Author: Dr. Laeeq Ahmad

Imam Jafar Sadiq, the crown of knowledge and spiritual excellence (faqr), is the great-grandson of Honourable Imam Husayn (R.A.), the grandson of Zayn al-Abidin, and the son of Imam Baqir. He was born in the blessed city of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), Madinah, in the month of Rabi al-Nur in the year 80 AH. His blessed name is Jafar, his paternal appellations are Abu Abdullah and Abu Ismail, and his most widely known title is al-Sadiq, the Truthful. His paternal lineage traces back to Honourable Ali al-Murtada (R.A), the Lion of Allah. Whereas, his maternal lineage is traced to the Most Truthful of Companions, Honourable Abu Bakr Siddiq (R.A.).[i] Speaking of Honourable Abu Bakr Siddiq (R.A.), he said:

“I place my hope in Allah Almighty that He will grant me benefit through my kinship with Abu Bakr Siddiq (R.A.).”[ii]

The Imam Jafar Sadiq was a decisive authority and a guiding light in both the outward and inward sciences, and a faithful custodian of the knowledge inherited from the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) and from Honourable Ali (R.A.). The poet Badayuni extols his greatness in these words,

ہے بزمِ مئے کشاں میرِ نجف ہے میرِ میخانہ

مئے عرفاں سے ہے لبریز جامِ جعفرِ صادق

Translation: The Lord of Najaf presides over the assembly of the seekers of divine knowledge, the Master of the tavern of gnosis. The cup of Jafar Sadiq brims over with the wine of divine recognition.

Imam Abu Hanifah declared that Imam Jafar Sadiq was the greatest scholar of his age.[iii] Imam Abu Hanifah had the honour of studying under Imam Jafar Sadiq and was undeniably proud of this distinction. To appreciate the Imam’s stature, it is sufficient to note that Sultan Bahoo used the title of King of Spiritual Excellence (sulṭān al-faqr) for Imam Abu Hanifa, and yet Imam Abu Hanifah himself declared:

“Had Nu’man ibn Thabit [meaning himself] not kept the company of Imam Jafar, he would have been ruined.”[iv]

There is not the slightest shadow of doubt that Imam Jafar Sadiq was a champion of the field of spiritual excellence (faqr) and the master among the people of spiritual excellence (faqīr).

Malik ibn Anas (R.A.) has narrated:

“Whenever he would relate a Prophetic tradition (hadīth) of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), he would first perform ablution (wuḍū). His gatherings were gatherings of knowledge and wisdom.”[v]

While he propagated the outward sciences, a river of inward knowledge (‘ulūm-e-bāṭiniyyah) also flowed from his pure and exalted heart, from which wayfarers on the path of truth (sālikān-e-rāh-e-ḥaqq) continue to draw benefit to this day, and will do so until the Day of Judgement.

Honourable Ali Hajveri writes of Imam Jafar Sadiq:

“He was completely detached from political affairs on account of his devotion to servitude. Imam Malik stated that he found Imam Jafar Sadiq absorbed in three things: prayer (ṣalāt), fasting (ṣawm), and recitation of the Glorious Qur’an.”[vi]

The ardent devotee of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), Mawlana Abd al-Rahman Jami, compiled several accounts relating to the mystical thoughts of Imam Jafar Sadiq. He narrates an incident concerning the Imam’s august dignity and the blessings of the Glorious Name of Allah Almighty (Ism A’ẓam):

“One day, Mansur instructed his doorkeeper to kill Imam Jafar Sadiq before he could reach him. That very day, Imam Jafar arrived and sat with Mansur. Mansur then called for the doorkeeper, who saw that Imam Jafar was already seated. When the Imam rose to leave, Mansur called the doorkeeper and asked, ‘What were my orders to you?’ The doorkeeper replied: ‘By God, I neither saw Imam Jafar arriving nor departing. All I can say is that I found him already seated with you.”[vii]

When love of the material world (dunya) and all it contains takes hold of the heart, a veil descends before the eyes, and a person becomes estranged from his own true nature. This is precisely why the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) himself was not drawn to the material world, and he directed his followers to avoid the company of those who gave primacy to outward appearances alone. On the subject of righteous and beneficial company, Imam Jafar Sadiq said:

“Whoever keeps company with a bad person will himself become afflicted with evil. Whoever frequents bad places will earn a bad reputation among people. And whoever has no control over his tongue will face shame.”[viii]

Mawlana Jami records another remarkable incident in his work, also connected with Imam Jafar and Mansur:

