2. Political Circumstances of His Imamate
Imamar-Ridha (a.s.)becamethe Imamattheageof thirtyfive,through
DivineCommandandthedecreeofhisforefathers.Theperiodofhisim-
amatecoincidedwiththecaliphateofHārunandthenhissonsAminand
Ma’mun.
HārunhadappointedAmin as his successorwith the conditionthat
the latter wouldname his brother,Ma’mun,as hissuccessor. Butafter
thedeathofHārunin194,Aminnamedhisownson,Musa,ashissuc-
cessor.Thisbecameacauseofconflictbetweenthebrotherswhichledto
bloody wars and finally the assasination of Amin in 198, after which
Ma’mun becamecaliph. Imam ar-Ridha tookadvantageof this chaotic
situationandcontinuedthetraditionofhisforefathersineducatingand
teaching his companions and followers.
Untilthatdaythepolicyofthe‘AbbāsidcaliphatetowardtheShi‘ites
hadbeenincreasinglyharshandcruel.Everyonceinawhileoneofthe
supporters of ‘Alī would revolt, causing bloody wars and rebellions
which were of great difficulty and consequence for the caliphate.
The Shi‘ite Imams would not cooperate with those who carried out
theserebellionsandwouldnotinterferewiththeiraffairs.TheShi‘itesof
that day,who comprised aconsiderable population, continued to con-
sidertheImamsastheirreligiousleaderstowhomobediencewasoblig-
atoryandbelievedinthemastherealcaliphsoftheHolyProphet.They
considered the caliphate to be far from the sacred authority of their
Imams,forthe caliphate hadcometoseemmore likethe courtsof the
Persiankingsand Romanemperors,and wasbeing runbya groupof
peoplemoreinterestedinworldlyrulethaninthestrictapplicationofre-
ligious principles.The continuationof sucha situation was dangerous
for the structure of the caliphate and was a serious threat to it.
Ma’munthoughtoffindinganewsolutionforthesedifficultieswhich
the seventy-year old policy of his ‘Abbāsidpredecessors hadnot been
able to solve. To accomplish this end he adopted some pro-Shi‘ite
policies:
- he openly used to say that Imam ‘Ali bin Abi Tālib was better
suited for caliphate than Abu Bakr or ‘Umar ibn Khattāb. - he openly used to curse Mu‘āwiya bin Abi Sufyān.