59-2 Abul Tayyeb Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi - may God be pleased with him - narrated in Neishaboor in the year 352 A.H. (962 A.D.) that Muhammad ibn Ali al-Majilawayh quoted on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Al-Rayyan ibn Shabib - the maternal uncle of Al-Mo’tasim and Mareda’s brother that when Al-Ma’mun wanted to have the people pledge allegiance to him to become the Commander of the Faithful and to Abil Hassan Ar-Ridha’ to become his legal successor to the throne and for Fadhl ibn Sahl to become his minister, he ordered that three chairs be prepared and each one sat on one of the chairs. Then he granted the people permission to enter to pledge allegiance. Each person entered and pledged his allegiance. Each of the three held out their hands and the people who wanted to pledge allegiance would touch their hands and move their hands all the way across them starting from the thumb all the way to the little finger. Then they would leave from another door. At the end, a young man from the Helpers (Al-Ansar) came and pledged allegiance by touching their palms and moving his hand all the way across them starting from the little finger all the way to the thumb. Then Abul Hassan Ar-Ridha’ smiled and said, ‘All the people made their pledge of allegiance in the form of breaking their pledge, while this young man made his pledge of allegiance in the form of making a pledge.’ Al-Ma’nun asked, ‘What is the difference between breaking their pledge and making it?’ Abul Hassan Ar-Ridha’ said, ‘When they want to make a pledge of allegiance, they start moving their hand from the little finger to the thumb, but breaking a pledge of allegiance is by moving on the hand from the thumb to the little finger.’Then Al-Ma’mun ordered that the people return and perform the ceremonies all over again in the way that Abul Hassan had said. The people returned and were saying, ‘How could one who does not know the proper form of making a pledge of allegiance deserve to be a leader? Indeed one who knows this is superior to one who does not know it.’ This was a reason which led to the poisoning of Ar-Ridha’ (by Al-Ma’mun).