Meeting of the Elders of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in the Third Century

He said: Muhammad ibn Mansoor al-Muradi said: I was in my house in Kufa in the year twenty and two hundred gloomy and sad, because of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and their Shi’a in it, until Ali Abu Abdullah, Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zaid ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him), asked permission from him , so I received him, entered him into my house, welcomed him, and pleased me with his safety from Basra.
Then I did not feel anything, while I was talking to him, and I was saddened by what was in the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him) until Ali Abu Muhammad, al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim ibn Isma’il al-Rusi (peace be upon him), asked permission, so I received him, admitted him, welcomed him, and was pleased with his safety from the Hijaz.
He made us talk and mention the injustice and transgression of the people, and what the mighty people overcame until Abdullah bin Musa bin Abdullah bin Al-Hasan (peace be upon him) asked permission, so I went and received him, and admitted him to the house, and congratulated him on his safety and his safe arrival from the Levant, because he was in Jabal Lakam, and Ahmad bin Issa and Al-Qasim bin Ibrahim came to him and asked him about his condition and his affairs.
He said: Abu Muhammad, al-Hasan ibn Yahya ibn al-Husayn ibn Zaid (peace be upon him), saw them, so he came and knocked on the door, so I got up and opened it for him, and he greeted the people and called them for safety, and he said: Praise be to Allah, who has gathered us and you in the house of a guardian of our guardians.
Muhammad ibn Mansur said: These are those whom the Sultan was afraid of, and they refrained from attending them, in their assemblies, and taking their gifts.
Muhammad ibn Mansur said: I was overwhelmed with pleasure, which is not good for me to describe, and I was amazed, and I wanted to go out and take what they were eating.
They said, “Where are you going? We visited you and you left us and you went out.”
I said, “Gentlemen, I will take you what is good for food.”
They said, “And what do you have?”
I said, “Yes, but I will increase.”
They said: “And what do you have?”
I said, “I have bread, salt, yogurt, and sabre dates.”
They said, “We swear to you, do not add anything to this, and close the door so that we can be safe.”
So I got up and closed it, and I looked at the door, and I presented them with a plate of bread, salt, vinegar, yogurt and dates, and they gathered together and called God Almighty and made them eat, without modesty, until they were satisfied, and they drank from the water of the Euphrates that I had, and they got up and performed ablution to pray, and they prayed.
When they broke up, they stretched out their legs, each on his own carpet, talking and mourning the injustice and injustice they were in, so I got up and sat on the threshold of the attribute so that their group could see me and I wept, and I said: “Gentlemen, you are the Imams, and you are the children of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him ) and the children of Ali and Fatimah (may Allah’s prayers be upon them all) – and you are the ones referred to to You have gathered, and Allah has brought you together, and we are without an Imam, and work in what brings you closer to Allah, the Almighty, and pledge allegiance to one of you, the most knowledgeable and the strongest of you, so that the satisfaction of you will be satisfied with the Imam, for me, for others like you, and for the Muslims.
They said, “O Shaykh, what is the best thing you have said! You have our nation, our flesh and our blood, and you are one of us, the people of the House, and what you have said is the right thing, and we will do it, God willing, hopefully.”
He said: I said: Rejoice with me, and do not leave until you have reconciled, and do not delay him to another council, for we are not safe from accidents.
Abu Muhammad, al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim, came to Abu Abdullah, Ahmad ibn ‘Issa, and said: “Our Shaykh and Wali have saida sincere and agreed, and I have chosen you for the ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and you are the strong scholar.
They all said : Satisfaction is satisfaction.
Ahmad ibn ‘Issa said: “No, by Allah, and you, O Abu Muhammad, are present, and if you come, no one should come before you and choose you over you, and you are the first to pledge allegiance to me than me.”
Al-Qasim said: “O Allah, forgive, O Allah, forgive, please you, and I ask you to do the affairs of the ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and deceive me?”
He said, “It will not be, and you are present.”
He said: Then al-Qasim approached ‘Abdullah ibn Musa and said: ‘O Abu Muhammad, I have heard what has happened, and Abu ‘Abd-Allaah refrained from accepting what I have indicated, and you are pleased with us, and I have pleased you with your knowledge and asceticism.
He said: O Abu Muhammad, we do not choose anyone over you, and Abu Abdullah was right in what he said, for You are the one who is pleased with all of us.
Al-Qasim said: “O Allah, forgive me, have You also forgiven me? Have you not been ascetic in looking at the ummah of your father Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the people in general?”
Then he approached al-Hasan ibn Yahya ibn al-Husayn ibn Zayd, and said: “O Abu Muhammad, accept this matter, for you are worthy of it, and you are strong enough to look at it, and the country is your country, and you know from the matter of the people what we do not know.”
He said: “O Abu Muhammad, by Allah, no one comes before you except when he is wrong, you are the Imam, and you are the Radha, and we have pleased you all.”
Al-Qasim said: “O Allah, forgive Allah, forgive us.”
He said: Then Ahmad ibn ‘Isa approached the people and said: Abu Muhammad is pleased with us, and I am pleased with him.
Abdullah ibn Musa and al-Hasan ibn Yahya said: I have believed, O Shaykh.
Muhammad ibn Mansoor said: I was afraid that we would miss the time of the ‘Asr prayer, and they did not conclude, until Ahmad ibn ‘Isa al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim stood up and took his hand and said: I have pledged allegiance to you on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and you are the one who is satisfied.
So he made al-Qasim say: “O Allah, forgive, O Allah, forgive.”
Then Abdullah bin Musa and al-Hasan bin Yahya pledged allegiance to him, and they accepted him and said to me: “I pledge allegiance.”
So I stood up and pledged allegiance to al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Then al-Qasim said to me: “Arise, O Abu Abdullah, and listen to it, and say: Long live the good deed.”
So I got up, I gave the call to prayer, I bowed, and I got up, so al-Qasim (peace be upon him) came forward and prayed for us in congregation for the afternoon prayer, and they were with me that night, and he prayed Maghrib and Isha with us in congregation.
When they became a slave, they dispersed, and al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim went to Hijaz, Ahmad ibn ‘Isa went to Basra, and Abdullah ibn Musa went to al-Sham, and al-Hasan ibn Yahya returned to his house, and they pledged allegiance to al-Qasim (peace be upon him).
And Allah has a throne of a maqam! He has gathered the arguments of Allah on the people, from the family of the Prophethood, the scholars, peace and blessings be upon them.
[Liwa al-Anwar fi Jami’ al-‘Uloom wa al-Athar by Imam al-Mujaddid al-Din Mujaddin al-Din Mujaddin ibn Muhammad al-Mu’ayyidi, 7/2]