“A courtier of Mansur narrates that Mansur summoned an executioner and instructed him, ‘As soon as Jafar ibn Muhammad arrives, I will place my hand upon my head, and at that signal you will kill him.’ He then sent for Imam Jafar Sadiq. I accompanied the Imam as he came. I observed that he was reciting something softly beneath his breath, though I could not make out the words. What I did witness was that Mansur’s palace began to tremble, and he came rushing out of it like a boat riding out fierce ocean waves. His state was extraordinary: trembling, bareheaded and barefoot, he came forward to receive Imam Jafar Sadiq, took him by the arm, seated him beside himself on the cushioned seat, and said, ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), how have you come?’ The Imam replied, ‘You summoned me and I came.’ Mansur then said, ‘If there is anything you need, please say so.’ The Imam replied, ‘I need nothing except that you do not summon me here again. When I wish to come, I shall come of my own accord.’ When the Imam rose and departed, Mansur immediately called for his night garments and slept until late into the night, so much so that he missed his prayer. When he awoke and had performed his prayer, he called me and said, ‘At the moment I sent for Jafar ibn Muhammad, I saw a great serpent, one part of whose mouth rested on the ground and the other on my palace. It spoke to me in clear and eloquent speech, ‘I have been sent by Allah Almighty. If any harm comes to Imam Jafar Sadiq at your hands, I will destroy you along with your palace.’ That is why I was overcome as you saw.’ I said, ‘This is no sorcery or enchantment. This is the quality of the greatest name of Allah Almighty (Ism A’ẓam) that was revealed to the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ). Whatever he wishes comes to pass’.”[ix]

In Sufism, the station of fear and hope (maqām-e-khawf wa rajā) has been discussed in detail. In brief, the wayfarer (sālik) is instructed to remain between fear and hope: the fear must not be so overwhelming that it gives rise to despair, nor should hope become so excessive that it leads to heedlessness. An account has been narrated in connection with Imam Jafar on the subject of always holding hope in Allah Almighty and keeping oneself free from despair:

“A merchant who was deeply attached to the Imam and who had previously enjoyed considerable prosperity used to visit him frequently. On one occasion, after some time had passed, he came to see him in a state of deep distress. His financial circumstances had changed completely. When he complained of his hardship and poverty, the Imam offered him counsel through two verses of poetry,

فَلَا تَجزَّعْ وَ اِنْ اَعسَرتَ یوما

فقد أیسَرتَ بِالزَّمَنْ الطویل

ولا تیأَسْ فَاِنَّ الْیَاسَ کَفرْ

لَعَلَ اللّٰهَ یُغْنِی عن قلیل

i.e., do not grieve if today you have become poor, for you have been affluent for a long and generous span of time. And do not lose hope, for despair in the mercy of Allah Almighty is disbelief. Who knows but that Allah Almighty may make you prosperous again very soon?”[x]

Mawlana Jami narrates an account that illustrates the extraordinary spiritual perception of Imam Jafar:

“Abu Basir narrates that he went to Madinah and saw a great many people heading to the home of Imam Jafar Sadiq to pay their respects. He joined them, and when they arrived at the Imam’s residence, the Imam’s gaze fell upon him. The Imam said, ‘O Abu Basir, perhaps you do not know that one does not enter the residences of Prophets and their descendants in a state of ritual impurity (janābah).’ Abu Basir replied, ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I saw the people heading in your direction and feared that I might miss the blessing of your company, so I came along.’ Having said this, he expressed repentance that he would not do so again, and then left.”[xi]

By the grace of Allah Almighty, Imam Jafar was endowed with the full grace of spiritual excellence (fayḍān-e-faqr) in such measure that his supplications were accepted while the influence of the spiritual gaze inherited from Honourable Ali ibn abi Talib (R.A.) and the power of divine command (Rise, by the permission of Allah) was powerfully manifested in him. A narrator relates:

“One day he was walking in the company of Imam Jafar Sadiq in Makkah when they happened to pass a woman in front of whom lay a dead cow, while the woman wept with her children around her. Imam Jafar Sadiq said, ‘Would you wish that Allah Almighty restore the cow to life?’ She replied, ‘Why do you mock me? I am already stricken with grief.’ He said, ‘I am not mocking you.’ He then supplicated, touched the head and feet of the cow, and called out to it. The cow promptly rose to its feet. Imam Jafar Sadiq then merged into the crowd, and the woman was unable to recognise him.”[xii]

