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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Story of the Sun: A Look at Imam al-Ridha Life Major Problems of His Holiness Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) in the Time of his Imamate Imam al-Ridha‘s (a.s.) Imamate began in 183/799 with the martyrdom of his noble father and lasted for twenty years, i.e., until 203/818. During this period, his holiness encountered various problems proportionate to the time.

At the beginning of his Imamate, the big excruciating problem of Waqifites ( Waqifiyya )[^1] happened, which got the Shi‘a community engaged for a long time.

The First Problem: Waqifites and Imam al-Ridha‘s (a.s.) Struggle against them The Waqf Sect and the Reason behind its Creation After the martyrdom of Imam al-Kazim (a.s.), in that sever crisis during which the then government had martyred the leader of the society and the Shi‘a community was in a distressing situation, all of a sudden one of the greatest divine tribulations occurred, i.e., Waqifite misconception ( shubha ) which caused the deviation, disintegration, and weakening of many of the Shi‘as.

Severity and expansion of this shubha was due to the fact that the founders of this fabricated school of thought were from among the legal representatives of Imam al-Kazim (a.s.) and the well-known people in the Shi‘a community, whom people would refer to during the time when his holiness Imam al-Kazim (a.s.) was in prison and a lot of the Imam’s properties were accumulated with them.

After the martyrdom of Imam al-Kazim (a.s.), in order to appropriate the properties, they claimed that the Imam had not been martyred and that he was alive and he was in fact the awaited Imam who would rise up after a while! Shaykh Tusi (may God sanctify his spirit) said, “The first who promulgated this school were three people named ‘Ali b. Abi Hamza al-Bata’ini, Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi, and ʿUthman b. ‘Isa.

They did this because of the worldly gains and bought off a group of people such as Hamza b. Bazi‘, Ibn al-Mukari, and Karram al-Khath‘ami and made them conform to them.[^2] Yunus b. ‘Abd al-Rahman said, “When Imam al-Kazim (a.s.) deceased, there was a lot of property gathered with each one of his administrators; Ziyad b. Marwan, seventy thousand dinars and ‘Ali b. Abi Hamza, thirty thousand dinars and this caused the waqf (stand still and stop) and denial of the holy Imam’s martyrdom.

When I got to know the truth and began to call people to Imam al-Ridha (a.s.), those two (‘Ali b. Abi Hamza and Ziyad b.