A Short Biography of Imam Jaffer As-sadiq(a.s)

Chapter 2 : Imam Jaffer Sadiq (a.s) Life After Martydom of His Father

INTRODUCTION:

Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) took over as the Imam of the time from his father in AH 114 when Hisham Bin Abdul Malik was the Caliph. Unlike most of his predecessors, who had ruled for veiy short times and therefore did not have enough time to obstruct the progress of Islamic Education propagated by Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (A.S.), Hisham ruled for 22 years.

He became a real threat to Islam, especially in the later years of his life. Imam Sadiq (A.S) therefore had to do two things. First and foremost, he had to protect all the educational progress that his grandfather, his father and he himself had achieved up to this point in time.

Second, he had to play down his role as the champion of Islamic learning and wait for another opportunity to arise, and then to continue his work from where he had left it. In this chapter, we shall see how he succeeded in accomplishing these two goals.

HIS RESPONSIBILITIES AS THE IMAM OFTHE TIME:

Remember that when Imam Baqir (A.S) was about to depart form this world, he had asked Imam Sadiq (A.S.) to be fully responsible for the "ummah'.

Imam Sadiq (A. S) had promised to do just that, but to do so through the process of education and learning. This is the key to understand the Imam's reaction to various situations that arose during twenty four years of his Imamat.

Imam (A.S.) had two options to choose from: Either involve himself in political activities and bring down the oppressive rulership of the Ummayades, or seek reform through the process of education. At that time, the political option appeared to be the better of the two choices.

but if we look at the events now; we can realize that the second option was. indeed, the best option, and we can appreciate Imam Sadiq's wisdom and deep foresight in choosing this option to bring about necessary changes in the society.

Before we examine Imam Sadiq's approach, let us look at the reasons which made people at that time, think that the political choice was the only choice available.

The Ummayade rulers were cruel carefree and completely incapable of ruling effectively. They did not care for Islam or the Muslims.

To meet their own ever-using expenses, the rulers overburdened their subjects with taxation and exhausted resources, with the result that there were dissatisfaction and uprising throughout the empire.

By putting down these upn sings, the Ummayad rulers only made themselves more unpopular and, not only did they weaken themselves, but also paved way for further uprisings. Syed Ameer Ali described this situation thus: "The flower of the nation had perished either in the civil wars or under the suspicious policy of a jealous court.

The blind confidence reposed by the last sovereign in his ministers had thrown the government in the hands of incomplete and self-seeking functionaries whose incapacity and misrule alienated the people.

Hisham was little fitted by character or disposition to cope with difficulties, which now beset the empire. The frequent change of governors led to disastrous consequences."

(A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SARACEN AS):

Then, it was clear that time was ripe for those with leadership abilities and some recognition in Muslim society to organize themselves to topple the I mmayade dynasty. Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S), in the eyes of his contempora-ries, was the ideal person for this task. However, Imam (A.S) had a different opinion.

When proposals came to him to do so, he flatly refused to get himself involved politically. How right the Imam was, we shall see in the course of this chapter.

Whereas Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) refused to seize this opportunity, there were others who were tempted to so. They went after it and the result was disaster and destruction for them. This subject w ill be discussed elaborately in Chapter 3 and 4.

At this juncture, we shall describe briefly the merits of Imam Jaffer Sadiq's (A.S) approach and its impact on the welfare of humanity in general and Muslims in particular.

THE STRATEGY OF REFORMING THE CORRITT SOCIETY THROUGH THE PROCESS OF EDI CATION AND LEARNING:

Zaid, Imam Muhammad Baqirs step-brother, and later on his son, Yahya, decided to take the political choice.

Similarly, later on, Imam Hasan's grandson Abdullah Mahaz and his two sons Muhammad (popularly known as 'Nafse Zakiah" - the pure soul) and Ibrahim, too, decided to get involved politically to counteract the Ummayad oppression. The outcome of their approach will be discussed in chapter 3 and 4.

The grandchildren of Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, by the name of Abu Abbas (later on came to be known as Saffah "The bloodshedder") and Abu Jaffer (later on came to be known as Mansoor —""the victorious"), too, chose to agitate against the Ummayad rulers. The outcome of their struggle will be assessed in chapter 3 and 4. The activity of these agitators was mostly in Iraq, Persia and to some extent in the Peninsula of Arabia.

Similar agitations were also brewing in Syria, Africa, Spain, and in those parts of Central Asia and Europe where the Ummayad rulership extended.

Hisham Bin Abdul Malik Bin Merwan had considered these threats more serious than Imam Sadiq's education program in Medina.

He therefore put to full use his energies and resources to suppress these agitators so as to save his throne. Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) took this opportunity to carry out his mission that had been put to a temporary halt by Hisham.

