Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri

Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri, known by the kunya Abu Ja'far, was the second special deputy of the Minor Occultation. He was the son of the first deputy, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Amri, and had already participated in the confidential agency system during his father's lifetime. Classical Imami reports present his succession not as a merely hereditary transfer but as the continuation of tested reliability and explicit trust. After his father's death, generally placed around 264 or 265 AH, Muhammad assumed responsibility for correspondence, legal questions, entrusted funds, and supervision of regional agents. Al-Tusi and other Imami authorities preserve reports of letters affirming his trustworthiness and directing the community to refer to him.

His deputyship lasted for roughly four decades, the longest of the four. During that period Baghdad passed through repeated political and administrative changes while the Imami community extended across Iraq and other regions. The durability of the system depended on written replies, local representatives, careful financial accounting, and authentication of messengers. His service was defined less by visible public authority than by discreet communication, authenticated correspondence, and administrative continuity. The same period also saw individuals claim unauthorized representation or privileged access; according to Imami sources, Muhammad responded through controlled communication, circulation of authenticated statements, and exclusion of claimants whom the network did not recognize.

Near the end of his life he organized the transition to Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti. The sources describe Husayn ibn Ruh being identified before leading agents and relevant community members so that responsibility would pass in a clear and recognizable manner. Historically this is important because the office did not automatically pass to the deputy's own children; it moved through recognized service and explicit designation. The principal Imami chronology places Muhammad ibn Uthman's death in 305 AH, approximately 917 CE, while 304 AH is also preserved as a less common variant.

The present al-Khallani shrine in central Baghdad is widely associated with Muhammad ibn Uthman in Twelver devotional and administrative tradition and remains a living place of prayer and visitation. Iraqi Sunni and urban topographical works, however, preserve another identification, attributing the grave to the fourth-century Hanbali scholar Abu Bakr Abd al-Aziz ibn Ja'far, known as Ghulam al-Khallal. A responsible historical account therefore separates the person from the particular tomb attribution: Muhammad ibn Uthman's identity, succession after his father, long service, and transfer of responsibility to Husayn ibn Ruh are strongly supported, while the specific burial attribution of al-Khallani remains disputed.