Imam Ja‘far as-Saadiq
Question

                Can you please provide a brief biography Jafar bin Mohammad bin ‘Ali bin Zain al-'Abdeen bin Al-Hussain bin 'Ali also known as jafar al sadiq and can you please mention some reliable biographical books in which we can read his biography.
Praise be to Allah.
	Firstly:

	His full name is Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Ja‘far as-Saadiq ibn 
	Muhammad al-Baaqir ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Aabideen ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi 
	Taalib (may Allah be pleased with him and be pleased with them).

	His mother was Umm Farwah bint al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi 
	Bakr at-Taymi. Her mother was Asmaa’ bint ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi Bakr. So 
	his mother was descended from Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq on her mother’s side and 
	also on her father’s side.

	Hence he used to say: Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq was my ancestor 
	twice over.

	He was born in 80 AH, and met some of the Sahaabah. 
	Adh-Dhahabi said: I think he met Anas ibn Maalik and Sahl ibn Sa‘d.

	See: Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’ (6/255-270).

	Secondly:

	His shaykhs and students:

	He narrated from his father, Abu Ja‘far al-Baaqir, and from 
	‘Ubaydullah ibn Abi Raafi‘, ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabaah – and 
	his reports from him are narrated in Muslim, his grandfather al-Qaasim ibn 
	Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Naafi‘ al-‘Umari, Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, az-Zuhri, 
	Muslim ibn Abi Maryam, and others. He did not narrate a great deal, except 
	from his father; they were both among the scholars of Madinah.

	The following narrated from him: his son Moosa al-Kaazim, 
	Yahya ibn Sa‘eed al-Ansaari, Yazeed ibn ‘Abdullah ibn al-Haadi – they (Yahya 
	and Yazeed) were both older than him –, Abaan ibn Taghlib, Ibn Jurayj, 
	Mu‘aawiyah ibn ‘Ammaar ad-Duhni, Ibn Ishaaq – among a group of his peers – , 
	Sufyaan, Shu‘bah, Maalik, Ismaa‘eel ibn Ja‘far, Wahb ibn Khaalid, Haatim ibn 
	Ismaa‘eel, Sulaymaan ibn Bilaal, Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah, al-Hasan ibn Saalih, 
	al-Hasan ibn ‘Ayyaash – the brother of Abu Bakr, Zuhayr ibn Muhammad, Hafs 
	ibn Ghiyaath, Zayd ibn Hasan al-Anmaati, Sa‘eed ibn Sufyaan al-Aslami, 
	‘Abdullah ibn Maymoon, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Imraan az-Zuhri, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez 
	ad-Daraawardi, ‘Abd al-Wahhaab ath-Thaqafi, ‘Uthmaan ibn Farqad, Muhammad 
	ibn Thaabit al-Bunaani, Muhammad ibn Maymoon az-Za‘faraani, Muslim az-Zanji, 
	Yahya al-Qattaan, Abu ‘Aasim an-Nabeel, and others. See: as-Siyar.

	Thirdly:

	His status in terms of knowledge, virtue and adherence to the 
	Sunnah, and his disavowal of the Raafidis and other extremists, and the 
	seriousness of their fabrications against him:

	Abu Ahmad ibn ‘Adiyy said: He narrated many hadiths from his 
	father, from Jaabir and from his forefathers. The leading scholars narrated 
	from him. And he was one of the trustworthy people, as Ibn Ma‘een said.

	It was narrated that ‘Amr ibn Abi’l-Miqdaam said: When I 
	looked at Ja‘far ibn Muhammad, I realised that he was descended from 
	Prophets. I saw him standing at the Jamrah, saying: Ask me, ask me.

	‘Ali ibn al-Ja‘d narrated that Zuhayr ibn Mu‘aawiyah said: My 
	father said to Ja‘far ibn Muhammad: I have a neighbour who claims that you 
	disavowed Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Ja‘far said: May Allah disavow your neighbour. 
	By Allah, I hope that Allah will benefit me through my ties of blood with 
	Abu Bakr, for I fell ill one time and  I left my will with my maternal uncle 
	‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn al-Qaasim (which means that he was very close to him).
	

	Ibn ‘Uyaynah said: They narrated to me from Ja‘far ibn 
	Muhammad – although I did not hear it (directly) from him – that he said: At 
	the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
	him), the family of Abu Bakr were called the family of the Messenger of 
	Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

	Muhammad ibn Fudayl said, narrating from Saalim ibn Abi 
	Hafsah, that he said: I asked Abu Ja‘far and his son Ja‘far about Abu Bakr 
	and ‘Umar. He said: O Saalim, regard them as allies and disavow anyone who 
	regards them as enemies, for they are both imams of guidance.

	Then Ja‘far said: O Saalim, would a man revile his 
	grandfather? Abu Bakr is my grandfather, and I will not attain the 
	intercession of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) on the 
	Day of Resurrection if I do not regard them both (Abu Bakr and ‘Umar) as 
	allies and disavow those who regard them as enemies.

	Adh-Dhahabi said: These words were narrated via mutawaatir 
	reports from Ja‘far as-Saadiq. I bear witness by Allah that he was sincere 
	in his words, and was not being hypocritical towards anyone or trying to 
	appease anyone. May Allah doom the Raafidis.

