Ja'far al-Sadiq
Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (Arabic: جَعْفَر بْن مُحَمَّد ٱلصَّادِق, romanized: Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq; c. 702–765 CE) was a Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian, and the sixth imam of the Twelver and Isma'ili branches of Shia Islam.[3] Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the founder of the Ja'fari school of Islamic jurisprudence. The hadith recorded from al-Sadiq and his predecessor, Muhammad al-Baqir, are said to be more numerous than all the hadith preserved from the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the other Shia imams combined.[4] Among other theological contributions, he elaborated the doctrine of nass (divinely inspired designation of each Imam by the previous Imam) and isma (the infallibility of the Imams), as well as that of taqiya (religious dissimulation under persecution).[1]
Ja'far al-Sadiq
765 (aged 63–64) 148 AH[1]
Al-Baqi, Medina, present-day Saudi Arabia
24°28′1″N 39°36′50.21″E / 24.46694°N 39.6139472°E
- Fāṭima bint al-Ḥusayn
- Ḥamīda Khātūn[2]
- Mūsā al-Kāẓim
- Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar
- ʿAbd Allāh al-Afṭaḥ
- Isḥāq
- ʿAlī al-ʿUrayḍī
- ʿAbbās
- Muḥammad al-Dībāj
- Fāṭima al-Kubrā
- Fāṭima al-Ṣughrā
- Umm Farwa
- Asmāʾ
- ʿĀʾisha
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī
Al-Sadiq is also revered by Sunni Muslims as a reliable transmitter of hadith,[5][6] and a teacher to the Sunni scholars Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas, the namesakes of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of jurisprudence.[7] Al-Sadiq also figures prominently in the initiatic chains of many Sufi orders.[8] A wide range of religious and scientific works were attributed to him, though no works penned by al-Sadiq remain extant.[6][9][10]
Ja'far al-Sadiq was born around 700 CE, perhaps in 702.[1] He was about thirty-seven when his father, Muḥammad al-Bāqir, died after designating him as the next Imam.[11][12] As the sixth Shia Imam, al-Sadiq kept aloof from the political conflicts that embroiled the region,[13][1] evading the requests for support that he received from rebels.[14][15] He was the victim of some harassment by the Abbasid caliphs and was eventually, according to Shia sources, poisoned at the instigation of the caliph al-Mansur.[16][4] The question of succession after al-Sadiq's death divided the early Shīʿa community. Some considered the next Imam to be his eldest son, Isma'il al-Mubarak, who had predeceased his father. Others accepted the Imamate of his younger son and brother of Isma'il, Musa al-Kazim. The first group became known as the Isma'ili, whereas the second and larger group was named Jaʽfari or the Twelvers.[5]
Life[edit]
Birth and early life[edit]
Ja'far ibn Muḥammad ibn Ali al-Sadiq was born in Medina around 700 CE, and 702 is given in most sources, according to Gleave.[1] Ja'far was the eldest son of Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bāqir,[11] 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. Ja'far's mother, Umm Farwa, was a great-granddaughter of the first rāshidūn caliph, Abū Bakr.[17][18] During the first fourteen years of his life, Ja'far lived alongside his grandfather, Zayn al-Abidin, the fourth Shīʿīte Imam, and witnessed the latter's withdrawal from politics[19] and his limited efforts amid the popular appeal of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. Ja'far also noted the respect that the famous scholars of Medina held toward Zayn al-Abidin.[17] In his mother's house, Ja'far also interacted with his grandfather, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, a famous traditionalist of his time. The Umayyad rule reached its peak in this period, and the childhood of al-Sadiq coincided with the growing interest of Medinans in religious sciences and the interpretations of the Quran. With the death of Zayn al-Abidin, Ja'far entered his early manhood and participated in his father's efforts as the representative of the Household of Muhammad (Ahl al-Bayt).[17] Ja'far performed the hajj ritual with his father, al-Bāqir, and accompanied him when the latter was summoned to Damascus by the Umayyad caliph Hisham for questioning.[5][1]
Under the Umayyad rulers[edit]
Most Umayyad rulers are often described by Muslim historians as corrupt, irreligious, and treacherous.[20] The widespread political and social dissatisfaction with the Umayyad Caliphate was spearheaded by Muhammad's extended family, who were seen by Muslims as God-inspired leaders in their religious struggle to establish justice over impiety.[21][22][23] 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 Muhammad's paternal uncle al-Abbas.[1] 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, who enjoyed the support of the Mu'tazilites and the traditionalists of Medina and Kufa.[24] Al-Sadiq also played no role in the Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads.[1] His response to a request for help from Abu Muslim, the Khorasani rebel leader, was to burn his letter, saying, "This man is not one of my men, this time is not mine."[14][15] 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 (umma).[25][1][26] This spiritual, rather than political, imamate of al-Sadiq was accompanied by his teaching of the taqiya doctrine (religious dissimulation) to protect the Shia against prosecution by Sunni rulers.[27][25][28] In this period, al-Sadiq taught quietly in Medina and developed his considerable reputation as a scholar, according to Momen.[11]
Under the Abbasid rulers[edit]
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.[29][11][27] Among these were Abu Ḥanifa and Malik ibn Anas, founders of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of law in Sunni Islam.[30][27][31][32] Wasil ibn Ata, founder of the Mu'tazila school of thought, was also among his pupils.[16][32] After their overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasids violently prosecuted their former Shia allies against the Umayyads.[5][33][4] Because they had relied on the public sympathy for the Ahl al-Bayt to attain power,[34] the Abbasids considered al-Sadiq a potential threat to their rule.[5][16] As the leader of the politically quiet branch of the Shia,[35] he was summoned by al-Mansur to Baghdad 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."[16][36] Al-Sadiq remained passive in 762 CE to the failed uprising of his nephew, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.[14][16][34] Nevertheless, he was arrested and interrogated by al-Mansur and held in Samarra, near Baghdad, before being allowed to return to Medina.[16][4][37][5] His house was burned by order of al-Mansur, though he was unharmed,[36] and there are reports of multiple arrests and attempts on his life by the caliph.[28][4][38]
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.[11] Notable Shia students of al-Sadiq included