As Jurist

During the annual rites of the hajj, Ja'far al-Sadiq was a source of reli­gious information for the pilgrims,^[257] including the religious scholars.^[258] One pilgrim asked 'Abd Allah b. al-Hasan, father of Nafs al-Zakiyya, about a matter relating to the hajj. 'Abd Allah answered, “There is Ja'far b.

جعلي هللا فداك! أسألك عن الخخ منذ أربعين عاما فتغتيي.^[262]

May I be made your ransom! I have been asking you questions about the hajj for forty years now, and you continue to answer me.

As a jurist, Ja'far was very careful about the specifics of each case. When posed a legal question, he did not hesitate to ask further factual questions to clarify the situation and would sometimes ask the questioner to repeat his question so that he could get a full sense of it:

عمر ين يزيد قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: الدرهم بالدرهم هع أحدهما الرصاص وا بوزن؟ قال: أعد، فأعدت، ثمل قال: أعد، فأعدت عله. فقال: لا أرى به بأستا.^[263]

['Umar b.

سعبد ين بصار قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله: جعلت فداك! امرأة دفعت إلى زوجها مالا يعمل به وقالت ل حين دفعته إله: أنفق منه، فإن حدث بي حدث فما انفقت منه فكل حلال طيت. قال: أعد با سعيد المسألة...^[264]

[Sa'id b. Yasar:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “May I be made your ransom! A woman gives money to her husband so that he can trade with it, and when she gives it to him, she says, ‘Spend from it. If something hap­pens to me, then whatever you spent from it will be lawful for you.'” He said, “O Sa'id! Repeat the question.” [Then he gave the answer.]

شعيب الفقرقوي قال: سأت أبا عبد هللا عن الرجل كون ل الجارية يفع علها يطلب ولدها فلم ;رزق منه ولدا فوهبها لأخيه أوباعها فولدت ل أولاددا.

[Shu'ayb al-'Aqarqufi:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who had a slave woman and slept with her in order to have children, but did not succeed. He therefore gifted or sold her to his brother, and then she bore children [for the second man]. Can he [the first man] marry his children from another woman to the children that his brother had with this [slave] woman? Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Say it again.” I repeated [the question] to him. He said, “There is nothing wrong with that.”^[266]

عبد الله ين سنان قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله: أخبرني عن الواد ما حده؟ قال: لا حد على القؤاد. أليس إندا يعطى الأجر على أن يقود؟ قلخت: جعلت فداك! إتما يجمع بين النكر والا حرما! قال: ذاك المؤلف بين النكر والا حرما؟ ففلت: هو ذاك!

قال يغرب ثلاثة أرباع حد الزاني — خمسة وسبعين سوطا — وينقى من المعر الذي هو فيه.^[267]

['Abd Allah b.

موص يزغ سعدان عن بعفى رجال قال: كنت عند أني عبد الله فآتاه رحل فقال ل: جعلت فداك! ما تزى في شابين كانا [مصطحبين] فولد لهذا غلام وللآخر جارية، أيتزوج ابن هذا ابنة هذا؟ قال: فقال: نعم! سبحان لله! لم] لايجل؟ قال ل: إنله كان صديعا ل. قال: سبحان لله! وإن كان، فلابأس٠ [قال : إنله كان يكون ينهما ما كون بين الشباب. قال: لابأس.] قال: إنله كان يفعل به. قال: فأعرض بوجهه ?ناًأجابه وهو مستاربذراعيه فقال: إن كان الذي منه دون الإيقاب فلابأس أن يتزوج، وإن كان قد أوقب فلا يجل ل أن يتزوج.^[269]

[Musa b. Sa'dan:] I was with Abu 'Abd Allah when a man came to him and said, “May I be made your ransom! What is your position on two young men who kept ‘close company,' and to one was born a boy and to the other a girl. Can the son of the former marry the daughter of the latter?" The Imam said, “Yes! Praise be to God! Why would it not be permissible?" The man said to him, “Because he was his ‘friend.'" The Imam said, “Praise be to God! Even so, there is nothing wrong with that.” The man said, “There was between them what goes on between young men.” The Imam said, “There is nothing wrong with that.” The man said, “He had sexual relations with him.” The Imam turned his face away [in embarrassment]. Then he said, covering his face with his arms, “If what occurred was less than intercourse, there is nothing wrong with the marriage. But if he had intercourse, then it is not law­ful for him to marry her.”^[270]

عبد الرحمن ين الحجاج: قلت ل: فإن جعل مكان الذهب فلوستا؟ قال: ما أدرى

ما الفلوس.^[271]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I said to him [as a follow-up to a ques­tion], 'What if fulus^[272] are substituted for gold?” He said, “I do not know what fulus are.”

مفجل ين عمر قال: ألفى أل درهمتا فقال: أيش هذا؟ فقدت: سئوق. فقال: وما

٠ ٠٠ ٠٠ ٠آ ح ٠٠ ٠ ح ٠٠ ٠٠ ي ٠٠ *

اسلثوق؟^[273]

[Mufaddal b. 'Umar:] He [Ja'far al-Sadiq] threw a dirham to me and said, 'What is this?” I said, “A suttuq.” He said, 'What is suttuq?”^[274]

عبدالرحمن بن الحجاج قال: سألته عن الرصف فقتى ل: الرفقة ربما عجلت فخرجت فلم نقدرعلى الدمشقية والبعرصة. فقال: وما الرفقة؟^[275]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I asked him^[276] about exchanging money and said, “The rufqa^[277] occasionally leaves in a hurry before we are able to find the Damascene and Basran currencies [that is, the specific currencies we need].” He said, “What is rufqa?”

