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Ja'far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq
(Peace be Upon him)
Name:
Ja'far
Title:
as.-Sadiq.
Agnomen: Abu 'Abdillah.
Father's
name: Muhammad al-Baqir.
Mother's
name: Umm Farwah.
Birth: In
Medina, on Monday, 17th Rabi'u 'I-awwal 83 AH.
Death: Died
at the age of 65, in Medina on Monday, 25th Shawwal 148 AH; poisoned by
al-Mansur ad-Dawaniqi, the 'Abbasid caliph.
The holyImam Ja'far
as.-Sadiqwas the sixth in the succession of the
twelve Apostolic Imams. His epithet was Abu 'Abdillah and his famous titles
were as-Sadiq, al-Fadil and at.-Tahir. He was the son of Imam Muhammad
al-Baqir, the Fifth Imam, and his mother was the daughter of al-Qasim ibn
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr.
Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq was brought up
by his grand- father, Imam Zaynu 'I-'Abidm in Medina for twelve years and then
remained under the sacred patronage of his father Imam Muhammad al-Baqir for a
period of nine- teen years.
Imamate: After the death of his
holy father in 114 AH, he succeeded him as the Sixth Imam, and thus the sacred
trust of Islamic mission and spiritual guidance was relayed down to his
custody right from the Holy Prophet through the succession of the preceding
Imams.
Political Condition
The period of his Imamate coincided
with the most revolutionary and eventful era of Islamic history which saw the
downfall of the Umayyad Empire and the rise of the 'Abbasid caliphate. The
internal wars and political upheavals were bringing about speedy
reshufflements in government. Thus, the Holy Imam witnessed the reigns of
various kings starting from 'Abdu 'l-Malik down to the Umayyad ruler Marwan
al-Himar. He further survived till the time of Abu 'l-'Abbas as-Saffah and
al-Mansur among the 'Abbasids. It was due to the political strife between two
groups viz., the Umayyads and 'Abbasids for power that Imam was left alone
undisturbed to carry out his devotional duties and peacefully carry on his
mission to propagate Islam and spreading the teachings of the Holy Prophet. In
the last days of the Umayyad rule, their Empire was tottering and was on the
verge of collapse, and a most chaotic and demoralized state of affairs
prevailed throughout the Islamic State. The 'Abbasids exploited such an
opportunity and availing themselves of this political instability, assumed the
title of "Avengers of Banu Hashim". They pretended to have stood for the cause
of taking revenge on the Umayyads for shedding the innocent blood of the Holy
Imam Husayn. The common people who were groaning under the yoke of the
Umayyads were fed up with their atrocities and were secretly yearning for the
progeny of the Holy Prophet to take power. They realized that if the
leadership went to the Ahlul-Bayt, who were its legitimate heir, the prestige
of Islam would be enhanced and the Prophet's mission would be genuinely
propagated. However, a group of the 'Abbasids secretly dedicated their lives
to a campaign for seizing power from the hands of the Umayyads on the pretext
that they were seizing it only to surrender it to the Banu Hashim. Actually,
they were plotting for their own ends. The common people were thus deceived
into supporting them and when these 'Abbasids did succeed in snatching the
power from the Umayyads, they tuned against the Ahlu 'l-Bayt.
Religious Condition
The downfall of the Umayyads and
the rise of the 'Abbasids constituted the two principal plots in the drama of
Islamic history. This was a most chaotic and revolutionary period when the
religious morals of Islam had gone down and the teachings of the Holy Prophet
were being neglected, and a state of anarchy was rampant. It was amidst such
deadly gloom that the virtuous personage of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq stood like a
beacon of light shedding its lustre to illuminate the ocean of sinful darkness
around. The world got inclined towards his virtuous and admirable personality.
Abu Salamah al-Khallal also offered him the throne of the caliphate. But the
Imam keeping up the characteristic tradition of his ancestors flatly declined
to accept it, and preferred to content himself with his devotional pursuits
and service to Islam. On account of his many debates with the priests of rival
orders like Atheists, Christians, Jews, etc.
Teachings
The versatile genius of Imam Ja'far
as.-Sadiq in all branches of knowledge was acclaimed throughout the Islamic
world, which attracted students from far-off places towards him till the
strength of his disciples had reached four thousand. The scholars and experts
in Divine Law have quoted many ahadith (traditions) from Imam Ja'far
as.-Sadiq. His disciples compiled hundred of books on various branches of
science and arts. Other than fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), hadith (tradition),
tafslr (exegesis of the Holy Qur'an), etc., the Holy Imam also imparted
mathematics and chemistry to some of his disciples. Jabir ibn Hayyan at.-Tusi,
a famous scholar of mathematics, was one of the Imam's disciples who benefited
from the Imam's knowledge and guidance and was able to write four hundred
books on different subjects.
