Amongst the most important events, and more famous than the rest at the latter part of the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) life, is the incident of his holiness’ arresting and summoning to Shām, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate. To understand about the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) position toward the caliphate, the Umayyad caliph orders them to arrest Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.)–and according to some narrations, also his young son, Imam Ṣādiq (P.B.U.H.) and his father’s supporter and helper–and send them to Shām. They bring the Imam (P.B.U.H.) to Shām and to the caliph’s palace. Hishām has previously dictated the necessary orders to those in attendance in the main part of the meeting and those on the side lines for the time when they come together face to face with the Imam (P.B.U.H.). It is resolved that first the caliph himself and then those present in this meeting–who are all dignitaries and heads of state–to inundate the Imam (P.B.U.H.) with accusations and reproaches. He pursues two objectives with this action: First, to undermine the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) spirit with harsh words and insults and to prepare the grounds for anything that seems expedient. Secondly, to condemn the enemy during the meeting which takes place between the most superior leaders of the two hostile fronts and thereby disarm all the members of his front by spreading the news of this condemnation–that is executable with the blessing of the ever-ready loud-speakers of the caliph, such as the personal preachers, agents, and spies of the caliph.
The Imam (P.B.U.H.) enters the session and contrary to the usual custom, according to which every newcomer should greet the caliph by addressing him with the especial title of “Commander of the Faithful”, turns toward those present and with a gesture of his hands, he addresses them and says Al-Salāmu ‘Alaykum (Peace Be Upon You), and then he sits down without waiting for permission to do so. It was from this very behavior that the flames of hatred and envy were ignited in Hishām’s heart and he begins his planning. “You–offspring of ‘Alī–have always broken the unity of the Muslims, and by inviting others toward yourselves, you have cast breaches and discord among them, and out of stupidity and ignorance have imagined yourselves to be leaders and Imams.” He says a little more of this nonsense and then becomes silent. After him, each of his lackeys and pensioners says something to that effect and each one of them brings a charge against the Imam (P.B.U.H.) and reproaches him in their own language.
The Imam (P.B.U.H.) has remained silent and calm during this whole time. When all of them become quiet, his holiness gets up and stands and turns toward those present, after praising of Allah and sending salutations to the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), he throws, in short but shocking sentences, the bewilderment and aimlessness of that scattered group into their teeth; he beats their incontinence and being instrumental to their actions like a lash on their heads and faces; he clarifies his status and the glorious past of his ancestors which is in accordance with the highest Islamic standards–guidance–and, finally, brings up the well-ending of his path which is consistent to the traditions of Allah in history, and makes their unstable spirit even more unstable:
«ايها الناس! اين تذهبون؟ و این یراد بکم؟ بنا هدی الله اولکم وبنا یختم آخرکم، فان لم یکن لکم ملک معجل فان لنا ملکا مؤجلا و لیس بعد ملکنا ملک، لانّا اهل العاقبة یقول الله عزوجل: والعاقبة للمتقین»
“O’ people! Where do you go?! What fate do they have in mind for you? It was through us that Allah has guided your predecessors, and it will also be by our hands that the final stamp on your actions, if your government is temporary today, our government will be everlasting and after our government, no one else will have any government. We are the people of salvation, as Allah has said, “Salvation belongs to the pious ones.”
There was so much influence and attractiveness in this short but profound statement–which included demanding of justice, command, promising, threatening, proving, and rejection all in one place–that if it is publicized and reaches the ears of the people, it may make every listener believe in the legitimacy of the speaker. In order to respond to this statement, it as much requires to be able to speak eloquent words and know how to speak as it needs self-confidence and assurance; and all these things did not exist in the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) addresses. So, no option remained other than violence and force.
Hishām gives the order to throw the Imam (P.B.U.H.) into prison; this means that he practically confesses to his weak spirit and the shortcomings of his logic. In prison, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) devotes his time to explaining and elaborating realities, and also influences his fellow inmates in such a way that there was no one from among the inmates left who had not accepted his words from the bottom of their hearts and had not become attached to him. The officers report these circumstances to Hishām. This issue was utterly intolerable for an apparatus that had kept Shām far from ‘Alawite propagation for decades. Hishām gives the order to release the Imam (P.B.U.H.) and his entourage from prison. There is no other place more suitable than Medina for them; a city in which they used to live, of course, with all of the same surveillances and restrictions, and even more. And, if necessary, landing the last blow, and quietly getting rid of his opponent in his bed and in his home, and avoiding taking the blame for the accusation of the sin of “murdering an Imam”. Thus, with Hishām’s command, they are mounted upon rapid horses–that will cover the whole distance without stopping–and rush toward Medina. He has previously given them instructions that nobody has the right to do any transaction with this disfavored caravan in the cities along the way and sell bread and water to them. They travel in this condition for three days and nights and their reserves of water and bread become depleted.
