On the sad commemoration of the martyrdom of the sixth Infallible divinely  appointed Imam, Jafar as-Sadiq a.s,  on 15 Shawwal 248 A.H (765 C.E), WABIL extends its heartfelt  condolences  to the Imam of our time Imam Mahdi  (a.s) and all believers.

Imam Jafar as-Sadiq a.s was born in Madinah  in 83 A.H ( 702 C.E) and spent his early years  under the guidance  of his grandfather  Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s). The events of Karbala were indelibly printed on his mind, and keeping the remembrance  of that  injustice  alive was a main mission  of his.

Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s) and his father Imam  Muhammad  al- Baqir (a.s) both lived at a time when the Umayyad kingdom  was fading. The pressure of the declining Umayyads on both the Imams was less at certain  periods, and thus both Imams concentrated on spreading  the knowledge  of  real Islam in all fields including Faith, Tafseer, Hadeeth, Jurisprudence  and History. It is their efforts which ensured that Fiqh and Quranic studies were recorded  and preserved. Imam Jafar would  attend his father's  learning institutions  as a child,  not to learn, but indeed to discuss and debate  with older students. At the age of 11, he explained to everyone's  amazement how and why the earth could not be flat.

During Imam Jafar as-Sadiq's suppressed  imamate, although  the  Umayyads  faced countless uprisings from among the descendants  of Imam Hasan (a.s), Imam observed all this with sadness. His mission was not  to lead any uprising but to ensure the faith  spread. People flocked to him: at one time he had over 4000 students. Imam continued to propagate the Islamic sciences and knowledge  of physics, maths, astronomy.

The Umayyad tyrants eventually  fell but were replaced by the Abassids who initially claimed to be demanding the right of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s) but soon acted as tyrants against the Ahlul Bayt (a.s). Caliph Mansur set spies out to harass Imam and his followers. It was in this time period that Shia lovers of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s) were labelled "Rafidhis", rejectors. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s) however explained to the believers not to worry about this label, saying, ‘they rejected the Truth, while you rejected the Falsehood’.

Five times the Imam was summoned from Madinah to Baghdad and harassed. But people still continued to travel from afar to learn from him. Among  his famous students  are Malik ibn Anas and Abu Hanifa, both founders of two sunni  schools of fiqh.

Mansur's intriguing  and fear of Imam's  popularity  eventually  led to the Imam being  poisoned  by grapes. He was 65 years old. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s)  is buried by the side of his father  Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s) in the currently demolished  Jannatul Baqi  graveyard in Madinah.

Imam Jafar as-Sadiq  (a.s) left  a wonderful legacy of knowledge. Indeed the Shia school of fiqh is often known with reference  to him as the Jafari School, because he was able to spread the pure Islamic knowledge of the  Ahlul Bayt (a.s) more than the other Imams who lived in very strict periods of tyrants’ rule. He never gave his personal opinion in any Islamic issue, unlike the leaders of other schools of thought, but he always narrated the exact teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a), which he narrated in turn from his father and grandfathers, the Infallible Imams (a.s).

Some of Imam's well known Hadiths are:
Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you, and speak to them in the same way that you want them to speak to you.
The person moving to help his Momin brothers is like the person who is walking between Safa and Marwa.
He who treats people kindly will be accepted as arbiter.
To trust everybody in times of injustice and cheating is a disability.
The desire for the worldly pleasures causes grief and sadness. Abstinence from the worldly pleasures brings about the rest of both heart and body.
He who gains oppression is not gaining welfare. He who mistreats people should not complain when people mistreat him.

WABIL, in extending its condolences  to you all today, equally asks you to ponder upon the legacy of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s) and encourages you to implement  Imam's wonderful teachings in your life.
 
Sayed Mohammad Al-Musawi 
World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League (WABIL)
London 
United Kingdom 
 

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