"He forbade the people to go to the Imam...

"He forbade the people to go to the Imam, and forbade the Imam to sit (outside) to receive the people, and put the utmost pressure on him. So much so that if a problem appeared in a Shi'is life concerning, for example, marriage, divorce or some other matter, and he had no knowledge of the rule of the sharia about it, he could not reach the Imam, and, as a result, the man and the wife had to separate.

" [^11] After a long period, al-Mansur allowed the Imam to benefit the people with his divine knowledge, [^12] but there were always spies to…