By putting down these upn sings...

By putting down these upn sings, the Ummayad rulers only made themselves more unpopular and, not only did they weaken themselves, but also paved way for further uprisings. Syed Ameer Ali described this situation thus: "The flower of the nation had perished either in the civil wars or under the suspicious policy of a jealous court.

The blind confidence reposed by the last sovereign in his ministers had thrown the government in the hands of incomplete and self-seeking functionaries whose incapacity and misrule alienated the people. Hisham was little fitted by character or disposition to cope with difficulties, which now beset the empire.

The frequent change of governors led to disastrous consequences." (A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SARACEN AS): Then, it was clear that time was ripe for those with leadership abilities and some recognition in Muslim society to organize themselves to topple the I mmayade dynasty. Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S), in the eyes of his contempora-ries, was the ideal person for this task. However, Imam (A.S) had a different opinion.

When proposals came to him to do so, he flatly refused to get himself involved politically. How right the Imam was, we shall see in the course of this chapter. Whereas Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) refused to seize this opportunity, there were others who were tempted to so. They went after it and the result was disaster and destruction for them. This subject w ill be discussed elaborately in Chapter 3 and 4.

At this juncture, we shall describe briefly the merits of Imam Jaffer Sadiq's (A.S) approach and its impact on the welfare of humanity in general and Muslims in particular. THE STRATEGY OF REFORMING THE CORRITT SOCIETY THROUGH THE PROCESS OF EDI CATION AND LEARNING: Zaid, Imam Muhammad Baqirs step-brother, and later on his son, Yahya, decided to take the political choice.

Similarly, later on, Imam Hasan's grandson Abdullah Mahaz and his two sons Muhammad (popularly known as 'Nafse Zakiah" - the pure soul) and Ibrahim, too, decided to get involved politically to counteract the Ummayad oppression. The outcome of their approach will be discussed in chapter 3 and 4.

The grandchildren of Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, by the name of Abu Abbas (later on came to be known as Saffah "The bloodshedder") and Abu Jaffer (later on came to be known as Mansoor —""the victorious"), too, chose to agitate against the Ummayad rulers. The outcome of their struggle will be assessed in chapter 3 and 4.