Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.) passed away at the age of fifty seven and during the reign of one of the most powerful Umayyad caliphs–Hishām b ‘Abdul Malik. The chaotic situation, problems, and numerous preoccupations of the Umayyads across the vast Islamic country did not prevent Hishām from carrying out his conspiracy and malevolence against the then heart of the Shi‘ite organizations–Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.). By Hishām b. ‘Abdul Malik’s order, his mercenaries poisoned the Imam (P.B.U.H.) and the tyrant and oppressing caliph of Umayyad completed the joy and the ecstasy of his conquests in western and eastern borders of the Islamic land with the murder of his biggest and most dangerous enemy within the country.
The Umayyad regime in the last years of the life of Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.) and in the early years of the Imamate of Imam Ṣādiq (P.B.U.H.) was living through one of its most adventurous days: Major military campaigns were launched in the north-eastern border–Turkistan and Khurāsān, the northern border–Asia Minor and Azerbaijan, and the western border–Africa, Andalusia and Europe–on the one hand and numerous rebellions broke out in the Arabic-speaking Iraq, Khurāsān, and North Africa which were generally and most often led by the dissident and oppressed locals or sometimes instigated by the encouragement of the Mongol commanders of the Umayyads. On the other hand, the poor and distressed national situation throughout Islamic country and especially in Iraq–the residence of the Umayyads’ greatest feoffees and the place of fertile and blessed lands which were mostly reserved for the caliph or his officials–as well as the legendary misappropriations of public treasury by Hishām and his powerful governor in Iraq–Khālid b. ‘Abdullāh Qasrī–and finally facing famine and plague in different places such as Khurāsān, Iraq, and Shām had given critical situation to the vast Islamic country under the control of Umayyad regime and one of the prominent rulers of the time. In addition to all, the most loss of the Islamic world should be added: the spiritual, intellectual, and psychological loss.
In the distraught and grief-stricken atmosphere of the Islamic country where poverty, war, and disease like a thunderbolt emanated from the authoritarianism and dictatorship of the Umayyad rulers hit the pitiable people and burned everything, growing the seedlings of virtue, morality, and spirituality was impossible. The religious figures, judges, scholars, and commentators, who should have been a haven of peace and tranquility for the poor and the oppressed, not only did not resolve their problems but they would often treacherously add to the problems of the people even more than the political figures. The renowned and prominent figures in jurisprudence, theology, tradition, and Sufism such as Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Qatādat b. D‘āmi, Muḥammad b. Shahāb-e Zuhrī, Ibn Bishr, Muḥammad b. al-Munkadir, Ibn Abī Laīlī and dozens like them were in fact the puppets of the caliphate or pawns in the hands of governors and rulers.
It is regrettable to say that a survey on the lives of these legitimate and respectable personalities portrays them as having burning evil desires such as seeking power, ambitions, and pleasure-seeking or visualizes them as being coward and miserable people indulged in wealth or a bunch of hypocritical and stupid ascetics or a group of pretentious scholars entertained with bloody theological and ideological debates.
The Qur’an and Ḥadīth which should have watered and fertilized the seedling of knowledge and good characteristics became a tool in the hands of the then authorities or an occupation for the fruitless lives of such criminal and thugs.
It was in such a toxic, suffocating, and dark atmosphere and difficult and calamitous time that Imam Ṣādiq (P.B.U.H.) assumed the Divine responsibility [i.e. Imamate]. And indeed how essential and vital was “Imamate”, with that progressive concept that we are familiar with in the Shi‘ite culture! We already saw that, for the bewildered, deceived, oppressed, and misapprehended people in such a dark and disastrous time, Imamate is the source of two vital movements: the true Islamic thinking and the just monotheistic system; and an Imam undertakes these two tasks: firstly, to explain, verify, and interpret the [Islamic] school of thought–which involves struggling against distortions and the ignorant and biased efforts–and then, to lay and prepare the ground for establishing a true, fair, and monotheistic [ruling] system; and to make it sustainable if such a government exists. Now, in such social chaos, Imam Ṣādiq (P.B.U.H.) assumed the Imamate and undertook the two tasks. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) faced with these tasks at once. Which task should he have tackled first?
It was true that political work had enormous difficulties and it was not something that the Umayyad Hishām, despite all his concerns and preoccupations, closed his eyes on and excused the Imam (P.B.U.H.) for. However, intellectual work–i.e. struggling with distortion–was indeed what would cut the lifeline of the caliphate–the government which was wholly based on the distorted religion. So they–neither Hishām nor the common scholars, who move with every effort along the general and common mainstream of a deviated and corrupted society–would have excused the Imam (P.B.U.H.) for this, either.
On the other hand, the situation was all set to expand the Shi‘ite revolutionary thinking. There were war, poverty, and despotism; the three causal factors leading up to a revolution as well as the strenuous efforts of the former Imam (P.B.U.H.) which somehow had prepared near and even distant regions for.
The general strategy of Imamate is to start a monotheistic and ‘Alawite revolution in a sphere where a considerable group of people are aware of the Imamate ideology, accept it and wait eagerly for its actualization as another significant group who have joined the resolute striving organization. The logical necessity of such general policy is to send a widespread invitation to the entire Islamic world in order to create a sphere for the dissemination of Shi‘ite thoughts in all dimensions and another invitation to prepare the talented and devoted members of “the secret Shi‘ite organization”.
The difficulty and hardship of the true invitation of Imamate lie in this very point. It is an inclusive conductive invitation which seeks to keep power away from any kind of bullying, aggressiveness and infringement of the freedom of the people as well as to observe basic principles of Islam and for this very reason it inevitably needs to rely on the common sense and understanding of the people and should continue its development toward [fulfilling] their natural needs and demands. However, those struggles and campaigns, which seemingly are started with doctrinal and ideological creeds but in practice, they–like all those in power–only seek to exhibit their political strength and power and close their eyes on their moral values and codes of ethics–are free from such hardships and difficulties. And this is the secret behind the longevity of the movement of Imamate and the secret of the advancements of parallel movements–such as the ‘Abbasids’–and the relative failure of such movements. We will discuss this issue by relying on the historical records and by [giving] more explanation in future.
The favorable and excellent conditions and the preliminaries which the former Imam had created and prepared made Imam Ṣādiq (P.B.U.H.) the embodiment of the same true hope which the Shi‘ites have been awaiting for many years; the same “Upriser” who will fulfill the struggles and strivings of his predecessors and will kindle the fire of the Shi‘ite revolution around the entire Islamic world. Imam Bāqir’s (P.B.U.H.) references and sometimes assertions have been effective in raising the seedlings of this wish.
Jābir b. Yazīd says, “Someone asked Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.) about the upriser after him; the Imam tapped ‘Abī ‘Abd Allāh (P.B.U.H.) on the shoulder and said, ‘By Allah, this [man] is the upriser of the household of Muḥammad (P.B.U.T.)’”,