They became fragmented...

They became fragmented, since the people moved away from them, and the popular base which no longer had an issue to fight over, broke up. These were the urgent and immediate aims of al-Ma'mun on which the survival and stability of his rule depended.

The continuance of revolutionary activities against him, the existence in many regions of the empire of many groups of Muslims who had not paid allegiance to him, and the conspiracies of the 'Abbasid household against him - these were factors which could have led to the downfall of his regime. Al-Ma'mun achieved these aims and ensured the stability and survival of his regime. Al-'Imam al-Rida (A) also achieved his urgent and immediate aims by accepting the heir apparency, the allegiance of death.

His aims justified this, and all or most of them were realized. On the strategic level, however, al-Ma'mun had failed while al-Rida (A) had been successful. Previous…