This is a reference to the fear of governmental persecution that Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq's followers had during his lifetime. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference in his discussion of some of the features of al-Ṣādiq's political stance.
This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).