اعتراض آخر قالت الزيدية لو كان خبر الأئمة الاثني عشر صحيحا لما كان الناس يشكون بعد الصادق جعفر بن محمد عليه السلام في الإمامة حتى يقول طائفة من الشيعة بعبد الله و طائفة بإسماعيل و طائفة تتحير حتى أَنَّ الشِّيعَةَ مِنْهُمْ مَنِ امْتَحَنَ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ الصَّادِقِ فَلَمَّا لَمْ يَجِدْ عِنْدَهُ مَا أَرَادَ خَرَجَ وَ هُوَ يَقُولُ إِلَى أَيْنَ إِلَى الْمُرْجِئَةِ أَمْ إِلَى الْقَدَرِيَّةِ أَمْ إِلَى الْحَرُورِيَّةِ وَ إِنَّ مُوسَى بْنَ جَعْفَرٍ سَمِعَهُ يَقُولُ هَذَا فَقَالَ لَهُ لَا إِلَى الْمُرْجِئَةِ وَ لَا إِلَى الْقَدَرِيَّةِ وَ لَا إِلَى الْحَرُورِيَّةِ وَ لَكِنْ إِلَيَّ .. فانظروا من كم وجه يبطل خبر الاثني عشر أحدها جلوس عبد الله للإمامة و الثاني إقبال الشيعة إليه و الثالث حيرتهم عند امتحانه و الرابع أنهم لم يعرفوا أن إمامهم موسى بن جعفر عليه السلام حتى دعاهم موسى إلى نفسه و في هذه المدة مات فقيههم زُرَارَةُ بْنُ أَعْيَنَ وَ هُوَ يَقُولُ وَ الْمُصْحَفُ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَئْتَمُّ بِمَنْ أَثْبَتَ إِمَامَتَهُ هَذَا الْمُصْحَفُ فقلنا لهم إن هذا كله غرور من القول و زخرف و ذلك أنا لم ندع أن جميع الشيعة عرف في ذلك العصر الأئمة الاثني عشر عليه السلام بأسمائهم و إنما قلنا إن رسول الله ص أخبر أن الأئمة بعده الاثنا عشر الذين هم أمناؤه و أن علماء الشيعة قد رووا هذا الحديث بأسمائهم و لا ينكر أن يكون فيهم واحد أو اثنان أو أكثر لم يسمعوا بالحديث فأما زرارة بن أعين فإنه مات قبل انصراف من كان وفده ليعرف الخبر و لم يكن سمع بالنص على موسى بن جعفر عليه السلام من حيث قطع الخبر عذره فَوَضَعَ الْمُصْحَفَ الَّذِي هُوَ الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ وَ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَئْتَمُّ بِمَنْ يُثْبِتُ هَذَا الْمُصْحَفُ إِمَامَتَهُ .. و هل يفعل الفقيه المتدين عند اختلاف الأمر عليه إلا ما فعله زرارة على أنه قد قيل إن زرارة قد كان علم بأمر موسى بن جعفر عليه السلام و بإمامته و إنما بعث ابنه عبيدا ليتعرف من موسى بن جعفر عليه السلام هل يجوز له إظهار ما يعلم من إمامته أو يستعمل التقية في كتمانه و هذا أشبه بفضل زرارة بن أعين و أليق بمعرفت
Zaidiyyah say: If the tradition regarding the number of Imams to be twelve had been correct, people would not have doubted in the successorship of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as). So much so that there is a group among Shias that believed in the Imamate of Abdullah and some adopted the belief in Imamate of Ismail and some others remained confused. The matter reached such an extent that when some people put Abdullah, the Imam’s son under a test and didn’t find in him the necessary qualities they came out saying: “Now where do we go? To Murjiah or to Hururiya?” And Musa ibn Ja’far heard this and he said: “Neither to Murjiah or Qadariya or Hururiya; come to me.” So, note due to how many things the tradition regarding the number of Imams to be twelve is invalidated. One is that Abdullah occupied the seat of Imamate, secondly Shias approach him, thirdly after having tested him they are confused and do not know that their Imam is Musa ibn Ja’far and the position is such that Musa ibn Ja’far is compelled to call the people to himself. And a jurisprudent (Faqih) of this period, Zurarah bin Uyun, dies in that condition saying with a copy of the Quran on his breast: “O Lord, I testify for the Imamate of the one, whose Imamate is proved in this Quran.” Our reply is: Indeed, all these things are misleading and false because we have not claimed that all the Shias of that period knew the names of all the twelve Imams. Rather we said that the Holy Prophet (sw) informed that the Imams after him shall be twelve who would be his successors and that the Shia scholars have narrated this tradition with their names. And this fact also cannot be denied that there were among the Shias one or two persons or even more than that who had not heard this tradition. However the matter of Zurarah bin Uyun is such that he died before he met a person who could have informed him about this report and he had not heard the appointment text (Nass) of Musa bin Ja’far. And since the tradition and narration had not reached him, his excuse was acceptable because he placed the Quran on his breast and said: “O Lord, I testify for the Imamate of the one, whose Imamate is proved in this Quran.” And does any religious jurisprudent, when an issue is doubtful for him, acts in any other way? Apart from that it is also said: Zurarah believed in and knew about the Imamate of Imam Musa bin Ja’far and he sent his son, Ubaid, to Imam Musa bin Ja’far (as) to inquire if he (Zurarah) was permitted to reveal what he knew about his Imamate, or that he should keep it confidential through dissimulation. And such a thing is in consonance with the position of Zurarah bin Uyun and acceptable for the level of his divine recognition (Marefat).