Imam Al-Sadiq

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TO THE GENTLE READER
You may find, as I have found, that these pages are not enough to encompass this unique,
noble character. No wonder! The ascent is not easy. So, my excuse is the inability that I have
recorded against myself However I cannot drive away the inability.
Please, after you have read these pages, bestow your notices upon me to avoid that in another
edition. Indeed, the dearest one of my brothers is he who gives me my defects as a present.
Mohammed al- Husayn al- Muzaffar
As understanding the life of this Imam needs studying the affairs of the Omayyad and the
Abbasid dynasties when Abu Abd Allah, peace be on him, lived, the attitude of these two
powers towards the members of the House ( ahl al-Bayt ), the number of ahl al-Bayt, the
religious sects and schools during his lifetime, and the opinions of people about the Imamate,
it is necessary for us to mention these subjects in the preface, because through them we are
able to understand his political, scientific and social life, and the reason for which he
published sciences and knowledge, he summoned Muslims to adopt ethics and merits, and
urged them to spread virtues secretly and keep their attribution to (ahl al-Bayt ) secrets. Also
he prevented his followers from showing their support for them and going frequently to them
openly. This is what we call dissimulation (taqiyah).
So, through this preface, the reader is aware of the lifetime of this Imam before he studies its
details.
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