Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765
CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
Muslim scholar,
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
, and
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
.
[.] He was the founder of the
Jaʿfarī school of Islamic jurisprudence and the
sixth Imam of the
Twelver
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
and
Ismāʿīlī
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-S ...
denominations of
Shīʿa Islam. The
traditions
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
(''ḥadīth'') recorded from al-Ṣādiq and his predecessor,
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bāqir, are said to be more numerous than all the
''ḥadīth'' reports preserved from the
Islamic prophet
Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and the other Shīʿīte Imams combined. Among other theological contributions, he elaborated the doctrine of ''
'' (divinely inspired designation of each Imam by the previous Imam) and ''
'' (the infallibility of the Imams), as well as that of
(religious dissimulation under prosecution).
Al-Ṣādiq is also important to
Sunnīs as a jurist and transmitter of
''ḥadīth'', and a teacher to the Sunnī scholars and Imams
Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān and
Mālik ibn Anas, who founded the
Ḥanafī and
Mālikī
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as pri ...
schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
of Sunnī jurisprudence, respectively. Al-Ṣādiq also figures prominently in the
initiatic chains of many
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
. A wide range of religious and scientific works were attributed to him, though no works penned by al-Ṣādiq remain extant.
Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was born around 700 CE, perhaps in 702. He was about thirty-seven when his father,
Muḥammad al-Bāqir, died after designating him as the next Imam. As the sixth Shīʿīte Imam, al-Ṣādiq kept aloof from the political conflicts that embroiled the region, evading the requests for support that he received from rebels. He was the victim of some harassment by the
Abbasid caliphs
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came t ...
and was eventually, according to Shīʿīte sources, poisoned at the instigation of the caliph
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
. The question of succession after al-Ṣādiq's death divided the early Shīʿa community. Some considered the next Imam to be his eldest son,
Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar, who had predeceased his father. Others accepted the Imamate of his younger son and brother of Ismāʿīl,
Mūsā al-Kāẓim. The first group became known as the
Ismāʿīlīs, whereas the second and larger group was named Jaʽfari or the
Twelver
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
s.
Life
Birth and early life
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq was born in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
around 700 CE, and 702 is given in most sources, according to Gleave. Jaʿfar was the eldest son of
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bāqir, the
fifth Shīʿīte Imam, who was a descendant of
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and
Fāṭima, Muhammad's daughter. Jaʿfar's mother,
Umm Farwa
Umm Farwa bint al-Qāsim () or Umm Farwa Fāṭima was the wife of Muhammad al-Baqir, and the mother of the sixth Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq.
Family
Umm Farwa's father was the Islamic jurist Al-Qasim, son of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. Her mother was As ...
h, was a great-granddaughter of the first ''
rāshidūn'' caliph,
Abū Bakr. During the first fourteen years of his life, Jaʿfar lived alongside his grandfather,
Zayn al-Abidin
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...
, the fourth Shīʿīte Imam, and witnessed the latter's withdrawal from politics and his limited efforts amid the popular appeal of
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib () also known as Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyya () (15 AH – 81 AH; AD 637 – 700) and surnamed Abū al-Qāsim. He was the third son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth rightly-guided caliph and the firs ...
. Jaʿfar also noted the respect that the famous scholars of Medina held toward Zayn al-Abidin. In his mother's house, Jaʿfar also interacted with his grandfather,
Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ( ar, قاسم بن محمد) (born 36 or 38 AH and died 106 AH or 108 AH; corresponding to 660/662 and 728/730) The Four Imams by Muhammad Abu Zahrahchapter on Imam Malik was a jurist in early Isla ...
, a famous
traditionalist of his time. The
Umayyad rule reached its peak in this period, and the childhood of al-Ṣādiq coincided with the growing interest of Medinans in religious sciences and the interpretations of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
. With the death of Zayn al-Abidin, Jaʿfar entered his early manhood and participated in his father's efforts as the representative of the Household of Muhammad (''
Ahl al-Bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
''). Jaʿfar performed the
ritual with his father, al-Bāqir, and accompanied him when the latter was summoned to
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
by the Umayyad caliph
Hisham
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrat ...
for questioning.
Under the Umayyad rulers
Most Umayyad rulers are often described by Muslim historians as corrupt, irreligious, and treacherous. The widespread political and social dissatisfaction with the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
was spearheaded by the prophet's extended family, who were seen by Muslims as God-inspired leaders in their religious struggle to establish justice over impiety. Al-Sadiq's imamate extended over the latter half of the Umayyad Caliphate, which was marked by many (often Shia) revolts and eventually witnessed the violent overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbasids, the descendants of the prophet's paternal uncle
al-Abbas. Al-Sadiq maintained his father's policy of quietism in this period and, in particular, was not involved in the uprising of his uncle,
Zayd
Zaid (also transliterated as Zayd, ar, زيد) is an Arabic given name and surname.
Zaid
*Zaid Abbas Jordanian basketball player
* Zaid Abdul-Aziz (born 1946), American basketball player
* Zaid Al-Harb (1887–1972), Kuwaiti poet
*Zaid al-Rifai ...
, who enjoyed the support of the
Mu'tazilites
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
and the traditionalists of Medina and
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
. Al-Sadiq also played no role in the Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads. His response to a request for help from
Abu Muslim
, image = Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales, Folio from the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-e Nasiri) by Nasir al-Din Tusi (fol. 248r).jpg
, caption = "Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales," Folio from the '' ...
, the
Khorasani rebel leader, was to burn his letter, saying, "This man is not one of my men, this time is not mine." At the same time, al-Sadiq did not advance his claims to the caliphate, even though he saw himself as the divinely designated leader of the Islamic community (
). This spiritual, rather than political, imamate of al-Sadiq was accompanied by his teaching of the
doctrine (religious dissimulation) to protect the Shia against prosecution by Sunni rulers. In this period, al-Sadiq taught quietly in Medina and developed his considerable reputation as a scholar, according to
Momen.
Under the Abbasid rulers
The years of transition from the Umayyads to the Abbasids was a period of weak central authority, allowing al-Sadiq to teach freely. Some four thousand scholars are thus reported to have studied under al-Sadiq. Among these were
Abu Ḥanifa and
Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...
