The distinct aspect in the childhood of Imam Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari (a.s.) was the fear of Allah. He was God-fearing since his early years. Historians mentioned that one day some man passed by Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) and saw him cry while he was with his fellow children. The man thought that this child cried for the toys in the children’s hands and that he could not participate in their playing. The man told the child that he would buy him what he might play with.
The child said, ‘No! We have not been created for play.’
The man was astonished and said, ‘Then, what for we have been created?’
The child said, ‘For knowledge and worship.’
The man asked the child, ‘Where have you got this from?’
The child said, ‘From this saying of Allah (What! Did you then think that We had created you in vain)
The man was astonished and confused. He said to the child, ‘What has happened to you while you are still a guiltless little child?’
The child said, ‘Be away from me! I have seen my mother set fire to big pieces of firewood, but fire is not lit except with small pieces, and I fear that I shall be from the small pieces of the firewood of the Hell.’
Faith in Allah was a part of, and a distinguishing element of Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.). He did not fear but Allah, and this trait remained in him until the last moment of his life.