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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-'imam Al-rida [a] and the Heir Apparency New Distortions, and the Dilemma of the 'abbasid Regime ========================================================== After the triumph of the 'Abbasids and the realization of their plan, the Imams of the (A) and their companions did not give up their political activity, based on the principle of nass , in the Ummah. Now, they did not only have to deal with the principle of the bay'ah .

A new, political concept had entered the scene; it was the notion of 'al-rida min aal Muhammad (S)'. The legitimacy claimed by the 'Abbasids had been acquired on the basis of this formula on the instructions of Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. The Imams of the (A) and their followers faced these new conditions with vigour.

A penetrating study of the texts concerning Imamate pertaining to the period following the establishment of the 'Abbasid state will reveal a development in the quantity of these texts, their intellectual and ideological content, and the increased emphasis on the central position of the Imamate in the belief of the Ummah.

The activity of the Imams of the (A) and their followers in educating and making the Ummah aware of the political question on the basis of nass , in revealing the fabrications of the 'Abbasid regime regarding the legitimacy of actual leadership, and disclosing the ambiguity which was exploited in the slogan 'al-rida min aal Muhammad (S)' - all that re-awakened the consciousness of the Ummah with regard to the principle of nass and the conception of Imamate.

This education on the one hand, and the injustices committed by the 'Abbasid government on the other, served to nurture an atmosphere of revolution in the Ummah based on the principle of nass. This was often done with the slogan of 'al-rida min aal Muhammad (S)' - the same slogan on whose basis the 'Abbasid state had been established and by which it acquired its legitimacy.

This means that the legitimacy of 'Abbasid rule had completely disappeared and the idea of a radical change, instead of one of mere reform, was put forward. Thus it is evident that the problem which began to seriously trouble the 'Abbasid state regarding the basis of legitimacy of rule was a second political problem resulting from the political and military conflicts within the state between the major forces which formed the caliphal state, as well as the conflicts among the 'Abbasids themselves.