عبيد الله ومحتد الحلى قالان قدم لأبي عبد الله متاع من مصر فصنع طعانا ودعا ل التجار فقالوا: نأخذه بده دوازده.^[278] قال: وم كون ذلك؟ قالوا: ي كل عرسة آلافى ألدين. قال: فإى أببعكم هذا المتاع بائى عرسألف.^[279]

['Ubayd Allah and Muhammad al-Halabi:] A consignment arrived for Abu 'Abd Allah from Egypt. He prepared a meal and invited the trad­ers over. They said, 'We buy it at ten-for-twelve” [using the Persian expression]. He said, “How much is that?” They said, “Two thousand for every ten thousand” [using the Arabic equivalent]. He said, “I am selling you this consignment for twelve thousand.”

عبد الرجن بن الحجاج قال: سألى أبا عبد لله عن الحميل، فقال: وأي شيء الحميل؟^[280]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about hamil.^[281] He said, 'What is hamil?”

سلمة ين تحرزقال: قلطا لأبى عبد الله: إن رجال أرمانئا مات وأودى إلى٠ فقال لى:

٢٠ ه ه0 ٠٠

وما الأرمابى؟^[282]

[Salama b. Muhriz:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “An armani^[283] man died and appointed me as executor of his will." The Imam said to me, 'What is armani?"

محمدين الفيض: [عن أبى عبدالله] قال: ٠ ٠ ٠ ماشمون هذاالحذو؟ قلت: الممسوح.^[284]

[Muhammad b. al-Fayd was asked by Abu 'Abd Allah:] “What do you call this footwear?" I said, “Mamsuh."^[285]

سال رجل أبا عبد الله عن الرجل بتتقلد السيف أيصلي قبته؟ قال: مم٠ فقال الرجل: إن فبه الكيمخت. فقال: وما الكيمخت؟^[286]

Abu 'Abd Allah was asked about a man who carries a sword: can he pray with it? He said, “Yes." The man said, “But there is kimukht in it.” The Imam said, “What is kimukht?"^{[287] [288]}

علي بن حنظلة قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن الرببثاء، فقال: قد سألي عنها غيرواحد واختلفوا في صغتها. قال: فرجعت فأمرت بها فجعلى ي وعاء بم حملتها إله فسأله عنها، فرد علي مثل الذي رد٠ فقلى: قد جئتك بها! فضحك، فأريتها إياه. فقال: ليس به بأس²⁷

['All b. Hanzala:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about [a fish called] rubaythtf. He said, “I was asked about it by more than one person, and they dif­fered on its description." I went back, ordered one to be put in a vessel, and carried it to him, and asked him [again] about the fish, and he gave me the same answer. I said, “I brought it to you!" He laughed and I showed it to him. He said, “There is no problem with it."

محشد ين مسلم قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن الجريث، فقال: والله ما ريته قط ولكن وجدناه ي كتاب على حراما.^[289]

[Muhammad b. Muslim:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about jirrith.^[290] He said, “By God, I have never seen it, but we found it [described as] unlawful in the book of 'All."^{[291] [292]}

عبد الله بن كير قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن الرجل يشيع إلى القادسية، أويقعرص؟ قال: كم ي؟ قلخت: اني رت. قال: نعم. يقعر.²⁸⁹

['Abd Allah b. Bukayr:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who goes to Qadisiyya to say farewell [to someone(s)]; should he shorten his prayer [by half, like a traveler]? He said, 'What is the distance?" I said, “What you saw." He said, “Yes, he should shorten his prayer."^[293]

In the same way, he would tell his addressee explicitly if he did not have a specific answer to a question:

عيص ين القاسم قال: سألت أبا عبد هللا عن رجل واقع امرأته وي طامث. قال: لا يلتمس فعل ذلك فقد نه هللا أن يقربها. قلخت: فإن فعل أعله كفارة؟ قال: لا أعلم فيه شيئا. يستفقر هللا نغالى.^[294]

[Is b. al-Qasim:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who had inter­course with his wife while she was menstruating. He said, “He may not solicit that action; God forbade him to approach her.” I said, “If he did it, does he owe an expiation?” He said, “I do not know anything specific about this. He should ask God, the Exalted, for forgiveness.”

إسماعيل ين الفضل قال: سألت أبا عبد هللا عن القتوت وما يقال فيه، فقال: ما قض هللا على لسانك، ولا أعلم ل شيها مؤقئا.^[295]

[Isma'il b. al-Fadl:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about the qunut [in prayer] and what should be said in it. He said, 'Whatever God puts on your tongue. I do not know of anything prescribed for it.”

He did not always answer questions right away but occasionally took time to reflect on them first, as in these examples:

أبو بصير قال: قلن لأبي عبد هللا: جعلت فداك.١ إن صاحبى هذين جهلا أن يقفا بالمزدلفة. فقال: يرجعان مكانهما فيقفان بالمشعر ساعة. قلن: فإئه لم ;ييرهما أحد حى كان ايوم وقد نغرالناس. قال: فتكس رأسه ساعة غماقال: أليسا قد صليا الغداة بالمزدلفة؟ قلن: بلى.١ فقال: أليسا قد قتتا في صلاتهما؟ قلن: بلى.١ فقال: محجهما. م قال: المشعرمن المزدلفة والمزدلفة من المشعروا يكفيهما اليسيرمن الدعاء.^[296]

[Abu Basil:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “May I be made your ransom! These two companions of mine failed to stand at Muzdalifa.” He said, “They should return to their place there and stand at the Mash'ar for a while.” I said, “Nobody informed them until today, and the people have already left the site.” He lowered his head for a while and then said, “Did they not pray the morning prayer in Muzdalifa?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “Did they not perform the qunut in their prayer?” I said, "Yes!" He said, “Their hajj is complete.” Then he said, “Masha is Muzdalifa, and Muzdalifa is Masha,^[297] and it is sufficient to per­form a short supplication.”