	Adh-Dhahabi commented on the above report by saying: 
	

	Saalim had an obvious inclination towards Shi‘ism, yet 
	despite that he transmitted these true words. It is only people of virtue 
	who recognise the virtue of people of virtue. Similarly the one who narrated 
	it, Ibn Fudayl, was also a Shi‘i but trustworthy in narrating hadith. May 
	Allah doom the Shi‘ah of our times; how deeply they are immersed in 
	ignorance and lies! They impugn the two shaykhs (Abu Bakr and ‘Umar), the 
	two close companions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
	him), and interpret these words of al-Baaqir and as-Saadiq as having been 
	said by way of taqiyyah (dissimulation).

	End quote from Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’, 4/402

	Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) 
	said:  

	As for telling lies about Ja‘far and what they narrate from 
	him of what he (allegedly) said in private (impugning Abu Bakr and ‘Umar), 
	it is among the gravest of lies, to the extent that it is said that no one 
	was lied about as Ja‘far (may Allah be pleased with him) was lied about.

	End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 4/78.

	He also said:

	The Raafidis are the most ignorant of sects, the most 
	mendacious and the furthest removed from knowledge of religious texts and 
	reason. They regard taqiyyah (dissimulation) as one of the fundamental 
	principles of their religion, and they tell many lies about Ahl al-Bayt, the 
	extent of which no one knows except Allah. They even narrate from Ja‘far as-Saadiq 
	that he said: “Taqiyyah is my religion and the religion of my forefathers”!

	Taqiyyah is the symbol of hypocrisy, because in reality it 
	means that they say something that is not in their hearts, and this is the 
	very essence of hypocrisy. Therefore because this is one of the fundamental 
	principles of their religion, whatever they transmit from ‘Ali or anyone 
	else of Ahl al-Bayt that is in harmony with the teachings of Ahl as-Sunnah 
	wa’l-Jamaa‘ah, they describe it as having been said by way of taqiyyah. Thus 
	they opened wide the doors of hypocrisy to the baatini Qaraamitah [an 
	extreme esoteric sect].

	End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (13/263).

	He also said:

	The problem is with those who lied about Ja‘far, not with 
	Ja‘far himself… to the extent that everyone who wanted to make his lies 
	acceptable to people attributed them to Ja‘far.

	End quote from Minhaaj as-Sunnah (4/54).

	Imam Ja‘far as-Saadiq’s disavowal of the Raafidis and their 
	ilk is too well known to need a list of all the reports, and their 
	fabrications against him are too many to be counted. 

	A quick glance at the names of his shaykhs, such as ‘Ata’ ibn 
	Abi Rabaah, az-Zuhri, ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad and 
	others, and a quick glance at the names of his students who narrated from 
	him, such as Abu Haneefah, Sufyaan ath-Thawri, Ibn ‘Uyaynah, and Maalik, and 
	the high esteem in which they held him and the pride they felt in being his 
	students, will expose the lies of the baatinis (esoteric sects) concerning 
	him. How come his shaykhs from whom he acquired knowledge and his students 
	who learned from him, were the prominent figures among Ahl as-Sunnah in his 
	era, then he became the imam of their enemies among the Raafidis and their 
	ilk?

	This is not the case of Ahl as-Sunnah vis-à-vis the Raafidis 
	concerning as-Saadiq only; rather it is also the case with regard to his son 
	and his forefathers.

	See the answer to question no. 101272.

	Fourthly:

	As for books that give the biography of Ja‘far as-Saadiq, 
	there is hardly any book of biography (seerah) and prominent figures 
	(a‘laam) that does not mention his biography, such as Siyar al-A‘laam 
	by adh-Dhahabi, al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah by Ibn Katheer, 
	Wafiyyaat al-A‘yaan by Ibn Khallikaan, and others.

	There are also books that deal exclusively with his 
	biography, such as al-Imam as-Saadiq: Hayaatuhu wa ‘Asruhu wa Aaraa’uhu 
	wa Fiqhuhu by Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahrah.

	There is a brief essay entitled al-Imam Ja‘far as-Saadiq 
	by Shaykh Saalih ad-Darweesh, at the end of which he mentions some other 
	writings that give his biography, including the following:

	·
	al-Imam Ja‘far as-Saadiq wa Aaraa’uhu f’il-Imaamah: Diraasah 
	Naqdiyyah lima nasabahu ilayhi ash-Shi‘ah min al-Abaateel 
	by Muhammad Mahfooz Abu ‘Akkaaz, Master’s thesis in Sharee‘ah and Usool ad-Deen 
	at Umm al-Qura University in Makkah.

	·
	Marwiyaat al-Imam Ja‘far as-Saadiq fi’s-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah 
	wa Ahwaal ar-Ruwwaat ‘anhu wa Namaadhij mimma nusiba ilayhi 
	by Lateefah Ibraaheem al-Haadi, PhD thesis in Sharee‘ah and Usool ad-Deen at 
	Umm al-Qura University in Makkah.

	And Allah knows best.