, founders of the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
and
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
schools of law in Sunni Islam.
Wasil ibn Ata
Wāṣil ibn ʿAtāʾ (700–748) ( ar, واصل بن عطاء) was an important Muslim theologian and jurist of his time, and by many accounts is considered to be the founder of the Muʿtazilite school of Kalam.
Born around the year 700 in the ...
, founder of the
Mu'tazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
school of thought, was also among his pupils. After their overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasids violently prosecuted their former Shia allies against the Umayyads. Because they had relied on the public sympathy for the Ahl al-Bayt to attain power, the Abbasids considered al-Sadiq a potential threat to their rule. As the leader of the politically quiet branch of the Shia, he was summoned by
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
to
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
but was reportedly able to convince the caliph to let him stay in Medina by quoting the hadith, "The man who goes away to make a living will achieve his purpose, but he who sticks to his family will prolong his life." Al-Sadiq remained passive in 762 CE to the failed uprising of his nephew, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. Nevertheless, he was arrested and interrogated by al-Mansur and held in
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...
, near Baghdad, before being allowed to return to Medina. His house was burned by order of al-Mansur, though he was unharmed, and there are reports of multiple arrests and attempts on his life by the caliph.
Imamate
Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was about thirty-seven when his father, al-Bāqir, died after designating him as the next Shīʿīte Imam. He held the Imamate for at least twenty-eight years. His Imamate coincided with a crucial period in the
history of Islam
The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims r ...
, as he witnessed both the
overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate by the Abbasids in the mid-8th century (661–750 CE) and later the Abbasids' prosecution of their former Shīʿīte allies against the Umayyads. The leadership of the early Shīʿa community was also disputed among its different factions. In this period, the various Alid uprisings against the Umayyads and later the Abbasids gained considerable support among the Shia. Among the leaders of these movements were
Zayd ibn Ali
Zayd ibn Zayn al-Abidin ( ar, زيد بن زين العابدين; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib.
He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Calipha ...
(al-Sadiq's uncle), Yahya bin Zayd (al-Sadiq's cousin),
Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al- Ḥasan al-Muthannā ibn al- Ḥasan al-Mujtabā ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib or Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakīyya ( ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي الملقَّب ...
and his brother (al-Sadiq's nephews). These claimants saw the imamate and caliphate as inseparable for establishing the rule of justice, according to
Jafri. In particular,
Zayd
Zaid (also transliterated as Zayd, ar, زيد) is an Arabic given name and surname.
Zaid
*Zaid Abbas Jordanian basketball player
* Zaid Abdul-Aziz (born 1946), American basketball player
* Zaid Al-Harb (1887–1972), Kuwaiti poet
*Zaid al-Rifai ...
argued that the imamate could belong to any descendant of
Hasan or
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
who is learned, pious, and revolts against the tyrants of his time. In contrast, similar to his father and his grandfather, al-Sadiq adopted a quiescent attitude and kept aloof from politics. He viewed the imamate and caliphate as separate institutions until such time that God would make the Imam victorious. This Imam, who must be a descendant of Muhammad through Ali and Fatima, derives his exclusive authority not from political claims but from
(divinely inspired designation by the previous Imam) and he also inherits the special knowledge () which qualifies him for the position. Al-Sadiq did not originate this theory of imamate, which was already adopted by his predecessors, Zayn al-Abidin and al-Baqir. Rather, al-Sadiq leveraged the sudden climate of political instability to freely propagate and elaborate the Shia teachings, including the theory of imamate.
Succession
After the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq, his following fractured, and the largest group, who came to be known as the
Twelvers
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
, followed his younger son,
Musa al-Kadhim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...
. It also appears that many expected the next Imam to be al-Sadiq's eldest son,
Isma'il
Ismail ( ar, إِسْمَاعِيْل, ʾIsmāʿīl) is regarded as a prophet and messenger and the ancestor to the Ishmaelites in Islam. He is the son of Ibrahim (Abraham), born to Hajar (Hagar). Ismail is also associated with Mecca and the ...
, who predeceased his father. This group, which later formed the
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
branch, either believed that Isma'il was still alive or instead accepted the imamate of Isma'il's son,
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. While the Twelvers and the Isma'ilis are the only extant Shia sects today, there were more factions at the time: Some followers of al-Sadiq accepted the imamate of his eldest surviving son,
Abdullah al-Aftah
Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (d. 766 CE / 149 A.H.) was the eldest son of Ja'far al-Sadiq (after al-Sadiq's death) and the full-brother of Isma'il ibn Jafar. Abdullah's title "''al-Aftah''" derives from the Arabic words "''aftah al-ra’s' ...
. Several influential followers of al-Sadiq are recorded to have first followed Abdullah and then changed their allegiance to Musa. As Abdullah later died childless, the majority of his followers returned to Musa. A minority of al-Sadiq's followers joined his other son,
Muhammad al-Dibaj, who led an unsuccessful uprising against Caliph
al-Ma'mun
Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...
, after which he abdicated and publicly confessed his error. A final group believed that al-Sadiq was not dead and would return as
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
, the promised savior in Islam.
Death
![Baghi tomb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Baghi_tomb.jpg)
Al-Sadiq died in 765 CE (148 AH) at sixty-four or sixty-five. His death in Shia sources is attributed to poisoning at the instigation of al-Mansur. According to
Tabatabai, after being detained in Samarra, al-Sadiq was allowed to return to Medina, where he spent the rest of his life in hiding until he was poisoned by order of al-Mansur. He was buried in the
al-Baqi Cemetery
''Jannat al-Baqīʿ'' ( ar, ٱلْبَقِيْع, "The Baqi'") is the oldest and the first Islamic cemetery of Medina in the Hejazi region of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, which contains the g ...
in Medina, and his tomb was a place of pilgrimage until 1926. It was then that
Wahhabis
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic Islamic revival, revivalist and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabians, ...
, under the leadership of
Ibn Saud
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...
, the founding
King of Saudi Arabia
The king of Saudi Arabia is the monarchial head of state and ruler of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (), a ...
