7-1 Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Taliqani - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Sowly quoted on the authority of Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Abdullah, on the authority of Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Soleiman al-Nowfali, on the authority of Salih ibn Ali ibn Atay’yat that, “The reason for taking Musa ibn Ja’far (s) to Baghdad was that Harun had decided to entrust the affairs (of the government) to his son Muhammad ibn Zubaydeh. He was one of his fourteen sons. He chose three of them. He chose Muhammad ibn Zubaydah to be his successor to the throne, Abdullah Al-Ma’mun to be his successor, and Al-Qasim al-Mo’taman to be the one to follow them. Harun decided to announce this so that everyone - the general public and the elites - knew about it. Then in the year 179 A.H. (794 A.D.) he set out for a Hajj pilgrimage. He issued an order to all towns and ordered that the jurisprudents, the scholars, the Quran recitors, and the military commanders all be present there during the time of the Hajj pilgrimage. He himself set out for Medina.Ali ibn Muhammad al-Nowafali added, “My father narrated for me that the reason why Yahya ibn Khalid’s (Harun’s vizier) vilification of Musa ibn Ja’far in the presence of Ar-Rashid was that Harun had entrusted his son Muhammad ibn Zubaydah to Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Ash’ath to be educated. Yahya did not like this and told himself that when (Harun) Ar-Rashid dies Muhammad (Al-Amin) will become the ruler, and this will be the end of the period of his power and that of his children. He thought that Muhammad would turn the affairs over to Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Ash’ath and his children.Yahya knew that Ja’far was a Shiite. Therefore, he acted as if he was of the same sect. Then Ja’far became happy and told him about all of his affairs, and what he thought about Musa ibn Ja’far (s). Once Yahya became informed of his beliefs, he talked about him with (Harun) Ar-Rashid.However, (Harun) Ar-Rashid supported Ja’far and took into consideration his position in the government. Thus he did not make any rush decisions about him. But Yahya kept on talking bad about him with (Harun) Ar-Rashid. One day Ja’far went to see (Harun) Ar-Rashid. Harun honored him, and they talked about his nobility and that of his father. On that day Ar-Rashid ordered that Ja’far be paid twenty-thousand Dinars. Therefore, Yahya hesitated and did not tell Ar-Rashid anything until the night.Then he told Ar-Rashid, “O Commander of the Faithful (Ar-Rashid)! I had told you some things about Ja’far and his religion before. However, you defended him and did not accept what I said. Now there has come up an issue which will make things clear.” Harun said, “What is it?” Yahya said, “Ja’far sends one-fifth of whatever property he gets to Musa ibn Ja’far. I have no doubt that he has done the same with the twenty-thousand Dinars which you ordered to be paid to him.”Then Harun said, “Yes. This could finish things off.” Then he sent for Ja’far at night. Ja’far had become informed of Yahya’s vilification behind his back, did not inform him of everything he did, and their friendship had turned into enmity.When Ar-Rashid’s messenger went to Ja’far at night, Ja’far thought that Harun might have believed what Yahya had said about him and feared that Harun had called him in to kill him. Thus he poured some water over himself, asked for some musk and camphor, rubbed them on his body and wore a shroud over his garment. Then he went to Ar-Rashid. When Harun saw him that way and smelled the camphor and saw the shroud on him, he said, “O Ja’far! What is this?” He replied, “O Commander of the Faithful! I know that they have told you bad things about me behind my back. When you sent me someone at this hour, I was not secure thinking that their backbiting had affected you and you have called me in on the mat to kill me.Harun said, “Never! However, I have been informed that you send one-fifth of whatever you get to Musa ibn Ja’far, and that you have done the same with the twenty-thousand Dinars. I want this to be clarified for me.” Then Ja’far said, “O Commander of the Faithful! God is the Greatest! Please order one of your servants to come with me and bring the money back to you sealed as it was.” Then Ar-Rashid told hisservant, “Take Ja’far’s ring (to show his family and get them to trust you), go to his house and bring me the money.” Ja’far told him the name of his slave-wife who had the money. Then she gave the servant the sealed bags of money, and he brought them to (Harun) Ar-Rashid. Then Ja’far told Harun, “This is the first case for you to see that they ascribe false things to me.” Harun said, “O Ja’far! You are right. Return home. You are secure. I will not accept anyone’s words about you.”The narrator of this tradition added, “However, Yahya did not stop in his attempts to undermine Ja’far.”Al-Nowafali added, “Ali ibn Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Umar ibn Ali narrated on behalf of some of the Sheikhs that once when Harun was performing a Hajj pilgrimage before this one, Ali ibn Isma’il ibn Ja’far ibn Muhammad met me and said, How come you have withdrawn yourself so much? Why don’t you pay any attention to the affairs of the Vizier?”Then the vizier sent someone after me, and I accompanied him. I presented my needs to him. The reason behind this was that Yahya ibn Khalid had asked Yahya ibn Abi Maryam, “Can you introduce one of the members of the household of Abi Talib who has worldly inclinations which I can fulfill?” He had answered, “Yes. I know someone with these traits. He is Ali ibn Isma’il ibn Ja’far.” Yahya sent someone after him and told him, “Inform me about the affairs of your uncle (Imam Kadhim), his followers, and the property that they bring for him.”Ali ibn Isma’il said, “Yes. I know about him.” Then he started to say bad things about the Imam (s). He said, “One instance of his extensive wealth is related to when he had bought a land called ‘Al-Yasirieh When they brought the money, the seller said, “I do not want these coins. Give me other coins.” Then the Imam (s) ordered that the coins be returned to his treasury, and thirty-thousand Dinars of the same weight and type that the seller wanted be brought for him.Al-Nowfali added, “My father narrated that Musa ibn Ja’far (s) had entrusted some of his affairs to Ali ibn Isma’il. Even some of the letters of the Imam (s) to his followers were written in Ali ibn Isma’il’s handwriting. However, he slowly became distant from the Imam (s). When (Harun) Ar-Rashid decided to return to Iraq, they informed Musa ibn Ja’far (s) that his brother was planning to go to Iraq along with theKing. The Imam (s) called his brother in and asked, “What is wrong with you? Why do you want to go with the King?” He said, “I have debts.: The Imam (s) said, “I will pay them back.” He said, “What about the expenses for my family?” The Imam (s) said, “Fine. I will pay for them.” However, Ali ibn Isma’il did not give up going with the King. The Imam (s) sent him three hundred Dinars and four thousand Dirhams by means of his brother Muhammad (ibn Isma’il) and said, “So use these for your travel expenses but do not make my children orphans.”