The servant said to me, ‘The vizier and my master Hamid have called you.

The servant said to me, ‘The vizier and my master Hamid have called you.’ I mounted my horse and went ahead till I reached the lane of ‘Vazzaneen’ and saw that Hamid was sitting and waiting for me. When he saw me, he advanced towards me and shook hands with me and both of us headed for the vizier’s house. The vizier said to me, ‘O old man! Allah has fulfilled your wish.’ Then he apologised to me (for his past behaviour) and gave me some official papers bearing his seal.

I took them and came out.[^1] Reminder From the above incident we can gauge the degree of influence that Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) exerted in the court. We can also conclude that Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) was the beneficiary of Imam’s (a.t.f.s.) special care and attention, while he had not yet become a special deputy as this incident occurred in 298 AH - 7 years before Muhammad b. ‘Uthman’s (r.a.) demise, after which Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) assumed special deputyship. Selection of Husain b.

Rauh (r.a.) More than 3 years before his own death, Muhammad b. ‘Uthman had started directing some of the Shias who were bringing Khums and other monies for Imam (a.t.f.s.) to Husain b. Rauh (r.a.). In this manner he was preparing the ground for the appointment of Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) to the position of special deputyship. If someone raised any doubt or objection to this practice, Muhammad b. ‘Uthman (r.a.) would affirm that this was on the order of Imam (a.t.f.s.) himself.

In this regard, there are several traditions, of which, we narrate just one: Muhammad b Ali Aswad narrates, ‘When some financial donations (waqf) used to be brought to me, I would surrender the same to Muhammad b. ‘Uthman (r.a.) and he used to accept it from me. Once, during the last days of his life, I took some monies and went to him, but Muhammad b. ‘Uthman ordered me to hand over the wealth to Husain b. Rauh (r.a.). I went to Husain b.

Rauh (r.a.) and handed the money to him and asked him for a receipt. Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) complained about this to Muhammad b. ‘Uthman, so Muhammad b. ‘Uthman ordered me not to demand a receipt from Husain b. Rauh (r.a.) in future. He stressed, “Whatever wealth you deposit with Abul Qasim Husain b. Rauh (r.a.), it is as if you have deposited the same with me.” After this incident, I never sought a receipt for any amount deposited with Husain b. Rauh (r.a.).

A similar incident has been narrated by Abu Abdillah Ja’far b. Muhammad Madai famous as ‘Ibn Qazooda’.