Imamate

His father died in 254. A.H. (868 AD) when he was twenty-two. Four months before his death, the father declared his son to be his successor and executor of his will, asking his followers to bear witness to the fact. Thus the responsibilities of Imamate were vested upon him which he fulfilled even in the face of great difficulties and hostile environment.

In the early days of his imamate, Al-Mu'tassam Al-Abbasi was the caliph. When the latter was deposed, he was succeeded by al-Muhtadi. After his brief reign of only eleven months and one week, al-Mu'tamad came to the throne. During their regimes, Imam Hasan al-Askari (A.S.) did not enjoy peace at all. Although the Abbaside dynasty was involved in constant complications and disorders, each and every king thought it necessary to keep the Imam (A.S.) imprisoned.

One of the Holy Prophet's traditions ran that the Prophet (peace be upon him & his household) would be succeeded by twelve successors, the last of whom would be the Mahdi, Qaim Al-Mohammad (A.S.). The Abbasides knew well that the true successors of the Prophet (peace be upon him & his household) were these very Imams. AI-Hasan (A.S.) being the eleventh, his son would surely be the 12th or the last. They, tried to put an end to his life in such a way, that it would ensure there would be nobody to succeed him. As the simple confinement inflicted on Imam Ali an-Naqi (A.S.) was considered inadequate for Imam Hasan al-Askari (A.S.), so he was imprisoned, away from his family. No doubt the revolutionary intervals between two regimes gave him brief periods of freedom. Yet as soon as the new king came to the throne, he followed his predecessor's policy and imprisoned the Imam again. The Imam's brief life therefore was mostly spent inside dungeon cells.