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IMAM SADIQ'S SCIENTIFIC ROLE
1. Scientific and Cultural Climate in
Imam's Era:Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) lived at a time when there was a
real and deep interaction between Islamic thought and
knowledge, and those of the other nations and peoples.
Translation from other languages grew.
Sciences, philosophies and thought of other nations
were translated from foreign languages into Arabic.
Muslims studied these sciences, added to them, enriched
them, and broadened their scopes. As a result, an active,
ideological and scientific movement emerged. Muslims
indulged in the sciences of medicine, astronomy,
chemistry, physics, arithmetic's, among other ones.
Philosophy, logic, fundamentals of reasoning, and other
sciences were translated especially from Greek and
Persian. Muslims were thus introduced to a new line of
philosophical thought. This intrusion and cultural
interaction did not pass without drawing reactions from
the Muslims. And so a current of suspicion and unbelief
rose in the Muslim community. Groups of people who
adopted dialectics, and embraced deviant views took root.
But, after a long and hitter struggle, and long drawn
out ideological fighting, the Muslim solid domestic front
succeeded in stopping the cultural invasion, and exposing
its falsehood and weaknesses. In addition to this
scientific and cultural growth, during Imam's time, there
was a remarkably great progress in many fields. New
political, economic and social events and problems
surfaced which reeded to be settled according to Islamic
law. The ultimate result was the emergence of new,
unheard-of views and schools of thought. Scholars (ulama)
were more busy trying to deduce the right answers for the
new problems.
2. Imam's Scientific Role:Amid these hard conditions, and the scientific and
cultural activities, after the emergence of schools of
thought, Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) lived and carried out his
responsibilities, as a scholar, and unmatched teacher in
the cultural and religious domains. Hard, through the
rulers and their hired writers tried to obliterate the
image of this great man, he remained a shining star in
the sky of Islam, and a rich spring of Islamic knowledge.
During his father's lifetime, he helped in the
establishment of Ahlul-Bait's university at the Mosque of
the Prophet (s.a.w.). They both spread knowledge
throughout the Islamic homeland among the circles of
fuqaha, exegesits of the Qur'an, and scholars of
traditions. Scholars (ulama), and knowledge-seekers from
far-flung areas were calling on them, benefitting from
their knowledge. No other Muslim Imams were so much
visited and asked about the different sciences of Islam,
especially Qur'anic exegesis, traditions, beliefs,
ethics, etc..., as were Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) and his son,
al-Sadiq (a.s.). So it comes as no surprise that Ulama',
fuqaha, preachers, philosophers and other scholars highly
praised Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) and his scientific edifice.Our booklet does not allow us to cite all that was said
about the Imam (a.s.). But that won't prevent us from
quoting some testimonies.
Shaikh al-Mufid, may Allah bless his soul, says:"From among all his brothers, al-Sadiq Ja'far bin
Muhammad bin Ali bin Hussein (a.s.) emerged as the
successor to his father Muhammad bin Ali (a.s.), as his
trustee as the next Imam after him.He was distinguished among his people by his virtues. He
was the cleverest, the greatest in his stature, and the
most venerated among the scholars and the common people,
people took from him so much knowledge that men conveyed
it to remote areas. He was known in all parts of the
Islamic homeland. No other member of Ahlul-Bait rivalled
him as being the source of so much knowledge. No other
member of Ahlul-Bait was also remembered and praised by
the historians and biographers as he was. Nor did the
historians have ever quantitatively reported from anyone
as they had done from Abu-Abdullah (a.s.).Scholars concerned with the Prophetic traditions made a
list of the authoritative narrators from different
schools of thought, who reported from him. They amounted
to four thousand men."[31]
The great scholar, Allamah Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin
writes:"Al-Hafidh bin Aqd al-Zaidi listed, in his
biographical book, the names of four thousand worthy men,
among others, who quoted from Ja'far bin Muhammad, and
made a mention of their books..."[32]
He wrote also that: "Al-Najashi said in his
biographical book, on the authority of al-Hassan bin Ali
al-Washsha: 'I was lucky enough to meet in this mosque
(the Mosque of Kufah) nine hundred old men, each one of
them repeating: 'Ja'far bin Muhammad told me'. He (the
Imam) (a.s.) would say:
"I heard the traditions I communicate to you
from my father. My father heard them from my grandfather.
