Thus, with the great and unparalleled mission which he...

Thus, with the great and unparalleled mission which he implemented he created a reawakening in the Muslim world, and as long as the world remains the reawakening of Islam’s reviver will remain alive. He, although apparently he did not prevent Yazid and all the usurpers of the khilafah who came after him from usurping the khilafah , internally turned people’s hearts away from them and put to the wind Mu`awiyah’s plots to defeat Islam.

He performed such a deed that afterwards it was said, “Islam is Muhammadi in origin and Husayni in continuance.” The remaining Imams (peace be upon him), too, performed well the responsibility with which they were entrusted in protecting Islam, keeping in mind existing conditions.

Belief in the appearance of the savior and twelfth Imam gave comfort to the Shi‘as and created a spirit of resistance, patience, and perseverance in the people and prevented power-seeking, despair, and carelessness towards religion.

It is a belief that has been explicitly mentioned in the core of Shi‘a teachings and reliable traditions, and this principle received more attention during the time of Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) and as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) and people’s inclination to it increased in light of the transgressions the usurping rulers committed.

The people understood that if some indifferent individuals during the time of the companions – that is, after the Prophet’s demise (peace be upon him and his family) – conjectured that introducing change in the principle of Imamah would not bring much change in the Islamic agenda, in reality it caused a major tragedy and caused Islam to veer from its true course and the usurped khilafah became a means of hedonism and easy living for a few and of fettering the people and a return to the customs of Caesar, Kisra, and other Satanic powers.

This matter strengthened their faith in the principle of Imamah and they understood that it is only this school of thought that can bring Islam’s agenda to fruition and end that deplorable situation.

Thus, the becoming conduct of the Imams (peace be upon them) on the one hand and the oppressive behavior of the usurpers of the khilafah on the other caused the Shi‘a school of thought to become ever more influential in people’s hearts, and as a result their inclination to the Imams (peace be upon the) began to increase.