I said to Hisham: Your companions relate that Aba al-Hasan عليه السلام sent a message to you and Hisham b. Salim via Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj saying: ‘abstain from speaking [making theological disputations]’.He [Hisham] said: Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj came to me and said: Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام says to you: ‘abstain from speaking in these days’ - because it had been authored for al-Mahdi [the Caliph] [a treatise containing] the theological positions of the people. In it were the theological positions of the Jawaliqiyya [followers] of Hisham b. Salim. This treatise was publicly read in Sharqiyya [a district in Baghdad] but the position of Hisham [b. al-Hakam] was not mentioned.Yunus claims that Hisham b. al-Hakam said to him: I abstained from speaking totally until al-Mahdi died, for he [the Imam] had said ‘in these days’ - so he stopped until al-Mahdi died.