FOOT NOTES : CHAPTER 2

1 Ahmad b. Abi Yaq'qub b. Wadih al-Ya'qub, Tarikh al-Ya'qubi (Najaf, 1964), III, 90; Ibn Khaldun, al-'Ibar wa-diwan al-Mubtada' wa-l-Khabar (Cairo, 1867-70). III, 173, Tabari, III, 33-4, 37; al-Hilali, op. cit., 186.
2 Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sharif, al-'Alam al-Islami fi al-'Asr al-'Abbasi (Cairo, 1967) 19-25; Watt, The Majesty that was Islam, 28-30, 95-8. According to al-Najashi, amongst the Imamites who participated in the 'Abbasid propaganda was Yaqtin b. Musa, who was their propagandist in Kufa; al-Najashi, 209.
3 al-Jahshayari, Kitaab al-Wuzara' wa-l-Kuttab (Cairo. 1938), 86; al-Yaq'qubi, III, 89-90, 92; Tabari, III, 27, 34; In al-Taqtaqa, al-Fakhrifi al-Adab al-Sultaniyya (Cairo, 1927), III, 2; Watt, The Formative Period of Islamic Thought (Edinburgh, 19730, 153-4.
4 al-Mas'udi, Ithbat al-Wasiyya (Najaf, 1955), 181-2; Maqatil, 209; Omar, F., "Some Aspects of the 'Abbasid-Husaynid relations during the early 'Abbasid period (132-193/750-809)," Arabica, XXII, 171.
5 Kashif al-Ghita', Asl al-Shi'a wa'isulaha (Qumm, 1391), 51; Ahmad Amin, Dhuha al-Islam (Cairo, 1956), III, 281-2; al-Isfahani, Kitab al-aghani, XI, 300.
6 'Abad Allah b. 'Abbas b. 'Abd al-Muttalib was one of the companions of the Prophet. He was born three years before the Prophet's emigration to Medina and in the year 68/687 in Ta'if. He was famous in his deep knowledge about the interpretation of the Qur'an and the Prophetic tradition. Thus he acquired the title Hibru-l-Umma, the learned man of the nation. Ibn Hajar al'Asaqlani, al-Isaba, II, 330-4.
7 Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, al-Saqifa (Najaf, 1965), 69-70, An example of the cooperation between the 'Abbasids and 'Ali during his regime: he appointed Quthum b. al'Abbas as governor of Mecca and al-Ta'if, 'Ubayd Allah b. 'Abbas in Yemen and Bahrain and 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas in Basra. When 'Ali died 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas associated with al-Hasan as a leader in his army. Tabari, V, 64-5, 137, 411-3, 155, 158-9; al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa' (Cairo, 1964), 205; al-Qarashi, al-Imam al-Hasan (Najaf, 1973), 49-54.
8 al-Kafi, I, 203-4, 545-6. Several sources report that the other Imams received the khums and voluntary gifts from their followers, some of whom were working in the 'Abbasid offices, such as Hasan b. 'Alya al-Asadi, who was the governor of Bahrain. According to another report, the ninth Imam, al-Jawad, ordered his followers to send him his share of the booty which they had seized from the Khurramiyya, al-Tusi, al-Istibsar (Tehran, 1970), II, 58, 60-2; Maqatil, 333.
9 al-Kafi, I, 279-81.
10 Omar, op. cit., Arabica, XXII (1975), 175-6.
11 For a full account of al-Sadiq's statements concerning the future Mahdi see Kamal, 333-59.
12 Ikhtiyar, 290-3, 321, 323, 326. For detail about Abu al-Khattab's activities see al-Shibi, K. M., al-Sila bayn al-Tasawwuf wa-l-Tashayyu', Baghdad, 1966, 141-6; Ivanow, the Alleged founder of Isma'ilism (Bombay, 1946), 113-51; B, Lewis, The origins of Isma'ilism (Cambridge, 1940). 32, 39, 66. B. Lewis, "abu al-Khattab', E.I. 2
13 N. Firaq, 56-66, al-Shibi, op. cit., 206-31; C, Huart, "isma'iliyya' E.I. 2
14 N. Firaq, 65, For an account of the Fathiyya see Watt, "Side-lights on Early Imamite Doctrine', Studia Islamica, MCMLXX, vol. XXXI 0, 293-5; al-Hasani, op.cit., II 369-77.
