In the period under discussion...

In the period under discussion, Imam Muhammad Baqir ('a) and Imam Jafar al-Sadiq ('a) were exponents of this original tendency The followers of Imam Muhammad Baqir consisted of a large number of narrators of traditions whose names are collected in Shi'i works of rijal such as the Rijal of Shaykh Tusi.

[^133] One of the implications of the belief in the divine office of the Imamate was that only the traditions narrated through the Imams were to be considered as reliable in matters of law and Shari'ah. In other words, the Imams employed all their efforts to introduce the as the sole authority to lead the people in religious and political life. The notion of obligatory obedience to the Imam was…