As for the claim that our predecessor, Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him), publicly declared to the Ummah his disavowal of the early Imāmīs
As for the fact that our predecessor, Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him), openly declared before the الأمة his disavowal of the early Imāmīs—such as Zurārah ibn Aʿyan and others—this is something attested to by Imāmī sources themselves. This is from the words of their shaykh, Niʿmat Allāh al-Jazāʾirī [Nūr al-Barāhīn, p. 251], stated openly before witnesses and from the pulpits. From al-Jazāʾirī, this constitutes affirmation, correction, and acknowledgment.
As for the Imāmīs’ excuse on behalf of the founder of their path and their leading figure, Zurārah ibn Aʿyan—namely, that this was done by way of taqiyyah (dissimulation) to protect him—this is a sectarian claim that concerns them alone, if they choose to believe it. Today a person may deceive himself with emotion, and tomorrow realities are uncovered. Indeed, an infallible imam misleading people regarding the transmitters of the Sharīʿah—Zurārah and his associates—so that people turn away from them, resulting in a cumulative and hierarchical effect of repudiating the truth and the transmission brought by those who were disavowed, is not worthy of guidance—God forbid that this be attributed to Imam al-Ṣādiq. Rather, they sought to patch things up for themselves and thus attributed this enormity to al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him), knowingly or unknowingly. By doing so, they would also be obliged to rehabilitate every accursed person whom al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) cursed for the same reason—at the very least as a possibility.
Thus, the substantiation of our claim—that Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) was upon a methodology other than that of the Rāfiḍah—is established from within their own heritage, and that he publicly disavowed them before the people. This corroborates the Zaydī report in which Imam al-Ṣādiq says to Imam ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan (peace be upon them both) that what the Rāfiḍah claim regarding him is a lie against him.
May God grant you success.
O God, send prayers and peace upon Muḥammad and upon the family of Muḥammad.
Translation of Ustadh Kadhim Al Zaydi (May Allah reward him)