Therefore we cannot accept the opinion of Sachedina...

Therefore we cannot accept the opinion of Sachedina, who thinks that the appointment of Ibn Ruh as Saf’ir to the Twelfth Imam, "must have been influenced by another eminent member of the Nawbakht family, namely Abu Sahl Isma’il b. ‘Ali. He was one of those leading Imamites, who were present in the last days of the second agent to bear witness to the designation of Abu al­-Qasim as the agent."[^14] In fact, there are also many points to encourage us to disagree with Sachedina's opinion.

First , the installation of all the twelve Imams in the office of the Imamate from Imam ‘Ali b. Abi Talib until the time of the Twelfth Imam, had been carried out neither by the interference of their followers nor by election. As has been demonstrated repeatedly throughout this work the fact is that the promotion of each new Imam occurred according to the personal stipulation ( al­ Ta yin bi‑l‑Nass ) of the preceding Imam in his last will.

Moreover the installation of the first and second Saf’irs had followed the same method. They were promoted to the office of the Wikala by the order of the Imam and there is no evidence to prove that Ibn Ruh was not similarly appointed. Second , none of the ten eminent agents, who were present at that meeting, expected to participate by election, nomination or other means in the appointment of Abu Ja’far's successor.

On the contrary, they attended the meeting so as to know who would be stipulated as the third Saf’ir by the order of the Imam himself. Third, the second Saf’ir had ordered his personal servant, Dhaka, that in the case of his death, he should hand his staff and the treasure chest over to Ibn Ruh[^15].

Fourth, if we take into consideration the fact that the rest of the ten agents recognised the promotion of Ibn Ruh, especially Ibn Matil, who was expected to be the third Saf’ir [^16], and the fact that al‑Shalmaghani, even after his own aspiration to the office of the Sifara recognised Ibn Ruh as the Saf’ir [^17], it is clear that Ibn Ruh must in fact have been appointed by the Imam himself and neither Abu Sahl al‑Nawbakhti nor his family did influence the Imam's decision.

The Activities of Ibn Ruh al‑Nawbakhti According to al‑Dhahabi, after the death of the second Saf’ir in 305/917, his successor Ibn Ruh went to the headquarters ( Dar al­-Niyaba) of the organization, where he met the eminent Imamites such as the servant of the second Saf’ir , Dhaka.