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IMAM JA'FAR MUHAMMAD AS-SADIQ (A.S.)
BIOGRAPHY
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The Holy Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq was the sixth in the succession of the twelve Apostolic Imams. His epithet was Abu "Abdallah and his famous titles were
as-Sadiq al-Fadil and at-Tahir. 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'l Abidin in
Madina for 12 years and then remained under the sacred patronage of his father Imam Muhammad al-Baqir for a period of nineteen years.IMMAMAT
After the death of his holy father in 114 A.H.,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 preceeding Imams. A brief History of 14 infallibles, Ansarian Publications, Qum, I.R.I. P. 123
Imam Al-Sadiq Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Ali b. al-Husayn, peace be on them, was out of his brothers (the one who was) the successor (Khalifa) of his father,
Muhammad b. Ali, peace be on them, his testamentary trustee (wasi), who was incharge of the Imamat (al' qaim bi-al imama) after him. He stood out among their
group for his great merit (fadl); he was most celebrated, the greatest in rank and the most illustrious of them in (the eyes) of both non-Shia (al-amma) and the Sh'ia (al
Khassa). The people transmitted on his authority the religious science which travellers carried with them (around many countries) and thus the fame was spread
throughout the lands. The learned scholars have transmitted on the authority of no other member of the House (ahl-al-bayt) as much as they have transmitted on his
authority. None of them met as many of the reporters of traditions (ahl al-athar wa-naqlat al-akhbar) as he did, nor did the later transmit on their authority to the
same extent as they transmitted on the authority of Abu ' Abdallah (Ja'far bin. Mohammad) peace be on them. The specialists in tradition (ahsab al-hadith) have
gathered together the names of those who narrated on his authority, who were reliable despite difference in views and doctrines and they were four thousand men.
The clear evidence for his immamt,peace be upon him was such that it overcame (men's) hearts and silenced (the attempts of ) an opponent to denigrate it with doubts.
His father, Abu Ja'far (Muhammad b. Ali), peace be upon him, clearly gave him the trusteeship (of the Imamat) and gave him an explicit designation (nas jali) for the Imamat.
[Muhammad b. Abi' Umayr reported on the authority of Hisham b. Salim on the authority of Abu' Abdallah, Ja'far b. Muhammad,peace be on them, who said:]
"When my father was near to death he said: "Ja'far I give testamentary enjoyment to you ( to treat) my followers well".
"May I be your ransom," I replied, "by God, I will make them (know
their religion so well) that any man among them in the country will not (have to) ask any one( for advice)".
[Aban b. Uthman reported on the authority of Abu-al Sabbah al- Kinani, who said:]
Abu Ja'far Muhammad, peace be on him, looked towards his son, Abu'
Abdallah Ja'far,peace be on him, and said (to us) : " Do you see that man? He is one of those of whom God, the Mighty and the High,said : We wish to grant a favour to those who have been humiliated in the land and we will
make them Imams and inheritors (Al Quran XXVIII-5)
[Hisham b.Salim reported on the authority of Ja'bir b. Yazid al-Ju'fin :]
Abu Ja'far Muhammad, peace be on him, was asked about the one who would take charge (al-qa'im) (of the Imamat) after him. He tapped Abu
Abd Allah Ja'far, peace be upon him, with his hand and said : "By God, this is the man among the family of Muhammad,peace be on them, who will take charge (al-qai'm) (of the Imamat)." Kitab-al Irshad; Shaikh
Mufid. p. 409.
The Holy Imam used to say about his knowledge: " our knowledge is what will be (ghabir) of what is past (mazbar),of what is marked in hearts (naki fi al-qulub) and
of what is tapped into years (naqr fi'al asma). We have the red case (Jafr), the white case, and the scroll of Fatima,peace be upon her, and we have (the documents called) al'-jami'a in which is everything the people need".
He was asked to explain these words and he said : "Ghabir is knowledge of what will be; mazbar is knowledge of what was; what is marked in the hearts (naki fi'al
qulub) is inspiration; and what is tapped into years (naqr fi'al asma) are words of angels; we hear their speech but we donot see their forms. The red case (jafr) is a
vessel in which are the weapons of the Apostle of God,may God bless him and his family. It will never leave us until the one (destined) among us members of the
House, to arise (qa'im) arises. The white case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the Torah of Moses, the Gospel of Jesus, the Psalms of David and the (other) Books
of God. The scroll of Fatima,peace be on her, has in it every event which will take place and the names of all the rulers until the (last) hour comes. (The document
called) al' jami'a is a scroll seventy yards long which the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family,dictated from his own mouth and Ali b. Abi Talib,peace be
on him, wrote in his own handwriting. By God,in it is everything which people need until the end of time,including even the blood-wit for wounding, and whether a (full) flogging or half flogging (is due)." Ibid. p. 414.