15 Tabari, III, 261-3, 377-8; Mizan, IV, 211.
16 Muruj, VI, 224; shaban, Islamic History (C.U.P., 1976), II, 21.
17 al-Kafi, I, 478; Muruj, VI, 227.
18 Omar, F., "Some observations on the Reign of the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (158-169/775-785)", Arabica, XXI, 139.
19 Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi, al-Maqalat wa-l-Firaq (Tehran, 1963), 89.
20 Watt, Formative Period, 155.
21 al-Kafi, I, 484.
22 al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad (Beirut, 1931), XIII, 31; Tabari, III, 533; Ibn Tulun, al-Shadharat al-Dhahabiyya (Beirut, 1958), 96.
23 Tabari, III, 506-7; al-fakhri, 136.
24 Tabari, III, 508; al-Saduq agrees with al-Tabari about the persuasion of Ya'qub b. Dawud, but he mentions that he was converted to the Imamite school about 179/795. See 'Uyun, 60. However, Ya'qub belonged to a Shi'ite family from Merv. His father and uncle helped promote 'Abbasid propaganda in Khurasan. Later Ya'qub himself was associated with al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in his revolt in 145/762, after which he was imprisoned until 158/774-5. Shaban, op. cit., 21.
25 N. Firaq, 43; Watt, Formative Period, 155; according to al-Balkhi this claim was invented by the Rawandiyya after the death of al-Mahdi. However, it appears that the Rawandiyya had held this claim at the instigation of al-Mahdi himself. Al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar, op. cit., II, 177
26 Tabari, III, 486-7.
27 Ikhtiyar, 265-6, 501. Allah these groups derived their names from various companions of al-Sadiq: i.e. 'Abd Allah b. Abi Ya'fur, Zurara b. A'yun, 'Ammar b. Musa al-Sabati and Hisham b. Salim al-Jawaliqi respectively. al-Najashi, 132, 157, 223, 338; T. al-Fihrist, 141-3, 235, 356.
28 Ikhtiyar, 335.
29 Ikhtiyar, 269, 269-70.
30 al-Ya'qubi, III, 142. It is clear from the prominent persons who took part in this revolt that it was Zaydite, for example Yahya, Sulayman and Idris, the brothers of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, who rebelled in the year 145/762 against al-Mansur. Moreover Ibrahim b. Isma'il Tabataba was the father of Muhammad b. Tabatab, the spiritual leader of the Zaydite revolt which took place in Kufa in 199/814 (Maqatil, 297, 304). It is worth mentioning that al-Shahi b. 'Abbad considered the individuals mentioned above as Zaydite; al-Sahib b. 'Abbad. Nusrat Madhahib al-Zaydiyya (Baghdad, 1977), 222.
31 Tabari, III, 552-3, 557-9; Muruj, VI, 226-7; Maqatil, 298.
32 'Ibar, III, 215-6, Al-Isfahani mentions two narrations about the attitude of al-Kazim. The first one reveals that he refused to participate in the revolt, while the second shows that he ordered Yahya al-Mahd to rise in arms; Maqatil, 298, 304. this is evidence showing that al-Kazim did not take part in this revolt but encouraged the rebels to fight the 'Abbasids vigorously,; al-Kafi, I, 366.
33 al-Galbaygani, op. cit., 219, quoted from al-Khazaz al-Razi al-Qumi, Kifayat al-Athar fi al-Nusus 'ala al-Imam al-Thani 'Ashar.
