Now from the point of Mamun it was a valuable opportunity.

Now from the point of Mamun it was a valuable opportunity. The successor of Imam Reza (AS) was a mere child of about eight years who had been separated from his father three years back. The political sagacity of Mamun made him wrongly expect that it would be very easy to bring over that child to his own way of life after which the still and silent but extremely dangerous centre that was firmly established against the government of the day would be destroyed forever.

He did not deem the failure of Mamun in his plan related to the appointment of Imam Reza (AS) as the heir apparent as a ground for any disappointment. He felt so because the life pattern of Imam Reza (AS) was firmly based on a particular principle. If it did not alter, it did not follow that Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS), after having been brought in the palace environments right from the early formative years, would stick to his ancestor’s principled way of life.

Except those who were conversant with the God-gifted perfections of these chosen beings, everybody in those days must have been of Mamun’s mind. But the world was amazed to see that the eight year old child who had been made the son in-law of the emperor of the Islamic domain, was so steadfast in following his family traditions of sobriety and uprightness and its principles that he refused to stay in the imperial palace after marriage and, while in Baghdad insisted on residing in a rented house.

An idea of the strong will power of Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) can be had from another event. Usually when the bride’s family financially occupies a higher place it prefers that the son in-law should reside with it in the same house; if not, at least in the same town. However, Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS), only a year after the marriage, forced Mamun to let him (and his wife) return to Medina. Certainly, this must have been extremely unpalatable for a loving father and a powerful potentate like Mamun.

Nevertheless, he had to bear the pain of separation of his daughter and let the Imam (AS) return to Medina along with Ummul Fazl. After coming to Medina the style of functioning of the household was the same as before. There was no gatekeeper, no check and restraint, no pomp and show, no particular meeting time and no discrimination in dealings with the visitors. Mostly the Imam (AS) used to sit in the Prophet’s mosque where Muslims in general came to benefit from his preaching and counseling.