Qahtaba...

Qahtaba, full authority to assassinate the Shi‘as and the followers of ‘Ali (as)'s household wherever he might find them.

This ruthless and bestial governor brutally beheaded sixty innocent and respectful Shi‘as in the prison overnight and dropped their bodies down into a well.[^1] Similarly, the same governor incarcerated ‘Abd Allah Aftas, Imam al-Ridha (as)'s brother, in the time of Harun and ordered his son, Yahya, to be given a hundred lashes every day although apparently he was granted a respite. And finally, they had Yahya, grandson of Imam Musa b.

Ja‘far (as), starved to death and buried his body under the foundation of a building. ^2 These atrocities made people more disgusted with the Abbasid caliphate.

Although at first it was supposed that the Abbasids were attempting to promulgate Islam and love of and friendship with ‘Ali (as)'s progeny who were their cousins and kin, but gradually and in practice it so happened that the simplicity of the life of the Holy Prophet (S) and the early caliphs, equality, brotherhood, justice, and belief in piety and virtue and the Day of Judgment began to be forgotten and ignored among the Abbasids as it did among the Umayyads before them.

As a result, the pagan beliefs and aristocracy were revived under the guise of pretension as Muslims. Consequently, the noble Imams (as), who followed in the footsteps of the Holy Apostle (S) and their pure ancestors and who were in all instances the advocates of Justice and truth and actualization of the Islamic ideals in the society, were actually living under torture and persecution and under the surveillance of spies and tyrannical rulers of the pretentious Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs.

Having piety, knowledge and virtue was considered sinful for our great leaders who were greatly envied and hated by the Abbasid caliphs. Why was Imam al-Ridha (as) Invited to Khurasan? When Amin was defeated and killed – with the help of Ma’mun's Persian advocates – the way was paved for his rule. In the era of Harun, Ma’mun who was supposed to accede to the throne after his brother Amin, had already been appointed as the governor of Khurasan.

When Amin was driven out of the scene of caliphate, Ma’mun occupied the vacant seat and transferred the center of caliphate from Baghdad to Merv.