34 al-Kafi, I, 494. The Imamite activities in Egypt may have started in Akhmim during the time of al-Sadiq, because some people of Akhmim such as 'Uthman b. Suwayd al-Akhmimi and Dhu al-Nun al-Misri were students of Jabir b. Hayyan al-Kufi, who was a student of al-Sadiq (al-Qifti, Tarikh al-Hukama' (Leipzig, 1903), 185; al-Shibi, op. cit., 360). Among al-Kazim's Kufan agents in Egypt were 'Uthman b. 'Isa al-Rawasi and al-Husayn b. 'Ali al-'Uyun, 92; al-Najashi, 52, 230.
35 Ithtiyar, 442.
36 Ikhtiyar, 433. For a full account of other names see al-Najashi, 104 158, 254-5.
37 Tabari, III, 561, 609, 612 740; al-Ya'qubi, III, 166; al-Kafi, II, 224-5, Al-Kashshi mentions that the family of banu al-Ash'ath sent the Zakat (30,000 dinars) to the agent of al-Kazim in Kufa, which seems to confirm their Imamite inclinations; Ikhtiyar,' 459.
38 'Uyun, I, 18, 24, 25-6, 92; Ithtiyar, 405, 468; al-Fakhri, 145-6; al-Haythami, al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa (Cairo, 1312/1894), 101.
39 N. Firaq, 63-4.
40 Ivanow, W., The Rise of the Fatimids (Bombay, 1946), 49-52, quoting from an Isma'ili Ms entitled Zahr al-Ma'ani.
41 N. Firaq. 64.
42 Al-Kulayni mentions this on the authority of 'Ali b. Ja'far al-Sadiq. His narrations states that Muhammad b. Isma'il met his uncle al-Kazim in Mecca and asked him to allow him to go to Baghdad. Al-Kazim did so and gave him 300 dinars and 3000 dirhams for the expense of his journey. Then he warned his nephew not to brin about his death by giving the authorities information concerning his activities. However, Muhammad contacted the caliph Harun al-Rashid and informed him that his uncle was considered the real caliph by the people who had visited him; al-kafi, I, 485-6. Also see Ikhtiyar, 263-5; Ibn Hazm, Jamharat Ansab al-'Arab (Cairo, 1971), 60.
43 al-Fakhri (Gotha, Greifswald, 1860), 195-6 227-8; al-Kafi, I, 366.
44 Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (Leiden, 1866-1876), VI, 61.
45 Tabari, III, 612-3; al-Fakhri, 231; al-Kulayni records a correspondence between Yahya al-Mahd and al-Kazim, which indicates that the latter had nothing to do with this revolt; al-Kafi, I, 366-7.
46 Ahmad b. Khalid al-Misri al-Salawi, al-Istaqsa li-Akhbar al-Maghrib al-Aqsa (al-Dar al-Bayda, 1954), I, 67-9.
47 Tabari, III, 606.
48 Ibid, III, 614, 616.
49 Ibid., III, 613-16; al-Ya'qubi, III. 145-6; 'Ibar, III, 218; al-Kamil, VI, 85.
50 Because Sulayman succeeded in killing Idris, the Caliph al-Rashid appointed him to the barid of Egypt, and had the previous official Wadih, who had helped Idris in his escape to al-Maghrib, killed; Tabari, III, 561. 51 Tabari, III, 561, 649; al-Kamil, VI, 106-8.
52 Osman, op. cit., 300; Q. Maqalat, 88; Ikhtiyar, 598-9.
53 Ikhityar, 258-63.
54 al-Tabarsi, al-Ihtijaj (Najaf, 1966), 161; Ikhtiyar. 262. some of the Imamites accused the Isma'ilis of provoking al-Rashid against al-Kazim. They mentioned that Muhammad b. Isma'il informed al-Rashid about al-Kazim's underground activities (al-Kafi, I, 485-6). Whereas the arrest of al-Kazim was part of the general plan of the Caliph which he carried out against the Imamites, several remarks suggest that the viziers Banu al-Marmak were behind al-Rashid's plan, in order to bring about the fall of their Imamite competitors in the 'Abbasid ministry, the family of Banu al-Ash'ath; al-Kafi, II, 224-5; Ikhtiyar, 258.