My grandfather hears them from his father, his father
heard them from Ali Ibn Abi-Talib. Ali bin Abi-Talib
heard them from the Apostle of Allah. And what traditions
the Apostle of Allah had conveyed are the exact words of
Allah, the Almighty and Most High."[33]
In his book Manaqib Aal Abi-Talib (Virtues of the
Family of Abi-Talib), Ibn Shahrashoob quotes Abu-Na'im as
writing in his book Al-Hilyah "The Ornament"
the following, "Umar bin al-Muqdam said:Whenever I looked at Ja'far bin Muhammad, I would know
that he was a descendant of the line of the prophets.
Hardly did a book on Prophetic traditions, wisdom,
asceticism, morals, shun his words. They said: 'Ja'far
bin Muhammad al-Sadiq said, 'or,' Ja'far al-Sadiq said.'
Al-Naqqash, al-Tha'labi, al-Qishri and al-Qizwini
mentioned him in their Qur'anic exegeses."[34]
He further adds: "Abu-Na'im in his book Hilyat
al-Awliya, lists the following scholars and prominent
religious figures, who quoted Ja'far al-Sadiq; Malik bin
Anas, Shu'bah bin al-Hajjaj, Sufyan al-Thawri, Ibn Jarih,
Abdullah bin Umar, Rawh bin Al-Qasim, Sufyan bin Uyaynah,
Sulaiman bin Bilal, Isma'il bin Ja'far, Hatam bin
Isma'il, Abdul-Aziz bin al-Mukhtar, Wahab bin Khalid,
Ibrahim bin Tahhan, and others,' Abu-Na'im goes on to
say; and Muslim quotes him in his authoritative book of
traditions to support his arguments. Others say: among
those who quoted from him were Malik, al-Shafi'i,
al-Hassan bin Salih, Abu-Ayyub al-Sajistani, Amru bin
Dinar, and Ahmad bin Hanbal. Malik bin Anas said, 'Never
had the eye seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart of a
human being thought anyone more virtuous, knowledgeable,
devout, or pious than Ja'far al-Sadiq."[35]
Al-Ya'qoobi, the famous historian, describes him in
these words, "He was the beat of men, and the most
knowledgeable about the faith. The learned men who
learned from him would say, when quoting him' 'The
scholar told us...,"[36]
Muhammad Farid Wajdi, the compiler of Da'irat Ma'arif
al-Qarn al-Ishrin (The Twentieth century Encyclopedia)
writes about Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq (a.s.), the
Imam of Muslims, and says:"Abu-Abdullah Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq bin
Muhammad.[37] bin Ali bin Abi-Talib is one
al-Baqir bin Zain al-Abidin bin Hussein of the twelve
Imams of the school of thought of the Imami Shi'ites. He
was one of the leading men of the household of the
Prophet (s.a.w.). His words were always true hence the
nickname al-Sadiq. He was one of the most virtuous among
people. About chemistry he wrote and expressed
views."[38]
He adds, "...His disciple, Abu-Musa Jabir bin
Hayyan al-Sufi al-Tarsoosi, compiled a book with a
thousand pages containing the letters of Ja'far al-Sadiq
which were five hundred letters."[39] In his book Al-Milal wa al-Nihal (Religions and creeds)
Abul-Fath al-Shahristani writes about Imam al-Sadiq
(a.s.) the following: "He was a man of immense
knowledge in religion, complete competence in wisdom,
extreme asceticism in life, and thorough piety preventing
him against committing sins. He settled in Madinah,
benefitting the Shi'ites who followed him, and conferring
on the loyal the secrets of sciences.
Then he went to Iraq and stayed there for some time,
during which he never challenged the Imamat (the ruling
authorities), nor did he fight anyone over the caliphate.
