He would always say...

He would always say: “I never saw anybody like him in Samarra, he is the most pious and knowledgeable man of the time.” ‘Ubayd Allah Khaqan's son said: “I always asked people about the state of the Imam.

I would find people humble toward him and noticed them admitted to his nobility and would love him.” Although the Holy Imam (as) would not associate with others except his devoted Shi‘as, the Abbasid ruling regime had him most of the time imprisoned and banned him from contact with others in order to maintain the caliphate in peace and quiet.

“One of the problems in the time of Imam al-Hasan al-‘Askari (as) was that the property and endowments belonging to the Shi‘as were trusted by the caliphate to the enemy of the Prophet's progeny so as to prevent the Shi‘ite movements would not be financially strengthened. It is reported, for example, that Ahmad b. ‘Ubayd Allah b. Khaqan was assigned by the caliph as the custodian of the endowments and alms in Qum. He inflicted the severest atrocities on the household of the Prophet (S).

Also, Imam ‘Askari (as)'s companions were dispersed and it was impossible to gather in one place. Some like Abu ‘Ali Ahmad b. Ishaq Ash‘ari lived in Qum and others like Abu Sahl Isma‘il Nowbakhti lived in Baghdad. The pressure and surveillance exerted by the Abbasid caliphate following the martyrdom of Imam ‘Ali al-Ridha (as) was so extensive that it had driven the opposite front into the most extreme challenges.

Believing in the truth and calling to comprehensive principles of justice, the latter tolerated all the atrocities and hardships and never neglected to guard and defend their position.”[^1] That we said Imam al-Hasan al-‘Askari (as) was under intense control by the caliphate and not allowed to meet with people, and that all our noble Imams (as) would rarely associate with anyone except their devoted companions or those who referred to them to consult their financial and religious problems, was because the occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (as) was drawing near and people had to gradually get used to it and receive their political directions and solution to their problems from the devoted companions who were the flag-bearers of the religious frontiers, and not to find the occultation period astonishing.