, conquered Medina for the second time and razed all the tombs except that of the Islamic prophet. According to Tabatabai, upon hearing the news of his death, al-Mansur ordered the governor of Medina to behead al-Sadiq's heir, the future Imam. The governor, however, learned that al-Sadiq had chosen four people, rather than one, to administer his will: al-Mansur himself, the governor, the Imam's oldest (surviving) son Abdullah al-Aftah, and Musa al-Kazim, his younger son. Al-Mansur's plot was thus thwarted.
Family
Al-Sadiq married Fatima, a descendant of
Hasan, with whom he had two sons,
Isma'il
Ismail ( ar, إِسْمَاعِيْل, ʾIsmāʿīl) is regarded as a prophet and messenger and the ancestor to the Ishmaelites in Islam. He is the son of Ibrahim (Abraham), born to Hajar (Hagar). Ismail is also associated with Mecca and the ...
(the sixth
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Imam) and
Abdullah al-Aftah
Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (d. 766 CE / 149 A.H.) was the eldest son of Ja'far al-Sadiq (after al-Sadiq's death) and the full-brother of Isma'il ibn Jafar. Abdullah's title "''al-Aftah''" derives from the Arabic words "''aftah al-ra’s' ...
. He also married Hamida Khatun, a slave-girl from Berber or Andalusia, who bore al-Sadiq three more sons:
Musa al-Kazim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...
(the seventh Twelver Imam),
Muhammad al-Dibaj, and Ishaq al-Mu'tamin. She was known as Hamida the Pure and respected for her religious learning. Al-Sadiq often referred other women to learn the tenets of Islam from her. He is reported to have praised her, "Hamida is removed from every impurity like an ingot of pure gold." Ishaq al-Mu'tamin, is said to have married
Sayyida Nafisa
Sayyida Nafisa (d. 208 AH / 830 CE), the full name ''As-Sayyidah Nafīsah bint Amīr al-Muʾminīn Al-Ḥasan al-Anwar ibn Zayd al-Ablaj ibn Al-Hasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-ʿAlawiyyah al-Ḥasaniyyah'' ( ar, ٱلسَّيِّدَ ...
, a descendant of
Hasan.
Contributions
After Ali, al-Sadiq is possibly the most famed religious scholar of the House of Muhammad, widely recognized as an authority in Islamic law, theology, hadith, and esoteric and occult sciences.
Amir-Moezzi considers him possibly the most brilliant scholar of his time, and the variety of (at times contradictory) views ascribed to al-Sadiq suggest that he was an influential figure in the history of early Islamic thought, as nearly all the early intellectual factions of Islam (except perhaps the
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
) wished to incorporate al-Sadiq into their history in order to bolster their schools’ positions. He is cited in a wide range of historical sources, including the works of
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
,
Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
,
al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
, and
Ibn Khallikan
Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān) ( ar, أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 1211 – 1282), better known as Ibn Khallikān, was a 13th century Shafi'i Islamic scholar w ...
. This popularity, however, has hampered the scholarly attempts to ascertain al-Sadiq's actual views. A number of religious and scientific works also bear al-Sadiq's name, though scholars generally regard them as inauthentic. It seems likely that he was a teacher who left writing to others.
The most extensive contributions of al-Sadiq were to the Twelver Shia, helping establish them as a serious intellectual force in the late Umayyad and early Abbasid periods, according to Gleave.
Tabatabai writes that the number of traditions left behind by al-Sadiq and his father, al-Baqir, were more than all the
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
s recorded from Muhammad and the other Shia Imams combined. Shia thought has continued to develop based on the teachings of the Shia Imams, including al-Sadiq. According to
Rizvi Rizvi or Rizavi or رضوی is the Urdu form of the Arabic surname Radawi/Radhawi and the Persian surname Razavi. It is a surname commonly associated with Muslims, who claim descent from the Imam Ali al-Ridha, a descendant of the Islamic prophet M ...
, al-Sadiq preached against slavery.
Doctrine of imamate
Following his predecessors, Zayn al-Abidin and al-Baqir, al-Sadiq further elaborated the Shia doctrine of imamate, which has become the hallmark of the Twelver and Isma'ili Shia theologies, but rejected by the
Zaydis
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, a ...
. In this doctrine, Imam is a descendant of Muhammad through Ali and Fatima who derives his exclusive authority not from political claims but from
, that is, divinely-inspired designation by the previous Imam. As the successor of Muhammad, the Imam has an all-inclusive mandate for temporal and religious leadership of the Islamic community, though this doctrine views the imamate and caliphate as separate institutions until such time that God would make the Imam victorious. The Imam also inherits from his predecessor the special knowledge (), which qualifies him for the position. Similar to Muhammad, Imam is believed to be infallible thanks to this unique knowledge, which also establishes him as the sole authorized source for interpreting the revelation and guiding the Muslims along the right path. This line of Imams in Shia Islam is traced back to Ali, who succeeded Muhammad through a divine decree.
Ja'fari school of law
Law in Islam is an all-embracing body of ordinances that govern worship and ritual in addition to a proper legal system. Building on the work of his father, al-Sadiq is remembered as the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of law (), followed by the Twelver Shia. According to Lalani, the Isma'ili jurisprudence (), as codified by
al-Qadi al-Numan, is also primarily based on the large corpus of statements left behind by al-Sadiq and his father, al-Baqir. Al-Sadiq denounced the contemporary use of opinion (), personal juristic reasoning (), and analogical reasoning () as human attempts to impose regularity and predictability onto the laws of God. He argued that God's law is occasional and unpredictable and that Muslims should submit to the inscrutable will of God as revealed by the Imam. He also embraced a devolved system of legal authority: it is ascribed to al-Sadiq that, "It is for us
he Imams
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
to set out foundational rules and principles (), and it is for you
he learned
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
to derive the specific legal rulings for actual cases." Similarly, when asked how legal disputes within the community should be solved, al-Sadiq described the state apparatus as evil () and encouraged the Shia to refer to "those who relate our
.e., the Imams'hadiths" because the Imams have "made such a one a judge () over you." The Sunni jurisprudence is based on the three pillars of the Quran, the practices of Muhammad (
), and consensus (
), whereas the Twelver Shia jurisprudence adds to these pillars a fourth pillar of reasoning () during the occultation of
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
. In Shia Islam, also includes the practices of the Shia Imams.