55 al-Kafi, I, 476; N. Firaq, 71-2.
56 Ibn al-Mu'tazz, Tabaqat al-Shu'ara (Cairo, 1956), 244.
57 According to al-Najashi and al-Tusi, Hisham's death occurred in 199/814. But it seems that he died before that. Al-Kashshi associates his death with the arrest of al-Kazim in 179/795. In that year Hisham attended a theological symposium in the presence of al-Rashid and Yahya al-Barmaki. Later al-Rashid issued an order to arrest al-Kazim and his partisans. Hence Hisham escaped to Mada'in, then to Kufa where he died tow months later; al-Najashi, 338; T, al-Fihrist, 355; Ikhtiyar, 255-6, 258-62.
58 N. Firaq, 67; Ikhtiyar, 258; al-Kafi, I, 258-9; al-Ya'qubi relates that the 'Alid underground activities were probably quite strong in Basra. The increase in the activities of the missionary of this group, Ahmad b. 'Isa al-'Alawi, who spent sixty years hidden there, finally caused al-Rashid to pursue them. Ahmad b. 'Isa was imprisoned, but he managed to escape to Basra in 188/803. Then 'Abbasid spies detected the missionary and the agent of his group, Hadir, who refused to reveal the place of his leader; so they killed him and impaled his body in Baghdad; al-Ya'qubi, III, 160.
59 'Uyun, I, 89-90, II, 143.
60 N. Firaq, 67-8, 70; Q. Maqalat, 89-91; al-Najashi 61, 258, 230-31. It seems from the report of al-kashshi that Muhammad b. Bashir and his followers applied the term al-Mahdi to al-Kazim, whose death they denied, giving him the epithet al-Qa'im al-Mahdi (Ikhtiyar, 478). Such evidence indicates that the Imamites already knew about the rise of one of their Imams under the title of al-Qa'im al-Mahdi, but they were not sure who this would be.
61 al-Saduq, 'Ilal al-Shara'i' (Najaf, 1966), I, 235; 'Uyun, 91-2; Ikhtiyar, 459-60, 467, 468, 493. The leaders of the Waqifa were Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Shammun and 'Ali b. Abi Hamza Ikhtiyar, 444; al-Najashi, 230-1.
62 al-Kafi, I, 333-43.
63 al-Kafi, I, 312; Q. Maqalat, 89. 64 Ikhtiyar, 4
64-5, 472.
65 Ibid., 591-2.
66 Most of the eastern Sufi movements trace their origins to Ma'ruf al-Karkhi (d. 200/815), who was a companion al al-Rida. They regarded al-Rida as of the Sufi movement, but at the same time they did not believe in his Imamate. For an account of their relation see al-Shibi, op. cit.
67 'Uyun, II, 234-5.
68 Watt, Formative Period, 176; al-Fakhri, 159- 61; al-Kamil., VI, 227.
69 Ibn A'tham al-Kufi, op. cit., VIII, 312-3. The most dangerous revolt was the of the populace (al-Amma) of Baghdad against the installation of al-Rida as heir-apparent by al-Ma'mun. Thus they installed Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi as a caliph there; Bidaya, X, 280-2; al-Kamil, VI, 230.
70 It is clear from the reports of al-Tabari and al-Najashi that the rebels did not believe in the Imamate of a specific 'Alid Imam, but they supported the Imamate of him who would rise in arms in order to establish his rights to this office (tabari, III, 979, 1019; al-Najashi, 194). They wrote on the coins which they mined in Kufa a Qur'anic verse (al-Saff, LI, 4) revealing their revolutionary inclination. Al-Isfahani and al-Sahib b. 'Abbad considered it a Zaydite uprising; Maqatil, 347, 350; 'Uyun. II, 235; Ibn 'Abbad, op. cit., 222.
