began his uprising to occupy Madina.’ He has said, ‘Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah came with Yazid ibn Mu‘awiya ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja'far leading his army. In front of the army of ‘Isa ibn Moosa there were the sons of al-Hassan ibn Zayd ibn al-Hassan ibn al-Hassan and al-Qasim and Muhammad ibn Zayd, Alee and Ibraheem, sons of al-Hassan ibn Zayd. Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah was defeated and ‘Isa ibn Moosa came to Madina. Fighting took place in Madina. ‘Isa camped at mount Dhubab. The blacks (army of Abbassids who wore black attire) came from behind. Muhammad with his people went up to the market place then followed them to the mosque of al-Khawamin. There he looked around. There were no blacks. There were no white soldiers (opposed to Abbassids). He advanced to Sha‘b Faraza then to Hudhayl then he went al-Ashja‘. Here a horseman about whom Ab0o ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, had spoken came out from the doorway of Hudhayl and struck him a blow. It did not do anything to him. He attacked the horseman and cut the nose of his horse with sword. The horseman hit him and penetrated the coat of arms. Muhammad turned to him and hit and killed him. Then Humayd ibn Qahtaba came on him when he was turning away from the horseman. He was hit from the alley of al-‘Ammariyyin. One hit of the spear penetrated his coat of arms, but the spear broke. He attacked Humayd and hit him with the spear. Humayd then with the iron part of the broken spear hit him fatally, he then came down and hit him until he was dead. He took his head away. The soldiers came from all sides and Madina was taken and we were exiled all over the place.’
Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah has said, ‘I then left until I met Ibraheem ibn ‘Abd Allah. I found ‘Isa ibn Zayd hiding. I told him of his bad management and journeyed with him until he died, may Allah have mercy on him. I then continued with the son of my brother, al-Ashtar ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hassan until he also died in Sind. I then came back with no place to go to and I was afraid. I remembered what Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him, had said. I came to al-Mahdi (an Abbassid ruler) in Hajj where he was speaking to people in the shadow of the walls of Ka‘ba. He did not notice when I stood up below the pulpit. I asked, ‘Can I have immunity, O Amir al-Mu’minin if I give you a good advice?’ He said, ‘Yes, but what is it?’ I said, ‘I can show you where Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hassan is.’ He said, ‘Yes, you will have security and protection.’ I said, ‘I ask for guarantees. I then asked for covenant and affirmation until I was certain of the security. Then I said, ‘I am Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah.’ He said, ‘You are respected and you will live.’ I then said, ‘Show me among your people one who will support me for living.’ He said, ‘Look at whoever you like.’ I said, ‘Your uncle, Abbass ibn Muhammad should support me. He refused. I begged him then he agreed willingly or compelled.’ Al-Mahdi asked, ‘Who knows you?’ All or most of the people around him were, our people. I said, ‘This al-Hassan ibn Zayd knows me. This Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, knows me. This al-Hassan ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbass knows me.’ They said, ‘Yes, O Amir al-Mu’minin we know him as if he was not absent from us.’ I then said to al-Mahdi, ‘O Amir al-Mu’minin, the father of this man - I pointed out to Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, - had told me of this position.’ “Moosa ibn ‘Abd Allah has said, I lied against Ja’far and I said, ‘He (the Imam) asked me to convey greetings of peace to you.’ He (‘Abbassid ruler) said, ‘He is a just and generous Imam.’ He has said, ‘Then the ruler ordered to give five thousand Dinars to Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him. Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, ordered to give me two thousand out of it. He helped me and he helped his people. As the sons of Muhammad ibn Alee ibn al-Hussain are mentioned you should say, “May Allah and His angels, the carriers of His throne, the angels writers of the deeds send blessing upon them especially Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him. May Allah grant Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, on my behalf good rewards. I, by Allah, am a servant of them after being the servant of Allah.”’”
