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Imam Ja'ffarSadiq [a] was born in the year 83 AH on 17th of Rabi-ul-awwal in
Madina, during the period of his grandfather's Imamate. He spent his childhood
upto 12 years under Imam Zainul Abedeen [a] and the next 19 years under his
father Imam Muhammad Baquir [a] before he undertook the responsibility of
Imamate himself and served the cause of Islam for the next 34 years guiding
muslims, prior to himself being martyred in the year 148 AH on the 25th of Shawaal in
Madina.
As we discuss this eminent personality who was multi dimensional, we also
need to look into the circumstances prevalent at the time of this Imam and his
works and contributions to society in general and the entire humanity.
Imam Sadiq [as], born as the first child of Imam Mohamed Al-Baqir [a] and
Umme Farwa, who was the daughter of Qasim ibne Mohamed ibne Abibakr. A notable
fact here is that his father's grandmother and mother's grandmother were two
sisters, who were the two princesses of Yazdgird Choesroe of Persia.
Imam Sadiq [as] grew up and guided muslims at a time, when the Banu Ummayya
and Banu Abbasi were fighting for the khilafat and the throne of the Muslim
empire and thus left the Ahlul Bait [a] for a while in peace`, an opportunity
that led to teaching the general masses various subjects and removal of ignorance.
Whilst many zakireen and Ulema discuss the various aspects of Imam's life, it
is our intention today to throw light on a few of the Imam's discoveries that
he taught. Imam's life and contributions to science, physics, mathematics,
religious laws and disciplines are simply too vast to be able to cover all in a
short time like we have today.
During his childhood, Imam has been noted for two major contributions, even
before he had reached the age of ten.
First, he created playing games with children in two formats viz. bringing
fruits and naturally grown items and discussing its properties as a group in a
playing atmosphere within the children and the other game was the vocabulary
calling out including synonyms and antonyms, rhyming words, etc all as a game.
These games, though within children that he played with created an increased
sense of acquiring knowledge within his contemporaries from a young age.
The second major contribution during his childhood was his physical
participation in the construction of the extension of Masjide Nabawi, during the
Ummayad reign and the Madinite governorship of Omar bin abdul aziz in the years 88 -
90 AH.
[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
30-33]
Imam Sadiq [as] in his youth used to attend the lectures and classes
conducted by his father Imam Mohamed Al-Baquir [a], who is famously known as
Al-Baquir-al-Uloom, meaning the one who split and opened doors of knowledge, and
himself also taught various subjects during this period. However, after the
martyrdom of Imam Muhammad al-baquir [a], the Abbasids and the ummayyads engaged in
bitter rivalry and battle over the khilafat of the Muslims. This gave the Imam
of the time, ample opportunity of disseminating knowledge about the realities
of life and the wonders of the Creator, without fear of persecution. And as we
are all aware, the Imam had more than 4000 students learning various subjects
from him.
Some very notable scholars, who learnt from the Imam are:
1. Nu'man bin Thabit, very well known as Abu-Hanifa, one of the four Imams
of Ahle Sunna, whose famous saying "Were it not for the two years [studied
under Imam Sadiq [a]], al-Nu'man would have perished".
2. Malik ibne Anas, a founder of one of the four sunni doctrines
3. Aban bin Taghlub, commonly known as Abu Sa'ad, a highly respected
narrator of ahadith from Imams Zainul Abedeen, Baquir and Sadiq [as] and considered
most reliable by both the Shias as well as the Sunnis.
4. Al-Sikuny
5. Abu Hamzah Shumali
6. Al-Jammal
7. Ibne Yaqteen
8. Jabir ibne hayyan, and
9. Al-Biruni
The Imam opened the doors to thinking in his teachings and always opined that
shais should have an intellectual base, so that they may not be obliterated
by any change of leadership. He supported that the strength of the shias lay in
a rich literature which was more important than a standing army of soldiers.
An army could be defeated by a superior force, but a rich and vast literature
cannot be destroyed.[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
97-99]
It may be of interest to us, that a research committee of about 21 prominent
professors and lecturers of the University of Strasbourg, France have prepared
a comprehensive thesis on Imam Sadiq [as]. This thesis concludes that major
scientific progress in modern times are solely based upon and are due to the
discoveries made by Imam Sadiq [a], despite the fact that they have expressedly
said that they do not believe in the divine knowledge of the Imams as the
Shais believe. This thesis also reports that the Imam had a small laboratory
wherein he conducted experiments and thus introduced the system of proving theories
practically.
Now let us briefly look at some the Imam's works to enable us appreciate his
contribution to modern science and technology.
Imam Sadiq [as] challenged the Aristotle theory of four elements, which was
the accepted norm then at the age of 12. This theory said that there are only
four elements, the earth, water, Fire and Air. Imam Said, each is a mixture of
elements. He said, the earth contained many minerals and metals and thus it
was not an element. As for the air, it was Imam's discovery of various gases in
the air that led to the research of separating oxygen from the air by
Lavoisier in the year 1794, almost a thousand years after the Imam. Imam had specified
that there were many elements in the air and that all of them were essential
for breathing. However, Lavoisier had said that only oxygen was required for
life support, which has now been contradicted and the Imam's theory accepted.[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
59-61]
" Al-Sikuny
" Abu Hamzah Shumali
" Al-Jammal
" Ibne Yaqteen
" Jabir ibne hayyan, and
" Al-Biruni
The Imam opened the doors to thinking in his teachings and always opined that
shais should have an intellectual base, so that they may not be obliterated
by any change of leadership. He supported that the strength of the shias lay in
a rich literature which was more important than a standing army of soldiers.
