Abi ‘Umayr...

Abi ‘Umayr, was arrested and tortured in the unfulfilled hope that he would reveal the names and locations of al‑Kazim's followers, while his sister was put in jail for four years[^7]. Another agent, ‘Ali b. Yaqtin, who used to send money and letters to the Imam through an individual called Isma’il b. Salam, was also arrested and spent the rest of his life in prison[^8]. According to the Imamite sources the campaign of arrests led to the arrest of al‑Kazim himself and to his death in prison[^9].

Sixty other ‘Alids also died under torture in prison[^10]. After the death of al‑Kazim the members of the Imamite organization found themselves faced with an internal theological and political question involving the doctrine of al-Qa’im al‑Mahdi and his occultation. Al‑Kazim's agents, such as al‑Rawwasi in Egypt, Ziyad al‑Qindi in Baghdad, ‘Ali b. Abi Hamza and Hayyan al‑Sarraj in Kufa, and al‑Hasan b.

Qayama in Wasit, had received many traditions attributed to al‑Sadiq concerning al-Qa’im al‑Mahdi and his occultation, but these traditions did not explicitly state his identity[^11]. Perhaps for this reason, they applied these traditions to the seventh Imam al‑Kazim by denying his death and contending that he was al-Qa’im al‑Mahdi, but that he had gone into occultation[^12].

Consequently, they rejected the Imamate of his son al‑Riďa and split into a new group called the Waqifa, using the money of the organization to their own ends. As a result al‑Riďa lost a considerable number of trained agents and over 100,000 dinars[^13]. Between the years 183‑202/799‑817 al‑Riďa managed to solve this problem at least partially by clarifying to the members of the Waqifa the true nature of al-Qa’im al‑Mahdi, as transmitted on the authority of the previous Imams.

According to al‑Kashshi, he seems to have been able to persuade some of the members of the Waqifa, like al‑Rawwasi and his followers to recognize his Imamate[^14]. Meanwhile the role of the Wikala was expanded to embrace the new needs and tasks of the congregation. Al‑Riďa's agents were ‘Abd al‑‘Aziz b. al‑Muhtadi in Qumm[^15], Safwan b. Yahya in Kufa[^16], ‘Abd Allah b. Jandab and ‘Abd al‑Rahman b. al‑Hajjaj in Baghdad[^17]. Along with another eighty agents ‘Abd al‑Rahman b.

al‑Hajjaj controlled the leadership of the organization through the time of the ninth Imam, al‑Jawad[^18], who achieved considerable success in protecting the organization from new schisms.