although shiite historians generally reject the claim that hasan al-askari fathered children other than muhammad al-mahdi, the shiite hadith book "usul al-kafi", in bab mawlid abi muhammad al-hasan b. 'ali confirms the sufi claim that hasan al-askari had more than one wife, in addition to slave girls, with whom he had relations. in his usul, al-kafi writes: