Why did Imam al-Ṣādiq not take up the sword and rise alongside his uncle Imam Zayd? And why did the rest of his sons not take up the sword?
The question:
Why did Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) not draw the sword and stand in the ranks of Zayd the Martyr’s soldiers, accompanied by his followers and students?
The answer:
According to the Zaydīs, Imam Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) was among those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. He was not, in their view, committed to the doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation) by which he withdrew from the community—as the Imāmīs claim when they describe him as forbidding armed uprising, as Shaykh al-Mufīd states in his treatise al-Ghayba (which the interested reader may consult).
Rather, among the Zaydīs, his enjoining right and forbidding wrong is understood as follows: he spoke with his uncle Imam Zayd ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him) and wished to go out with him, but Imam Zayd ordered him to remain in Medina for reasons of expediency. Thus Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) stayed behind by his uncle’s command; otherwise, he desired to go out with the sword alongside his uncle Imam Zayd ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him).
This report is considered sound among the Zaydīs and was transmitted by Imam al-Hādī ilā al-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him). We have cited it in a collection of important treatises concerning Zaydism and discussed it in detail with additional evidences. However, a group of those who claimed love for Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) refused to go out due to fear of the hardships of jihad; Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) did not approve of them, nor of their actions and statements regarding explicit designation (naṣṣ) and infallibility (ʿiṣma). We have elaborated on this elsewhere in the book al-Rāfiḍa, which the interested reader may consult.
The question:
There were uprisings and wars led by Zaydī imams after Zayd the Martyr—such as the uprising of his son Yaḥyā and a number of the descendants of al-Ḥasan (peace be upon them). Yet we do not see the Twelve-Imam Shīʿī imams drawing the sword and fighting in their ranks. What is the reason?
The answer:
The Zaydīs believe that the Imāmī imams supported the imams from the descendants of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn who rose with the call and the imamate. Thus Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) supported Imam al-Nafs al-Zakiyya Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan (peace be upon him), and likewise instructed his two sons ʿAbd Allāh and Mūsā to go out with them, as reported in Maqātil al-Ṭālibiyyīn. Imam al-Nāṣir al-Uṭrūsh al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥusaynī (d. 304 AH) also stated that Imam al-Ṣādiq and his sons Mūsā and Jaʿfar were pledged in allegiance to Imam al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (peace be upon him).
There is also a report, in meaning, that Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) said:
“I regret nothing except my not having gone out with the two sons of Hind,”
referring to the two imams Muḥammad and Ibrāhīm, the sons of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan (peace be upon him).
Likewise, the Zaydīs believe that Imam Mūsā al-Kāẓim (peace be upon him) pledged allegiance to his cousin Imam al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī of Fakhkh (peace be upon him), and that he excused himself from going out with him due to the large number of his dependents and his lack of means, which the imam accepted. The author has a treatise on the revolutionary stance of Imam Mūsā al-Kāẓim (peace be upon him) that contradicts the Imāmī doctrine regarding their imams and the claim that they practiced taqiyya.
Imam ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā (peace be upon him) openly proclaimed his imamate and took charge of the matter of the succession (wilāyat al-ʿahd), exposing himself to danger; the Zaydīs acknowledged his imamate were it not for the treachery of the ʿAbbāsid al-Maʾmūn. In general, the Imāmī perspective and historiography concerning the righteous among the descendants of al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him) do not reflect the true reality of those imams.
God is the One whose help is sought.
Translation of Ustadh Kadhim Al Zaydi (May Allah reward him)