Imam Al-sadiq

How Did Al- Sadiq Become a School?

In the terms of Muslims, the school (madhhab) means the great Islamic authority in the Islamic commandments. This means that at- Sadiq was not a school by himself or separate from the other twelve Imams, for the Imami Shi’a think that they should follow the words of the Imams and put them into effect, beginning from the Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Au) to the absent and awaited Imam. For the knowledge of the Imams, according to the ShT’te beliefs, is one and inherited from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. The Imams are equal in learning and following the knowledge of the Prophet. The knowledge of the Imams is as a chain. The son inherited it from his father without created a personal viewpoint.

However, the opportunities did not present themselves to anyone of the Imams to reveal what the Prophet had taught them, while the opportunity presented itself to at- Sâdiq, peace be on him. He was able to spread the sciences which he inherited from the master of the Apostles (i.e. Prophet Mohammed), may Allah bless him and his family, for the following reasons:

The Imamate of at- Sadiq lasted for over thirty years. Although the Imamate of his grandfather, Zayn at- ‘AbidTn, his son MOsâ a!- Kâzim, and his grandson ‘Ati at- Hadi (peace be on them) lasted for over thirty years too, their conditions were quite different from his.
The days of al- Sâdiq were the days of knowledge and jurisprudence, theology and debates, traditions and reports, heresies and misguidance, and ideas and schools. This was an important opportunity for at- Sâdiq to show his knowledge, to suppress misguidance and the false, to refute the ideas and the desires, to declare and spread the truth.
At- Sâdiq and banU (the sons of) HOshim lived during a period of welfare, white the previous Imams did not lead such a life. In other words, the previous Imams suffered from their kings. For example, the kings exerted pressures on the Imams, prevented them from meeting people, and prevented people from meeting them. So, the previous Imams were unable to spread their knowledge.

No one of the Imams took the reins of power except the Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Au), peace be on him. However, he spent the short days of his Imamate in fighting the rebels. Moreover, he was forced to follow inescapable ways of rule. During his days, knowledge did not spread among people. Desires, ideas, sects, and schools did not appear. Generally speaking, all these things did not happen during the days of Imam ‘Ati as they happened during the days of al- Sadiq.

Al- Sadiq was a contemporary of the Marwani and the Abbasid dynasties. He lived during a period of time when he was not afraid of the

power of the oppressive and the threat of the tyrannical ruler. That period of time was between the last days of the Marwânj dynasty and the first days of the Abbâsid dynasty. That is because when the Omayyads and the people of Sham (Syria) attacked and killed al- WatTd b. YazTd, all parts of the country revolted against them. So, their authority became weak, and people began paving the way to banfl (the Sons of) Hashim. All these things diverted banU (the sons of) Marwan from the scientific life of at- Sâdiq. When the dynasty of banfl Marwân was over, the AbbâsTds took the reins of power. So, they began purifying the lands from the Omayyads and establishing their new authority. These things diverted them from at- Sadiq for a period of time. For this reason, at- Sádiq was able to spread his knowledge and sciences though at- Sâffah was very careful of him. Then when al- Mansflr came and took the reins of power, he began showing enmity toward at- Sâdiq. He sometimes exerted pressures on at- Sâdiq and sometimes overlooked him.

In his book ‘al- Manâqib’, on the conditions of at- Sâdiq, the great scholar b. Shahrashflb has reported the following on the authority of at-Mufaddat b. ‘Amr:” At- Mansflr tried to kill Abu Abd Allah (al- Sadiq), peace be on him, several times. He sent for him and summoned him. When he looked at him, he respected him and did not kill him. However, he (at-Mansflr) prevented people from meeting him (at- Sâdiq), and prevented him from meeting them (people). He (at- Mansür) exerted severe pressures on him. People who had no religious knowledge of marriage and divorce could not reach him. So, the man was forced to leave his wife. This condition became hard for his followers. Then Allah, the Great and Almighty, urged at- Mansur’s heart to ask at- Sadiq, peace be on him, for a thing of which no one had. At- Sâdiq sent him the scepter of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. The scepter was a cubit long. Al-Mansar was very happy to receive it. Then he ordered (his servant) to divide it into four parts. Then he put the four parts in four places. Then he (al- MansUr) said to at- Sàdiq:’ Your reward with me is to permit you to spread your knowledge among your followers (ShT’a). And I will not prevent you nor your followers (from doing that). Sit sown without fear and give people religious opinions. Do not be in the country where I am. So, al-Sadiq spread knowledge everywhere.

For this reason and others, at- Sâdiq was able to spread knowledge, while the other Imams were unable to do that because their conditions were quite different from al.. Sâdiq’s. The books of traditions, jurisprudence, ethics, and the like indicate that. His many narrators and the reports on his authority indicate that, too. A group of authors have written about his narrators They have mentioned that their number was over four thousand

narrators. Among these authors was b. ‘Uqda[1] . If the narrators who reported traditions on the authority of at- Sâdiq were four thousands, then how many traditions did they report? And if one narrator reported thirty thousand traditions on the atfthority of at- Sadiq, then how many traditions did the other narrators report? And how many sciences were reported on his authority?

Generally speaking, at- Sadiq, peace be on him, has been known as a school to which the Imamis and the Ja’faris are ascribed because of his many sciences and traditions. Besides most of the traditions in the ShVte books have been reported on his authority.

Not only the ShVte narrators have reported traditions on the authority of at- Sâdiq, but also the great Sunni figures who were contemporary of him. Among them were Malik, Abfl Hanifa, Sufyân at- Thawri, Sufyan b. ‘Ayyna, Ayyllb, b. JarTh, Sh’ba, and the like. Besides, b. Abfl at- HaddTd has ascribed the jurisprudence of the four Sunni schools to him as in Sharih Nahj at- Balâgha, 1,6. The ShT’a have related to at- Sâdiq since his lifetime. It was he who said to his companions in his commandments: “When a man among you is pious in his religion, truthful in his speech, pays the trust, his manners are good toward people, it will be said: ‘This is a Ja’fari’. And that delights me. And when he is contrary to that, his tribulation and shamefulness wilt include me and it wilt be said: ‘This is Ja’far’s education.”[2]

The relation of the ShT’a to al- Sâdiq was known at that time. For exainj, le, two, ShT’tes gave testimony before Shurayh at- Qâdi (the judge). They were Mohammed b. Muslim, the famous reliable companion of at-Sâdiq, and AbU Kurayba at- Azdi. So, Shurayh tooaed at their faces for a long time, and then he said:” Two Ja’faris, Fatimids.”[3]

From this we know that the relation of the Shi’a to at- Sadiq has been
since his lifetime up to the present time.

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1 His name was Ahmad b. Mohammed b. Sa’eed al- KufY. He was Zaydi, Jarfldi. He was great, important, and reliable. He memorized many traditions. It has been mentioned that he has said:” I have memorized one hundred and twenty thousand traditions with their authori. Now, I am going to memorize three hundred thousand traditions. He has many books. Among them is the book of the men who have reported traditions on the authority of al- Sadiq, peace be on him. No one knows where his book is. He died in Kufa, in the year 233 (A.H.).
2 a1- Kaft, 2/636/5.
3 Bihar al- Anwar, 47/393/115.