History of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad aṣ-Ṣādiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad aṣ-Ṣādiq (Arabic: جَعْفَرُ ٱبْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ ٱلصَّادِقُ; 700 or 702–765 CE), commonly known as Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq or simply as-Sadiq (The Truthful), was an 8th-century Muslim scholar.[4] He was the 6th Imam and founder of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence according to Twelver and Isma'ili Shi'ites. To Sunnis, he is a major figure in the Hanafi and Maliki schools of Sunni jurisprudence and was a teacher of the Sunni scholars Abu Hanifah and Malik ibn Anas,[5] a transmitter of hadiths, therefore a prominent jurist for Sunnis,[2] and a mystic to Sufis. Despite his wide-ranging attributions in a number religious disciplines, no works penned by Ja'far himself remain extant.[6]
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Al-Sadiq was born in either 700 or 702 CE. He inherited the position of imam from his father in his mid-thirties. As a Shi’a Imam, al-Sadiq stayed out of the political conflicts that embroiled the region, evading the many requests for support that he received from rebels. He was the victim of some harassment by the Abbasid caliphs, and was eventually, according to Shi’a Muslims, poisoned at the orders of the Caliph Al-Mansur. In addition to his connection with Sunni schools of Sunni jurisprudence,[7] he was a significant figure in the formulation of Shia doctrine. The traditions recorded from al-Sadiq are said to be more numerous than all hadiths recorded from all other Shia imams combined.[8] As the founder of Ja'fari jurisprudence, al-Sadiq also elaborated the doctrine of Nass (divinely inspired designation of each Imam by the previous Imam) and Ismah (the infallibility of the imams), as well as that of Taqiyyah.[9][10]
The question of succession after al-Sadiq's death was the cause of division among Shi’a who considered his eldest son, Isma'il (who had reportedly died before his father) to be the next Imam, and those who believed his third son Musa al-Kadhim was the imam. The first group became known as the Ismailis and the second, larger, group was named Ja'fari or the Twelvers.[11][12]
Birth and early life
Ja'far al-Sadiq was born in Medina either in 17th of Rabi-al-Awwal 83 AH (702 AD) or 80/699–700.[13] He was a descendant of Ali ibn Abu Talib and Fatimah bint Muhammad through Hussain ibn Ali on the side of his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, and of Abu Bakr through Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr on the side of his mother, Umm Farwah bint al-Qasim.[a] Al-Sadiq was the first of the Shi'ite Imams to be descended from both Abu Bakr, the first ruler of the Rashidun Caliphate, and Ali, the first Imam.[16] During the first fourteen years of his life, he lived alongside his grandfather Zayn al-Abedin, and witnessed the latter's withdrawal from politics. He also noted the respect that the famous jurists of Medina held toward Zayn al-Abedin in spite of his few followers.[17][18]
In his mother's house, al-Sadiq also interacted with his grandfather Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, who was respected by the people of Medina as a famous traditionalist. During this period, Umayyad power was at its climax, and the childhood of al-Sadiq was coincided with the growing interest of the people of Medina in prophetic science and interpretations of the Quran.[18]
Imamate
Al-Sadiq was thirty-four or thirty-seven when he inherited the position of Imamah or Imamate upon the death of his father Muhammad al-Baqir. He held the Imamate for 28 years, longer than any other Shi'ite Imam.[18] His Imamate was a crucial period in Islamic history for both political and doctrinal areas. Prior to al-Sadiq, the majority of Shi'ites had preferred the revolutionary politics of Zaid (his uncle) to the mystical quietism of his father and grandfather.[2][18] Zaid had claimed that the position of an Imam was conditional on his appearing publicly to claim his rights.[19][20] Al-Sadiq, on the other hand, elaborated the doctrine of Imamate, which says "Imamate is not a matter of human choice or self-assertion," but that each Imam possesses a unique ʿIlm (Arabic: عِلْم, lit. 'Knowledge') which qualifies him for the position. This knowledge was argued to have been passed down from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the line of Ali ibn Abi Talib's immediate descendants. The doctrine of Nass or "divinely inspired designation of each imam by the previous imam", therefore, was completed by al-Sadiq.[b] In spite of being designated as the Imam, al-Sadiq would not lay claim to the Caliphate during his lifetime.[12][20]
Under the Umayyad rulers