283

284

يوض ين يعقوب قال: قلت لأبي عبد التذ: إدن أهل مكة بذبحون ابقرة ي الدبب فما ترى ي أكل لحومها؟ قال: فسكت هنيهة ثميقال: قال الله نعالى: جذبحوها وماكادوا ئئقنوذه لا تأكل إلا ما دخ من مذبحه.^[298]

[Yunus b. Ya'qub:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “The people of Mecca slaughter cattle in the upper part of the chest; what is your position about eating their meat?" He kept silent for a moment, then said, “God, the Exalted, said, ‘They slaughtered it but would hardly do it.'^[299] Do not eat anything but that which has been slaughtered at the [proper] point of slaughtering.”^[300]

أو بصير عن أبي عبد الله قال: سألنه عن الرجل بحتمع عنده من الزاة الخمسمائة والستمائة، أيشازى بها نسمة ويعتقها؟ فقال: إذا يظلم قومئا آخرين حقوقهم. م مكث ملئا ثم قال: إلاأن كون عبدا مسلمتا ي ضرورة، فيششه ويعتقه.^[301]

[Abu Basil:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who has accumulated five hundred or six hundred [dirhams] as zakat. Can he use it to buy a slave to manumit?^[302] The Imam said, “If he does so, he does an injustice against the rights of other people [among the beneficiaries of zakat].” He was silent for a while and then said, “Unless it is a Muslim slave in a situation of necessity, [in which case] he can buy and manumit him." That was also the normal practice of the Arabs before the advent of Islam, when slaves from Africa and elsewhere were also brought to and sold in Mecca.

The market value of slaves in premodern times varied according to the condition and qualities of the slave as well as according to specific time and place. However, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabia and its vicinity, the base price of a slave was around 700 dirhams or 70 dinars (according to the nominal exchange rate between the two currencies, 1 dinar equaled 10 dirhams, later modified by 'Umar to 12 dirhams, as will be explained later in this chapter). This amount was what 'All had saved right before his assassination, for the purpose of buying a slave (Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, 3:37). It is also what Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet, reportedly paid for Zayd b. Haritha (Ibn Abi Shayba, Musannaf, 13:232, quoted also in Ibn 'Asakir, Ta’rikh madinat Dimashq, 19:352; Dhahabi, Siyar a'lam al-nubala¹, 1:223; Maqrizi, Imta', 6:303; a different report in Ibn Sa'd, 3:39, quoted also in Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, IstFab, 2:543; Ibn Hajar, Isaba, 2:598; Maqrizi, 6:302 has the figure as 400 dirhams, with the alternative figure of 600 in the last work, possibly indicating that both of these figures may have originated from corruptions of 700 in the Arabic script). This sum is also what Muham­mad al-Baqir paid for Humayda, a Berber handmaiden (and, later, mother of Musa al-Kazim, the future Imam), whom he bought for his son Ja'far al-Sadiq (Kulayni, Kafi, 1:476-77, the report specifies seventy dinars), and it is what a slave in the lifetime of Ja'far al-Sadiq asked his owner to sell him for in the market (Kulayni, 5:219-20, also quoted below, Chapter 4, text 71 on p. 383).

The price could however be as low as 500 or 600 dirhams, as in the report quoted above (Kulayni, 3:557; see also Kulayni, 6:107, 108 [both 500 dirhams for an old slave], 7:22, 26-27 [altogether three cases at 600 dirhams]). A slave with secretarial and accounting knowledge was sold in Kufa for 60 dinars = 600 dirhams in the year 105 (Tabari, Ta’rikh, 7:28, with a variant in Isbahani, Aghani, 15:124). The Companion Zayd b. Arqam bought back for 600 dirhams a slave that he had sold in the same session for 800 dirhams in a contract of 'ayna, a sham credit sale with the intention of circumventing the legal prohibition on receiving interest on a loan (Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Istidhkar, 19:24, and other sources cited in the editor's footnote). A slave could even be traded for less than 500 dirhams (Kulayni, 7:19), and occa­sionally, it could be for a mere 30 dinars (Kulayni, 7:18), that is, 300 dirhams according to the most common exchange rate in the Kufan market at the time. This was about the price that Abu Bakr paid for Bilal b. Rabah, the muezzin of the Prophet (Ibn Sa'd, 9:389; Ibn Abi Shayba, 11:199). This was also the price paid for a slave bought in Basra in mid-third century (Ibn al-Jawzi, Akhbar al-zurraf 90-91; Dhahabi, Mizan al-i'tidal, 7:447). The annual tribute that 'Abd Allah b. Tahir (d. 230), ruler of Khurasan in the early third century, had to pay to the caliphate in Baghdad in lieu of the kharaj of Kabul included two thousand Turkic slaves for the total value of 600,000 dirhams, that is, 300 dirhams each (Ibn Khurdadhbih, al-Masalik wa'l-mamalik, 37, 39). In the market of Medina in mid-second century, a male slave from Axum (today Eritrea and a part of northern Ethiopia) who was deemed “good enough to lead a blindman" could be had for 30 dinars (or around 300 dirhams); a slave girl from Spain “who would bear handsome children" could be bought for 25 dinars (250 dirhams) (Kulayni, 5:480); and a handmaiden could cost as little as 20 dinars (200 dirhams) ('Ayyashi, Tafsir, 2:142). The lower-class (wakhsh) women slaves used by Andalusian families as servants were usually sold in the market of Cordoba for 28 dinars (Abu al-Asbagh, Diwan al-ahkam, 2:670, 675), corresponding to about 330 dirhams at the exchange rate of 1 dinar = 12 dirhams, the rate favored by the Malikis and most probably prevailed in the fifth-century Cordoba. Eunuchs had a higher value, as they were in high demand, whereas older slaves naturally fetched a lower price (Malik, Muwatta’ [recension of Abu Mus'ab al-Zuhri], 7:391).