Now, they have reached the city of Medina. The citizens of the city shut the gates and refused to sell provisions to them as per the command that they were given. The Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) companions begin to complain of hunger and thirst. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) himself went up a high hill from which the city can be seen, and rebuked the people of this city with a loud and clear voice, saying: “O’ people of the city of tyrants! I am the provision of Allah, about whom Allah has said, ‘What remains of Allah’s provision is better for you, should you be faithful’”. Suddenly a timely consciousness and courage offsets the plot. A man of that city alerts his deceived and unsuspecting fellow citizens and they are reminded that this is the same dread that Prophet Shu‘aib (P.B.U.H.) warned the heterodoxies of his period of, and made them understand that at this very moment they were facing his predecessors; and today they curse their predecessors for not ignoring that message. Yes! History has repeated itself; now there is the same message, the same messenger and the same audiences. This timely speech is settled in the hearts of the people. They open the gates of the city and, despite the plots of the caliphate apparatus, accept the enemy of that caliphate.
The last part of this historical narration–which, on the one hand, can be indicative of the political situation and repression and also widespread depreciation of that time, in several ways, and on the other hand, the clarifier of Imam Bāqir’s (P.B.U.H.) especial position toward the Umayyad’s governing apparatus–is as follows: “When the news of Medina reaches Hishām, before anything else, he gave these orders, ‘Punish that rude man who has dared to speak against the plan of the leaders of caliphate regime and release the people from a great neglect, for this betrayal.’ And upon receiving the caliph’s order they executed him.”
In spite of all this, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) avoids fighting with the dominant power in an acute arena and a face to face war; he would not take up the sword and advises those who are going to take on weapons hastily and unwisely pressing the hilts of their swords, then invokes them to be more perspicuous and tactful, and does not speak unless the necessity of a fundamental action does not require it. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) does not give permission to rise up–revolt–to his brother, Zaid, who is under the overwhelming fermentation (ghalayān) of his sentiments and is losing control and is becoming impatient. In normal communications of life and in relation to untested elements, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) relies the most on cultural and intellectual activities; a task that is, nevertheless, both an ideological infrastructure and a political taqīyyah (prudential concealment). However–as it was made known in previous, short explanations–this wise tactic would never cause the Imam (P.B.U.H.) not to state the general direction of movement of the Imamate to the close companions and the true Shi‘ites who have adhered to his path and to bring the great aspirations to life in the hearts of the Shi‘ites–which is the very same establishment of an Islamic government and an ‘Alawite rule through an inevitable struggle–even in appropriate times not to stimulate feelings as needed in this path.
The giving of glad tidings of an ideal future which is not very far away is just one of Imam Bāqir’s (P.B.U.H.) promising methods and, in the meantime, an indication of the fact that his holiness knew exactly what his position in Shi‘ites’ movement was and in which stage it was. [As it is narrated] “We were with his holiness, Abū Ja‘far and the house was full of people. An old man came in, greeted [those present] and said, ‘O’ son of the Prophet! I swear to Allah that I love you and those who love you, and I swear to Allah that this friendship is not out of greed for the ornaments of life. Your enemy is my enemy and I am estranged from him and I hate him and this resentment and hostility are not because of the blood that has been spilled between us. I swear to Allah that I accept your commands and prohibitions and I am looking forward to your being victorious. Do you have any hope in me now? May I be your ransom.’ The Imam (P.B.U.H.) called him forward and seated him down near himself and said, ‘O’ old man! Somebody asked my father, ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, exactly the same question. My father told him, “If you die in this state, you will meet the holy Prophet [P.B.U.H. & H.H.], ‘Alī, Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, and ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, then your heart will rest in peace, your spirit will prosper, you will be happy, and you will be at peace and successful alongside the honorable scribes of Allah; and if you remain alive, you will see the day when you will be given good news and in those days, you will be with us and you will have the highest position alongside us.”’ When the old man was leaving that house, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) looked at him and said, ‘Whoever wants to see a man from among the people of Paradise, look at this man.’”