Al-Sadiq's Imamate extended over the latter half of the Umayyad Caliphate, which was marked by many revolts (mostly by Shi'ite movements), and eventually the violent overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate by the Abbasids, descendants of Muhammad's uncle Al-'Abbas. Al-Sadiq maintained his father's policy of quietism, and played no part in the numerous rebellions. He stayed out of the uprising of Zaydits who gathered around his uncle Zayd, who had the support Mu'tazilites and the traditionalists of Medina and Kufa.[18] Al-Sadiq also did not support the rebellion led by his cousin, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah, who was inspired by Kaysanites.[18] Al-Sadiq also played no part in the Abbasid rebellion against the Umayyads.[2] His response to a message requesting help from Abu Muslim, the Khorasani leader of an uprising against the Umayyads, became famous. Al-Sadiq asked for a lamp and burned Abu Muslim's letter, saying to the envoy who brought it, "Tell your master what you have seen."[19] In burning Abû Muslim's letter he had also said, "This man is not one of my men, this time is not mine."[21] Al-Sadiq also evaded requests for assistance to other claims to the throne, without advancing his own claims. He had said that even though he, as the designated Imam, was the true leader of the Ummah, he would not press his claim to the caliphate.[12] This conscious position of neutrality was likely why Ja'far was tolerated by the Umayyad court for so long.[22] This position also gave rise to the legal precedent of Taqiyyah.[22]
Under the Abbasid rulers
The end of the Umayyad dynasty and beginning of the Abbasid was a period during which central authority was weak, allowing al-Sadiq to teach freely in a school which trained about four thousand students. A school of this size was unusual for religious teachers at this time.[23] Among these were Abū Ḥanīfah and Malik ibn Anas, founders of two major Sunni schools of law, the Hanafiyah and the Malikiyah.[24][25][26] Wasil ibn Ata, founder of Mu`tazila school, was also among his pupils. After the Abbasid revolution had overthrown the Umayyad caliphate, it turned against Shi'ite groups who had previously been its allies against the Umayyads. The new Abbasid rulers, who had risen to power on the basis of their descent from Muhammad's uncle Al-'Abbas, were suspicious of al-Sadiq, because Shi'ites had always believed that leadership of the Ummah was a position issued by divine order, and which was given to each imam by the previous imam. In addition, al-Sadiq had a large following, both among scholars and among those who believed him to be the imam.[11] During rule of Al-Mansur, al-Sadiq was summoned to Baghdad, along with some other prominent men from Medina, in order for the Caliph to keep a close watch on them. Al-Sadiq, however, asked the Caliph to excuse him from going there by reciting a hadith which said that "the man who goes away to make a living will achieve his purpose, but he who sticks to his family will prolong his life."[19] Al-Mansur reportedly accepted his request. After the defeat and death of his cousin Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah in 762, however, al-Sadiq thought it advisable to obey Al-Mansur's summons. After a short stay in Baghdad, however, he convinced the Caliph that he was not a threat, and was allowed to return to Medina.[2][9]
Toward the end of his life, he was subject to some harassment by the Abbasid caliphs. The governor of Medina was instructed by the Caliph to burn down his house, an event which reportedly did al-Sadiq no harm.[c][19] To cut his ties with his followers, Al-Sadiq was also watched closely and occasionally imprisoned.[11] Through these trials, Al-Sadiq appears to have continued his scholarship and remained an influential teacher in his native Medina and beyond.[22]
Family life
Al-Sadiq married Fatimah Al-Hasan, a descendant of his ancestor Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali, with whom he had two sons, Isma'il ibn Jafar (the sixth Isma'ili Imam) and Abdullah al-Aftah. Following his wife's death, al-Sadiq purchased a Berbery or Andalusian slave named Ḥamīdah Khātūn (Arabic: حَمْيْدَة خَاتُوْن), freed her, trained her as an Islamic scholar, and then married her. She bore him two more sons: Musa al-Kadhim (the seventh Twelver Imam), and Muhammad al-Dibaj. She was revered by the Shi'ites, especially by women, for her wisdom. She was known as Hamidah the Pure. Ja'far al-Sadiq used to send women to learn the tenets of Islam from her, said that "Hamidah is pure from every impurity like the ingot of pure gold."[27]
Al-Sadiq also had a son called "Is-haq al-Mu'tamin", who reportedly married Sayyidah Nafisah bint Al-Hasan, a descendant of Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali.[28][29][30]
Death
Al-Sadiq was arrested several times by Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs Hisham, As-Saffah, and Al-Mansur. He was particularly seen as a threat by the newly minted Abbasids who felt challenge by his strong claim to the title of caliph.[22] When he died in 25th of Shawwal or 15th Rajab [1] 148/765 at the age of 64 or 65, many Shi'i sources suspected that he was poisoned at the behest of Mansur. Al-Sadiq's death led to uncertainty about the succession of the Imamate.[2][8] He was buried in Medina, in the famous Jannatul Baqee' cemetery, and his tomb was a place of pilgrimage until 1926. It was then that the Wahhabis under the leadership of Ibn Saud, the founding King of Saudi Arabia, conquered Medina for the second time, and razed the tomb because of the prohibition of tombs by Muhammad, along with all other prominent Islamic shrines, with the exception of that of the Islamic prophet himself.[31]
According to Tabatabai upon hearing the news of al-Sadiq's death, Mansur wanted to put an end to the Imamate. Mansur reportedly wrote to the governor of Medina, commanding him to read the imam's testament, and to behead the person named in it as the future imam. However, the governor found that al-Sadiq had chosen four people rather than one: Mansur himself, the governor, the Imam's oldest son Abdullah al-Aftah, and Musa al-Kazim, his younger son.[8]
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