His half brother, Zayd ibn Ali made peace with the first and the second caliphs. Zayd stopped talking about the first two caliphs being usurpers of Ahl Muhammad because he was trying to attract major personalities of his time to the cause of Ahl Muhammad.
Muhammad al-Baqir considered Zayd, just an ordinary person from his family. He was neither a Prophet nor his trustee. Al-Baqir further added that Zayd is sometimes right and sometimes may commit an error. [1]
Muhammad al-Baqir's father was Ali Zayn al-Abidin, who was the only surviving son of the Grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam (Hussain who was martyred in Karbala). Muhammad al-Baqir's mother was Fatima, the great grand-daughter of Hassan, the grandson of the Holy Prophet. [2] Zayd shared the same father with al-Baqir but his mother was a slave woman from sub-continent India/Pakistan.[3] Now, in those days, people were very much into family connection and the tribes you were from. In a number of stories you will find that Zayd was discriminated/insulted due to his mother's status of being a slave woman and him having a rather different complexion. I remember that in one of the story, Zayd retorted back to the Ummayad agent/governor and was effectively thrown out from the mosque.
In some stories you will find that Zayd and his brother al-Baqir used to quarreled on the question of Imamah. Zayd believe that an Imam must rise with a sword to fight those who were perceived as oppressors.
Al-Baqir disagreed with Zayd and gave their father as an example. Their father, Ali Zayn al-Abideen, was a very private citizen. Ali Zayn al-Abideen, acknowledged by the Shias and Zaydis as their fourth Imam, was known as the greatest worshiper of his time for his prayers and remembrance of Allah swt. But he never rise against the Ummayad to contest his Imamah, even though the Ummayad had massacre almost every single person in his family.
Reference
Jafri, S.H Mohammad. "The Origin
and Early Development of Shi'a Islam,”, Oxford University Press,
2002, p. 176, ISBN 978-0-19-579387-1
footnote from the book
[1] footnote pointing to Mas'udi, Muruj , II, p. 277.
[2] Ibn Hisham, II, p.264; III, p.349; Isti'ab , III, p. 1097; 'Iqd , IV, p. 312
[3] Ibn Hisham, IV, p. 163
Obviously al-Baqir would say that his brother was normal. And Zayd would say his brother is normal. The same way Imam Ali said he was normal. al-Baqir had a rival, his brother. Therefore the context of following statement is obvious, "Muhammad al-Baqir considered Zayd, just an ordinary person from his family. He was neither a Prophet nor his trustee. Al-Baqir further added that Zayd is sometimes right and sometimes may commit an error. [1]"
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