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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books the Life of Imām 'ali Bin Mūsā Al-ridā Chapter Xv IMAM AL-RIDĀ AND REGENCY We are in front of an important historical event which busied the public opinion and stunned all political circles.

The event is that al-Mamūn appointed Imām al-Ridā, peace be on him, as a heir apparent after him; it indicates that the succession would be taken from the Abbāsids and handed over to their opponents, the Alawides; it astonished the people and they asked each other: How has the Abbāsid policy changed into this line opposing the political line which the Abbāsids have followed since the beginning of their reign?

They asked one another such a question because the Abbāsids were famous for persecuting and uprooting the Alawides; in other words, the Abbāsids destroyed the Alawides, buried them while they were alive, threw their children into the Tigris, and used against them all kinds of genocide.

The people and history have known that al-Mamūn belonged to this (Abbāsid) family, who wronged the members of the House ( ahl al-Bayt) , peace be on them; therefore, it was not possible for him to follow behavior other than that of his fore-fathers or to deviate from their anti-Alawides trend.

Al-Mamūn was fed on showing detest and enmity toward the Alawides, for his grandfather al-Mansūr and his father al-Rashid followed all ways to put an end to them; they employed all their economic and political organs to degrade their importance and dignity and to remove them from the political arena in the world of Arabs and Islam.

The Abbāsids were the opponents of the Alawides, but why did al-Mamūn create such a sudden change (in his policy) and turn away from the plan and method of his fathers? Why did he appoint Imām al-Ridā, peace be on him, as a successor after him? Similarly, why did Imām al-Ridā agree to undertake regency while he was fully aware of the deviation of al-Mamūn and of his harboring malice against the members of the House ( ahl al-Bayt) , peace be on them?

We will answer these questions as follows: Al-Mamūns Motives It is necessary for us to pause in order to consider the reasons and motives which urged al-Mamūn to appoint Imām al-Ridā, peace be on him, as a successor after him: Al-Mamūn had no strong position in Islamic state, for the Abbāsid family disdained him because of his mother Marājil, who was among the slave-wives in the palace, because of his strong relationship with al-Fadl b.