Circle of Disciples

Ja'far al-Sadiq enjoyed an advantage in that the close circle of disciples who had gathered around his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, many of whom were great jurists and hadith transmitters, already knew him, appreciated his knowledge, and joined him after his father passed away.

عبد الأعلى قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله يقول؛ أما والله لوكنتم تقولون ما أقول لأقررت أهكم أصحابي. هذاأبوحنيفة ل أصحاب وهذا الحسن ابرصي ل أصحاب. وأناإمرؤ من قرش، قد ولدني رسول الله وعلمت كتاب الله.^[362]

['Abd al-A'la b.

مفعول قال؛ قال أوعبد هللا؛ إذا أردت أن تررى أصحاني فانظرإلى من اشتد ورعه وخافى خالقه ورجا وابه. فإذا رايت هؤلاء فهؤلاء أصحاني.^[363]

[Mufaddal:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “If you wish to know who my disci­ples are, look to whoever is intensely pious, fears his Lord, and hopes for His reward. If you see such people, they are my disciples.”^[364]

He advised his disciples and followers on all matters of law, religion, and ethics, as well as the etiquette of personal and social conduct. He also sought their advice when needed.^[365] He looked after them and was attentive to both their spiritual well-being and their material needs.^[366]

The relationship between Ja'far and his learned disciples was that of a jurist and his students. His disciples occasionally asked him to specify the legal basis of his decisions, a common request for jurists of the time from those who consulted them. His answers shed light on his legal methodology and, as such, will be discussed in the next chapter.

Most of his disciples followed his opinions fully and dutifully.^[367] Some, however, held independent views on various doctrinal and theological ques­tions, as mentioned in Muslim heresiographical works.^[368] Such divergence occasionally caused heated disputes among them.^[369] At times, the Imam was asked by some of his followers to intervene, but he refused to do so because he thought that his intervention would not bring the dispute to an end.^[370]

The number of those who studied with Ja'far over the course of his life­time was large enough^[371] for a late-third to early-fourth-century scholar of hadith to devote a monograph to their names.^[372] Many of Ja'far's students recorded what they heard from him, including his responses to their questions, in notebooks, which numbered up to four hundred according to some accounts.^[373] Some of these were later compiled into books and monographs on certain legal topics.

Some senior disciples of Ja'far al-Sadiq who accompanied his father as well as himself for many years were very familiar with the legal positions of both on various matters of law. They had heard and memorized the two Imams' responses to legal questions and they were knowledgeable about many of the general principles of law. They would react immediately if they received answers to legal questions that contravened what they expected or had heard previously.^[375] The following examples illustrate the reactions that Ja'far received from questioners who were surprised by answers that diverged from their expectations:

زرارة عن أني عبد الله قال: ابا رحل كان ل مال وحال عله الحول فإئه يركسه. قلت ل: فإن هو وهبه قبل حله بشهرأو يوم؟ قال: ليس عله شيء إذن. قفئ ل: إن أباك قال لى: من فرك به من الكاة فعليه أن يوديها.^[376]

[Zurara:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, 'Whoever possesses wealth for the duration of a year must pay zakat on it.” I said to him, 'What if he gifts it one month, or one day, before a year has lapsed?” He said, "Then he owes nothing.” I said to him, "Your father said to me, ‘Whoever avoids the zakat [by granting a gift] must fulfill it.'”

أبو بصير قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: متى أصلى راعى الغجر؟ قال: بعد طلوع الغجر.

[Abu Basil:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, 'When should I pray the two-rak'a [supererogatory] dawn prayer?” He said, "After daybreak.” I said to him, "Abu Ja'far ordered me to pray them before daybreak.”

أبو بصير قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن اكنوت، فقال: ني ما نبهر فيه بالقرائة. قلت ل: إني سألى أباك عن ذلك فقال: ني الحمس كلها.^[378]

[Abu Basil:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about the qunut. He said, “It is recited in prayers in which the recitation is performed aloud.” I said to him, “I asked your father about this, and he said, ‘In all five [prayers].'”