He who is drowned in the sea of knowledge, never covets a
seashore, nor does the one who attains the pinnacle of
truth fears falling .."'[40]
Al-Amin al-Amili quoted al-Hassan bin Ziyad as saying,
"I heard Abu-Hanifah, being asked about the most
authoritative faqih he had ever seen, saying: Ja'far bin
Muhammad." Abu-Layla is reported to have said: "I would never
retract something I have said, or cancel a judgement I
have made on the advice of anyone except one man; Ja'far
bin Muhammad."[41] Malik bin Anas, the founder of the Malikis (an Islamic
school of thought) phrases his view of Ja'far bin
Muhammad al-Sadiq, in these words: "I occasionally
met Ja'far bin Muhammad. He was smiling, with a sense of
humour. When the Prophet was mentioned, his face would
turn pale. For some time, I visited him regularly, I
would see him doing one of these three things: praying,
fasting, or reciting the Qur'an.He would make his ablution before citing the Prophet's
traditions. He never talked about anything that did not
concern him..."[42]
The leader of Khaorasan says about Imam Ja'far
al-Sadiq these lines of verse:"You, Ja'far, are above the words of praise, which
are tiresome. The honest men are but earth having you as
its sky. The one who is begotten by prophets is really beyond the
power of words to praise."[43]
In his introduction to his book Imam al-Sadiq, the
Shaikh of al-Azhar, Muhammad Abu-Zahrah, writes:"With the help and blessings of Allah we had decided
to write about Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. We have already
written about seven of the honourable Imams. We have not
delayed writing about him because he is less meritorious
than them. On the contrary, he matches the seven Imam in
his virtues. He is distinguished from the great men by
his outstanding merits. Abu-Hanifah quoted him. He
believed he was the most knowledgeable man among people,
though diverse their opinions were. He considered him the
most well-versed faqih. Malik used to call on him as a
student and a narrator of traditions. He was the teacher
of Abu-Hanifah and Malik, and if that only was to his
credit it would be enough for him. Nor there would be a
man who could exceed him in his virtues. And above all
that, he was the grandson of Zain al-Abidin, who was the
master of the city of Madinah in his time, due to his
virtues, honour, faith and knowledge. Among his student
were Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and others from the later
generations of Muslims.
He is the son of Muhammad al-Baqir who slashed the
knowledge open and got its pulp. He was the one to whom
Allah, the Exalted, gathered the personal honour and the
additional honour, to the noble lineage, and closeness to
the Hashimites and the household of Muhammad
(s.a.w.)."[44]
That is what the space allows us to say about the
Muslims, Imam, the master of the fuqaha and speakers, and
the scion of prophethood, Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq
(a.s.)
3- Imam Sadiq's School:As we have said, Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) and his father
al-Baqir (a.s.) devoted their attention and power to the
establishment of Ahlul-Bait's school at the Mosque of the
Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.) in Madinah.Then, the Imam (a.s.) continued carrying out the task of
developing this school, and defending monotheism after
the death of his father. A whole generation of fuqaha,
speakers, preachers, philosophers, scholars, etc.,
graduated from that school. They were mentioned in
biographical books, and their contributions to the
different fields of Islamic sciences are undeniable. It
is by the guidance of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a.s.) and
that of his noble forefathers and sons that Muslims found
the right path which led them to the pure Shari'ah.
We should draw the attention of the dear reader to the
fact that Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) was not a man who passed
personal judgements. He was a man who took up the message
from his father and entrusted it to his son. He inherited
from his predecessors their knowledge and thought, from
which and according to which, he preached to Muslims.
Thus his school and methods of action were sequel to
the works of his predecessors and the sunnah of the
Prophet (s.a.w.) He made plain the Qur'anic teaching, and
dug up the Qur'an's treasures. Many Islamic groups, based on fiqh and ideology, were
formed in his days- Imam's position towards them was one
of guidance, exchange of views, and constructive,
responsible criticism. The Imam (a.s.) had the following
objectives in mind:
First: Defending Islamic Beliefs:When atheistic, philosophical and ideological
currents surfaced, and at a time when vague doctrines,
inconsistent with monotheism, emerged as an immediate
result of the works of the straying philosophical schools
such as "hyperbolic", the Imam (a.s.) acted in
defence of pure Islamic beliefs. He centered his efforts
on explaining Islam's beliefs and pointing out the
straying views and beliefs in their light. For this
purpose, he taught his students, like Hisham bin
al-Hakam, the science of Islamic beliefs, reasoned
argument, and philosophy, with special care.
And so his students played a great role in defending
monotheism in the face of deviant beliefs, such as those
of fatalism and free will, incarnation and hyperbole.
By reading attentively, Imam's dialogues, arguments,
and the contents of his sessions with the holders of the
new, non-Islamic views, one can find this truth as plain
as daylight. One can also grasp the true meaning of
monotheism and its originality, The Imam (a.s.)
tirelessly fought both the atheists like al-Disani and
Ibn Abi al-Awja, and the hyperbolists, who pretended to
be the defenders of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), but conferred on
them divine and godly qualities.
The Imam (a.s.) renounced those who renounced
monotheism, exactly as his forefathers had done.
Historians wrote about these non-Islamic beliefs, and the
attitude of Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) towards them.
Sadeer is reported to have said: "I said to
Abu-Abdullah (a.s.) that a group of people claim that you
are deities, citing this noble verse: "And He it
is Who is God in the heavens and the earth;..."
Holy Qur'an (43:83) 'O Sadeer; replied the Imam (a.s.):
"My hearing, sight, skin, flesh, blood and hair are
disowning these people. Allah also is free from
obligation to them. These do not follow the faith of mine
and my forefathers. Allah shall certainly be furious with
them when He brings us together on the Day of Judgement.