It is an undeniable historical
truth that all the great scholars of Islam were indebted for their learning to
the very presence of the Ahlu 'I-Bayt who were the fountain of knowledge and
learning for all. Allamah ash-shibli writes in his book Siratu'n- Nu'man: "Abu
Hanifah remained for a considerable period in the attendance of Imam Ja'far
as-Sadiq, acquiring from him a great deal of precious research on fiqh and
hadith. Both the sects - Shi'ah and Sunni - believe that the source of Abu
Hanifah's knowledge was mostly derived from his association with Imam Ja'far
as-Sadiq." The Imam devoted his whole life to the cause of religious preaching
and propagation of the teachings of the Holy Prophet and never strove for
power. Because of his great knowledge and fine teaching, the people gathered
around him, giving devotion and respect that was his due. This excited the
envy of the 'Abbasid ruler al-Mansur ad-Dawaniqi who fearing the popularity of
the Imam, decided to do away with him.
Allamah Tabatabai writes
Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad, the son
of the Fifth Imam, was born in 83/702. He died in 148/765 according to Shi'ite
tradition, poisoned and martyred through the intrigue of the 'Abbasid caliph
al-Mansur. After the death of his father he became Imam by Divine Command and
decree of those who came before him. During the Imamate of the Sixth Imam
greater possibilities and a more favourable climate existed for him to
propagate religious teachings. This came about as a result of revolts in
Islamic lands, especially the uprising of the Muswaddah to overthrow the
Umayyad caliphate, and the bloody wars which finally led to the fall and
extinction of the Umayyads. The greater opportunities for Shi'ite teachings
were also a result of the favourable ground the Fifth Imam had prepared during
the twenty years of his Imamate through the propagation of the true teachings
of Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet.
The Imam took advantage of the
occasion to propagate the religious sciences until the very end of his
Imamate, which was contemporary with the end of the Umayyad and beginning of
the 'Abbasid caliphates. He instructed many scholars in different fields of
the intellectual and transmitted sciences, such as Zurarah ibn A'yan, Muhammad
ibn Muslim, Mu'minu 't.-Taq, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn
Salim, Hurayz, Hisham al- Kalbi an-Nassabah and Jabir ibn Hayyan (the
alchemist). Even some important Sunni scholars such as Sufyan ath-Thawri, Abu
Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi school of law, al-Qadi as-Sukuni, al-Qadi
Abu 'I-Bakhtari, and others, had the honour of being his students. It is said
that his classes and sessions of instructions produced four thousand scholars
of hadith and other sciences.
The number of traditions preserved
from the Fifth and Sixth Imams is more than all the hadith that have been
recorded from the Prophet and the other ten Imams combined. But toward the end
of his life the Imam was subjected to severe restrictions placed upon him by
the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mansur, who ordered such torture and merciless killing
of many of the descendants of the Prophet who were Shite that his actions
even surpassed the cruelty and heedlessness of the Umayyads. At his order they
were arrested in groups, some thrown into deep and dark prisons and tortured
until they died, while others were be- headed or buried alive or placed at the
base of or between walls of buildings, and walls were constructed over them.
Hisham, the Umayyad caliph, had ordered the Sixth Imam to be arrested and
brought to Damascus.
Later, the Imam was arrested by
as-Saffah, the 'Abbasid caliph, and brought to Iraq. Finally, al-Mansur had
him arrested again and brought to Samarrah where he had the Imam kept under
supervision, was in every way harsh and discourteous to him, and several times
thought of killing him. Eventually the Imam was allowed to return to Medina
where he spent the rest of his life in hiding, until he was poisoned and
martyred through the intrigue of al-Mansur. Upon hearing the news of the
Imam's martyrdom, al-Mansur wrote to the governor of Medina instructing him to
go to the house of the Imam on the pretext of expressing his condolences to
the family, to ask for the Imam's will and testament and read it. Whoever was
chosen by the Imam as his inheritor and successor should be beheaded on the
spot. Of course, the aim of al-Mansur was to put an end to the whole question
of the Imamate and to Shiite aspirations. When the governor of Medina,
following orders, read the last will and testament, he saw that the Imam had
chosen four people rather than one to administer his last will and testament:
the caliph him- self, the governor of Medina, 'Abdullah Aftah, the Imam's
older son, and Musa, his younger son. In this way the plot of al-Mansur
failed. (Shi'ite Islam)
Death
On 25th Shawwal 148 AH, the
governor of Medina by the order of al-Mansur, got the Imam martyred through
poison. The funeral prayer was conducted by his son Imam Musa al-Kazim, the
Seventh Imam, and his body was laid to rest in the cemetery of
Jannatu'l-Baqi'.
al-Imam as-Sadiq, peace be Upon
him, said:
One who has these five
characteristics is the choicest of men: one who feels joyous when he does
something good; one who repents when he does something bad; one who is
grateful when he receives something from Allah; one who patiently endures
Allah's trials; one who forgives when he is done some injustice or
wrong.
closer to Allah: forgiving one who
has wronged him; being generous to one who had deprived him; being kind to a
kinsman who has not observed his rights of kinship.
The true believer does not
transgress the limits of fairness in a fit of anger; he does not do anything
unjutifiable for the sake of favour to some; neither does he take more than
his due share, though he may have the power.