The price could also exceed 700 dirhams. For example, 800 dirhams were paid for a slave in the time of the Prophet in Medina (Bukhari, Sahih, nos. 6716 and 7186; Muslim, Sahih, no. 997; and other sources cited in the editor's footnotes in Abu Dawud, Sunan, 6:89-90 [of Bei­rut, 1996 edition]). Other recorded prices included 1,000 dirhams (Kulayni, 3:557, 5:209-10, Tusi, Tahdhib, 8:302), 125 dinars = 1,250 dirhams (Kulayni, 7:66), or 61 dinars of Carmona, near Seville, corresponding to 100 regular dinars, paid in the fifth-century Andalusia for a black slave girl, obviously of a high quality (Abu al-Asbagh, 2:667). In the mid-fourth century, a geographer noted that the highest market price for slaves throughout the lands that he visited was 3,000 dinars paid for Turkic slaves, boys and girls alike, in Khurasan (Ibn Hawqal, Surat al-ard, 376). That obviously referred to very exceptional cases, as noted below.

Such was also the market value of the slaves in Egypt and the greater Syria in the early centuries. The Ikhshidid Kaur (d. 357) was bought at a young age by Muhammad b. Tughuj, ruler of Egypt (r. 323-34), for 18 dinars (Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-a'yan, 4:100; Ibn Taghri- birdi, al-Nujum al-zahira, 4:3). Later in the time of the Mamluks, the market price of the mamluks as a particular category who would eventually join the military personnel could be around the average rate mentioned above or much higher, depending on personal conditions or social and political circumstances, as well as the supply of the market. Baybars (r. 658-76), for instance, was allegedly sold at the age of 14 in Damascus for 800 dirhams, and Qaytbay (r. 87 2-901) was sold to Barsbay (r. 824-41) in 839 as a slave boy among a group of his age for 50 dinars each (Ibn Iyas, Bada’T al-zuhur, 3:3), which would have been around 500 or 600 dirhams, whereas five hundred mamluks of Khushqadam (r. 865-72) were sold after his death for 10,000 dirhams each (Ibn Iyas, 3:18). The emir Yashbuk al-Suduni al-Mushidd (d. 849) was originally sold to Tatar (r. 824) for 200 dinars, then bought back by Barsbay for 1,000 dinars, and freed (Sakhawi, al-Daw¹ al-lami', 10:277-78). Similarly, the atabegs Faris al-Din Aqtay (d. 652) and Mansur Qalawun (r. 678-89) were each bought at a young age for 1,000 dinars (Dhahabi, Ta’rikh al-Islam, 14:722 and 15:640, respectively; Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Manhal al-؟ap, 9'91 for Mansur Qa١.awin١. See also Ashton HistoiTe des prix et des saltires, 463, 504; Encyclopaedia Iranica 3:771-72).

Highly valued and precious slaves, normally girls but also men of musical and other talents (see Bayhaqi, Sunan, 10:380; Ibn Hawqal, 377; Ibn Qudama, Mughni, 14:160-61) could be priced at 500 dinars = 5,000 dirhams in Iraq (Kulayni, 4:545). This was the amount allegedly offered by the caliph Mansur to the jurist Rabi'at al-Ra'y to buy a handmaiden for himself (Dhahabi, Siyar a'lam al-nubala¹, 6:90, 92). The price of a slave could be 5,000 dirhams or more, as mentioned in a question of criminal law posed to Ja'far al-Sadiq (Kulayni, 7:302); 700 dinars = 7,000 dirhams, as paid by the caliph Mu'tasim for a slave girl that originally belonged to the poet Mahmud al-Warraq (Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ta’rikh Baghdad, 15:103); 10,000 dirhams or more (Kulayni, 7:304 [دن كان نفيتا; Ibn Babawayh, Faqih, 4:96); and 20,000 dirhams (Kulayni, 7:305, 308) in hypothetical questions posed to Ja'far al-Sadiq; 2,000 dinars for a handmaiden offered to Mamun (Ibn 'Asakir, 33:330); and in very exceptional cases, even 30,000 dirhams (Kulayni, 5:497 [for a جارية فارهة]; Raqqam, al-'Afw wa'l-i'tidhar, 1:205 [for a singing girl]; Isbahani, Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, 124-25 [for a handmaiden that Mukhtar alThaqafi gifted to 'Ali b. al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin, and who bore him his son Zayd]). Mu'awiya is said to have paid 40,000 dirhams for a handmaiden that he bought for 'Aqil b. Abi Talib (Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Sharh Nahj al-balagha, 1:251). Yazid b. 'Abd al-Malik paid 3,000 and 4,000 dinars for his two singing girls, Sallama (Mas'udi, Murujal-dhahab, 3:196) and Hababa (Tabari, Ta’rikh, 7:23) respectively. An unusual case in this range is that of the hadith trans­mitter 'Ikrima [d. 105], who was allegedly bought by Khalid b. Yazid b. Mu'awiya for 4,000 dinars (Ibn Sa'd, 7:282-83; Ibn 'Asakir, 41:84-85, and other sources cited in the editor's footnote therein) but the figure sounds wrong. The figure of 40,000 dirhams appears also in a contract of manumission in Ibn Rushd, al-Bayan wa'l-tahsil, 18:457 (from al-'Utbiyya, a third-century work of Maliki law).

The round figure of 1,000 dinars as the price of a slave, which is mentioned in works of hadith (e.g., 'Ayyashi, Tafsir, 2:142) and law (e.g., Malik, Mudawwana, 15:6-7; 'Ayni, Binaya, 7:496; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 3:674-90) when discussing hypothetical cases, sounds hypo­thetical, too. Similarly, some of the extremely high figures alleged to have been paid by the caliphs, rulers, and princes, but also other notables—usually for singing girls—sound There were also questions that Ja'far declined to address immediately but answered later^[303] or sent an answer through an intermediary.^[304] Some of these questions might have related to burning issues of the time on which he did not want to take a clear position,^[305] or matters that were sensitive for one reason or another, in which case his goal was to save the questioner from getting into trouble with his community.

