Jaʿfar al-Sadiq: Difference between revisions

'''Jaʿfar al-Sadiq''', Abu ʿAbd-Allah, the sixth [[imam]] of the Imami Shiʿites. He was the eldest son of Imam [[Muhammad al-Baqir]] (q.v.) and, on the side of his mother, Omm Farwa, a descendent of Abu Bakr by four generations.<ref>Tabari, III/IV, p. 2509; Yaʿqubi, II, p. 458; Ebn Qotayba, p. 215.</ref> He spent most of his life in Medina, where he built up a circle of followers primarily as a theologian, [[Hadith]] transmitter, and jurist (faqih).

An erudite jurist of Medina, al-Sadiq was associated with a wide range of scholars. Abu Hanifa, and Malik b. Anas, among other prominent figures, are alleged to have heard hadith from him. Regarded as a reliable traditionalist in Sunni circles, he is cited in several isnads (chains of transmissions). Al-Sadiq is credited with the construction of a legal system called Ja’fari school of law, which Shi’ites follow. He is also seen as an eminent ascetic and is revered in Sufi circles. According to the alchemist Jabir al-Hayyan, al-Sadiq was also a teacher in alchemy.  

==Bibliography==

The most extensive biographical sources for Jaʿfar al-Sadiq are to be found amongst the various Shiʿite branches, though the exact date of his birth, or his accession to the [[imamate]] are uncertain. Most sources mention 83/702 for his birth <ref>though 80/699 and 86/705 are also recorded; e.g., Yaʿqubi, II, p. 458; Masʿudi, IV, p. 132; ʿAmeli, IV/2, p. 29.</ref> Similarly, the date when he became imam <ref>that is, the death of his father, the fifth imam, Muhammad al-Baqir</ref> is recorded as 117/735 in most sources.<ref>though 114/732 and 126/743 are also found in some sources; e.g., Ebn Qotayba, p., 215; ʿAmeli, IV/2, p. 3</ref> His death date is almost universally agreed to have been 148/765.

Imam Jaʿfar al-Sadiq’s life spanned the latter half of the [[Umayyad]] dynasty ruling from Damascus, which was marked by various rebellions (mainly by Shiʿite movements), the rise of the ʿAbbasids (a movement that drew on Shiʿite themes), and the establishment of the [[ʿAbbasid]] [[caliphate]] in Baghdad. Throughout this period, he appears to have maintained the politically quietist stance of his father, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir. Whether the revolt of Imam al-Baqir’s half-brother Zayd b. ʿAli in 122/740 was during Jaʿfar al-Sadiq’s imamate or that of his father depends on which of the various dates for the latter’s death is taken. It is clear, however, that Jaʿfar al-Sadiq did not wish to be associated with the revolt and, according to a number of reports Shaikh Mofid <ref>Ershad II, pp. 174-75</ref> condemned the uprising, since he believed that the rebellion would be counter-productive and ultimately harmful to the true community of believers (i.e., the Shiʿites). Similarly, he refused to be involved in the ʿAbbasid uprising and offered no support even after the ʿAbbasids gained power in 132/750. His motives for this refusal were grounded in his belief that he alone was the [[imam]], having been designated as such by the preceding imam, his father. This belief was founded on the doctrine of nass (clear designation) of the incumbent imam of his successor. Nass was in turn based on the notion that the incumbent imam was protected from error by God ([[Isma|‘Isma]] “inerrency”). Therefore, the incumbent imam’s designation was, in effect, a revealing of God’s will for the future leadership of the Shiʿites. Some, particularly the followers of Zayd (the [[Zaydiyah]]), did not recognize this doctrine and branched off to form their own distinct Shiʿite tradition, with quite different notions of the functions of an imam.

===Imamate===

Apart from those traditions that record the explicit designation of Jaʿfar al-Sadiq as imam by his father, there is also a bundle of historical accounts of Jaʿfar al-Sadiq acting as [[Muhammad al-Baqir]]’s traveling companion. Such stories reinforce the closeness of the father-son relationship and further secure Jaʿfar al-Sadiq’s imamate in the face of Zaydi attack. In particular, there is the story of Imam al-Baqir being summoned to Damascus by Hesham b. ʿAbd-al-Malek (r. 724-43) after besting Nafeʿ in debate over the powers of Imam [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib|ʿAli b. Abi Taleb]] (q.v.). Jaʿfar al-Sadiq accompanied his father on this journey.<ref>for an account of the debate and its aftermath, see Qomi, II, pp. 246-86</ref> Such explicit confrontations with the ruling power were, however, rare for both of them. Just as he had refused to be involved in the uprisings of Zayd or the ʿAbbasids against Umayyad rule, Jaʿfar al-Sadiq offered no support to the uprising of his own cousin Muhammad b. ʿAbd-Allah b. Hasan, called al-Nafs al-Zakiya (the Pure Soul) and referred to as al-Mahdi <ref>Ebn al-Teqtaqa, pp. 132-33</ref>, in 145/762 against the ʿAbbasids after they had gained power in Baghdad.