71 Muruj, VII, 56.
72 A considerable body o the followers of al-Rida participated in this revolt without his instruction. Perhaps they noticed that the brothers of their Imam were prominent leaders of the revolt, and thought that al-Rida was behind their participation. Hence they joined it. There were men like Muhammad b. Muslima al-Kufi (Tabari, III, 989), who was regarded by al-najashi as trustworthy (al-Najashi, 286; 'Uyun, II, 234-5). It seems from al-Rida's interpretation of a dream of one of his partisans concerning an expected uprising that he already knew of the activities of his kinsmen; al-Kafi, VIII, 257.
73 al-Da'wa li-l-Rida min Al Muhammad wa-'Amal bi-l-Kitab wa-l-sunna.
74 Tabari, III, 976-79.
75 al-Kamil, VI, 214-16; Maqatil, 355; Tabari, III, 981-3, 988. al-Azraqi reports that Abu al-Saraya sent a kiswa of silk to the Ka'ba in two colours, white and yellow, the former of which was the colour of the 'Alids' standard. Between the two parts was written: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. May God bless Muhammad and his progeny, the noble descendants, the pure, and the best of the human race. Abu al-Saraya, e who invites people to rally behind Al Muhammad has ordered that this kiswa be made for the holy House of God." Al-Azraqi, Akhbar Makka (Mecca , 1965), I, 263, 264.
76 al-Najashi, 194; Naqatil, 354; Gibb, H. A. R., "Abu al-Saraya", E.I.2
77 Maqatil, 363-6; Tabari, III, 985-6.
78 Ikhtiyar, 472.
79 Al-Kulayni reports several traditions on the authority of 'Ali b. al-Husayn and al-Sadiq regarding this point, al-Kafi, VIII, 264, 310.
80 Tabari, III, 990.
81 Maqatil, 359; 'Uyun, 155.
82 al-Kafi, I, 491; Maqatil, 360.
83 al-Kafi, I, 488-9; 'Uuun, II, 146; Tabari, III, 1000.
84 Maqatil, 360; al-Yafi'i, al-'iqd al-Thamin, I, 444-5.
85 al-Kafi, I, 489, VIII, 151; 'Uyun, 138-40; Tabari, III, 1012-3.
86 Khatib, X, 184, concerning Umm Habiba, al-Tabari thinks that she was al-Ma'mun's daughter (Tabari, III, 1029), but Ibn Tulun reports that she was his sister. The age of al-Ma'mun at that time was 30; therefore one in inclined to accept Ibn Tulun's report; Ibn Tulun, op. cit., 97.
87 al-Ya'qubi, III, 185; al-Kamil, VI, 227.
88 Watt, Formative Period, 176. Al-Kulayni reports that al-Ma'mun asked al-Rida to write to his followers in the areas of revolt, asking them to stop their support of the rebels; al-Kafi, VIII, 151.
89 Several anecdotes indicate that the 'Alids' standard was white. The followers of Abu al-Saraya were called "al-Mubayyida" in reference to the standard of 'Ali (al-Azraqi, op. cit., I, 263-4). Na'im b. Khazim, an Arab advisor of al-Ma'mun, warned the latter against adopting the advice of al-Fadl b. Sahl in installing al-Rida. He pointed out to him that his vizier was not sincere to the 'Alids, because he suggested the green colour, the sign of his ancestors, the Sasanids, instead of the white, the standard of 'Ali and his sons (J. Wuzara', 313). When al-Ma'mun asked al-Rida to perform the Friday prayer, the latter wore a white turban and white clothes ('Uyun, II, 149). Finally the Imamites narrate that the banners of the followers of al-Qa'im al-Mahdi would be white (Najm al-Din al-'Askari, al-Mahdi al-Maw'ud al-Muntazar (Beirut, 1977), I, 177).
90 Tabari, III, 1019-20; also al-Kamil, VI, 242.
91 Tabari, III 1029; al-Kamil, VI, 248.
92 al-Ya'qubi, III, 184, 190.
