[2] The most probable reason for the creation of the Waqifites’ beliefs is that when Musa al-Kadhim, was in the prison of the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he appointed some agents on his behalf in order to collect the legal monetary rights from his Shï‘ites.
Therefore, these agents denied Musa’s death and rejected Ali ar-Ridha’s Imamate in order that they would have an excuse for not returning the money.
Such agents then spread the Waqifites’ beliefs by lavishly spending money in order to buy the minds of the people and to misguide them.
Therefore, a considerable number of the muhaddithun thought that Ja'far al-Sadiq had indicated his son Musa and hence stopped at him, contending that he was the Mahdi and was in a state of occultation.
[9] Another eminent person attributed to the Waqifites was Yazid ibn Khalifa al-Harithi, who was regarded as one of the companions of Ja'far al-Sadiq (who reportedly praised him).