The divine criteria for leading society after the holy Prophet (pbuh) recognized the most Islamically eligible candidate who upheld wisdom, piety, and justice as outlined by the Prophet of Islam. 

Thus, a number of questions arise: 

1. Why did history only witness the brief governance of Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom the Prophet identified as his successor, and who is acknowledged by all Muslims as the most eligible candidate?
2. Following Abi Talib as the designated caliph, why was Hassan ibn Ali only allowed to rule for six months?
   
3. What was the case with the remaining Imams from the Prophet’s progeny who were designated as having the divine right to caliphate by the Prophet himself?
   
4. Were the divinely appointed Imams brothers in arms or appeasers of the ruling authorities of their time, the Ummayyad and Abbassid dynasties?
5. What were the reasons for the inability of the Imams, especially following Husain ibn Ali and the battle of Karbala, to form an Islamic government, and what role did the practice of Taqiyya, known as precautionary dissimulation, play into this?   

The Objective of Every Imam was to Establish an Islamic government

What is society to do now that it lost its Prophet in the 10th year after the migration (Hijrah)?

The Islamic society was still very new and Prophet Muhammad did not have adequate time in a period of 23 years to explain all Islamic teachings, particularly in Medina where the Islamic government was formed. 

As such, the Prophet assigned two functions to the successive Imams, or leaders after him. The first function is theoretical and the other is practical:

1) To ensure the tenets of the religion are properly interpreted, as God had intended; and

2) To ensure the reins of society are in their hands, for they will steer it in the same direction that the holy Prophet intended.

Why is this important for us? 

The true follower of Islam is the one who understands this objective. If it is not understood what the Imams intended to accomplish, it is tantamount to saying that we do not know where we are headed, for we are the followers of the Prophet and his progeny, and should therefore emulate the Prophetic model.

The 250-year-old Warrior

The lives of the Imams can be categorized as though one person lived for 250 years, as it was one continuous movement that started after the 10th of Hijra, the year of the Prophet’s demise and the beginning of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Imamate, until 260 after Hijra, the beginning of the Mahdi’s minor occultation.

The Imams’ respective missions were one and the same; there are no real contradictions in the decisions they each made, although outwardly that may seem the case. 

Every action and inaction taken helped the Islamic movement propel forward, and each Imam performed his duty to serve the highest Islamic interest at the time.

Defining Jihad in the Context of Imamate

What does it mean to say the Imams carried out Jihad, specifically the eight between Ali ibn Al-Husain (the fourth Imam) and Hasan ibn Ali (the eleventh Imam), who did not rise with the sword?

Jihad is a subcategory of Furu’ Al-Din, or the branches of faith. The term cannot be defined broadly as any type of struggle in the way of God, nor can it be defined as narrowly as armed struggle, since the usage of the word in the Qur’an is not restricted to this definition. 

The word Jihad, therefore, consists of a struggle to move close to an objective that involves engagement with an enemy, whether through a stance or the sword.   

The Jihad of the Imams Against Ruling Authorities

When we look at the 12 Imams, with the exception of al-Mahdi, all were either martyred in prison or on the battlefield, or at the hands of their enemies. 

What kind of person would a powerful governmental order put to death? Would it be anyone other than one who is engaged in an active struggle against it?

Four Phases of the 250-year duration of Imamate:

1. The ‘First Phase’ is Ali ibn Abi Talib’s cooperation with the first three caliphs during the first 25 years of his Imamate. 
2. The ‘Second Phase’ is the establishment of Islamic governance, beginning with the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib, followed by Hassan ibn Ali, which did not last more than six months. 
3. The ‘Third Phase’ is the preparation of a covert organization for bringing about insurrection against the corrupt rulership, starting with Hassan ibn Ali’s treaty with Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan, and continuing for 20 years until the martyrdom of Husain ibn Ali in Karbala. 
4. The ‘Fourth Phase’ is organized resistance against the corrupt ruling authorities, starting with Ali ibn Husain, the fourth Imam, and continuing until the minor occultation of al-Mahdi, the 12th Imam. 

Resistance During the ‘Third Phase’ 

Hassan ibn Ali issued an order to form organized cells in Kufa, Iraq, and Madina, Hijaz, which constituted a group of select followers who understood his words and acted upon them. This also included a larger group comprising the masses who obeyed his instructions. 

The same people who fell to the pressure and failed to join the front lines alongside Hassan ibn Ali against Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan had gone through such a transformation that 10 years later, they stood up against Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan alongside the great companion Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi.

The details of this covert organization are not stated explicitly in history books, as there was a need to practice Taqiyya against the ruling authorities.

Resistance during the ‘Fourth Phase’

In the court of the oppressors

Muhammad ibn Ali, the fifth Imam, was taken to Damascus in handcuffs and made to appear in the court of the caliph Hisham. 

Hisham said to him, “O Muhammad, son of Ali. You – the sons of Ali bin Abi Talib– have always been this way. Whoever’s turn comes has broken the cane of the Muslims.”

The response of Muhammad ibn Ali was to make Hisham realize that it should be no surprise that leadership was his God-given right. 

The Imam said, “And it was through us that God guided you to this way of life. Therefore, we are more familiar with it; and according to the Islamic criteria for leadership, we have a higher priority and right to lead and rule over the community than you do.” 

Jafar ibn Muhammad’s intellectual efforts

Jafar ibn Muhammad, the sixth Imam, had to prepare the intellectual grounds by telling the truth about the usurpation of the caliphate, as the Ummayad propaganda worked tirelessly to convince people that not only was Ali ibn Abi Talib not a Muslim, but that he was the enemy of Islam.

