When they were informed about his demise, they inquired about the Imam after him.

When they were informed about his demise, they inquired about the Imam after him. People guided them towards Ja'far Ibn Ali. They saluted him and offered their condolences. They wanted to know from him about the money that they had brought along with themselves, to whom did it belong and how much?

Ja'far stood up from his place, and while gathering his clothes, he said, 'They expect me to know the unseen.' Afterwards, a servant emerged from the house of Imam Hasan al-Askari (a.s.) and announced, 'The letters of so and so are in your possession. You also have a bag containing a thousand dinars. Of which, only ten dinars are pure. They gave rvant saying, 'The one who has sent you must be an Imam.30' The story of this man has also been recorded in books of traditions.

It should be borne in mind, as stated earlier, these are the particulars of an individual and one should not expect to search for these in general books of history or even Islamic history. For, these are personal matters and if a few traditions are available in this regard, we simply accept them. Anyway, we repeatedly emphasize that our basic belief vis-à-vis the existence of Imam-e-Zaman (a.t.f.s.) is not related to these traditions.

If someone refuses to accept these traditions as true and correct, we will reply, 'Well, what is the basis of your rejection? For, the onus is on you to prove the falsity of these traditions. Even if we assume the above tradition to be false and unacceptable, yet the basic belief remains unharmed and unaffected on account of the numerous consecutive traditions narrated concerning the twelfth Imam (a.t.f.s.).

Now, when the basic belief remains unharmed, and the discussion is from the aspect of belief itself, and moreover, there is no proof to refute a tradition or to establish its absence, we shall narrate traditions while maintaining our stand that this is just a narration and only a part of the general history. Steps taken by the Caliph to Arrest Hazrat Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) Due to the funeral prayers led by Hazrat Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) and the instigation of Ja'far, the government became very sensitive.

The Caliph Mo'tamid used all possible steps to gain access to and arrest Imam-e-Zaman (a.t.f.s.). The commanders of the Caliph swooped on the house of Imam Hasan al-Askari (a.s.). They searched it in and out but to no avail. Instead, they began plundering the house.