He left me alone for nearly an hour until I felt calm again.

He left me alone for nearly an hour until I felt calm again."[^75] The reader of this historical document realizes how the Abbassids abused people's liberties. The closest official to the ruler, and the key pillar of al-Rasheed's rule, was obsessed with fear. What about the opponents, and those who had nothing to do with the ruler, especially the common people?

The policy of terror practised by the Abbassids isn't in fact, different from the methods adopted by the spying agencies, intelligence apparatus, and police units employed by the terrorist regimes, imposed on the people. We have seen how al- Rasheed's messenger stormed into al-Fadhl's house, while the latter was sleeping in his bed, with no prior permission.

We have read how he was driven by despair to the point of fainting, and how he could not talk with al-Rasheed until one hour had passed and after he came around. This is what fear does to men's will. It deprives them of their dignity and humanity. Here is another document handed down to us by the historians. This time the mass scare from the Abbassid authorities is fully described.

It is said that when Yahya bin Kahlid al-Barmaki arrived at Baghdad to lay the plans for the assassination of Imam Musa bin Ja'far (a.s.), the people were shocked by his mission. Fear took hold of them. Rumours spread, and stories of an impending evil were heard everywhere. The historical text reads, "Then Yahya bin Khalid, himself, arrived at Baghdad using the services of the post.

People were greatly troubled, and they plunged into unbridled rumours."[^76] These words, "People were greatly troubled, and they plunged into unbridled rumours" reflect expressly the nature of the relationship between the ummah and the rulers.

They depict a clear picture of how the state affairs were conducted, how the Abbassids and their followers consolidated their grip over the ummah, and how the attitude of the Imam was, in fact, a result of his feeling of the heavy burden of salvaging the ummah and tearing down the wall of terror built around them. That is the constant policy of Ahlul-Bait Imams (a.s.) toward the successive tyrants. Imam Musa bin Ja'far (a.s.) stayed in prison and refused to go out.

He wanted to make it clear to the ummah that the struggle between them and the unjust rulers would go on for years, as long as the legitimate leadership was opposing oppression, while being restricted.