Doctrine of ''taqiya''
is a form of religious dissimulation, where an individual can hide one's beliefs under persecution. was introduced by al-Baqir and later advocated by al-Sadiq to protect his followers from prosecution at the time when
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
, the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph, conducted a brutal campaign against the
Alids
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inclu ...
and their supporters. This doctrine is based on verse 16:106 of the Quran, where the wrath of God is said to await the apostate "except those who are compelled while their hearts are firm in faith." According to Amir-Moezzi, in the early sources, means "the keeping or safeguarding of the secrets of the Imams' teaching," which may have resulted at times in contradictory traditions from the Imams. In such cases, if one of the contradictory reports matches the corresponding Sunni doctrine, it would be discarded because the Imam must have had agreed with Sunnis to avoid prosecution of himself or his community.
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
suggests that also kept conflict to a minimum with those religious scholars () who disagreed with the Shia teachings.
Free will
On the question of predestination and free will, which was under much discussion at the time, al-Sadiq followed his father, portraying human responsibility but preserving God's autocracy, asserting that God decreed some things absolutely but left others to human agency. This compromise, widely adopted afterward, is highlighted when al-Sadiq was asked if God forces His servants to do evil or whether He had delegated power to them: he answered negatively to both questions and instead suggested, "The blessings of your Lord are between these two." Al-Sadiq taught "that God the Most High decreed some things for us and He has likewise decreed some things through our agency: what He has decreed for us or on our behalf He has concealed from us, but what He has decreed through our agency He has revealed to us. We are not concerned, therefore, so much with what He has decreed for us as we are with what He has decreed through our agency." Al-Sadiq is also credited with the statement that God does not "order created beings to do something without providing for them a means of not doing it, though they do not do it or not do it without God's permission." Al-Sadiq declared, "Whoever claims that God has ordered evil, has lied about God. Whoever claims that both good and evil are attributed to him, has lied about God." In his prayers, he often said, "There is no work of merit on my own behalf or on behalf of another, and in evil there is no excuse for me or for another."
Quranic exegesis
Al-Sadiq is attributed with what is regarded as the most important principle for judging traditions, that a hadith should be rejected if it contradicts the Quran, whatever other evidence might support it. In his books ''Haqaeq al-Tafsir'' and ''Ziadat Ḥaqaeq al-Tafsir'', the author Abd-al-Raḥman Solami cites al-Ṣadiq as one of his major (if not the major) sources. It is said that al-Sadiq merged the inner and the outer meanings of the Quran to reach a new interpretation of it (
). It is ascribed to al-Sadiq that, "The Book of God
uran
Uran is a coastal town and part of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It lies in the Raigad district, east of Mumbai across the Dharamtar Creek. Uran is primarily a fishing and agriculture village, which has developed into the ...
comprises four things: the statement set down (), the implied purport (), the hidden meanings, relating to the supra-sensible world (), and the exalted spiritual doctrines (). The literal statement is for the ordinary believers (). The implied purport is the concern of the elite (). The hidden meanings pertain to the Friends of God (). The exalted spiritual doctrines are the province of the prophets ()." These remarks echo the statement of Ali, the first Shia Imam.
Views
Ja'far al-Sadiq's significance in the formation of early Muslim thought is demonstrated by the fact that his name is used as a reference in
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
, scientific, Sunni legal,
Ismaili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
, and circles. Most of these groups desired to use his legacy for their own agendas. However, the
Imami Shia tradition is the most comprehensive source for his teachings.
Shia Islam
While the Sunnis respect al-Sadiq as a transmitter of hadith and a jurist (), Shiites view him as an imam and therefore infallible, and record his sayings and actions in the works of hadith and jurisprudence (). In the Shia writings of the
Imamiyya
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
, his legal rulings constitute the most important source of Imamiyya law. In fact, the Imam's legal doctrine is called
Ja'fari jurisprudence
Jaʿfarī jurisprudence ( ar, الفقه الجعفري; also called Jafarite in English), Jaʿfarī school or Jaʿfarī fiqh, is the school of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') in Twelver and Ismaili (including Nizari) Shia Islam, named after the sixth ...
() by both the Imamis and the Sunnis in order to refer to his legal authority.
The Shias considered al-Sadiq the only legitimate person who could represent the
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
in his time and have the authority to rule.
According to Imami Shi'as, Ja'far al-Sadiq, is the sixth imam who was responsible for turning the imamiya into a powerful intellectual movement during the late Umayyad and early Abbasid eras.
Al-Sadiq is presented by
Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
as one of the most respected personalities of his epoch, adding that it was customary to refer to al-Sadiq as 'the learned one'.
Sunni Islam
Al-Sadiq is respected in Sunni Islam as a jurist and a master teacher of hadith sciences, who is cited in several s (chains of transmissions). Among his students were
Abu Ḥanifa and
Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...
, founders of the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
and
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
schools of law in Sunni Islam.
According to Jafri, the famous Sunni jurist
Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...
would quote al-Sadiq as, "The truthful () Ja'far ibn Muhammad himself told me that…" (A similar attitude is reported from
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
.)
Malik was a teacher of
al-Shafi'i
Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī ( ar, أَبُو عَبْدِ ٱللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ ٱلشَّافِعِيُّ, 767–19 January 820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and schola ...
, who was, in turn, a teacher of
Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...
.
It has thus been noted that all of the four Imams of Sunni are connected to Ja'far, whether directly or indirectly.
Wasil ibn Ata
Wāṣil ibn ʿAtāʾ (700–748) ( ar, واصل بن عطاء) was an important Muslim theologian and jurist of his time, and by many accounts is considered to be the founder of the Muʿtazilite school of Kalam.
Born around the year 700 in the ...
