These factors can be stated as follows...

These factors can be stated as follows: Repression After 40 AH intense persecution and repression of the descendants of the Prophet ( ‘a ) and their followers prevailed. This suppression hindered some Shi‘ah from establishing a link with their Imams to have enough acquaintanceship with them.

During the second half of the first century, in particular after 72 AH and the defeat of ‘Abd Allah ibn Zubayr who was anti-Shi‘ah, Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ruled over Iraq and Hijaz for twenty years, brutally suppressed, killed and imprisoned the Shi‘ah, expelling them from Iraq and Hijaz.[^4] Imam as-Sajjad ( ‘a ) was exercising dissimulation { taqiyyah } and he could express the Shi‘ah teachings only within the framework of supplication { du‘a }. The Kaysaniyyah sect emerged during that time.

Although Imam al-Baqir and Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) enjoyed relative freedom and were able to propagate the Shi‘ah fundamentals and teachings, when the ‘Abbasid caliph assumed power, he focused his attention on the Shi‘ah. And when he heard the news of the martyrdom of Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ), he wrote a letter to his governor in Medina instructing him to identify and behead the successor of Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ).

Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) designated five persons as his “successors”—Abu Ja‘far al-Mansur, Muhammad ibn Sulayman, ‘Abd Allah, Musa, and Hamidah.[^5] Imam al-Kazim ( ‘a ) languished in prison for a long time. Initially, the ‘Abbasid caliph Musa al-Hadi imprisoned the Imam and released him after sometime. Harun arrested the Imam four times and prevented the Shi‘ah from visiting him.[^6] The Shi‘ah remained in limbo and without a guardian paving the way for Isma‘iliyyah and Fathiyyah preachers.

At the time, the Shi‘ah had nobody to clarify their doubts. The ‘Abbasid rule’s control and surveillance over Imam al-Kazim’s ( ‘a ) activities were such that even ‘Ali ibn Isma‘il, the Imam’s nephew, was relaying information regarding him.[^7] Yes, most of the Shi‘ah at the time were not sure whether Imam al-Kazim ( ‘a ) was alive or not.

As Yahya ibn Khalid Barmaki used to say, I uprooted the religion of the rafidhi s {dissidents} (pejoratively referring to the Shi‘ah) because they were thinking that religion without the Imam will not survive and remain alive, while today they do not know whether their Imam is alive or not.”[^8] During the moment of Imam al-Kazim’s ( ‘a ) martyrdom, none of the Shi‘ah were present on the scene.