Imam Sadiq's "Revolution' Through Education

After a short interruption, Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S) resumed his teaching program, knowing that it was now safe to do so.

Whereas Imam Zainul Abeedin (A.S) and Imam Baqir (A.S) had fully established the Center of Learning.

Imam Sadiq (AS) went ahead; he helped it to attain a status similar to a modern university.

DEVELGPM ENT OF THE CENTER OF LEARN ING TO HAVE THE STATUS OF A MODERN-TYPE UNIVERSITY

The most outstanding characteristics of a university are:-

• It is a place of advanced learning

• It is an institute that disseminates both pure and applied knowledge on a wide range of disciplines.

• The teachers of this institute are highly talented with proven experience in their respective fields of learning.

• It has a very rich source of information to facilitate independent research for those students wishing to specialize in a branch of knowledge that interests them most.

• The teaching method employed in this institute has basically two features: Lectures given to a full class and tutorials (or seminars) where the classes are smaller in size and there is an informal interaction between the tutor and the students.

A university that develops on these principles builds ?ts reputation, which is reflected through the high quality of students that it produces, and the volume of information that it generates.

The public both national and international - then gives recognition to such an institution. The ultimate result is seekers of knowledge throughout the civilized world Hock around such an institution.

Imam Jaffer Sadiq's Institution had all these qualities as revealed by the curriculum as well as the methodology that had been adopted by Imam (A.S).

THE CURRICULUM OF THE INSTITUTE:

The core of the curriculum was to teach correct Islamic knowledge as contained in the Holy Quran and explained by the Prophet (S.A.W.W) and the divinely appointed Imams from the progeny of the Prophet - the AHLUL BAYT.

The focus was on TAFSEER or that science of the Quran that dealt, in detail, with such issues as the surface and the underlying meaning of the various verses. the circumstances under which each verse was revealed and the correct interpretation of the commands and lessons of the Quran.

FIQH-( Islamic jurisprudence or law) was another subject that was given special attention. Theoretic as well as practical problems were addressed and their solutions worked out during the FIQH session.

The science of 'HADITH’ had also an important position in the classes of Imam Sadiq (A.S). A very important concept was explained: the concept of the Golden Chain of Narration. The essence of this concept was any tradition that an Imam from Ahlul Bayt mentions has a continues chain of narrators (all being Imams) that links it to the Prophet (S.A.W.W.) whose source is the Angle Gabriel whose source is Allah, the Almighty Himself.

In an age when false “hadith” were being fabricated and associated with the Prophet (S.A.W.W), Imam (A.S) taught his students a golden yardstick to use in differentiating a true hadith from a false one.

He said any hadith that contradicts any verse of the Quran is a false one and has no merit. Moreover, to counter the false hadith. Imam (A.S) introduced the correct but hitherto unknown hadith in thousands on various subjects pertaining to the basics of faith, ethics, and all other matters of life and death.

He encouraged his students not only to memorize these hadiths. but record them in writing so as to avert the problem of misrepresentation in the future. He left the task of classification these hadith to his graduates.

Imam also taught ISLAMIC: HISTORY with the focus on the biography of the Prophet (S.A.W.W) - the "SEERAI-T. He provided a complete and correct picture of the life of the Prophet to counteract the falsified versions that was the work of those false scholars paid to do so by the Ummayad rulers.

Apart from these broad ‘core’ subjects students with special aptitudes and interests were encouraged to develop then skills at such specialized disciplines as the Arabic Language and Literature, Philosophy, Logic and Physical Science like Chemistry and Biology.

Capable students were encouraged to carry out their research under the tutelage of the Imam himself, and to write books for future usage. These students were also encouraged to become teachers who could then go out far and wide in the world to preach the true message of Islam.

There were five students whom the Imam trusted most and singled them out to be the future teachers in the event that when the Imam was gone and the institute closed by the rulers; these students were Band Bin Muawiyah, Abu Basii; Layth Bin Murad, Zararah Bin Ain, and Muhammad bin Muslim.

Imam (A.S) considered them as "trustees of Allah" for their administration of the permissible (halal) and the forbidden (haram) in religion.

As a result of this encouragement, several thousand books were written by the the students of the Institute. Out of these, 400 books were on fundamentals of faith (FURUU).

After the passing away of the Imam (A.S) and when the University was closed down by the Abbaside ruler Mansoor, the Shia came to depend on these books heavily Later on, scholars prepared digests and summaries of these books for the use of the followers of the "Madhab of Ahlulbayt." Four of these books became the 'core' books and continue to be so. These books are:

1. AL-KAFI - authored by -Kulaini
2. AL-TAHDHIB - authored by Tusi
3. AL-ISTIBSAR - authored by Tusi
4. MAN LA YAHDARAH AL-FAQIH authored by Sudduk.