93 N. Firqa, 72-3; Ikhtiyar, 501-2; 'Uyun, II, 151-2.
94 Ibn Hibban, Kitab al-Majruhin (Halab, 1976), II, 209-10.
95 al-Kafi, I, 486, 490; Muruj, VIII, 57, 61; 'Uyun, I, 186, 188; Shaban, op. cit., 47.
96 al-Kamil, VI, 253; Ahmad b. Tahir b. Tayfur, Tarikh Baghdad (Cairo, 1949), 10.
97 'Uyun, II, 188.
98 al-Ya'qubi, III, 204; according to the account of al-Kulayni both were Imamites and the father of the first, Yahya b. al-Husayn, supported the Imamite of al-Rida (al-Kafi, I, 316). Al-Najashi reports that the grandson of the second, Yahya b. Ahmad b. Muhammad, was a prominent Imamite in Nishapur; al-Najashi, 345; Abu al-Fida, al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashari, II, 32.
99 Tabari, III, 1039; al-Kamil, VI, 253.
100 Abu al-Fida, op. cit., II, 25-6.
101 Tabari, III, 1040.
102 Tabari, III, 1062-3; al-Kamal, VI, 269.
103 N. Firaq. 85-7; Q. Maqalat, 93-5; al-Najashi, 19.
104 Ithbat, 213-5.
105 al-Najashi, 21, 67-8, 141, 294.
106 al-Kafi, I, 494.
107 al-Najshi, 191.
108 Ikhtiyar, 611-2; al-najashi, 265.
109 al-Kafi, V, 111.
110 Bihar, L, 44-5.
111 Ikhtiyar, 487; al-Najashi, 180.
112 Ithbat, 213, 215.
113 al-Kafi, I, 548; T. al-Ghayba, 227; Bihar, L, 37-8.
114 al-Najashi, 254.
115 Ibid., 80, 98; Mizan, Iv, 276.
116 al-Kafi, V, 111; al-Tusi, al-Istibsar, II, 58.
117 al-Zadi, 368.
118 Ibn Shahr Ashub, Manaqib Al Abi Talib, IV, 397; al-Zadi, 368.
119 Tabari, III, 1092-3, 1102; al-Kamil, VI, 264, 293.
120 Tabari, III. 1102.
121 Tabari, III, 1103; al-Zadi, 399.
122 Tabari, III, 1106. 1111; al-Kamil, VI, 286-7.
123 Muhammad b. al-Qasim was the Imam Of the revolutionary Zaydites during al-Jawad's period. When al-Mu'tasim endeavoured to arrest him, he escaped from Kufa and revolted in al-Talqan. But al-Mu'tasim captured him and imprisoned him in Samarra. Then he disappeared from jail mysteriously. Thus a considerable body of the Zaydites in the districts of Kufa, Tabaristan, Daylam and Khurasan held that he did not die but was alive and would rise in arms to fill the earth with justice after it had been filled with tyranny; Muruj, VI, 116-7. 124 Ithbat, 220; Bihar, L, 15-17; al-Irshad, 297, 307.
125 al-Tusi, al-Istibsar, II, 60-2.
126 Ibn Shahr Ashub, Manaqib, IV, 389.
127 Maqalat, 99.
128 The flourishing state of the 'Abbasid economy can be noted in al-Mu'tasim's ability to recruit a new garrison, mainly from the Turks of Caucasus, and to establish a new capital, Samarra. His successor al-Mutawakkil followed in his footsteps, establishing another garrison, which he called al-Shakiriyya, by recruiting people from the western provinces of the empire. Later al-Shakiriyya garrison was enlarged by al-Mutawakkil until it became his official army. Furthermore he established a new capital called al-Ja'fariyya. According to al-Mas'udi, after his death he left four million dinars and seven million dirhams in the treasury. Muruj, VII, 276-7; shaban, op, cit., 76.
129 Maqalat, 394; al-Fakhri, 176.
130 al-Ya'qubi, III, 216.