عبد الله ين كير قال: دخل زرارة على أبي عبد الله فقال: إنمكم قلتم لنا [صغوا[ في الظهر واسر على ذرع وذرعين، ۶ قلتم أبردوا بها في الصيف، فكيف الإياد بها؟ وفتح ألواحه لكتب ما يقول. فلم تجبه أبوعبد لله. فأطبق ألواحه وقال: إعا علنا أن شألكم وأنتم أعلم بما علتم، وخرج. ودخل أبو بصير على أبي عبد الله، فقال: إن زررة سألي عن شيء فلم أجبه، وقد ضقت من ذلك، فاذهب أنطا رسولي إله فقل [ل]: صل الظهرئ الصيف إذاكان ظكل مثكل، والعصرإذاكان مثليك«^[306]

['Abd Allah b. Bukayr:] Zurara came to Abu 'Abd Allah and said, “You told us to pray noon and afternoon prayers when [one's shadow] is one and two dhircfs (arm cubits^[307]) long [respectively]; then you told us to delay it until it cools down during the summer; so how much are they to be delayed for cooling down?” Zurara then opened his note­book to write down what he [the Imam] would say, but Abu 'Abd Allah did not answer him. He closed his notebook and said, “It is our duty to ask you, and you know your duty best.” And he left. Then Abu Basir came to Abu 'Abd Allah, and he [the Imam] said, “Zurara asked me about something but I did not answer him, and I feel uneasy about it. Go to him as my messenger and say to him, ‘Pray the noon prayer during the summer when your shadow is as long as you are, and the afternoon prayer when your shadow is twice as long as you are.'”

Numerous Sunni judges and jurists of the time used to attend his audi­ence. They included notables such as Rabi'a b. Farrukh, better known as Rabat al-Ra'y (d. 136),^[308] whose fatwa sessions Ja'far also occasionally attended;^[309] Ibn Abi Layla, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Rahman al-Ansari (d. 148), who served as judge of Kufa for thirty-three years and whose high respect for Ja'far^[310] and his opinions^[311] is attested in numerous reports; Yahya b. Sa'id al-Ansari (d. 143), a student of Ja'far and a leading jurist of Medina in his time who later in life moved to Iraq and served as judge of Hashimiyya; 'Abd Allah b. Shubruma al-Dabbi (d. 144), a noted jurist and judge of Kufa; and Hafs b. Ghiyath (d. 194), a judge first of the eastern part of Baghdad and then of Kufa, and a young companion of and frequent transmitter from Ja'far whom he used to call Khayr al-Ja'afir^[312] or Sayyid al-Ja'afira.^[313]

There are numerous reports of debates between Ja'far and other prom­inent scholars of his time over legal matters. Many of these debates may have actually occurred, but some details of which may not be historical. Generally speaking, it seems that he and other scholars treated each other with mutual respect. This is illustrated by the following example, an anec­dote told by Mu'awiya b. 'Ammar al-Duhni (d. 175), a respected hadith transmitter and jurist in Kufa,^[314] and author of a monograph on hajj that has fully survived in later works:^[315]

أوصت إلي امرأة من أهلي بثلث مالها فأمرت أن يعتق وفخ ويصدق عتها، فلم سلغ ذلك، فسألن أبا حنيفة عتها فقال: يجعل أثلاة: ثلث ي العتق وثلث ي الحخ وثلث ي الصدقة. فدخلن علي أبي عبد هللا فقلن: إدن امرأة من أهلي ماتتت وأوصت إلتي بثلث مالها وأمرت أن يعتق عنها ويصدق وفخ عنها، فنظرت فيه فلم يعل. فقال: إبدأ بالحخ فإكه فريضة من فرائض هللا نعالى، وفعل ما بي طائفة ي العتق وطاثفة ي الصدقة. فأخبرت أبا حنيفة بقول أبي عبد هللا. فرجع عن قول وقال بقول أبي عبد هللا.^[316]

A woman of my family passed away and bequeathed a third of her estate for the manumission [of a slave], the performance of the hajj, and general charity on her behalf, but the value of the estate was insufficient. I asked Abu Hanifa [about this] and he said, “Divide the money into three parts [and spend] one third on the manumission, one third on the hajj, and one third on general charity.” I then visited Abu 'Abd Allah and told him [about the case]. He said, “Start with the hajj, because the hajj is an obligation. Spend what remains [on the supererogatory acts], partly on manumission and partly on general charity.” I informed Abu Hanifa of what Abu 'Abd Allah had said. He renounced his [original] opinion and adopted that of Abu 'Abd Allah.

Here are a couple of other examples:

عبد الرحمن بن الحجاج عن أبي عبد الله، قال: سألته عن بيت وتع على قوم مجتمعين فلا يتدرى أيهم مات قبل؟ قال: فقال: يورث بعضهم من بعض. قلت: فإن أبا حنيفة أدخل فيها شيئا. قال: وما أدخل؟ قته: رجلين أخوين أعجؤين ليس لهما وارث إلا مواليهما، أحدهما ل مائة ألف درهم والآخرليس ل شيء، رابا ي السفينة فغرقا فلم بدر أيهما مات أؤلأ، فقال يدفع المال إلى موالي انذي ليس ل شيء. قال [أبو عبد الله]: ما أتكرما أدخل فيها. صدق. وهو هكذا. بم قال: يدفع المال إلى موالي انذي ليس ل شيء، ولم ;كن للأخرمال يرثه موالي الآخر.^[317]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about [a sce­nario in which] a house has collapsed on a group of people gathered together, and it is not known in what order they died. He said, “They inherit from one another.” I said, “Abu Hanifa added something to this [hypothetical scenario].” He said, 'What did he add?” I said, “[Suppose there are] two non-Arab brothers who had no heirs other than their patrons.^[318] One has one hundred thousand dirhams and the other has nothing. They take a trip on a ship and drown, and it is not known which of them died first. He [Abu Hanifa] said, ‘The money is given to the patron of the one who had nothing.'” The Imam said, “I am not against what he added to the case; he spoke the truth, and it is so.” Then he said, “The money is given [as inheritance] to the patrons of the one who had nothing, and the [one who had nothing] had no money for the patrons of the other to inherit.”

