The Imam (P.B.U.H.) sometimes goes even furthermore; he specifies the year of victory and fulfills the Shi‘ites’ old wish. Abū Ḥamza Thumālī says, “I heard Abū Ja‘far saying, ‘Allah has ascertained 70 years for this task–the establishment of the Shi‘ite government.’ When Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) was killed, Allah became angry with the people on earth; then He delayed it for one hundred and forty years. We said this time for you–close friends–and you disclosed it and you gave away this secret. After that, Allah did not ascertain any respite and timing for us; and Allah eliminates whatever He wishes and establishes whatever He wishes. Abū Ḥamza says, ‘I narrated this statement to ‘Abī ‘Abd Allāh and he said, “Yes! It was that way”’.”
Statements of this kind made the establishment of the Islamic system and ‘Alawite rule which was like a pleasant dream in that environment of lethal repression and pressure, cast the only promising rays of hope and momentum of the hearts of the oppressed Shi‘ites, in the form of an inevitable future and thus rendered it as an inevitable and inviolable future and in this way added to their power and submission in traversing distances which laid before them.
The nineteen years of the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) period of leadership passed like a straight, connected, and distinct line in this condition; nineteen years in which there is both instructive ideology and individual constructiveness; both tactics of struggle, and organization of groups and the creation of organizations; both the preservation and continuation of political orientation; both taqīyyah and the ever increasing and more determined inflaming of hope. In brief, nineteen years of struggle and passing over impassible hurdles through strenuous efforts. And finally, when this short and blessed life comes to an end, when the sworn enemies of the ‘Alawite movement imagined that with the departure of this instigator of the movement they will be able to breathe a bit easier and will get rid of the Shi‘ites’ propagation campaign, that they will be able to deal with their countless inconveniences and difficulties within the country and the borders, then the hot and burning ashes of this ignited center brings down the last fatal strike on the base of the Umayyad regime. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) had spent a lifetime in disclosures and explanations, and now continues to carry out this endeavor after his death, too. With his own life he had informed the people; with his own death he also continued this effort. He sent a new lesson and a new message to his companions and the crowds of uninformed people who were thirsty to understand and contemplate. This message, just like his general plan, is calm and deep. He benefits his friends and the needy supporters; however, it does not disturb the sleep of the enemy. These are examples of Imam Bāqir’s (P.B.U.H.) taqīyyah and a statement of his general behavior and performance in that specific period of time.
Those who later recorded the history of the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) life, have overlooked (taghāful) or ignored this great endeavor, which is mentioned in a short narration. Can it be said that they did not see it? Let us be brief. The fact of the matter is that the Imam (P.B.U.H.) orders his son Ja‘far b. Muḥammad to spend a part of his property–eight hundred dinars–during a ten-year period for mourning and weeping for him. The place of mourning is the desert of Minā and its time is the time of Hajj pilgrimage. That is all. The time of Hajj is the meeting time for the brothers who live in remote regions. Thousands of “individuals” have the opportunity to “gather” together and try to be and get together. These sympathizers who do not speak the same language call Allah in one language and observe the miracle of gathering of the nations under one flag. If there is a message that must be sent throughout the Islamic world, there is no opportunity more appropriate than this. Then, the Hajj rituals are performed on several continuous days and in several places, which one of these days and which one of these places is more appropriate? Mecca is a city and the people in a city are both scattered and busy. In addition, all in that city are busy performing the Hajj pilgrimage; the ṭawāf (circumambulation around the Ka‘ba seven times), Sa‘y (walking hastily between Ṣafā and Marwa), prayer…. Mash‘ar is a place where people stay overnight, with few opportunities and without facilities. In Minā, people stay for a short time. ‘Arafāt is a place of stop, even though it is for a day, but the time is very short; only one day, with a morning when pilgrims are tired from travelling and ready to set out in the afternoon. Minā is the most appropriate of all; the pilgrims stay there for three days and they have a chance there more than any other place to become acquainted with others, to have dialogue and to sympathize with each other. Who is it that can tolerate going to Mecca and returning there at night? It is a suitable place for staying and visiting every group, circle, and gathering. Everyone naturally goes to the mourning assembly which is held annually for three days. Little by little the people from around the world have become acquainted with it. For years a group of people of Medina–the center of Islam and the base of great companions, jurisprudents, and narrators–have been arranging this assembly here and during these days. Whom for? For one of the most outstanding figures of the Muslim world, that is, for Muḥammad b. ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn; a great man from among the descendants of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), the leading figure among the jurisprudents and narrators; the master of all those well-known in jurisprudence and narrations. Why do people come from everywhere to this place and talk about everything in the world in this place? Why do they talk at all? Wasn’t his death natural? Who has killed or poisoned him? And why? What has he been doing or saying? Did he have any claims? Would he invite [people to Islam]? Was he a threat to the caliph? And tens of such questions. Tens of questions and ambiguities and following that, tens of questions and investigations and then a flood of answers from those who have arranged this mourning service; and also from the well-informed ones that have been scattered here and there among the dense and shadowy crowds. Those who have hurried down here from Medina or Kūfa and have principally come for answering these same questions. They came here, of course, in this unique opportunity, to explain and clarify issues for the people who have gathered here from all quarters of the Islamic world; and also, of course, to see and meet their own friends and brothers; to give news or to receive an order; and in brief, to invite Shi‘ites from thousands of channels of the greatest world propagational network of the day; and this is the successful plan of Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.)–the plan of postmodern holy struggle–and this is the fruitful and blessed existence of one whose life and death were both for and in the way of Allah;
«وجَعلَه مُبارَكاً اينَماکانَوسَلامٌ عَليه يوَمَ وُلدَ
ويوَمَ يَموت ويوَم يُبعث حياٌّ.»
[“His existence is blessing wherever he is. Peace and Greeting be on the day when he is born and when he dies and when he will be resurrected.”]
