His "headquarters"...

His "headquarters", as it were, was the Prophet's Mosque in Medina where people from all over the world would come in search of knowledge and guidance and he would serve them all. His biggest challenge was his age. However, anyone who cam in his contact would immediately recognize his excellence and see in him the extra ordinary qualities found in only the Imams appointed by Allah.

For his own selfish reasons, Mamoon invited Imam (A.S.) to Baghdad, and offered his own daughter Ummul Fadhl to him, in marriage. The noble men and courtiers from the clan of Abbas (The c Bani Abbasi') were very angry with Mamoon for wishing to make Imam Taqi (A.S) his son-in-law. They sent a strong delegation to Mamoon, expressing their dissatisfaction with this arrangement.

A royal princess given to the "child-Imam" would humiliate the noble house of Abbas1 Mamoon's reply was "Do not underestimate this child, he has qualities that none amongst you has." To satisfy them, Mamoon gave them permission to test the young Imam's knowledge and any other skills that they wished. The Bani Abbasi were very happy with this proposal.

They planned to have the Imam tested by the most renowned scholar of the court, Kazi Yahya Ibne Aksam, who also happened to be the head of the Judiciary of the Muslim empire at that time. ("Kazi-ul- Kuzzat"). THE QUESTION - ANSWER SESSION IN THE ROYAL COURT. The Bani Abbasi were sure that the Imam (A.S) was no match to the crafty Kazi. However, they wanted the whole world to see the young Imam humiliated.

By their insistence, Mamoon arranged for a full court session and invited 900 scholars to be present to watch the Imam being tested. The Court was fully decorated for the occasion. Irnam (A.S) was offered a place to the right of Mamoon. Kazi Yahya, beaming with arrogance, turned to Mamoon, seeking formal permission to begin testing the Imam (A.S).

Mamoon advised him to seek the permission from Imam (A.S) himself Kazi Yahya Bin Aksam addressed the Imam saying, "May I ask you a question?" The Imam replied. Yes, go ahead." Yahya then paused his question "What fine does a person have to pay if he hunts while he is still in 'Ihram" (If one is in 'Ihram" of pilgrimage to Mecca, he is forbidden from doing 25 things one of them being hunting). Yahya had a reason for asking this question.