When the Imam was consulted...

When the Imam was consulted, he said that when people assembled to see the so called miracle performed by the Christian priest, he would remove their doubts. The Imam was allowed to leave the prison to go where the crowd assembled to see the miracle performed by the priest. Imam stood there with the crowd and when the priest raised his hands for prayer and rain began to fall, Imam told one of his companions to seize the hands of the priest and bring the piece of bone hidden in his hands.

When this bone was brought before the Imam, he said that it was the bone of a Prophet of God. It was the effect of this holy bone when lifted in prayers to God that brought God's mercy and brought rain to the land. This way the Imam lifted the doubts from the minds of the people. After this the Imam himself spread his prayer mat and performed two Rak’ats of prayers then lifted his bare hands to God for rain to come to the land and wipe out the draught.

The Imam’s prayers were heard by the Almighty and rain fell so much that the land became fertile again and crops began to grow. (Kulaini, Akhbarus Alam)In recognition of this service the Imam was allowed to leave the prison in Baghdad and live in his house in Samarrah, still under house arrest. He was still not allowed to go to Madina. A detailed account of the marriage of Imam Hasan al-Askari (as) was told by Majlisi in Biharul Anwar.

His father Imam ‘Ali Naqi (as) entrusted this important matter to his friend Bashir ibn Sulaiman. First the Imam wrote a letter in the script of ‘Rum’ and sealed it with his own noble seal. He placed the letter in a red purse, with 220 Dinars and then said to his friend, “Take this letter and go to Baghdad. Go to the ferry at the River Tigris when the boats from Syria are being unloaded. Look out for the ship owner whose name is Amr.

Observe when he exhibits a slave girl who would be with two silk garments and a veil to protect her from being seen or handled by the buyers.

You will hear her call out in the language of ‘Rum’, ‘even if you have the wealth and glory of Solomon the son of David, I can never have affection for you, so take care lest you waste your money in purchasing me.’ And if a buyer approaches her, she will say, ‘ Cursed be the man who unveils my eyebrow’ Her owner will then protest, ‘But what recourse have I, I am compelled to sell you?