شعيب العقرقوفي قال: كنت عند أبي عبد هللا ومعتا أبوبصير وأناس من أهل الجبل بألونه عن ذباغ أهل الكتاب، فقال لهم أبوعبد هللا: قد سمعتم ما قال هللا فيكتابه؟ فقالوا: تحب أن تحيرنا! فقال: لا تأكلوها.

[Shu'ayb al-'Aqarqufi:] I was with Abu 'Abd Allah, and Abu Basir was with us while a group of people from the Jibal were asking him about meat slaughtered by the People of the Book.

The assumption of the disciples was that the Imams at times gave differ­ent answers for a number of reasons, which the disciples placed under the collective rubric of taqiyya, precautionary secrecy, even though the answer might not fall under the strict definition of the term. When they asked the Imams about this, the latter explained the reasons for the differences in their responses, as Ja'far al-Sadiq did in the following example:^[380]

سلمة بن محرزقال: سألت أبا عبد هللا عن رجل وقع على أهله قبل أن يطوفى طوافى النساء، فقال: ليس عله شى. فخرجت إلى اصحابنا فاخمتهم، فقالوا: اققاك.' هذا ئيئر قد سأل عن مثل ما سألت فقال ل: علك بدنة. قال: فدخلت عله فقلت: جعلت فداك! إفي أخبرت أصحابنا بماأجبتي فقالوا: «ائقاك! هذا ميشرقد سأل عما سألت فقال ل: علك بدنة«. فقال: إن ذلك بلغه، فهل بلغك؟ قلت: لا! قال: ليس علك شيء.^{[381] [382]}

[Salama b. Muhriz:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who had intercourse with his wife before the circumambulation [tawaf] for women.³⁷⁸ He said, “He is not liable for anything.” I went to our com­panions and informed them. They said, “He gave you that answer out of taqiyya. Here is Muyassar [b. 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Nakha'i al-Mada'ini], who asked him the same question and he said to him, ‘You owe a sac­rifice.'” I went back to him [Ja'far al-Sadiq] and said, “May I be made your ransom! I informed my companions about your response. They said, ‘He gave you that answer out of taqiyya. Here is Muyassar who asked him the same question and he said to him, “You owe a sacrifice.'” He [Ja'far] said, “He had already received information [about the pro­hibition of that act]. Had you received that information?” I said, “No!” He said, 'You are not liable for anything.”

In a similar case in which people told a man that Ja'far had given him an answer to a question of inheritance law out of precautionary secrecy, the Imam explained:^[383]

فقال [أبوعبد هللا[: لاوالله! ما اكقيتك، ولكى خفت علك أن تؤخذ« بالنصف« فإن كتت لاتخاف فادفع النصف الآخرالى لاة.^[384]

No, by God! I did not safeguard myself against you. Rather, I feared that you be held responsible for the other half [of the inheritance]. If you have no fear, then give the other half to the daughter [too].

Many of the learned disciples of Ja'far al-Sadiq were known in their com­munities as authorities in religious law. They received questions about mat­ters of law and gave answers based on the teachings of the Imam. They often cited him in their responses^[385] and in their legal debates among them- selves.^[386] Some of these senior disciples, however, had their own mind and their own interpretations.^[387] A few, though still working within the general framework of the Imam's teachings,^[388] adopted independent methodologies not endorsed by him,^[389] as the following example demonstrates:

رفاعة عن أبي عبد الله قال: سألنه عن رجل طلق امرأته حى بانمنا مته وانقضت عدتها ?اً تروجت زوجا آخر فطفها أبضتا، ?ناً تزوجت زوجها الأؤل، أيهدم ذلك الطلاق الأنزل؟ قال: نم! قال اين مساعة: وكان ابن كير يقول: المطلعة إذا طللها زوجها ?ناً تكها حى نتيس ?ناً تزوجها فإئا ه عنده على طلاق مستأنف. قال اين مساعة: وذكرالحسين ين هاشم أئه سأل اين بميرعنها فأجابه بهذا الجواب، فقال ل: مسعت ي هذا شيئا؟ فقال: رواية رفاعة. فقال: إن رفاعة روى أقه إذا دخل ينهما زوج. فقال: زوج وغير زوج عندي سواء. فقات: مسعت ي هذا شيئا؟ فقال: لا! هذا مما رزق هللا من الرأي. قال اين مساعة: وليس نأخذ بقول اين يمير فإن الرواية إذاكان ينهما زوج.^[390]