, founder of the
Mu'tazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
school of thought, was also among al-Sadiq's pupils. The Sunni scholar
al-Dhahabi
Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Islamic historia ...
recognizes al-Sadiq's contribution to Sunni tradition, and
al-Shahrastani
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī ( ar, تاج الدين أبو الفتح محمد بن عبد الكريم الشهرستاني; 1086–1153 CE), also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī, was an influenti ...
, the influential Sunni historian, pays al-Sadiq a high tribute in his work.
Sufism
Al-Sadiq holds a special prominence among
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
orders: a number of early Sufi figures are associated with al-Sadiq; he is praised in the Sufi literature for his knowledge of (), and numerous sayings and writings about spiritual progress are ascribed to him in Sufi circles. He is also viewed at the head of the Sufi line of saints and mystics by the Sufi writers
Abu Nu'aym
Abu Nuʿaym al-Isfahani (; full name: ''Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Ishāq ibn Mūsā ibn Mahrān al-Mihrānī al-Asbahānī'' (or ''al-Asfahānī'') ''al-Ahwal al-Ash`arī al-Shāfi`ī'', died 1038 CE / AH 430) was a medieval Persian Sh ...
and
Farid al-Din Attar
Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; fa, ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn () and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a PersianRitter, H. ( ...
. Attar praises al-Sadiq as the one "who spoke more than the other imams concerning the ," who "excelled in writing on innermost mysteries and truths and who was matchless in expounding the subtleties and secrets of revelation." However, some of the material attributed to al-Sadiq in the Sufi literature is said to be apocryphal. Among others, the Shia
Moqaddas Ardabili has thus dismissed the alleged links between al-Sadiq and Sufism as an attempt to gain the authority of al-Sadiq for Sufi teachings. Gleave and Bowering suggest that ''Tafsir al-Quran'', ''Manafe' Sowar al-Quran,'' and ''Kawass al-Qoran al-Azam,'' three mystical commentaries of the Quran attributed to al-Sadiq, were composed after his death because these works demonstrate a mastery of the recent lexicon of Muslim mysticism. Alternatively, Taylor is certain that the traditions in the Quranic exegesis edited by the mystic Dhu al-Nun Misri can be traced back to the Imam. Given the appeal and influence of al-Sadiq outside the circle of his Shia supporters, Algar suggests that he likely played some role in the formation of Sufism. Both Abu Nu'aym and Attar narrate several encounters between al-Sadiq and contemporary proto-Sufis to highlight his asceticism (). One encounter describes how Sofyan Ṯawri, the renowned jurist and ascetic, allowed himself to reproach the Imam for his silken robe, only for the Imam to reveal beneath it a modest white woolen cloak, explaining that the finery was for men to behold and the woolen cloak for God. The Imam thus displayed the former and concealed the latter.
Ghulat
One of the distinctive features of the is the
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
's deification. One group of them, called the ''
Mufawidda'', preached that God gave the Prophet and the imams the authority to create and take care of all living things. Many Twelver Shi'i traditions state that
al-Baqir and al-Sadiq did not have supernatural abilities and did not perform the miracles attributed to them. Despite these denials, a number of
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
s that contained concepts found their way into Twelver Shiite hadith collections.
According to some early Imami
heresiographer
In theology or the history of religion, heresiology is the study of heresy, and heresiographies are writings about the topic. Heresiographical works were common in both medieval Christianity and Islam.
Heresiology developed as a part of the emergi ...
s,
Abu al-Khattab Abū l-Khaṭṭāb Muḥammad ibn Abī Zaynab Miqlāṣ al-Asadī (Arabic: اَبُوالخَطّاب مُحَمَّد بن أبی زَینَب المِقلاص الأَسَدی) nicknamed ''al-Barrād al-Ajda'' (Arabic: البَرّاد الأَج ...
(died 755) asserted that he had been chosen to serve as al-Sadiq's envoy and had been given access to his hidden doctrines. It seems that Abu al-Khattab's views on al-Sadiq's divinity and his own status as a prophetic messenger of God eventually led al-Sadiq to repudiate him in 748. His adherents were referred to as
Khattabiyya Khaṭṭābiyya was the name of a Ghulat, Ghali sect founded by Abu l-Khattab in Kufa. Abu l-Khattab claimed that Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 6th Twelve Imams, Imam of Shias, chose him as deputy and legatee (''waṣī'') and taught him the Greatest Name o ...
. Later Twelver tradition disavows any connection between al-Sadiq and the views of Abu al-Khattab.
The same Imami heresiographers also claim that
al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar al-Juʿfī ( ar, أبو عبد الله المفضل بن عمر الجعفي), died before 799, was an early Shi'i leader and contemporary of the Imams Ja'far al-Sadiq (–765) and Musa al-Kazim (745 ...
(died before 799) and his followers, the ''Mufaddaliya'', likewise regarded al-Sadiq as a god and themselves as his prophets. However, it is not certain whether the ''Mufaddaliya'' ever existed,
[ and in Twelver hadith al-Mufaddal consistently appears as the intimate companion of Ja'far al-Sadiq and his son Musa al-Kazim, with the exception of the brief period of disgrace with Jaʿfar al-Sadiq due to his ''Khattabiyya'' leanings. According to Twelver traditions, al-Mufaddal was even appointed by al-Sadiq to control the excesses of ''Khattabiyya''. Nevertheless, al-Mufaddal's status as a close confidant of Ja'far al-Sadiq led to a large number of writings being attributed to him by later authors, including major works such as the '']Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar al-Juʿfī ( ar, أبو عبد الله المفضل بن عمر الجعفي), died before 799, was an early Shi'i leader and contemporary of the Imams Ja'far al-Sadiq (–765) and Musa al-Kazim (745 ...
'' and the '' Kitab al-Sirat''.[
]
Works
A large number of religious books bear al-Sadiq's name as their author, but none of them can be attributed to al-Sadiq with certainty.
It has been suggested that al-Sadiq was a writer who left the work of writing to his students. In this regard, some of the works attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Arabic: , variously called al-Ṣūfī, al-Azdī, al-Kūfī, or al-Ṭūsī), died 806−816, is the purported author of an enormous number and variety of works in Arabic, often called the Jabirian corpus. The ...
() also claim to be mere expositions al-Sadiq's teachings.
