Imam Hassan al-Askari (peace be upon him) said:
“The most pious of people is the one who refrains in the face of doubts (things about which a person does not know their law of permissibility or prohibition); the most devout of people is the one who establishes the obligatory acts of worship; the most ascetic of people is the one who abandons the forbidden; the most hardworking of people is the one who refrains from sins.”
Abu al-Adyan says: I was a servant to Imam Hassan al-Askari (peace be upon him) and used to carry his letters to the cities. During the illness that led to the martyrdom of the eleventh Imam, I visited him (this illness was apparently caused by the poison administered to him by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tamid).
The Imam gave me some letters and said, “Take these to Madain. You will be gone for 14 days, and on the 15th day you will return to Samarra and hear the wailing from my house. At that time, I will be on the washing table (they will be giving me my ritual bath).” Abu al-Adyan says, “I said, ‘My master, who will take the position of leadership after you?’ The Imam said: ‘The one who asks you for the replies to my letters.’ I said: ‘Give me further guidance.’ The Imam said: ‘The one who prays over me, he is the successor after me.’ I said: ‘Guide me more.’ The Imam said: ‘The one who informs you from within the purse, he is the successor after me.’ The majesty of Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) prevented me from asking further questions. I took the letters to Madain and received the responses.”
As the Imam had told me, I returned to Samarra after 15 days. When I arrived, I heard the sounds of crying and wailing coming from the Imam’s house, and I saw his blessed body being washed. At the door of the house of Ja’far al-Kadhab (the corrupt brother of Imam al-Askari), people were consoling him for the martyrdom of Imam al-Askari and congratulating him for taking the position of leadership. Abu al-Adyan says: I said to myself, “If this corrupt person takes the leadership of the Muslims, then indeed the leadership will be invalid.”
At that moment, someone said to Ja’far al-Kadhab: “Your brother has been shrouded, so rise and pray over him.” Ja’far al-Kadhab, accompanied by some people who had gathered, entered the house and stood over the blessed body of the Imam to offer the prayer. As he was about to say the Takbir (Allahu Akbar), suddenly a child with a wheat-colored complexion, curly hair, and wide teeth came forward, took hold of his cloak, and said: “O uncle, step back, I am more deserving to pray over my father.”
The child then prayed over Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) and buried him beside the grave of Imam Ali al-Hadi (peace be upon him). Then he said to me: “O Basri, give me the responses to the letters you have with you.” I gave him the responses and said to myself, “Two signs have been confirmed, but the matter of the purse remains.”
We were sitting when a man from the city of Qum came looking for Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him). When he learned of the Imam’s martyrdom, he went to Ja’far al-Kadhab with the guidance of some people and said: “We have letters and some money from the people for Imam al-Askari, tell us who the letters are from and how much money there is.” Ja’far said: “Do you expect me to know the unseen?” At that moment, a servant entered and said: “You have letters from such-and-such and the amount of money is 1000 dinars, with 10 dinars being gold.” They gave him the letters and money and said: “The one who sent you is the Imam after Imam al-Askari.”
[Extracted from Muntakhab al-Athar, authored by Ayatollah al-Uzma Safi Golpaygani]
Thus, according to the divine will, the sacred presence of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance), after his noble father, took on the position of leadership from Allah at a young age, just as Prophet Yahya and Prophet Isa (peace be upon them) assumed their missions in childhood according to the verses of the Qur’an.