===Circle of Scholarship===

Jaʿfar al-Sadiq acquired a number of followers and supporters, most (though not all) of Shiʿite persuasion. He is respected by the Sunnis as a transmitter of [[Hadith]] and a jurist (faqih), while the Shiʿites, who consider him an imam and as such infallible, record his sayings and actions in works of Hadith and jurisprudence (feqh, q.v.). The Ismaʿili jurist Qazi Abu Hanifa Noʿman b. Muhammad Qayrawani (d. 363/974), has preserved a number of Jaʿfar al-Sadiq’s legal opinions, presenting them as authoritative expositions of the Islamic religious law.<ref>shariʿa; see, e.g., Daʾaʾem I, p. 4</ref> In [[imami]] Shiʿite writings, his legal dicta constitute the most important source of imami law. Indeed, imami legal doctrine is called al-Madhhab al-Jaʿfari by both Imamis and Sunnis in recognition of his legal authority. A number of works are attributed to him, though none of these can be securely described as authored by Jaʿfar al-Sadiq. Included in this list is a Quran commentary (tafsir), a work on divination (Ketab al-jafr), various versions of his will, and a number of collections of legal dicta <ref>Sezgin, I, pp. 528-32, IV, pp. 128-31, VII, pp. 323-24; ʿAmeli, IV/2, pp. 52 ff.; Aga Bozorg Tehrani, III, p. 121, XXI, pp. 110-11</ref>. In addition to these, there are many reports attributed to him in the early Shiʿite Hadith collections; he features as a central source of imami doctrine, for example, in Muhammad b. Yaʿqub Kolayni’s al-Kafi.

Jaʿfar al-Sadiq is also recorded as having taught with, or studied under Abu Hanifa and Malek b. Anas, two of the eponyms of the Sunni legal schools (the [[Hanafiya]] and the [[Malekiya]] respectively). More is recorded concerning the relationship between Abu Hanifa and Jaʿfar al-Sadiq. Shiʿite sources portray Jaʿfar al-Sadiq as consistently humbling Abu Hanifa, pointing out defects in his reasoning and his incompetence in legal argument.<ref>see, e.g., Ebn Babawayh, ʿElal al-Shariʿa I, p. 86</ref> They clearly arose out of a Shiʿi-Sunni (and more specifically Shiʿi-Hanafi) polemic, though they may reflect the character of the relationship between the two jurists.

===Death and Succession===

According to most sources, Jaʿfar al-Sadiq died in 148/765 <ref>e.g., Masʿudi, IV, pp. 132-33</ref>, supposedly poisoned by the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mansur. He had designated Abu Muhammad Esmaʿil (q.v.), his eldest son by his first wife, Fatima, as the next imam, but Esmaʿil had predeceased him. Some claimed that Esmaʿil had not died, but was in hiding; others claimed that Esmaʿil’s son, Muhammad, should be the next imam. Both of these groups went on to form the [[Ismaʿiliyah]] (q.v.) Shiʿite.<ref>Daftary, pp. 93-99</ref> Others claimed that after Esmaʿil, Jaʿfar al-Sadiq had designated his second eldest son ʿAbd-Allah al-Aftaḥ as the next imam. The majority, though, supported the imamate of Musa al-Kazem, son of Hamida (or Homayda, a Berber slave) and Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, as the imam. It was this line which went to form the [[Twelver]] (imami) Shiʿite, which has predominated in Persia since the 16th century.<ref>Daftary, pp. 93-99; ʿAmeli, IV/2, p. 80</ref>

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==Bibliography==

*ʿAbd-al-ʿAziz Sayyed-al-Ahl, Jaʿfar b. Muhammad, Beirut, 1954.

*Āḡā Bozorg Ṭehrāni, al-Ḏariʿa elā taṣānif al-šiʿa, 24 vols. in 27, Najaf and Tehran, 1936-78.

*Muhammad b. Jarir Tabari, Ketab taʾriḵ rosol wa’l-moluk, ed, M. J. de Goeje et al., 15 vols., Leiden, 1964, III/IV, pp. 2059-60; tr. by various scholars as The History of al-Tabari, 40 vols., Albany, 1985-2007, XXXIX, pp. 248-49.

*Aḥmad b. Abi Yaʿqub Yaʿqubi, Taʾrikò, ed. M. Th. Houtsma, 2 vols., Leiden, 1969, pp. 458-60.

==Source==

*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jafar-al-sadeq-i-life Encyclopaedia Iranica - entry of jafar al-sadeq-i-life]

*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jafar-al-sadeq-ii-teachings Encyclopaedia Iranica - entry of jafar-al-sadeq-ii-teachings]

[[Category:Individuals]]

[[Category:Historical Character]]