They are the imams who believe in Allah, and namely we are those “believers”.

They are the imams who believe in Allah, and namely we are those “believers”.’ The Tafsir Ascribed To Him The tafsir called Tafsir al-Askari was ascribed to Imam Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari (a.s.) but suspicions were aroused about it; some proved it was his and some others denied that. Here we should have a stop to ponder on it. Those Who Depended On This Tafsir Some of the great ‘Ulama’ of the Twelver Shi’a depended on this tafsir and believed certainly it was Imam Abu Muhammad’s tafsir.

The following are the names of some of those ‘Ulama’ : Shaikh as-Saduq[^11] Shaikh at-Tabarsi ^12 Al-Muhaqqiq al-Kurki[^13] The Second Martyr ^14 Muhammad Taqiy al-Majlisi[^15] Ibn Shahrashub ^16 Al-Muhaqqiq Agha Buzurgh[^17] These great men did not suspect that this tafsir was falsely ascribed to Imam al-Askari and believed it was really his.

The Sanadof This Tafsir The sanad[^18] of this tafsir was mentioned in the beginning of the book (Tafsir al-Askari) as the following: Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja’far bin Daqqaq said, “The two jurisprudent sheikhs Abul Hasan Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Ali bin al-Hasan bin Shathan and Abu Muhammad Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Qummi told me from Abul Hasan Muhammad bin al-Qassim al-Astrabadi the interpreter and preacher that Abu Ya’qub Yusuf bin Muhammad bin Ziyad and Abul Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Sayyar, who were from the Twelver Shi’a, said, ‘Our parents were Twelver Shi’a.

The Zaydites were prevailing in Astrabad. We were under the rule of al-Hasan bin Zayd al-Alawi called as ad-Da’iy ilal-Haqq.[^19] He was the imam of the Zaydites. He often listened to them (the Zaydites) and killed people according to their slanders. We feared for ourselves, and so we resorted with our families to Imam Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Ali bin Muhammad the father of al-Qa’im (Imam al-Mahdi) (peace be on him). We asked permission to visit the imam.

When he saw us, he said, ‘Welcome to the two comers to us, and resorters to our protection. Allah has accepted your efforts, calmed your fear, and relieved you from your enemies. Go (back) and feel safe about yourselves and properties!’ We were astonished at his saying, though we did not doubt the truthfulness of his speech. We said, ‘O Imam, what do you order us to do on our way until we get to the country that we had got out of?