الحسين ين المختارقال: قال أبوعبد الله لأبي حنيفة: ما نتقول ي بيت سقط على قوم وبي منهم صبيبان، أحدهما حروالآخرمملوك لصاحبه، فلم يعرف الحرمن المملوك؟ فقال أو حنيفة: يعتق نصف هذا ويعتق نصف هذا ويقسم المال ينهما. فقال أو عبد لله: ليس كذلك، ولكن قرع ينهما فمن أصابيه القرعة فهو الحر، وبعتق هذا فيجعل مولى ل.^[319]

[Husayn b. al-Mukhtar:] Abu 'Abd Allah said to Abu Hanifa, “What is your position regarding a house that collapses upon some people and only two minor boys survive, one of whom is free and the other is a slave of the free one, but it is not known who is free and who is the slave.” Abu Hanifa said, “Half of each of them is manumitted, and the money is divided between them.” Abu 'Abd Allah said, “That is not so. Rather, lots are cast between them, and whoever wins is free, and the other is manumitted and made his client.”^[320]

عبد المكل بن عتبة قال: سألن أبا حنيفة فقلن: إى لاأزل أدفع المال مضارة إلى الرجل فيقول قد ضاع أو قد ذهب؟ قال: فادفع إيه أكره قرئتا واياى مضاربة. فسألن أبا عبد هللا عن ذلك فقال: يجوز.^[321]

['Abd al-Malik b. 'Utba:] I asked Abu Hanifa, “I continue to pay a man money to act on a sleeping partnership agreement, and he [occa­sionally] says that the money got lost or is gone.” He said, “Pay most of it to him as a loan, and the remainder as part of the sleeping part­nership agreement.” I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about this and he said, “This is permissible.”

قال أبوحنيفة لأى عبد هللا: تجيزون شهادة واحد وعين؟ قال: نعم' قفى به رسول أهللا — صلى هللا* عليه وآل وسلم — وقئض به علي عندكم.^[322]

Abu Hanifa said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “Do you accept the testimony of one individual with an oath?” He said, “Yes! The Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) judged on that basis, and 'All judged on that basis [while he was] with you [in Iraq].”

عبد الرجن بن الحجاج قال: سألت أبا عبد اهللا عثثا اختلف فيه ان أبي يلى واين

شبرة ى السواد وأرضه فقلن: إن اين أى يلى قال إنهم إذا أسلموا فهم أحراروما ى أيديهم من أرضهم لهم، وأنبا اين شبزمة فزعم أنهم عبيد وأن أرضهم اليي بأيديهم ليست لهم. فقال ي الأرض بما قال اين سبرة وقال في الرجال بما قال اين أبي ليلى أنهم إذا أسلموا فهم أحرار.^[323]

['Abd al-Rahman b. alHajjaj:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about the dis­pute between Ibn Abi Layla^[324] and Ibn Shubruma^[325] regarding the Sawad [Mesopotamia] and its land. I said, “Ibn Abi Layla said that if they [that is, the original, non-Muslim inhabitants of the land] convert to Islam, they are free and the land they possess belongs to them, but Ibn Shubruma thought that they were slaves [of the Muslims who con­quered the land] and the land they possess does not belong to them.” Abu 'Abd Allah agreed with Ibn Shubruma's opinion with respect to the land and with Ibn Abi Layla with regard to the men—that if they convert to Islam, they are free.

عبد الرجن ن الحجاج قال: سألى أبوعبد الله هل يختلف ان أبي ليلى وابن شبرمة؟ فشك: بلغى أده مات مولى لعيس بن موس وتزك عله ديئأكثيرا وتزك مماليك تجيط دينه بأبمانهم فأعتقهم عند الموت. فسألهما عيسى بن موس عن ذلك. فقال ان شيرمة: أرى أن شدتسعيهم في قيمتهم فتدفع إلى الغرماء. وقال ابن أبي للى: أرى أن يبيعهم وتدفع أبمانهم إلى الغرماء. فقال [أبو عبد هللا]: أما والله إن الحق لي ما قال اينأبييلى.^[326]4

['Abd al-Rahman b. alHjjaj:] Abu 'Abd Allah asked me whether Ibn Abi Layla and Ibn Shubruma disagree [on any question of law]. I said, “I was informed that a client of 'Isa b. Musa^[327] passed away leaving behind a lot of debt as well as slaves, whose combined value equaled his debt, but he manumitted them upon his death. 'Isa b. Musa asked the two of them [Ibn Abi Layla and Ibn Shubruma] about the case. Ibn Shubruma said, ‘I think he ['Isa] should allow them to work up to their market price and pay their income to the creditors [to settle the debt],' and Ibn Abi Layla said, ‘I think he ['Isa] should sell them and pay their value to the creditors.'" Abu 'Abd Allah said, “By God, the truth is with what Ibn Abi Layla said."

