He then said,” bring me Musa Ibn Ja’far.

He then said,” bring me Musa Ibn Ja’far.” The Imam Musa ibn Ja’far was brought in all the way from Madina to Baghdad. When he arrived Mansur embraced him and said to him, “Abul Hasan, I have just seen in a dream ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (as) who was reciting this verse. Give me your assurance that you will not revolt against me or against any of my children. Imam replied, By Allah I have no such intentions. The caliph then gave him a thousand dinars and restored him to his family in Madina.

This story give us some idea how these Abbasid caliphs were so afraid of the Imams of Ahlul Bayt that in spite of their total lack of evidence for any kind of revolt against their earthly power, they would not leave them alone. From time to time the Imams were brought in from Madina, kept in Baghdad either on house arrest or inside prisons under the most difficult of conditions. But it was the Imams great Divine Characters that managed to keep them going in the most severe of conditions.

It is because of these uncertain times that the Imam said, “How base is the world for a people, unless God give them joy; and how great is this life , if God is not angry with them.” Total submission to the Will of God in all circumstances. It was widely known that Imam Musa Ibn Ja’far had been given powers of healing. Once he was passing by a house and heard little children weeping. He enquired as to why they were crying.

He was told that they were orphans and their mother had just died and now they had no one to look after them. He went inside the house, made two prostrations and prayed to God for her life. Moments later the woman stood up well and in good health. People who saw this and cried out, “Behold it is Jesus son of Mary.” Once Harun al Rashid was visiting Madina. He went to the mosque of the Prophet near his grave and said, My Salaams to you O’cousin of our fathers.

Imam Musa was there who saluted the grave of the Prophet with the words, My Salams to you O’our grandfather. At this Al-Rashid was disconcerted and went away angry. This occurrence was sufficient to explain his first summons from Al Rashid to come to Baghdad. There he was kept in prison. But after nearly a year in prison Harun saw in a dream that an Abyssinian slave was rushing towards him with a javelin and telling him to release Musa Ibn Ja’far or he will slay him.

Harun immediately called the head of the prison and told him to release the Imam and give him thirty thousand Dirhams.