A Quran commentary (), a book on divination ( Ketb al-jafr), numerous drafts of his will, and several collections of legal dicta are among the works attributed to al-Sadiq.
Exegesis
Most of the extant writings attributed to al-Sadiq are commentaries () on the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
:
In Sufi circles, a number of mystical Quranic exegeses are attributed to al-Sadiq, such as ''Tafsir al-Quran'', ''Manafe' Sowar al-Quran'', and ''Kawass al-Quran al-Azam''.
Another attributed work is the book of , a mystical commentary which according to Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab
The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...
was written by al-Sadiq about the hidden () meanings of the Quran. According to Ibn Khaldun this book was transmitted from al-Sadiq and written down by Hārūn ibn Saʿīd al-ʿIjlī.
Perhaps the most influential mystical exegesis attributed to al-Sadiq is the , composed by Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d.330/942). This text was first introduced to modern scholarship by Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic church's relationship w ...
, and was later published in a critical edition by Paul Nwyia. Another version was published by ʿAlī Zayʿūr. One of the outstanding features of this exegesis is its emphasis on letter mysticism. It is considered to be the oldest mystical commentary of the Quran after Sahl al-Tustari
Sahl al-Tustarī ( ar, سهل التستري) or Sahl Shushtarī ( fa, سهل شوشتری) according to Persian custom, born Abū Muḥammad Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh (c.818 CE (203 AH) – c.896 CE (283 AH)), was a Persian Sunni Muslim schola ...
's exegesis.
''Tafsīr al-Nuʿmānī'' is another exegesis attributed to al-Sadiq, which he supposedly narrated on the authority of Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
from the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. This treatise was compiled by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Nu'mani - known as Ibn Abi Zainab. The 17th-century scholar Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi
Mohammad Baqer Majlesi (b. 1037/1628-29 – d. 1110/1699) ( fa, علامه مجلسی ''Allameh Majlesi''; also Romanized as: Majlessi, Majlisi, Madjlessi), known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was a renowned and v ...
recorded it in his . A summary of it has also been attributed to the Twelver theologian Sharif al-Murtaza
Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (Arabic: أبو القاسم علي بن الحسين الشريف المرتضى ) (commonly known as: Sharīf Murtaḍā, Sayyid Murtaḍā, (Murtazā instead of Murtaḍā in non-Ara ...
and was published under the title .
''Tafsīr al-Imām al-Ṣādiq'' is another commentary attributed to al-Sadiq, which Agha Bozorg Tehrani
Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Mohsen Razi (محمد محسن بن علي بن محمد رضا الطهراني النجفي), popularly known as Agha (Aqa) Bozorg Tehrani () (11 Rabi-I 1293 – 13 Zul-Hijjah 1389 AH /7 April 1876 – 20 February ...
mentions it in his book al-Dharī'a under the title ''Tafsir al-Imam Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq'' and it is believed that one of Sadiq's students narrated it from him. Fuat Sezgin
Fuat Sezgin (24 October 1924 – 30 June 2018) was a Turkish orientalist who specialized in the history of Arabic-Islamic science. He was ''professor emeritus'' of the History of Natural Science at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankf ...
calls this work ''Tafsīr al-Qurʾān''. A copy of it with the title ''Tafsīr al-Imām al-Ṣādiq'', according to Bankipur Oriental Library's catalogue, is written by al-Nuʿmānī based on the sayings of al-Sadiq. This commentary is arranged according to the Surah
A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...
s of the Quran and covers only the words of the Quran that require explanation. This commentary, which is a type of mystical commentary, deals with both the exoteric (ẓāhir) and the esoteric (bāṭin) aspects of the Quran. It is mostly about God and his relationship with mankind, also man's knowledge of God and the relationship between Muhammad and God.
Tawhid al-Mufaddal
The ('Declaration by al-Mufaddal of the Oneness of God'), also known as the ('Book on the Beginning of Creation and the Incitement to Contemplation'), is a ninth-century treatise concerned with proving the existence of God
The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorized ...
, attributed to Ja'far al-Sadiq's financial agent al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar al-Juʿfī ( ar, أبو عبد الله المفضل بن عمر الجعفي), died before 799, was an early Shi'i leader and contemporary of the Imams Ja'far al-Sadiq (–765) and Musa al-Kazim (745 ...
(died before 799). The work presents itself as a dialogue between al-Mufaddal and Ja'far al-Sadiq, who is the main speaker.[.]
Like most other works attributed to al-Mufaddal, the was in fact written by a later, anonymous author who took advantage of al-Mufaddal's status as one of the closest confidants of Ja'far al-Sadiq in order to ascribe their own ideas to the illustrious Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
. However, it differs from other treatises attributed to al-Mufaddal by the absence of any content that is specifically Shi'i in nature, a trait it shares with only one other Mufaddal work—also dealing with a rational proof for the existence of God—the ('Book of the Myrobalan The common name myrobalan can refer to several unrelated fruit-bearing plant species:
* Myrobalan plum (''Prunus cerasifera''), also called cherry plum and myrobalan plum
* Emblic myrobalan (''Phyllanthus emblica''), also called Amla and Amalaki
In ...
Fruit'). Though both preserved by the 17th-century Shi'i scholar Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi
Mohammad Baqer Majlesi (b. 1037/1628-29 – d. 1110/1699) ( fa, علامه مجلسی ''Allameh Majlesi''; also Romanized as: Majlessi, Majlisi, Madjlessi), known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was a renowned and ver ...
(died 1699), the only thing that connects the and the to Shi'ism more generally is their ascription to Ja'far al-Sadiq and al-Mufaddal. Rather than by Shi'i doctrine, their content appears to be influenced by Mu'tazilism
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
, a rationalistic school of Islamic speculative theology ().[
The is in fact a revised version of a work falsely attributed to the famous Mu'tazili litterateur ]al-Jahiz
Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري), commonly known as al-Jāḥiẓ ( ar, links=no, الجاحظ, ''The Bug Eyed'', born 776 – died December 868/Jan ...