The Sufis have frequently cited a Quranic account involving Honourable Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) (A.S.) and four birds (Qur’an, 2:260), from which a profound lesson is drawn regarding the world and the desires of the base-self (nafs). In connection with this very account, a narrator says of Imam Jafar Sadiq:

“One day I was present in the company of a great many people with Imam Jafar. He said, ‘When Allah Almighty commanded Honourable Ibrahim (A.S.), ‘Take four birds and incline them towards yourself’, were those birds of the same kind, or of different kinds?’ He then said, ‘If you wish, I can show you in the very same manner.’ We said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘O peacock, come here.’ At once a peacock appeared. Then he said, ‘O crow, come here.’ A crow came immediately. Then he said, ‘O falcon, come here.’ A falcon appeared at once. Then he said, ‘O dove, come here.’ A dove came immediately. When all four birds had gathered, he said: ‘Now slaughter them and cut them into pieces, and mix the flesh of each with the others. But preserve the head of each one.’ Then he took the peacock’s head and called: ‘O peacock!’ We observed that the bones, head and flesh came together at the call, and a sound and complete peacock stood before us. He did the same with the remaining birds, and they too came back to life.”[xiii]

The relationship between Sufism and generosity is precisely what the relationship between body and soul. The Sufi is generous, never opposite. And the blessed Imam belonged to that sublime household where the Mercy to all Creation (ﷺ) was the greatest of the generous and the distributor of the treasures of Allah Almighty. Honourable Ali (R.A) was known by the title of Generous One of the Arabs (al-Sakhiyy al-Arabī), and Imam Zayn al-Abidin was the secret patron of one hundred households in Madinah. This same spirit of generosity was present in the blessed Imam, who would carry a sack on his back in the darkness of night, filled with silver coins and provisions, and would distribute it to the needy people of Madinah without anyone knowing. Only when he passed away, and the supply of provisions to these needy families ceased, did the secret become known to the people.[xiv]

The path of Sufism lays great emphasis on patience and gratitude, and there is a firm and binding injunction to remain content with the will of Allah Almighty. On this theme, an account is narrated of Imam Jafar Sadiq:

“In his presence, his young son choked on something and passed away on the spot. Tears flowed from his eyes at this sudden and heart-rending grief, yet even in that moment he kept in mind the other blessings of Allah Almighty and said, ‘If on one side something has been taken from me, namely this son, then on the other side, how many things have been left with me still! And if I have been tried through one thing, then on the other side, how many things have I been given ease in!’ At the time of burial, he praised and glorified Allah Almighty and said, ‘Exalted is that Being who calls our children back to Himself; through this very act, love for Him grows all the greater.’ And when the burial was complete, he said, ‘We ask Allah Almighty for what we desire concerning our loved ones, and He accepts our supplications and grants what we ask. And if He decrees something contrary to our wish, we accept it with all our heart and soul’.”[xv]

He was by nature deeply humble and modest, and he would dislike using the word “I” with reference to himself. It is recorded in one account:

“He asked a man from a particular tribe, ‘Who is the chief of this tribe?’ The man replied, ‘I am.’ He said, ‘If I were the chief of this tribe, I would never have used that word, namely I’.”[xvi]

On the subject of arrogance and ego (takabbur), he declared:

“Allah Almighty destroys six on account of six: rulers on account of oppression, Arabs on account of tribal bigotry, landowners on account of arrogance, merchants on account of treachery, villagers on account of ignorance of religion, and scholars on account of envy.”[xvii]

Just as he commanded that the outward self be adorned through the pure Islamic Divine Law (sharī’at), he likewise addressed the importance of inward purity, declaring that when a person’s inner being is set aright, the outward becomes powerful in consequence.[xviii] In fact, on the subject of the importance of attaining recognition of Allah Almighty (ma’rifat), the following account is narrated:

“Someone asked him: ‘Why is it that we supplicate but our supplications are not accepted?’ He replied: ‘Because you do not truly know the One to Whom you are supplicating.”[xix]

Sufis drew blessings from the blessed presence of Imam Jafar Sadiq, and the friends of Allah Almighty, the god-fearing, the Sufi masters and the scholars all benefited from his illumined being. He lived for sixty-eight years and, in the blessed city of Madinah, on Monday the 15th of Rajab in the year 148 AH, he passed away. He was laid to rest in Jannatul al-Baqi, beside his noble father, grandfather,[xx] and the grandson of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), the caliph of Islam Honourable Imam Hasan (R.A.).[xxi]

May Allah Almighty grant us the ability to love and revere the noble family (Ahal Al-Bayt al-Aṭhār) and the noble Companions (R.A.), and may He adorn both our outward and inward selves through their teachings, granting us success in this world and the hereafter. Amin.

