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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short Biography of Imam Jaffer As-sadiq(a.s) Chapter 4 : Major Historic Events During the Life-time of Imam Jaffer Bin Muhammad-alsadiq (a.s) and His Non-political Stand INTRODUCTION: Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) was that Imam from the progeny of the Prophet who saw the rulership of the Ummayades and the Abbasides at their peak and at the lowest point of their power.

Whereas he lived through the entire rulership of Hi sham that stretched for nineteen long years, he also saw the rise of Mansoor Dawanaqi from being a fugitive to being one of the strongest rulers of the world of that time. Several" opportunities" became available at this time to the Imam (A.S). In this chapter we shall closely look at these opportunities and examine why the Imam (A.S) chose some and rejected others.

OPPORTUNITIES: Despite the lengthy and somewhat "successful" rulership of Hisham, it was clear that the Umrnayed rein was coming to an end. This is because the Ummayade rulers had proved to be totally ineffective and unfit to rule. People were rising against the cruel government through out the Empire. There were uprisings in Khurasan, Central Asia, Southern Arabia, Spain and North Africa. These revolts were crushed but at a high price.

Not only did they drain the Treasury, but also made the suffering mass more determined to fight for their freedom against the tyrant Ummayades. On the other hand, the Ummayade rulers imposed heavy taxes on people so as to fill the state's ever-empty treasury. A situation was being created for people to be more and more pushed towards a point of overthrowing the Government. This constant "war" between the government and the people created an opportunity.

A strong person who could organize the people and provide them with leadership stood a good chance of replacing the Ummayade rulership. Both Imam Muhammad Baqir (A.S) and Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) saw this opportunity but refused to go after it for reasons which we shall see in the course of this chapter. Besides these two Imams, there were others, too, who saw this plump opportunity of going after the seat of power.

At this juncture we shall briefly relate about those others who went to exploit this opportunity and the fate which befell them in pursuit of this option. 1). Zaid, son of AH bin Husain (A.S.): Zaid, the son of Imam Zainul Abideen (A.S), was one such a person who thought it was time for him to rise against the Ummayades and their repressive rule.