(died 868) under the title ('Book of Proofs and Contemplation on Creation and Administration'). Both the and pseudo
The prefix pseudo- (from Greek ψευδής, ''pseudes'', "false") is used to mark something that superficially appears to be (or behaves like) one thing, but is something else. Subject to context, ''pseudo'' may connote coincidence, imitation, ...
-Jahiz's likely go back on an earlier 9th-century text, which has sometimes been identified as the ('Book of Thought and Contemplation') written by the 9th-century Nestorian Christian
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...
Jibril ibn Nuh ibn Abi Nuh al-Nasrani al-Anbari.
The teleological argument
The teleological argument (from ; also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument) is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world wh ...
for the existence of God used in the is inspired by Syriac Christian
Syriac Christianity ( syr, ܡܫܝܚܝܘܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ / ''Mšiḥoyuṯo Suryoyto'' or ''Mšiḥāyūṯā Suryāytā'') is a distinctive branch of Eastern Christianity, whose formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expr ...
literature (especially commentaries on the Hexameron
The term Hexameron (Greek: Ἡ Ἑξαήμερος Δημιουργία ''Hē Hexaēmeros Dēmiourgia'') refers either to the genre of theological treatise that describes God's work on the six days of creation or to the six days of creation thems ...
), and ultimately goes back on Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
models such as the pseudo-Aristotelian Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their work to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as ...
('On the Universe
''On the Universe'' ( el, Περὶ Κόσμου; la, De Mundo) is a theological and scientific treatise included in the Corpus Aristotelicum but usually regarded as spurious. It was likely published between and the . The work discusses cosmolo ...
', 3rd/2nd century BCE) and Stoic theology as recorded in Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
's (106–43 BCE) .
Other works
''Misbah al-Sharia and Miftah al-Haqiqah'' is another work attributed to al-Sadiq. It is on personal conduct, with chapters on various topics such as legal interests interspersed with general moral issues, and advice on how to lead a spiritual life and thus purify the soul.
As the first person who came across this book in the 7th century A.H., Sayyed Ibn Tawus
Sayyed Radhi ud-Deen Ali ibn Musa ibn Tawus al Hasani wal Husaini (1193-1266 AD) commonly called Sayyed Ibn Tawus () was a Shiite jurist, theologian, historian and astrologer. He was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali through his father and a descendan ...
described it as a collection of hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
s of Jafar al-Sadiq. It includes a prediction of future events and sufferings. There is a specific Shia chapter in "Knowledge of the Imams" in which the names of all the Imams (both before al-Sadiq and after him) are mentioned during the exchange of reports between the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and Salman the Persian
Salman the Persian or Salmān al-Fārsī ( ar, سَلْمَان ٱلْفَارِسِيّ), born Rūzbeh Khoshnūdān ( fa, ), was a Persian companion (Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was raised as a Zoroastrian in Sasanian Persia, t ...
. Mohammad Baqer Majlesi
Mohammad Baqer Majlesi (b. 1037/1628-29 – d. 1110/1699) ( fa, علامه مجلسی ''Allameh Majlesi''; also Romanized as: Majlessi, Majlisi, Madjlessi), known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was a renowned and ver ...
considered this work to have been written by Shaqiq al-Balkhi
Shaqiq al-Balkhi (; d. 810 / AH 194) was an early Sufi saint"Tawakkul" in: Oliver Leaman (ed.) The Qur'an: an encyclopedia, Routledge, 2008, of the Khorasan school.
Tradition makes him the disciple of Ibrahim ibn Adham.
He emphasized the importa ...
, who supposedly quoted it from "one of the people of knowledge," and not explicitly from Ja'far al-Sadiq. Despite Majlesi's doubts about its authenticity, this work remains very popular as a manual of personal worship and has been the subject of a number of commentaries by prominent Shia and Sufi scholars. It has also been translated into different languages. Its manuscript is available in the library of Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
.
There is also a book on dream interpretation that is attributed to al-Sadiq and is known by the name ''Taqsim al-roʾyā''. It is identical to the work ''Ketāb al-taqsim fi taʿbir al-ḥolm'', which is credited to Ja'far al-Sadiq. Eighty various types of dream sightings, ranging from the religious (dreams of God, angels, prophets, and imams) to the profane (dreams of meat, fat, and cheese), are interpreted by Ja'far al-Sadiq in this book. According to Robert Gleave, it is not always clear whether they can be regarded as works attributed to Jafar al-Sadiq or works attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
that is transmitted through Ja'far al-Sadiq. From a Shia perspective, this is not problematic because there is no discernible difference between the knowledge of one imam and that of another from a religious perspective.
The ''Kitāb al-Ihlīlaja'' is presented as al-Sadiq's opinions transmitted through al-Mufaddal. The work is allegedly a response to al-Mufaddal's request for a refutation of atheists.
Jafar al-Sadiq describes his own argument with an atheist Indian doctor in it. The discussion took place as the doctor prepared a myrobalan The common name myrobalan can refer to several unrelated fruit-bearing plant species:
* Myrobalan plum (''Prunus cerasifera''), also called cherry plum and myrobalan plum
* Emblic myrobalan (''Phyllanthus emblica''), also called Amla and Amalaki
In ...
plant-based medication (known in Arabic as ''Ihlīlaj'', and hence the title of the work).
Shia disciples
Momen contends that of the few thousand students who are said to have studied under al-Sadiq, only a few could have been Shia, considering that al-Sadiq did not openly advance his claims to the imamate. Notable Shia students of al-Sadiq included
* Hisham ibn al-Hakam
Hisham ibn al-Hakam ( ar, هشام بن الحكم) or Abul Hakam Hisham ibn Hakam Kendi was an 8th century AD (2nd century AH) Shiite scholar and a companion of Jafar al-Sadiq and Musa al-Kadhim. It was Hisham who defended the doctrine of Imama ...
was a famous disciple of al-Sadiq, who proposed a number of doctrines that later became orthodox in the Twelver theology, including the rational necessity of the divinely-guided imam in every age to teach and lead God's community.
