Al-Saduq's Introduction on the Reason for Authoring Kitab al-Tawhid
"What prompted me to author this book of mine is that I found a group of our opponents attributing to our group the belief in *Tashbih* (anthropomorphism) and *Jabr* (predestination), because they found in their books1 reports whose interpretation they were ignorant of and whose meanings they did not know. They put them in other than their [proper] place and did not compare their words with the words of the Quran. By doing so, they uglified the image of our school of thought in the view of the ignorant, obscured our path from them, repelled the people from the religion of God, and led them to deny the proofs of God. So I sought closeness to God (may His mention be exalted) by composing this book on Tawhid."
Before proceeding to narrate the reports that speak of the concept of the Image, we will mention some of the companions of the Masters (may their glory be exalted) who used to believe in the concept of the Image:
Hisham ibn Salim
Hisham ibn al-Hakam
Yunus ibn Zabyan
Abu Basir al-Asadi
Abu Ja'far al-Ahwal (Mu'min al-Taq)
Abu Harun al-Makfuf
Yunus ibn 'Abd al-Rahman
We have presented these names as an introduction to the narrations that we will relate from them. This is just a small few of the companions. For there was a man who came to our Master al-Rida (may his glory be exalted) and said to him that "our companions have differed regarding the Image!!"