131 Tabari, III, 1368.
132 Shaban, op, cit., 73; al-Tikriti, al-Mutawakkil bayn Khusumih wa-Ansarih, Bulletin of the College of Arts, Basrah University, 1976, 113.
133 Tabari, III, 1373-5; see also al-Kafi, I, 498.
134 Shaban, op, cit., 72-5; 76.
135 Al Mas'udi and Ibn Hazm mention that Ja'far b. Isma'il b. Musa al-Kazim was killed by Ibn al-Aghlab in al-Maghrib during the caliphate of al Mu'tazz (Muruj, VII, 404; Ibn Hazm, op. cit., 64), which suggests that Ja'far may have been sent there by his father to preach to the people concerning the 'Alids' rights to the caliphate.
136 Ikhtiyar, 513-4.
137 al-Ya'qubi, III, 217.
138 Ikhtiyar, 603, 607; T. al-Ghayba, 226-7; Bihar, L, 183.
139 Ikhtiyar, 513-4
140 Ithbat, 225-6; Bihar, L, 209.
141 Tabari, III, 407; Muruj, VII, 302. Many early sources represent the 'Abbasid view, and contemporary scholars claim that the reason behind the demolition of al-Husayn's tomb was that the Shi'a had made it an alternative centre for pilgrimage (Maqatil, 395; al-Tikriti, The Religious Policity of al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah al-'Abbasi (232-47/874-68), M.A. Dissertation (McGill University, Canada, 1969), 58, 63). But all the narrations espousing this view are attributed to a single narrator called Ahmad b. al-Ji'd who was a loyal supporter of the 'Abbasids. Perhaps he gave this interpretation to excuse the action of the caliph, whose aim was to stop the underground activities of the Shi'a, who used their visit to the tomb of al-Husayn as a means of communication. In addition the caliph wanted to eliminate any sign of the grave, which might revive the revolutionary trends amongst the Shi'a.
142 Tabari, III, 1404.
143 al-Kindi, Wilat Misr, (Beirut, 1972), 177-8.
144 Ibn Tawus, Kash al-Mahajja (Najaf, 1950), 124; al-Sadri, Fadak fi al-Tarikh (Najaf, 1955), 23.
145 Maqatil, 396.
146 Muruj, VII, 2238-9; al-Kafi, I, 500.
147 al-Kindi, op. cit., 230.
148 Bihar, L, 185.
149 Muruj, VII, 207
150 Ibid., VII, 302.
151 al-Kindi, op. cit., 229.
152 al-Kafi, I, 511, 513.
153 Manaqib, IV, 416.
154 al-Arbili, Kashf al-Ghumma. III, 247. The qadi of Kufa at that time was Ja'far b. 'Abd al-Wahid. The caliph al-Musta 'in removed him from this office and exiled him to Basra where he died in 257/780; Mizan, I, 413.
155 Ibn 'Uqda, op. cit., f. 74-5.
156 Ibn 'Uqda, op. cit,., f. 75; al-Najashi, 280-1. Ibn 'Uqda, Ahmad b. Muhammad (249-333/863-944) is a Kufan Muhaddith. He belonged to the Zaydite sect, al-Jarudiyya. Al-Nu'mani relied on him in writing his work al-Ghayba. Buzurg, Nawabigh al-Ruwat, 46-7.
157 Tabari, III, 1522.
158 Muruj, VII, 404.
159 Tabari, III, 1362, 1683; Ikhtiyar, 68.
160 Tabari, III, 1683-4.
161 T. al-Ghayba, 141, 226; Bihar, L, 206-7.
162 The majority of the Imamite scholars believe that al-Hadi was poisoned at the instigation of the 'Abbasids; Manaqib, IV, 401; Bihar, L, 206-7.
163 T. al-Ghayba, 139-40.
164 Manaqib, IV, 427-8; Bihar, L, 283-4.
165 T. al-Ghayba. 147, 226; Bihar, L, 303; Tabari, III, 1709.
166 al-Kafi. I, 503.
167 This will be discussed in greater detail in the next chapter.
168 al-Kafi, I, 450