The Imam would stand in the midst of crowds in the House of God, in Mina and Arafat, issuing slogans that it was he who was the rightful ruler of society, and that the legitimate ruler before him was his father, Muhammad ibn Ali.

The contemporary equivalent would be a situation where an elected government is overthrown by a military coup, and its president is thrown into prison without any due process of law, and martial law is declared. 

Then, someone breaks the military curfew and gets on air for several minutes during prime time, declaring the government established by the coup to be illegitimate and to urge the people to pour into the streets and demand the restoration of their duly elected president.

Because of the political agitation of Jafar ibn Muhammad and his followers, the situation changed, instigating a movement that uprooted the Umayyads.

Jafar ibn Muhammad prevented from forming an Islamic government

There is a narration of a man who came to Jafar ibn Muhammad in Madina and suggested that he should rise up in insurrection against the ruling powers. 

The Imam told him, “If I had as many (loyal and reliable) supporters as the number of these sheep, I would rise up in insurrection.” The man said, “I counted the number of sheep and there were 17 of them.”

The Imam needed to train his followers into elite cadres who could manage the insurrection that was to come – if and when the time became ripe for it. For the first 10 years, the matter remained covert and hidden. 

Jafar ibn Muhammad’s Support for Armed Insurrections

There is a hadith by Jafar ibn Muhammad in which he states, “let the freedom fighters of the House of the Prophet enter into the critical phase (of their insurrectionary activities), I will cover their costs.” 

Jafar ibn Muhammad would make certain statements which would prompt people to join his uncle, Zaid ibn Ali’s forces, and pledge allegiance to him. 

In one report, Jafar ibn Muhammad says, “The heavenly rewards of anyone who is martyred with Zaid will be like those who were martyred with Ali ibn Abi Talib.” 

There is a report which states the Imam took on the responsibility of administering the affairs of the families whose relatives were martyred in Zaid’s uprising and acted as their guardian.

Propaganda of A-Politicalness 

One may open Allamah Majlisi’s Bihar al-Anwar, only to see a hadith report where Ali ibn Husain tells Yazid ibn Muawiyah that he is his humble servant, and on the next page, reads the epic poem of the Imam wherein he addresses Yazid, stating, “We shall not compromise with you; you want to kill us, and we want to kill you.” 

Most of these hadith reports were narrated by Rabi, al-Mansur’s chief of staff (the Abbasid Caliph), and someone who al-Mansur trusted. 

A narrative was constructed wherein the Imams were depicted as being submissive to the rulers of the day in order to deceive the generations to come to desist from their resistance struggle.

The Establishment of Allied Scholars

Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan put the court-allied scholars of religion to use. Anyone who has studied the history of religions knows that clergy are one tool that oppressive and despotic powers use to usurp the rights of the people.

When Ali ibn Husain addresses Muhammad Zuhri, a prominent example of the court-allied clergy who was a highly knowledgeable scholar of religion, he says: 

“It is possible that an ordinary person who works at the pleasure of the caliph not be subjected to too much punishment by God because he might not know better. But what about you? You have read and understood God’s sacred writ, and are aware of his ordinances and prohibitions. 

For every quantum of knowledge and awareness which you have acquired, you have taken on a mission and responsibility onto your shoulders. They attract the hearts of the ignorant to themselves by means of you (and people like you).”

Taqiyya as an Excuse for Passiveness

When people today define Taqiyya, they often think that if there is a threat of danger or loss as a consequence of performing a religious act, one can refrain from performing it. 

However, the Imams proved to us that Taqiyya is an instrument that enables Muslims to reach their goals more effectively.

For this reason, many hadith reports do not disclose the identity of the enemies the household of the Prophet engaged with, or the reason for the battle, or when the Imam sent someone on a mission. 

These details were omitted from the narrative because of the resistance organization’s need to maintain secrecy and to maintain information on a “need to know” basis.

Examples of covert actions by way of Taqiyya: 

1. Anonymity in communications by letters; 
2. Sending secret letters; 
3. The companions in charge of the secret affairs of the Imams and his interface with the resistance movement have been described as the doors of the Imams, such as Yahya bin Umm ut-Tawil and Mu’alli bin Khanis, who were put to death in the most barbaric manner. 

This proves that Taqiyya does not equate to refraining from practice; rather, it describes the performance of an act in such a manner so as to ensure its success.

Conclusion

The Imams who led society after the Holy Prophet sought to establish a government, not because power was the goal in and of itself, but rather it was the means to enact God’s justice on this Earth and to prevent oppression from reigning. 

As Imam Husayn ibn Ali mentions in his sermon in Mina whilst addressing the scholars, 

“The administration of the country should be trusted to religious scholars who are guardians of God’s ordinances concerning what is permitted and what is forbidden. But you allowed the oppressors to take away your functions and God’s affairs to fall into their hands. 

What enabled them to gain control was your fleeting panic from death and your love of life, which shall in all certainty depart from you. As a consequence of that mentality, you have delivered the powerless masses into the clutches of the oppressors [1].”

The limiting factor for the Imams not establishing governance was their lack of supporters, and the learned scholars of the time not carrying out their duties. 

The principles outlined in the Quran pertaining to the societal realm and the model put forward by the Imams are timeless, and not only meant to be implemented in the presence of an infallible. 

In fact, the main reason the awaited Imam Mahdi is still in occultation is due to our lack of readiness, to the extent that is expected to bring about an international government of justice. 

Sources:

1. https://lanternpublications.com/books/History/imam-husain-brothers-in-arms 
2. https://www.al-islam.org/articles/sermon-mina-al-imam-al-husayns-everlasting-message-religious-leaders