* Aban ibn Taghlib Abu Sa'id Aban ibn Taghlib ibn Rubah al-Kindi (died 758 AD/141 AH) was an outstanding jurist-traditionist and an associate of Muhammad al-Baqir, but also of Zayn al-Abidin and Ja'far al-Sadiq. Al-Baqir is reported to have praised Aban as, "Sit in th ...
was an outstanding jurist and traditionist and an associate of al-Sadiq in Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
, but also of Zayn al-Abidin and al-Baqir. The latter is reported to have praised Aban, "Sit in the mosque of Kufa and give legal judgment to the people. Indeed I would like to see among my Shia people like you."
* Burayd ibn Mu'awiya al-'Ijli
Burayd ibn Mu'awiya al-'Ijli( ar, بُرَیدِ بْن معاویة العجلی) (before 148 AH / 765 AD) was a Shi'a jurists and a famous disciple of Muhammad al-Baqir and later Ja'far al-Sadiq. His name is included in the Consensus companion ...
in Kufa was a famous disciple of al-Baqir and later al-Sadiq, who later became a key authority in the Shia jurisprudence ( ). Al-Baqir praised him (along with Abu Basir Moradi
Abū Baṣīr Layth ibn al-Bakhtarī al-Murādī (Arabic:ابوبصیر لیث بن البختری المرادی) known as Abu Basir al-Moradi or simply Abu Basir was a famous Shia jurist ( ) and traditionist and an associate of Muhammad al-Baqir ...
, Muhammad bin Muslim, and Zurarah) as worthy of the paradise.
* Abu Basir al-Asadi Yaḥyā b. Abī l-Qāsim al-Asadī (Arabic: یحیی بن أبیالقاسم الأسدی)(d. 150 AH / 767 AD), known as Abū Baṣīr al-Asadī (أبوبصیر الأسدی) or simply Abu Basir was a Imamiyyah, Imami figure in Kufa. Abu Basir a ...
was considered one of the poles of the intellectual leadership of the Imami community of Kufa. His name is included in the number of six companions of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq that hadiths narrated by any one of them is considered authentic by many Shi'a scholars. Some consider Abu Basir al-Moradi
Abū Baṣīr Layth ibn al-Bakhtarī al-Murādī (Arabic:ابوبصیر لیث بن البختری المرادی) known as Abu Basir al-Moradi or simply Abu Basir was a famous Shia jurist (Faqīh, ) and traditionist and an associate of Muhammad a ...
as one of those six people instead of Abu Basir al-Asadi.
* Abu Basir Moradi
Abū Baṣīr Layth ibn al-Bakhtarī al-Murādī (Arabic:ابوبصیر لیث بن البختری المرادی) known as Abu Basir al-Moradi or simply Abu Basir was a famous Shia jurist ( ) and traditionist and an associate of Muhammad al-Baqir ...
, a famous Shia jurist ( ) and traditionist, was another associate of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq. Al-Sadiq is believed to have told Moradi, Zurarah, Burayd, and Muhammad ibn Muslim that the prophetic hadiths would have been lost without them.
* Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Nu'man known as Mu'min al-Taq
Abū Ja'far Muḥammad ibn 'Alī ibn Nu'mān ibn Abī Ṭurayfa al-Bajalī al-Kūfī (Arabic: ابوجعفر محمّد بن علي بن نعمان ابن أبي طريفة البجلي الکوفي), known as Mu'min al-Ṭāq (مؤمن الطاق) ...
was a distinguished theologist in Kufa and a devoted follower of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, whose debates about imamate are famous. ''Kitab al-Imamah'' and ''Kitab al_Radd alla al-Muazila fi Imamat al-Mafdul'' are among his works.
* Zurarah ibn Ayan in Kufa was a disciple of al-Hakam ibn Utayba before joining al-Baqir. As a prominent traditionist and theologian, Zurarah played an important role in developing the Shia thought. Zurarah lived long enough to also become a close disciple of Ja'far al-Sadiq.
* Fudayl ibn Yasar is another notable associate of both al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, about whom al-Sadiq said what the prophet had said about Salman the Persian
Salman the Persian or Salmān al-Fārsī ( ar, سَلْمَان ٱلْفَارِسِيّ), born Rūzbeh Khoshnūdān ( fa, ), was a Persian companion (Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was raised as a Zoroastrian in Sasanian Persia, t ...
, that "Fudayl is from us, the Ahl al-Bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
."
* Maymun ibn al-Aswad al-Qaddah was a devout supporter of al-Baqir and his son, al-Sadiq. Not educated but with an impressive personality, Maymun probably committed to writing what he heard from the Imams. His son, Abd Allah, is the alleged ancestor of the Isma'ili imams.
Selected quotes
* "The most perfect of men in intellect is the best of them in ethics."
* "Charity is the (alms) of blessings, intercession is the of dignity, illnesses are the of bodies, forgiveness is the of victory, and the thing whose is paid is safe from taking (by God)."
* "He who answers all that he is asked, surely is mad."
* "Whoever fears God, God makes all things fear him; and whoever does not fear God, God makes him fear all things."
* "God Almighty has said: people are dear to me as family. Therefore, the best of them is the one who is nicer to others and does his best to resolve their needs."
* "One of the deeds God Almighty appreciates the most is making his pious servants happy. This can be done through fulfilling their hunger, sweeping away their sorrows, or paying off their debts."
See also
* Family tree of Muhammad
This family tree is about the relatives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad known as a family member of the family of Hashim and the Qurayshs tribe which is ‘Adnani. "The ‘arabicised or arabicising Arabs’, on the contrary, are believed to be ...
* Imamate (Shia doctrine)
* Imamate (Twelver doctrine)
Imāmah ( ar, إِمَامَة) means "leadership" and is a concept in Twelver theology. The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam. According to Twelver ...
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
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* ( in vol. 3, pp. 57–151; in vol. 3, pp. 152–198)
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* (reprinted in )
Further reading
*
External links
''Imam al-Sadiq'' by Shaykh Mohammed al-Husayn al-Muzaffar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar al-Sadiq
702 births
765 deaths
8th-century Arabs
8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
8th-century writers
8th-century imams
Twelve Imams
Ismaili imams
Deaths by poisoning
Husaynids
Assassinated royalty
Burials at Jannat al-Baqī