[Umar b. Aban reported:]
I asked Abu Abd Allah (Ja'far), peace be on him, about what people were saying that Umm Salama, the mercy of God be on her, had been handed a sealed scroll :
"When the Apostle of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, died, Ali, peace be on him, inherited his knowledge, his weapons and what else was, Then
that went to al-Hasan, peace be on him, then to al-Husayn, peace be on him." "Did it go to Ali b. al Husayn, peace be on them, after that, then to his son and
now it has come to you?" I asked. "Yes," he replied. Ibid. p. 416ABOUT TRADITIONS
The Holy Imam used to say : "My traditions are my father's traditions; my father's traditions are my grand father's traditions, my grand father's traditions are the
traditions of Ali b. Abi Talib, the Commander of the faithful; the traditions of Ali the Commander of the faithful are the traditions of the Apostle of God, may God bless
him and his family; and the traditions of the Apostle of God ,may God bless him and his family, are the word of God, the Mighty and High." Ibid p.414
POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF HIS IMAMAT
The period of his Imamat coincided with the most revolutionary and eventful era of Islamic history which saw the downfall of the Ummayad Empire and the rise of the
Abbaside Caliphat. The internal wars and political upheavals were bringing about speedy reshufflements in government. Thus the Holy Imam witnessed the reignsof
various kings starting from Abdu-l-Malik down to the Ummayad ruler Marwan al-Himar. He further survived till the time of Abu'l-Abbas as-Saffah and al-Mansur
among the Abbasides. It was due to the political strife between two groups viz., the Ummayads and A'Abbasides 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.
On the religious side religious morals of Islam had gone down and the teachings of the Holy Prophet were being neglected, as the state of anarchy was rampant. It was
amidst such deadly gloom that virtuous personage of Imam Ja'far as Sadiq stood like a beacon of light shedding its lustre to illuminate the ocean sinful darkness
around. The world got inclined towards his virtuous and admirable personality. Extracts from Fourteen Infallibles.pp.124-125.
The Imam took advantage of the occasion to propagate the religious sciences until the very end of his Imamat,which was contemporary with the end of the Ummayads
and the begining of the Abbasides.He instructed many scholars in different fields of intellects and transmitted sciences.Among the notable are Hisham al-Kalabi
an-Nassabah and Jabir ibn Hayy'an (the Alchemist). Even some important Sunni scholars such as Sufyan ath-Thawri,Abu Hanifa,the founder of the Hanafi School of
law, al-qadi as-Sukuni, al-qadi Abu'l 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. Extracts from Fourteen Infallibles. pp.126-127.
THE UNIVERSAL INSPIRED KNOWLEDGE ON THE HOLY IMAM (A.S.)
Imam Ja'far Sadiq had such a unique inspired knowledge,not only the Jafri School (named after him) but other schools too acquired knowledge from him.All of his
doctrines can bee studied from the book Imam Al Sadiq; Shaikh Mohammed al-Husayn al Muzaffar (English Translation by Jasim al-Rasheed, Ansarian Publication,Qum Iran,1998.
Only some extracts of very important topics have been either reproduced or an abstract is presented here. His Instructions to his deciples :
He (al-Sadiq A.S.) advised his followers to adopt truthfulness and to pay trust. These things are important for the person to live happily in this world. Al-Sadiq
(A.S.) not only urged his students to seek knowledge but also urged them to adopt clemency and gravity. Concerning humbleness, he, peace be upon him, said : "Be
humble for whom you teach knowledge, be humble for him from whom you acquire knopwledge, donot be haughty scholars, so, your falsehood removes your right. Ibid. p. 120.
THE TRADITIONS
Over four thousand persons reported traditions from al-Sadiq,peace be on him.Traditions were recorded before him too, but recording of traditions became
more common during his time. And the traditions which were reported on his authority were about all sciences.The Shias learned traditions from al-Sadiq (A.S.) as those who learned these from
the the Chief of the prophets,may Allah bless him and his family,this is the reason why the authnticity of these traditions have never been doubted by the Jafri School and thinkers.
ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) is the knowledge of the branch rules begining from tahara( ritual purity) to diya (blood money). These rules are taken from four proofs.
The most important of these four proofs is the Sunna. The Sunna simply means the traditions of the Prophet and of the members of the House. This is the Shiite view of Sunna. Ibid. p.124
THE EXEGESIS
Some exegetese have mainly depended on traditions to explain the Holy Quran. If you want to know something about the words of al-Sadiq,peace be on him, in
exegesis, then read the book ' Majma' Al- Biyan".Some traditions of al-Sadiq and the ideas of ahl-ul bayt about exgeseis have been mentioned in the aove book.
We can understand the knwledge of ahl al- Bayt in the exegesis of the Quran when we read traditions such as : "I am going to leave among you al-thaqlain, the Book of
Allah and my family the members of my House. If you hold fast to them, you will never go astray after me ,because they will not leave each other till they come to me
at hawd (the river in Paradise)". Al-Sadiq,peace be on him, says: By Allah,surely I know the Book of Allah from the begining to the end as it were on the palm of my
hand, in it, there is the news of the sky and of the earth, the news what had happened and the news what will happen". Allah the Great and Almighty, said :in it
(Quran) " There is explanantion for everything". Ibid. p. 126.
NEGATION OF BODY OF ALLAH
Some non-believers and even some Muslims have orignated the suspicion of body, when this question was put before Imam al-Sadiq, he said : "The body has limits,
and the form has limits and an end. What is subject to limits is also subject to growth and decay, and what is subject to growth and decay must be a created
object". Imam al-Sadiq further said : "He (Allah) is neither body nor form. He embodies all bodies and form all forms. He can neither be analysed nor limited. He
grows not,nor does he decay. If the fact was as they say, then there would be no difference between the Creator and the created, the Maker and the made. However, He is the creator and the Maker, and He Who makes distinction and
differentiation (between Him) and that to which He has given body, form and molding,for nothing resembles Him nor does he resemble anything". Ibid. p.14
Also al-Sadiq, peace be on him, said : "Whoever claims that Allah is in a thing or on a thing or moves from a thing or a thing is empty of Him or thing contains Him,
Surely describes Him with qualities of creatures,while Allah is the Creator of everything.. Allah is not measured with the measure nor is he likened to men. There
is no place empty of Him nor does a place contain Him. Allah is near in His farness, far in His nearness. Such is Allah, our Lord. Ther is no god but he". Ibid p.142.
Many traditions have been reported on the authority of the master of appostles (i.e. Prophet Mohammad [S.A.W.]), may Allah bless him and his family. These
traditions denote that Allah has no body nor form, no throne nor hand, etc. Also these traditions have ordered Muslims not to depend on the surface, (notional)
meaning of some verses which underline that Allah has a throne, a hand, and so on.
Some of the verses are : "The Beneficient God has firmly sat on the Throne."This verse should be understood as follows : "The Beneficient God is in firm power."
Also consider these verses : "The hand of Allah is above their hands." (i.e. The power of Allah is above their power) Ibid. p.143
THE QUALITIES OF OCCURANCE
There are qualties that need occurance like space, modality, direction, movement, mobility, and the like. According to surface (notional) meaning of some verses,
some people imagine that these qualities are of the body. So al-Sadiq, peace be on him, refuted such claims with his strong proofs. Also some people think that Allah is
a body depending on His Words in his glorious Book : " Nowhere is there a secret counsel between three persons but He is fourth of them, nor (between) five but He
is sixth of them." In respect of these words of Allah, Abu Abd Allah (al Sadiq p.b.u.h) said : "Allah is the Unity in his entity, Allah is different from his creatures
and so has He described himself. 'And Allah encompasses all things'. Everything is under His full supervision, control and power. Ibid. p. 144.
Al-Sadiq (p.b.u.h) is reported to have said to Abu Basir : "Indeed, Allah, the blessed and Exalted, cannot be described with time, space, movement, and
stillness. Rather, He is the Creator of time, space, movement, and stillness, Allah is very far above what they say." Ibid p. 145.
