Even the ‘Abbasids themselves did not refrain initially from...

Even the ‘Abbasids themselves did not refrain initially from expressing love toward the progeny of the Prophet (S): When the head of Marwan ibn Muhammad, the last Umayyad Caliph, was brought in front of Abu’l-‘Abbas as-Safah, he performed a long prostration. He then rose up and said: “Praise be to God who made us victorious over you. Now, I do not worry when I shall die because on behalf of Husayn, his brothers and companions, I killed two hundred Umayyads.

On behalf of my cousin, Zayd ibn ‘Ali, I burned the bones of Hashim. On behalf of my brother, Ibrahim, I killed Marwan. (5) After the stabilization of the ‘Abbasid rule, on the one hand, a gap emerged between them, and the progeny of the Prophet (S) and their Shi‘ah on the other. From the time of the ‘Abbasid Caliph Mansur, the ‘Abbasids adopted the attitude and policy of the Umayyads toward the progeny of the Prophet (S).

In fact, they exceeded the Umayyads in their enmity toward the Prophet’s progeny. The End of the Umayyad Caliphate and the Succession to Power of the Abbasid The end of the Umayyad period, the ascension to power of the ‘Abbasids, and the disputes and conflicts between them were a good opportunity for Imam al-Baqir and Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) to propagate the fundamentals of Shi‘ism considerably and to a great extent.

This was especially true in the case of Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) who trained students in different fields and sciences. Many outstanding scholars such as Hashim ibn al-Hakam, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn Salim, Mu’min Taq, Mufadhdhal ibn ‘Umar, Jabir ibn Hayyan, and others were trained by the Imam. According to Shaykh al-Mufid, their companions all together totalled four thousand approximately in number (6).

They used to come to Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) from different parts of the vast Muslim territory, bringing bounty and removing their doubts and scepticism. The Imam’s students were scattered across various cities and regions and it is natural that they played an important role in the spread of Shi‘ism to the various regions that they reached.

The Migration of the Alawis One of the most important factors that affected the spread of Shi‘ism during the ‘Abbasid period was the migration and scattering of the Sadat [i.e., Prophet descendants] and ‘Alawis across the different parts of the Muslim territories. Most of them had no faith other than Shi‘ism.