Others apart from the Imamiyyah knew of this name of his...

Others apart from the Imamiyyah knew of this name of his, and related it on their authority.[^4] They cite other nicknames: 'Shah Taq/Shahu't-Taq' and 'Malaku't-Taq'.[^5] Ibnu 'n-Nadim said: "His followers called him Shaqu't-Taq as well."[^6]Moreover, Ibn Hajar relates on the authority of Ibn Abi Tayyi’, the famous Imami scholar, one of the beliefs concerning his being named'Mu’minu 't-Taq', something only he quotes from him: It is said that Hisham ibn al-Hakam, a shaykh of the Rafidah, on hearing that they [the adversaries of the Imamiyyah] had nicknamed him Shaytanu't-Taq, named him ‘Mu’minu’t-Taq'.[^7] This nickname, 'Mu’minu 't-Taq', was not maintained for him after his time, but his contemporaries called him by it, and it is stated on the authority of Hisham ibn Salim al-Jawaliqi himself,[^8] as also from Yunus ibn Ya‘qub[^9] Aban ibn ‘Uthman al- Ahmar[^10] Abu Malik al-Ahmasi,[^11] and Sharik ibn ‘Abdillah an-Nakha‘i.[^12] It is really very unlikely that someone like Hisham ibn al- Hakam should give him this derisory nickname which the adversaries of the Imamiyyah invented for him, and that the followers of the Imamiyyah should counter them with another nickname which was appropriate for a man of his prestige and rank.

Rather, Hisham himself would have been the one who began the opposition to them and chose ‘Mu’minu’t-Taq' for him, as previously mentioned in one of the beliefs regarding the reason for his being given this nickname.

In addition to this, I have not found anything in the Imami hadith which demonstrates the presence of adversity between Hisham and Mu’minu’t-Taq, nor any sort of clearly distinguishable divergence between them similar to the evidence which demonstrates a divergence between Hisham ibn al-Hakam and Hisham al-Jawaliqi. This sort of nicknaming has no justification, even when adversity and enmity is intensified, except in the case of insult and calumny.

Indeed, I have previously mentioned, in a discussion about al-Jawaliqi, that Mu’minu't-Taq and al- Maythami followed al-Jawaliqi in his ideas; a refutation of him is a refutation of both of them, and that is what Hisham ibn al- Hakam did.

Further to all this, there are the numerous indications in what I have mentioned in the biography of Hisham ibn al-Hakam of his good character, that he befriended an Ibadi Kharijite in a way which lasted for years, which set an example of good companionship, and which was bestowed upon all opponents – as al-Jahiz states.