عبد الرجن ين الحجاج قال: سألى أبو عيد هللا: يحالف يحى ين سعيد قضاتكم؟ قلت: نعم! قال: هات شيئا مئنا اختلفوا فيه. قلص: اقتتل غلامان ي الرحبة فععى أحدهما على يد الآخر، فعمد المعضوض إلى حجر فضرب به رأتنى صاحبه الذي عضه فشخ فكؤفمات. فروع ذلك إلى يحى ين سعيد فأقاده. فقال ابن شؤمة واين أبي يلى لعيس بن مولاى: إن هذا الأمر لم كن عندنا. لا ئقاد عنه بالحجر ولا باسلوط. إما هذا الحطأ. فلم يزالوا حى وداه عيس ين على من مال. قال: فقال [أبو عبد هللا]: إن من عندنا ئقيدون بالوكزة. قلنه: يزعمون أئه خطاه وأن اعلمد لا كون إلا بالحديد. فقال: إثما الحطأ أن تزيد الشيء فتصيب غيره. فأما كل شيء قصدت إيه فأصبته فهو العمد.^[328]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] Abu 'Abd Allah asked me, “Does Yahya b. Sa'id^[329] disagree with your judges?" I said, 'Yes!" He said, “Give me an example of what they have disagreed on." I said, “Two boys fought in a wide-open space, and one of them bit the hand of the other. The one who was bitten got a rock and hit the one who bit him on the head, causing his skull to fracture; he then stiffened and died. The case was brought to Yahya b. Sa'id, who ordered him [the perpetra­tor] to be put to death in retaliation. Ibn Shubruma and Ibn Abi Layla told 'Isa b. Musa: ‘This decision was unprecedented in our jurisdic­tion. A killing by a rock or a whip is not subject to the law of retal­iation. It is an accident [that is, a case of manslaughter rather than intentional homicide].' They insisted on that until 'Isa b. Musa paid the blood-money [that is, compensation for wrongful death] from his own wealth." Abu 'Abd Allah said, “The [jurists] among us apply retaliation for killing [even] if by a punch." I said, “They believe a case like this is an accident, and that intentional homicide occurs only when metal is used.”^[330] He said, “An accident is when you intend to hit something but hit something else.^[331] But anything you intended to hit and actually did hit entails intentional homicide.”

عبد الرحمن ين الحجاج قال: سمعت اين أبي يلى يقول: كانت الدية ي الجاهلية مائة من الإبل، فأقرها رسول هللا - صلى هللا عله وآل وسلم. ثم إئه فرض على أهل القر مائي بقرة وفرض على أهل النشاة ألف شاة يتئية وعلى أهل الذهب ألف دينار وعلى أهل الورق عشرة آلاف درهم وعلى أهل ايمن الحلل — مائة حهل. قال عبد الرحمن ين الحجاج: فسألت أبا عبد هللا عما روى ابن أبي يلى، فقال: كان على يقول: الدية ألف دينار — وقيمة الدينار عشرة درهم، وعرس آلاف [درهم] لأهل الأمصار وعلى أهل البوادي مائة من الإبل ولأهل السواد ماقنا بقرة أوألف شاة.^[332]

['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I heard Ibn Abi Layla say, “The amount of the blood-money during the Age of Arab Ignorance [that is, the pre-Islamic period] was one hundred camels, and this was affirmed by the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family). He then imposed [a blood-money amount of] two hundred cattle for the owners of cattle, one thousand two-year-old sheep for the owners of sheep, one thousand dinars for regions where people used gold money [in their transactions], ten thousand dirhams for regions where people used silver money,^[333] and one hundred robes upon the people of Yemen, who produced garbs.” ['Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about what Ibn Abi Layla transmitted. He said, “'All used to say: ‘The blood-money amount is one thousand dinars and the value of a dinar is ten dirhams.^[334] Ten thousand dirhams is owed by urban people, one hundred camels by desert-dwellers, and two hun­dred cattle or one thousand sheep by those who live on farmland.'”

حفص ين غياث قال: سمعت أبا عبد هللا يقول في رجل أدرك الجمعة وقد ازدم الناس وكأر لع الإمام وركع ولم يقدر على السجود، وقام الإمام والناس في الركعة الثانية وقام هذا معهم فركع الإلمام ولم يقدر هو على الركوع في الركعة الثانية من الزحام وقدرعلى السجود، كيف بصنع؟ فقال أبوعبد هللا: أغما الركعة الأولى فه إلى عند الكوع تامة، قلمتا لم يسجد لها حى دخل في الركعة الثانية لم كن ل ذلك، فلما سجد في الثانية فإن كان نوى أن هذه السجدة ي للكعة الأولى فقد تملت ل الكعة الأولى، فإذا سلم الإمام قام فصلى كعة يسجد فيها بم يتشهد ويسلم، وإن كان لم ينو أن تكون تكل السجدة للكعة الأولى لم تجز عنه الأولى ولاالثانية، وعله أن يسجد سجدتين وينوي أنهما للكعة الأولى، وعله بعد ذلك كعة تاملة ثانية يسجد فيها.

قال حفص: فسألت عنها اين أبي يلى فما طعن فيها ولا قارب. قال: وسمعت بعض موايهم يسأل اين أبي يلى عن الجمعة هل تجب على المرأة والعبد والمسافر؟ فقال ابن أبي يلى: لاتجب الجمعة على واحد منهم ولاالمتاثف. فقال الرجل: فما تقول إن حضرواحد منهم الجمعة مع الإمام فصلأها معه، فهل تجزيه تكل الصلاة عن ظهر يومه؟ فقال: نعم! فقال ل الرجل: وكيف تجزي ما لم يقرضه اهللا عله عما فرضه اهللا عله، وقد قلت، إن الجمعة لا تجب عله، ومن لم تجب عله الجمعة فالفرض عيه أن

بصلي 'أربعا، ويلزمك فيه معى أن هللا فرض عله أربئا، فكيف اجزأ عنه ركعتان لع ما يلزمك أن من دخل فيما لم يفرضه هللا عله لم يجز عنه مئا فرض هللا عله؟ فما كان عند اين أبي يلي فيها جواب. وطلب إيه أن يفترها ل فأبى.

f سألنه أنا عن ذلك ففتضجا في فقال: الجواب عن ذلك أتن هللا عزوجل فرض الجمعة علي جميع المؤمنين والمؤمنات، ورخص للمرأة والمسافر والعيد أن لا يأتنوها، فلمنا حضروها سقطت الرخصة ولزمهم الفرض الأول، فمن أجل ذلك أجزأ عنهم. فقلى: عثن هذا؟ فقال: عن مولانا أبى عبد هللا.^[335]

[Hafs b. Ghiyath:] I heard Abu 'Abd Allah speak regarding what should be done in the case of a man who attended a crowded Friday prayer, said the takbir, and bowed in tandem with the prayer leader, but was unable to prostrate himself. The prayer leader and the congregation then stood up for the second raka and this man stood up with them, and the prayer leader bowed but the man could not bow for the second unit because of the crowd, but he was able to prostrate himself. Abu 'Abd Allah said, “As for the first unit, it was complete up to the point of the first bow, so when he did not prostrate himself for it until the sec­ond unit, [the second unit] did not count [as complete] for him. When he prostrated himself during the second unit, if he intended the pros­tration to count toward the first unit, the first unit was thereby com­pleted. When the prayer leader concluded the prayer, the man should have stood and performed another unit during which he prostrated himself and performed the tashahhud and concluded the prayer. But if he did not intend that prostration to count toward the first unit, he has fulfilled neither the first nor the second unit, so he must prostrate himself twice and intend them for the first unit, and then he must per­form a second complete unit during which he prostrates himself.”