---

This article was originally published in Urdu in the Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International Magazine. To cite the original article: https://www.mirrat.com/article/89/1439

To cite the original article

Ahmed, Laeeq, “The Mystical Thought of Imam Jafar Sadiq,” Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International Magazine, April 2024.

References:

[i] Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā al-Irbilī, Kashf al-Ghummah fī Maʿrifat al-Aʾimmah (Beirut: Dār al-Adwāʾ, 1983), 1:376.

[ii] Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Abī Khaythamah, Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, ed. Ṣalāḥ Fathī Halal (Cairo: Al-Fārūq al-Ḥadīthah lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr, 2004), 2:333.

[iii] Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1985), 6:258.

[iv] Muḥammad Abū Zahrah, Al-Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādidq: Ḥayātuhu wa-ʿAṣruhu, Ārāʾuhu wa-Fiqhuhu (Cairo: Dār al-Fikr al-ʿArabī, 1993), 162.

[v] Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsá al-Yaḥṣubī, Tartīb al-Madārik wa Taqrīb al-Masālik li-Maʿrifat Aʿlām Madhhab Mālik, ed. Aḥmad Bakīr Maḥmūd (Rabat: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa-al-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1965), 2:52.

[vi] Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī Ibn al-Jawzī, Ṣafwat al-Ṣafwah, ed. Ibrāhīm Ramaḍān (Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2000), 2:94.

[vii] Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī, Shawāhid al-Nubuwwah li-Taqwiyat Yaqīn Ahl al-Futūwwah, trans. Bashīr Aḥmad Nāẓim (Lahore: Maktabah Nabawiyyah, 1975), 229–330.

[viii] Zayn al-Dīn Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī, Kavākib al-Durriyyah fī Tarājim al-Sādah al-Ṣūfiyyah (Ṭabaqāt al-Ṣūfiyyah), ed. Maḥmūd Ḥasan ʿAqīl (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1999), 1:252; Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣabbān, Isʿāf al-Rāghibīn fī Sīrat al-Muṣṭafá wa-Faḍāʾil Ahli Baytihi al-Ṭāhirīn (Cairo: Al-Maktabah al-Tijāriyyah al-Kubrá, 1970), 228.

[ix] Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī, Shawāhid al-Nubuwwah li-Taqwiyat Yaqīn Ahl al-Futūwwah, trans. Bashīr Aḥmad Nāẓim (Lahore: Maktabah Nabawiyyah, 1975), 330–331.

[x] ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh al-Mālikī, Al-Fuṣūl al-Muhimmah fī Maʿrifat Aḥwāl al-Aʾimmah, ed. Sāmī al-Ghurayrī (Qum: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2001), 1:217.

[xi] Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī, Shawāhid al-Nubuwwah li-Taqwiyat Yaqīn Ahl al-Futūwwah, trans. Bashīr Aḥmad Nāẓim (Lahore: Maktabah Nabawiyyah, 1975), 332.

[xii] Jāmī, Shawāhid al-Nubuwwah, 333.

[xiii] Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī, Shawāhid al-Nubuwwah li-Taqwiyat Yaqīn Ahl al-Futūwwah, trans. Bashīr Aḥmad Nāẓim (Lahore: Maktabah Nabawiyyah, 1975), 335.

[xiv] Aḥmad Khalīl Jumʿah, ʿUlamāʾ Ahl al-Bayt fī ʿAṣr al-Tābiʿīn: Siyaruhum – Āthāruhum (Beirut: Dār al-Yamāmah lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2010), 384.

[xv] Molana Tariq Jameel, Guldasta-e-Ahl-e-Bait (Faisalabad: Jamia Tul Hasnain, 2021), 470.

[xvi] ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Aḥmad al-Shaʿrānī, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā: Lawāqiḥ al-Anwār fī Ṭabaqāt al-Akhyār (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2006), 1:23.

[xvii] Abū Saʿd Manṣūr ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Ābī, Nathr al-Durr fī al-Muḥāḍarāt, ed. Khālid ʿAbd al-Ghanī Maḥfūẓ (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2004), 1:258.

[xviii] Al-Ābī, Nathr al-Durr fī al-Muḥāḍarāt, 1:245.

[xix] Molana Tariq Jameel, Guldasta-e-Ahl-e-Bait (Faisalabad: Jamia Tul Hasnain, 2021), 475.

[xxi] Jameel, Guldasta-e-Ahl-e-Bait, 471.