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About Hazrat Imam
Jaffar Sadiq a.s
He was born in Medina
in the year 83 A.H and he died in Rajab in the year 148 A.H. at the
age of 65. He was buried in the cemetery of al-Baqi alongside his
father, his grandfather and his (great-great) uncle. His mother was
Umm Farwa, the daughter of al-Qasim b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr. His
Imamate lasted for thirty-four years. His father, Imam Mohammad
Baqir(a.s.), clearly gave him the trusteeship (of the Imamate) and
gave him an explicit designation (nass jali) for the Imamate.
Imam's a.s
Knowledge and his Sciences
Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.)
stood out among their group for his great merit (fadl); he was the
most celebrated, the greatest in rank and the most illustrious of
them in the eyes of both the non-Shia (al-amma) and the Shi'a (al-khassa).
The people transmitted on his authority the religious sciences which
travellers carried with them and thus his 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 as he did, nor did the latter transmit on
their authority to the same extent as they transmitted on the
authority of Abu Abd Allah Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.). The specialists
in tradition (ashab al- hadith) have gathered together the names of
those who narrated on his authority, who were reliable despite
differences in views and doctrines and they were four thousand men.
The clear evidence for his Imamate was such that it overcame hearts
and silenced the attempts of an opponent to denigrate it with
doubts.
During the imamate of
the sixth Imam greater possibilities and a more favorable climate
existed for him to propagate religious teachings. This came about as
a result of revolts in Islamic Lands, especially the uprising of the
Muswaddah to overthrow the Umayyad caliphate, and the bloody wars
which finally led to the fall and extinction of the Umayyads. The
greater opportunities for Shi'ite teachings were also a result of
the favorable ground the fifth Imam had prepared during the twenty
years of his imamate through the propagation of the true teachings
of Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet. The Imam
took advantage of the occasion to propagate the religious sciences
until the very end of his imamate, which was contemporary with the
end of the Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid caliphates. He
instructed many scholars in different fields of the intellectual and
transmitted sciences, such as Zorarah, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Mu'min
Taq, Hisham ibn Hakam, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn Salim, Hurayz,
Hisham Kalbi Nassabah, and Jabir ibn Hayyan, the alchemist. Even
some important Sunni scholars such as Sufyan Thawri, Abu Hanifah,
the founder of the Hanafi school of law, Qadhi Sukuni, Qadhi Abu'l-
Bakhtari, and others, had the honor of being his students. It is
said that his classes and sessions of instruction produced four
thousand scholars of hadith and other sciences. The number of
traditions preserved from the fifth and sixth Imams is more than all
the hadith, that have been recorded from the Prophet and the other
ten Imams combined.
There are innumerable
reports about him concerning signs and revealing the unknown similar
to those which we have mentioned, which would take too long to
recount.
He used to say: "Our knowledge is of what will be (ghabir), of what
is past (mazbur), of what is marked in hearts (nakt fi al-qulub),
and of what is tapped into ears (naqr fi al-asma). We have the red
case (jafr), the white case, and the scroll of Fatima(s.a.) and we
have (the document 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; mazbur is knowledge of what was; what is marked in the hearts (nakt
fi al-qulub) is inspiration; and what is tapped into the ears (naqr
fi al- asma) are words of angels; we hear their speech but we do not
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 Gospels 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 a flogging (is due).
He, peace be on him,
used to say: "My traditions are my father's traditions; my father's
traditions are my grandfather's traditions; my grandfather'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.
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