[Hafs:] I asked Ibn Abi Layla about this and he neither contested nor favored it. [Hafs further said:] I heard one of their clients ask Ibn Abi Layla about whether Friday prayer is obligatory for women, slaves, and travelers. Ibn Abi Layla said, “No! Friday prayer is not obligatory for any of them, nor for the fearful.” The man said, “What is your posi­tion on one [of those groups of people] attending the Friday prayer and praying it alongside the prayer leader—does it count toward the mid­day prayer of that day?” He said, “Yes!” The man said, “How can some­thing that God has not obligated him to do count toward something that God has obligated him to do? You said that Friday prayer is not obligatory for him, and whoever is not obligated to attend Friday prayer is obligated to pray four [rak'as of midday prayer]. You must accept that this means that God made four [rak'as of midday prayer] obligatory for him, so how do two [rak'as of Friday prayer] suffice, given that you must accept that if a person performs something God has not obligated him to do, it cannot suffice for something God has obligated him to do?” Ibn Abi Layla did not have an answer. The man asked him to explain it, but he declined.

I later asked him about that, and he explained it to me, saying, “The answer to this is that God made Friday prayer obligatory for all believ­ing men and women, but he granted a dispensation from performing it to women, travelers, and slaves. Hence, when they attend it, the dis­pensation drops and the original obligation comes into effect. This is why [Friday prayer] suffices for them.” I asked, “This [analysis] comes from whom?” He said, “From our master, Abu 'Abd Allah.”

عيص ين القاسم قال: إن اين شبرمة قال: الطلاق للرجل، فقال أبوعبد هللا: الطلاق للنساء. وتبيان ذلك أن العبد :كون تحته الحرة فيكون تطيقها ثلائا، وركون الحزتحته الامة فيكون طلاقها تطيقتنن.324

['Is b. al-Qasim:] Ibn Shubruma said, “Divorce follows [the personal status of] the man.” Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Divorce follows [the per­sonal status of] women, and the proof of that is that when a slave man marries a free woman, she is to be divorced three times [before the two are fully separated]. But when a free man marries a slave woman, he can divorce her only twice [before the two are fully separated].”^{[336] [337]}

معاوية ين ميسمه ين شرخ قال: شهدت أبا عبد هللا في مسجد الخيف وهو في حلقة فيها نحو من مائي رجل، فيهم عبد الله ين شر٠مة، فقال: يا أبا عبد ١لله١٠ إنا نقفى بالعراق فنقفى بما علم من الكتاب والسئة، ورد علنا المسألة فنجتهد فيها بالرأى؟ فقال أبو عبد هللا: أي رجل كان علي ين أبي طال؟ فقد كان بالعراق وكم به لخبر. قال: فأطراه اين شبرة وقال فيه قوال عظيئا. فقال ل أبو عبد هللا: فإن عليا أبي أن دخل في دين هللا الرى وأن يقول في شء من دين هللا بالرأى والمقاييس.^[338]

[Mu'awiya b. Maysara b. Shurayh:] I saw Abu 'Abd Allah in the Mosque of Khayf^[339] sitting in a circle attended by about two hundred men, among whom was 'Abd Allah b. Shubruma. He [Ibn Shubruma] said, “O Abu 'Abd Allah! We adjudicate in Iraq, and we judge on the basis of what we know from the Book [that is, the Qur'an] and the Sunna, and from time to time, a case is posed to us that we decide on the basis of our personal opinion.”^[340] Abu 'Abd Allah said, 'What sort of a person was 'Ah b. Abi Tib? He was in Iraq and you have knowledge of him.” Ibn Shubruma lauded him ['All] and gave a magnificent description of him. Abu 'Abd Allah said to him, “But 'All refused to allow personal opinion to enter the religion of God or to say anything about the reli­gion of God on the basis of personal opinion or analogy.”

إسماعيل ين الفضل الهاشمى قال: سألت أبا عبد هللا عن المتعة فقال: إلى عبد الملك ين جرخ فسهل عنها فإن عنده منها علما. فليته فأملى علي منها شيئا كثرا. فأتيت بالكتاب إلى أبي عبد هللا فعرضت عله فقال: صدق.^[341]

[Isma'il b. al-Fadl al-Hashimi:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about muta [temporary marriage]. He said, “Meet 'Abd al-Malik b. Jurayj^[342] and ask him about it; he has some knowledge of the matter.” I met him and he dictated much to me about it. I brought the notes to Abu 'Abd Allah and presented them to him. He said, “He spoke the truth.”

Ja'far alSdiq's legal teachings and responses were issued orally, but his disciples at times jotted them down,^[343] with his permission.^[344] According to some reports, he urged his followers to record in writing what they heard from him, warning that they would forget unless they wrote it down.^[345] At times, he gave written answers to legal questions,^[346] occasionally dictated to a scribe.^[347]

His legal legacy, including both teachings and practice, has remained the standard manifestation of the Ja'fari school of Islamic law ever since his time.^[348] His son Musa alKzim^[349] and his descendants,^[350] who succeeded him as the heads of the House of the Prophet, frequently referred to Ja'far as the authority in their legal responses.

V.