It is worth mentioning here that many of such groups
tried to exploit the name of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), and cover
their non-Islamic beliefs. But by the grace of Allah, the
majority of these groups ceased to exist. At the present
time, the standard of Ahlul-Bait is still hoisted by
their followers, who walk in their footsteps, and embrace
monotheism, the original pure one, as was preached first
by thc Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.).
These followers have their school of thought which is
widely espoused by Muslims in Iran, Iraq, Azarbayjan,
Turkey, Lebanon, Arabian peninsula, Pakistan, Indonesia,
Afghanistan, India, America, Canada, Australia, among
other countries of the Islamic world. Ht is called Ja'far
School of Thought, being attributed to Imam Ja'far
al-Sadiq (a.s.). They follow him and the other Imams of
the Prophet's household (a.s.). They are called the
twelve-Imam Shi'ites as the Imams of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.)
are twelve.
The followers of Ahlul-Bait's school of thought, the
Ja'fari school, completely adhere to this original
Islamic line, They are distinguished by their refusal of
some of the bases on which the fuqaha of the other four
schools of thought, in deducing the religious opinions or
decrees, depend such as syllogism, appreciation,
accepting a certain action on the ground of being useful.
These bases are not agreed upon by the Islamic schools of
thought.
They consider the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet
(s.a.w.) the two key sources of Islamic legislation. In
deducing Islamic decrees they give the reason and
consensus among the fuqaha a secondary role, which makes
the deduced decrees within the framework of the Book and
the sunnah.
The Ja'fari School of thought believes in keeping the
door of decree-deduction wide open. Jaf'ari scholars,
philosophers and fuqaha contributed widely to Islamic
thought and Shari'ah sciences. The great Islamic
historian, Agha Buzurg al-Tahrani (d. 1389 A.H) compiled
a book in 25 volumes, and 11,573 pages, of large size,
containing only the named of the books authored and
compiled by Ja'fari Shi'ites in the different fields of
Islamic thought and sciences, The book is called
Al-Thari'ah ila Tasanif al-Shi'ah (The Means to the Books
of Shi'ites).
Najaf, the famous Sacred Iraqi town, is ranked as one
of the greatest and oldest seats of Islamic knowledge. To
this town, the great scholar Abu-Ja'far Muhammad bin
al-Hassan al-Toosi (d.460 A.H.) went, nearly a thousand
years ago, and founded the theologian school which is
still disseminating Islamic knowledge and graduating,
fully fledged fuqaha, philosophers and great religious
leaders. In addition to this, there are other schools in
the cities of Qum, Mashhad, both in Iran, and Karbala, in
Iraq and many schools in other parts of the Islamic
world.
Secondly: Spreading Islam: The second major
objective of the school of Imam Ja'far bin Muhammad
al-Sadiq (a.s.) was to spread Islam, broaden the circle
of fiqh and Shari'ah, solidify their pillars and preserve
their originality. No one matched Imam Ja'far bin
Muhammad al-Sadiq (a.s) in the volume of traditions, fiqh
and Islamic teachings taken from him.
And so his traditions, religious decrees and teaching
were regarded as a basis for deducing fiqh and religious
decrees on the part of the scholars, and jurisprudents,
those who follow in his footsteps, adhere to his school,
and belong to his school of thought.
If is of great use to mention here that the
traditions, narratives and statements conveyed by Imam
al-Sadiq (a.s.) and the other Imams of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.)
from the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.), as well as the
Qur'anic exegesis, religious decrees, explanations of the
Qur'anic reaching and the sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.)
handed down from the Imams of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), were
gathered and compiled in four, key books:
1. Al-Kafi: compiled by Abu-Ja'far Muhammad bin
Ya'qoob bin Ishaq al-Kulaini al-Razi (d. 328 or 329
A.H.). The book contains 16,199 traditions.
2. Al-Tahthib (Refinement): Compiled by
Abu-Ja'far Muhammad bin al-Hassan al-Toosi (d. 460 A.H).
3. Al-Istibsar (Enlightement): Also by Shaikh
al-Toosi.
4. Man la Yahdharhu al-Faqih (He who has no Access
to a Faqih): Complied by Shaikh al-Saduq (d.381 A.H).
The ulama and fuqaha of the Ja'fari School of thought
announced that not all the traditions and narratives
gathered in these books are dependable and authoritative.
They subject all this material to close study and
examination dropping thousands of them, according to
their method of studying and substantiation.
