He had announced officially the preference of Imam Ali (a.

He had announced officially the preference of Imam Ali (a.s), the pioneer of social justice in the earth, to all the companions and had also announced the defaming and criticizing of Mo’awiya. This action was one of the most important plans that made people think al-Ma'moon was Shiite because all his predecessors used to curse, criticize, and defame Imam Ali (a.s) and they preferred the companions to him. 3.

Appointing Imam Ar-Redha As The Heir Apparent There was another thing due to which people thought that al- Ma'moon was a Shia. It was his appointing Imam ar-Ridha’ (a.s) as his heir apparent and thus he took out the caliphate from the Abbasids to the Alawids. These were the most important points that those, who thought al- Ma'moon was a Shia, relied on. But, when we ponder on the matter, we find that al-Ma'moon was neither a Shia nor was he kind to the Shia.

He did those things just to firm his policies and achieve his purposes. Here are some points that affirm our thought: First, al-Ma'moon had disagreed with the Abbasid family whose tendencies were with his brother al-Ameen because his mother was Zubayda who was very generous and liberal and from the very Abbasid family while the mother of al-Ma'moon, Marajil, was from the servants of the Abbasid palace; therefore, the Abbasids despised him because of his mother.

Hence, al-Ma'moon by pretending to be a Shia wanted to subjugate his family, the Abbasids, who were the bitterest enemies of Ahlul Bayt (a.s) and of their followers. Second, He wanted to discover the Shia after they had been unknown to the Abbasid governments. He wanted to know their names, groups and activities. Some official documents issued by him proved this matter. Third, He wanted to do away with the revolutionary movement that the Shia had established under the leadership of Abu as-Saraya.

Al- Ma'moon saw that the best way to defeat this movement and stop its activities was through being kind to the Shia. With Imam Al-Jawad (A.S) What is important to the readers, as I think, is the study of the relation between Imam al-Jawad (a.s) and al-Ma'moon, the extent of that relation and his other affairs with him. The First Meeting The first meeting between Imam Abu Ja'far al-Jawad (a.s) and al- Ma'moon was in Baghdad when one day al-Ma'moon was going out with his train for hunting.

On his way, he passed by some children among whom was Imam al-Jawad (a.s).