EYES ATTAIN HIM NOT
Some Muslim sects think that eyes can attain Allah in the hereafter only, or both in here and in the hereafter. However (ahl-ul Bayt), especiaslly al-Sadiq (p.b.u.h), did
their best and negated this attribute and underlined that eyes could not attain Him .The following discussions bear this :
Hisham is reported to have said: I was with al-Sadiq, peace be on him, when Mu'awiya b. Wahab and Abd al-Malik b. Ayun came to him. Mu'awiya b. Wahab
asked al-Sadiq : 'Son of Allah's Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, what is your view point about the tradition which says that Allah's Apostle, may Allah bless
him and his family, had seen his Lod? How did he see Him? And what is your viewpoint about the tradition which says that the believers will see their Lord in
Paradise? How will they see Him?' Al- Sadiq, p.b.u.h., smiled and said : 'Mu'awiaya it is ugly that the man who becomes seventy or eighty years of age, lives
in Allah's Kingdome, and eats from His boons, but he does not know Allah totally'. Then, al Sadiq (p.b.u.h) said : "Mua'viya, Mohammad (S.A.W.) had not seen the
lord,the Blessed and the Exalted, through the faculty of sight. Vision is of two kinds, the vision of the eye, and the vision of the heart. Whoever means the vision of heart,
then is right. And whoever means the vision of eyes, disbelieves in Allah and his (Quranic) verses.Have they not heard the Words of Allah, the Exalted : 'The eyes attain him not, and
he attains (all) eyes', and His Words : 'You cannot (bear to) see Me, but look at mountain, if it remains in its place, then you wil see Me; but when his Lord
manifested His glory to the mountain He made it crumble.'Though Allah's light was as little as the light which passes through the eye of the needle, It made the mountain
crumble and Musa fell down in a swoon. 'Then when he (Musa) recovered, he said Glory be to You, I turn to You, and I am first of the believers'. Ibid. p. 147.
AL-JAFR (DIVINATION)
In Arabic al-Jafr means fully grown he-goat. Perhaps on the begining, this science
was written on the skin of a fully grown he- goat. Divination (al Jafr) is the science of the letters with which the future events are known. It has been mentioned on the
authority of al-Sadiq, peace be on him, that they (al al-Bayt) had divination (al-Ja'far. Al-Sadiq), peace be on him, expplained divination (al-Jafr) as a container
from Adam. In it (the container) was the knowledge of the prophets and the knowledge of the scholars from children of Israel, who died. Many traditions have
been mentioned on the authority of ah al- Bayt on divination (al Jafr) which they had. Although we donot know the meaning of this science thoroughly, we know,
through the traditions which have mentioned it, that it is good science Allah gave to (al al Bayt. Many traditons have been mentioned in 'al-Kafi' on divination (al-Jafr ) which (ah al Bayt ) had.
Some Sunni scholars have mentioned that al-Sadiq,peace be on him, taught (his companions) divination (al-Jafr). For example, al-Shiblanj has mentioned in his
book Nur al-Absar, p.131. B. Qutayba has mentioned in his book Adab al-Katibe : "Imam Ja' far al-Sadiq b. Mohammad al- Baqir has written the book of
divination (al-Jafr). In the book there is what they ( people) need on this science till the Day of Judgement. Abu al-Ala al- Marri has mentioned divination (al-Jafar) as follows :
It has been mentioned in the book al-Fusul al Muhima' : Sonme scholars have mentioned that book of divination (al Jafr) which is in Morocco and which banu
(sons of) Abdal Mumin inherited, belongs to Ja'far al-Sadiq,peace be on him,. The book is regarded as a laudable act and an outstanding merit of al-Sadfiq.Ibid.pp. 148-149.
CHEMISTRY AND JABIR BIN HAYYAN
Many authors have mentioned the knowledge of al-Sadiq,peace be on him, in chemistry. Also they have mentioned that his student Jabir b. Hayyan al-Sufi
al-Tartusi learned this cience from him. Jabir has mentioned five hundred treatises of one thousand pages of Chemnistry. These teatises included the treatises of Ja'far al-Sadiq, peace be upon him.
The earlier and the contemporary orientalists have said many words about Jabir. In his book 'al-Fihrast', pp. 498-503, b. al-Nadim has mentioned Jabir and spoke at
great length about him. Also he has mentioned his books and treatises on various sciences, such as chemistry,medicine, philosophy,theology, and the like. The
Orientalistshave regarded him as a great Muslim Arab,who belonged to the second century (A.H). Ibid. pp.149-50.
Note : Those readers who want to read in greater detail may go through the above title referred.
THE NUMBER OFCHILDREN AND THEIR DETAILS
The Imam had 10 children, they were :
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Source : Kitab al Irshad: Shaikh Mufid. P. 430.
