Imam Ṣādiq (PBUH) was a man of struggle, a man of knowledge, and a man who worked with an organization. Everyone has heard about the fact that he was a man of knowledge. His classes and the educational environment that he created were unparalleled during the lives of the Shi’a Imams, both before and after him. Imam Ṣādiq (PBUH) corrected all the Islamic traditions and Quranic concepts that had been distorted for more than a century by malicious, corrupt, or ignorant individuals. However, few have heard about the fact that Imam Ṣādiq (PBUH) was a man of struggle. He was engaged in a widespread and determined struggle, a struggle to assume power and take the reins of government, a struggle to create an Islamic, Shi’a government. However, the third dimension you have never heard of is that Imam Ṣādiq (PBUH) was a man of organizational work. He formed a massive network of people who believed in Him and supported Shi’a rule from all over the Islamic world, from the remote parts of Khorasan and Transoxiana to North Africa. What did ‘network’ mean? It meant that whenever Imam Ṣādiq (PBUH) decided to deliver a message to the people, his representatives would spread his message throughout the world of Islam.
Imam Khamenei, Lectured on Sept. 5, 1980