Rifa'a reported from Abu 'Abd Allah, saying, “I asked him about a man who divorced his wife, after which she separated from him, completed her waiting period, and married another person. [The second man] also divorced her, after which she remarried her first husband. Does this [new marriage] cancel the [legal effect] of the first divorce [so that the first divorce is not counted toward the total of three divorces needed for husband and wife to be completely separated]?” He said, “Yes.” Ibn Sama'a said, “Ibn Bukayr used to say: ‘If a woman was divorced by her husband who then left her [until the waiting period had passed and they were fully separated] and then remarried her, she rejoins him with a renewed number of divorces.'” Ibn Sama'a said, “Husayn b. Hashim mentioned that he asked Ibn Bukayr about [the likes of] her and he responded to him with this answer, so Husayn said to him, ‘Have you heard anything [quoted from the Imams] about this?' Ibn Bukayr said, ‘The narration of Rifa'a.' Husayn said, ‘Rifa'a narrated that report about [a case] in which “a husband intervened between them” [that is, she married someone else before remarrying her first husband].' He [Ibn Bukayr] said, ‘It is the same for me, whether or not there was an [intervening] husband.' [Husayn] said, ‘Have you heard anything [quoted from the Imams] about this?' He said, ‘No! This is a legal decision that was granted by God.'” Ibn Sama'a said, “We do not follow the opinion of Ibn Bukayr, because the narration [from the Imam] concerns a case in which there was an intervening husband.”^[391]

As this example indicates, some senior disciples occasionally reached conclusions different from those of the Imam. The Imam, for his part, expected them to refrain from using interpretive methodologies that the Imams did not sanction:

سماعة ين مهران عن أبي عبد هللا قال: قلطا ل: جعدا فداك! إن أناسا من أصحابك قد لوا أباك وجدك وسمعوا منهما الحديث وقد يرب علهم الشيء ليس عندهم فيه شء وعندهم ما ؤشبهه، فيقيسوا على أحسنه؟ فقال: ما لكم والقياس؟ إدا هكل من هكل بالقياس.^[392]

[Sama'a b. Mihran:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “May I be made your ransom! Some of your companions met your father and your grand­father and heard hadith from them. Issues are brought to them for which the answer is not found in what they have, but they have sim­ilar material. Should they draw an analogy the best they can?” He said, 'What do you have to do with analogy? Those who were ruined were ruined by analogy."

محشد ين حكيم قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: إن قوئا من أصحابنا قد تفقهوا وأصابوا علما ورووا أحاديث، فزرد عليهم الشني؛، فيقولون فيه برأيهم؟ فقال: لا.١ وهل هكل قن معض إلابهذا وأشباهه؟^[393]

[Muhammad b. Hakim:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “A group of our companions have studied law, acquired knowledge, and transmitted reports. Queries are posed to them. Can they reply on the basis of their personal opinions?” He said, “No! Have those in the past not perished but for this and its like?”

سعيد الأعرج قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: إن من عندنا مشن بنفقه بولون: يرد علنا ما لانعرفه ي الكتاب والسئة فنقول قبته يرأينا. قال: كذبوا! ليس بثيء إلاوقد جاء ي الكتاب أوجاءت فيه سئة.^[394]

[Said al-A'raj:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “Some of those in our neigh­borhood who give opinions on legal questions say: A matter is brought to us for which we do not find the answer in the Book or the Sunna, so we answer on the basis of our personal opinion.'” He said, “This is not true! There is nothing that has not been addressed in the Book or about which there is no Sunna."

As these examples make clear, Ja'far al-Sadiq expected his learned disci­ples and the future generations to be able to derive rulings for specific cases from the legal norms that they had learned. This is how he explained the division of labor between himself and his students:

هشام ين سالم عن أبي عبد اهللا قال: إدا علنا أن ئلني إلكم الأصول وعلكم أن ئفرعوا.^[395]

[Hisham b. Salim:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “It is our duty to teach you the principles, and it is your duty to derive legal rules for specific cases.”

VI.