Through the same chain of narrators it is narrated from ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja'far ibn Ibraheem al-Ja'fari who has said that ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mufaddal the slave of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja'far ibn Aboo Talib narrated the following: “When al-Hussain ibn Alee who was killed in al-Fakh, began his uprising, he controlled the city of Madina and called Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, to pledge allegiance to him. When he was brought before him (al-Hussain) he (Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him) said, ‘Son of my uncle, do not impose on me what the son of your uncle imposed on your uncle Aboo ‘Abd Allah (Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him) and then you will experience from me what I do not want as it happened with Aboo ‘Abd Allah, peace be upon him.’ “Al-Hussain said to him, ‘I just proposed the matter to you. If you like you may take part in it, if you dislike it I will not impose on you, Allah is the supporter.’ He then said farewell to him. Aboo al-Hassan, Moosa ibn Ja'far, peace be upon him, said to him when saying farewell, ‘Son of my uncle, you will be killed, fight a good fight. The people are transgressors. They call themselves believers but they hide in them atheism. We are for Allah and to Him we return. I leave my request for justice, on your behalf and my people, to Allah.’ Al-Hussain then went to fight. His case took shape the way it did. All of them were killed as the Imam had informed.’”
Source: Usool Al-Kafi. Vol. 1, H 928, Ch. 81, h 17 & h 18. Pg. # 222-227.
A summary of the two narrations:
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, refuses again to support Muhammad ibn Abdullah.
- Abdullah father of Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah then objects as to why the Imamate should be from the lineage of Imam Al-Hussain and not Imam Al-Hassan, peace be upon them both, which indicates that Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, had said to Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan that his son is not an Imam, because Imamate is in the lineage of Imam Al-Hussain, peace be upon him.
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, again warns Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan that his son will be killed and gives more details of how he will be killed and that he will not attain caliphate.
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, calls Muhammad ibn Abdullah the "most unfortunate seed".
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, points to Moosa ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan, the younger brother of Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who is narrating this conversation, and says that all what I am saying to you will not be of any use, i.e. he will not listen either and will go with his brother Muhammad ibn Abdullah, which then happened as he foretold.
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, tells Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan that he will also be killed if he does not listen to him, which also happened as he foretold.
- After Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan and his uncles are killed by Al-Mansoor, Muhammad ibn Abdullah makes his claim public and starts taking allegiance from people and tries to force Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, to pledge allegiance so that his followers do the same.
- After Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, refuses to pledge allegiance to him he locks the Imam up.
- Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, again reminds Muhammad ibn Abdullah that he will be killed and how he will be killed and he won't accomplish anything.
- They even killed Ismaeel son of Abdullah ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, who was an old man after he refused to pledge allegiance to Muhammad ibn Abdullah, the story of whom has also been narrated in other history books like Al-Kamil Fi Tarikh and so on. He remembered that Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, had told him before about this and that he had judged Muhammad ibn Abdullah's call for Imamate a "false" claim years before it happened, note: as Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, passed away in the year 114 A.H. and Muhammad ibn Abdullah was killed in the year 145 A.H.
- After Muhammad ibn Abdullah was killed and his brother Moosa ibn Abdullah who is the narrator of these events participated in a few other uprisings and failures he remembers the statement of Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, and then submits himself to the Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi after taking the oath of protection from him for his life.
- The next narration the author then relates a similar event with Al-Hussain ibn Alee, known as Sahib e Fakh, that he called up Imam Al-Kadhim, peace be upon him, to pledge allegiance to him the same way Muhammad ibn Abdullah did to Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him.
- Then Imam Al-Kadhim, peace be upon him, warns him that if he forces him to do so he might say the same thing like his father did to Muhammad ibn Abdullah, but then Al-Hussain ibn Alee is a bit more lenient and does not force him to pledge allegiance.
- Imam Al-Kadhim, peace be upon him, then tells him that he will also be killed, and it happened as he foretold.
We can conclude from all this evidence that the claim of the Zaydi about Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, supporting Muhammad ibn Abdullah’s claim for Imamate is a blatant lie and utterly false as it goes against so many other historical reports. We also proved again that the position of the Twelver Imams about Zaydi uprisings was consistently on the opposition and was definitely not in support of those uprisings.
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