title: Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi
text: # Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi
  
  Part of a series on Shia Islam :
  
  Twelver Shi'ism :
  
  The Fourteen Infallibles
  
  Muhammad
  
  Fatimah
  
  The Twelve Imams
  
  Ali
  
  Hasan
  
  Husayn
  
  al-Sajjad
  
  al-Baqir
  
  al-Sadiq
  
  al-Kadhim
  
  ar-Ridha
  
  al-Taqi
  
  al-Naqi
  
  al-Askari
  
  al-Mahdi :
  
  Principles
  
  Monotheism
  
  Justice
  
  Prophethood
  
  Imamate
  
  Judgement Day :
  
  Other beliefs
  
  Imamate of the Family
  
  Angels
  
  Mourning of Muharram
  
  Intercession
  
  Occultation
  
  Wilayat al-Faqih
  
  Usul al-fiqh
  
  Ijtihad
  
  Taqlid
  
  Irfan :
  
  Practices
  
  Salat
  
  Sawm
  
  Hajj
  
  Zakat
  
  Khums
  
  Jihad
  
  Amr bi-l maʿrūf
  
  Nahy ani l-Munkar
  
  Tawalli
  
  Tabarri :
  
  Other practices
  
  Mourning of Muharram
  
  Arba'een Pilgrimage
  
  Intercession :
  
  Holy cities
  
  Mecca
  
  Medina
  
  Najaf
  
  Karbala
  
  Mashhad
  
  Jerusalem
  
  Samarra
  
  Kadhimiya
  
  Qom :
  
  Groups
  
  Ja'fari
  
  Usuli
  
  Akhbari
  
  Alevi
  
  Shaykhi :
  
  Other related sects and groups
  
  Alawites
  
  Sufism and Alevism
  
  Qizilbash
  
  Safaviyya
  
  Bektashism and folk religion
  
  Malamatiyya
  
  Qalandariyya
  
  Hurufism
  
  Bektashism
  
  Rifa`i
  
  Galibi
  
  Ni'matullāhī :
  
  Scholarship
  
  Law
  
  Marja' (list)
  
  Hawza
  
  Ayatollah (list)
  
  Allamah
  
    Hojatoleslam
  
  Ijtihad :
  
  Hadith collections
  
  The Four Books
  
  Kitab al-Kafi
  
  Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih
  
  Tahdhib al-Ahkam
  
  Al-Istibsar
  
  Other hadith collections
  
  Book of Sulaym ibn Qays
  
  Bihar al-Anwar
  
  Wasā'il al-Shīʿa
  
  Reality of Certainty
  
  Nahj al-Balagha
  
  Mafatih al-Jinan
  
  Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
  
  Al-Amali :
  
  Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence
  
  Qur'an
  
  Hadiths of The Infallibles
  
  Consensus
  
  Reason :
  
  Related topics
  
  List of Twelver Shia books
  
  Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism :
  
  Shia Islam portal :
  
  vte :
  
  Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi al-Amri (Arabic: عُثْمَان ٱبْن سَعِيد ٱلْأَسَدِيّ عَمْرِوْيّ ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-ʾAsadīy al-ʿAmrīy) was the first of the Four Deputies, who are believed by the Twelvers to have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Uthman is also said to have been a trusted representative of the tenth and eleventh Imams, Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively. The date of his death is not certain, though it is believed that Uthman did not survive al-Askari for long.
  
  ## Historical background
  
  Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held under close surveillance in the garrison town of Samarra by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliphate, as the imperial authority rapidly transitioned into the hands of the Turks, particularly after al-Mutawakkil.
  
  Contemporary to the tenth Imam, the Abbasid al-Mutawakkil violently prosecuted the Shia, partly due to the renewed Zaydi opposition. The restrictive policies of al-Mutawakkil towards the tenth Imam were later adopted by his son, al-Mu'tamid, who is reported to have kept the eleventh Imam under house arrest without any visitors. Instead, al-Askari is known to have mainly communicated with his followers through a network of representatives. Among them was Uthman ibn Sa'id, who is said to have disguised himself as a seller of cooking fat to avoid the Abbasid agents, hence his nickname al-Samman. Tabatabai suggests that these restrictions were placed on al-Askari because the caliphate had come to know about traditions among the Shia elite, predicting that the eleventh Imam would father the eschatological Mahdi.
  
  ### Underground network
  
  The underground network of representatives might date back to Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Imam, in response to the Abbasid restrictions on him. At the time, the main purpose of this network was to collect the Islamic alms, such as khums and zakat. The Abbasid al-Rashid is said to have carried out a campaign of arrests in 179 (795) to decimate this underground network which ultimately led to the arrest of Musa al-Kazim, the seventh Imam, and his death in prison.
  
  By the time of Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam, some of the representatives took administrative and military roles in the caliphate by practicing religious dissimulation (taqiya). The underground network of Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam, was highly developed, especially in Samarra, Baghdad, Mada'in, and Sawad. However, a campaign of arrests and the subsequent tortures by the Abbasid al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) might have led the caliph to discover that the Imam was behind their activities. Al-Mutawakkil then summoned the Imam to Samarra, where he was kept under close surveillance and possibly house arrest. According to Hussain, restrictions on the later Imams inevitably expanded the role and authority of their representatives, particularly their main agent. By performing certain functions of the Imams, these representatives might have hoped to save the Imams from the political pressure of the Abbasids.
  
  ## Tenure as an agent of al-Hadi
  
  Uthman was a close associate of the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi. It is reported that he was eleven when he first served as an agent for this Imam.
  
  ## Tenure as an agent of al-Askari
  
  After the death of al-Hadi in 254 (868), his successor, Hasan al-Askari, appointed Uthman as a representative in 256 (869-70). It also seems certain that Uthman became the closest associate of the eleventh Imam. Both al-Hadi and al-Askari are said to have praised Uthman as highly trustworthy. As a representative of the two Imams, Uthman disguised himself as a seller of cooking fat to avoid the Abbasid agents, hence his nickname al-Samman. It is reported that he collected religious donations, hid them in the containers of cooking fat, and delivered them to al-Askari. After the death of al-Askari in 260 (874), Uthman performed the funeral rites of the eleventh Imam, an honor for which he must have received the permission of al-Askari beforehand.
  
  ## Tenure as an agent of al-Mahdi
  
  Immediately after the death of al-Askari in 260 (874), Uthman claimed that the eleventh Imam had a young son, named Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation (ghayba) due to the Abbasid threat to his life. As the special agent of al-Askari, Uthman also claimed that he had been appointed to represent the son of the eleventh Imam. Twelver sources detail that Muhammad al-Mahdi made his only public appearance to lead the funeral prayer for his father instead of his uncle, Ja'far.
  
  As the closest associate of al-Askari, the local representatives and the Shia community largely recognized Uthman's claim to be the agent of the Hidden Imam. However, there were possibly doubts among the Shia about Uthman's authority to collect and distribute the religious donations. In his new capacity as the caretaker of the office of imamate, Uthman also received petitions and made available their responses, sometimes in writing.
  
  The date of his death is not certain, but it is believed that Uthman did not survive al-Askari for long. Klemm holds that Uthman died in 880 CE. Uthman was succeeded by his son, Abu Ja'far Muhammad, as the next agent of the Hidden Imam. Tusi in his Rijal reports that the eleventh Imam had appointed Uthman and his son as agents of his son, Muhammad, in the presence of a group of Yemeni followers.
  
  