Yet, once the Abbasids came topower, their opposition to the Shi'ah was hardly less severe than that of the Umayyads. Only at the beginning of the third Islamic century and especially during the reign of al-Ma'mun did Shi'ism have the opportunity to function relatively freely, in fact to the extent that the eighth Imam—'All al-Rida—was chosen as the successor of al-Ma'mun. But after the poisoning and later the death of al-Ma'mun the situation became difficult once again, to such a degree that the new caliph ordered the tomb of Imam Husain in Kerbala to be destroyed and turned into a field.

Ideals and realities of Islam On page 159 Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 4:45pm