An army could be defeated by a superior force, but a rich and vast literature
cannot be destroyed. [The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
97-99]
It may be of interest to us, that a research committee of about 21 prominent
professors and lecturers of the University of Strasbourg, France have prepared
a comprehensive thesis on Imam Sadiq [as]. This thesis concludes that major
scientific progress in modern times are solely based upon and are due to the
discoveries made by Imam Sadiq [as], despite the fact that they have expressedly
said that they do not believe in the divine knowledge of the Imams as the
Shais believe. This thesis also reports that the Imam had a small laboratory
wherein he conducted experiments and thus introduced the system of proving
theories practically.
Now let us briefly look at some the Imam's works to enable us appreciate his
contribution to modern science and technology.
Imam Sadiq [a] challenged the Aristotle theory of four elements, which was
the accepted norm then at the age of 12. This theory said that there are only
four elements, the earth, water, Fire and Air. Imam Said, each is a mixture of
elements. He said, the earth contained many minerals and metals and thus it was
not an element. As for the air, it was Imam's discovery of various gases in
the air that led to the research of separating oxygen from the air by Lavoisier
in the year 1794, almost a thousand years after the Imam. Imam had specified
that there were many elements in the air and that all of them were essential
for breathing. However, Lavoisier had said that only oxygen was required for
life support, which has now been contradicted and the Imam's theory accepted.
[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
59-61]
Whilst Galileo, a renown astronomer of the 17th century accepted the Imam's
theory that the earth rotated around the sun, he could not believe in Imam's
theory of the earth rotating around its own axis, which was recently proved when
astronauts landed on the moon, they observed this practically and thus it is
now an accepted fact that the earth rotates on its own axis and completes the
cycle in 24 hours resulting in the formation of day and night.
The Imam also had said that "the Universe was born out of a tiny particle,
which had two opposite poles. This particle produced Atom. In this way matter
came into being. Then the matter diversified. This diversification was caused by
the density or rarity of the Atoms."
This theory of atoms and opposite poles in each atom, has recently been
proved and is an undisputed fact of modern science and electronics. Besides these
discoveries, the Imam had also proved that materials were either opaque or
transparent based on their property of being either absorbent or repellant to Heat
respectively. This fact has led to the modern findings about Heat,
Electricity and Magnetic properties of materials.[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
90-95]
This Research Committee of the University of Strasbourg of France also
concludes an extremely important aspect of Shiaism.
Quote:
"Shia religious code, which was formulated by [Imam] Jaffar as-Sadiq [a], was
much superior to the religious codes of other Muslim sects, because it
allowed free discussion of religious matters. "[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
102]
Imam taught and emphasized the teaching of Philosophy, which is part and
parcel of the Shia Jurisprudence. The Imam laid the foundation of these teachings
and the principles of logic and reasoning thus dismissing the separation of
religion and science as viewed by Judaism and Christianity as well by certain
sectors of the Sunnis. The Imam laid the principle of 'no-force' of views even
upon students by their teachers and encouraged 'free will' in acceptance and
logical debates with reasoning and thus put dynamic thinking as a focal point in
Islam.
A couplet written above his head where the Imam stood to give his lectures,
shows how much importance the Ahlul Bait [as] give to acquiring of knowledge
and thinking, which makes the base of reasoning and logic and the only weapon
for survival of religion. The couplet is quoted:
"Someone who has no father is not an orphan.
An orphan is one who has no knowledge of science or literature"
[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
102-107]
Brothers and Sisters we need to look deep into this saying of the Imam,
albeit within context, and ponder over it as to where we the muslims stand.
The Imam in his quest of giving optimum benefit of knowledge during his time,
also gave an important composition of the human body,
The Imam said:
"Whatever is in the earth is also in the Human body, but all elements are not
in the same proportion. Four elements are in very large quantities, eight
elements in small quantities and eight elements in minute quantities."
However, it was only during the 18th Century that scientists in France and
Austria started doing experiments by dissecting human bodies and after a long
period of 150 years proved the analysis of the Imam and today it is a proved
fact that the Human body consists of Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen in
large quantities, whilst there are eight elements in small and eight more in
minute quantities.
[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
125-126]
We can see from the above that it is simply impossible to enumerate all the
works of this Imam in just one session as this Imam has opened several doors of
science, physics, Chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, Gnostics and many other
subjects, the basis of which have become the pivotal nucleus for modern
science and research. Some of these being the Discovery of Hydrogen, Theory of
Light, Time and Space, Universe and Stars, Relativity of Time and Heat, and the
list is quite long.
Whilst the Imam gave ample importance to the learning and discoveries of
sciences, he also gave more if not equal, importance to religious principles and
jurisprudence based on the Qur'anic injection that there is never a change in
the system of creation of Allah.
Some of the jurisprudence basis that govern the Shia Fiqh are well documented
and still form the basic principles of our Faith. We can only glance at a few
of them.
Imam Sadiq (a) tabulated that earnings are in four categories namely:
governmental and service which includes from the ruler to the last individual job.
Second, is trade and all sorts of deals including vending and purchase. The
third was industries of all kinds and finally the contracts of lease. Imam has
explained comprehensively, the legalities and illegal aspects of each. In this
masterpiece document, Imam has also categorized legal expenses into 24 parts.
Seven of these are personal which are food, drink, dress, marriage, services,
defraying of wages, and domestic and personal needs. This is followed by five
that are socially obligatory, they cover one's needs, the children, the parents,
the wife, and the slaves whether in luxury or hardship.
This is followed by religious obligatory expanses which are zakat, hajj, and
jihad in its proper time. The next category of five expenses is building good
relations, spending for higher ranking people, the relatives, the believers,
and spending in charity and procuring freedom from bondage. The final four ways
of amicable spending are settling of debts, loans, borrowing, and
hospitality.
This comprehensive document of the Imam also covers the halal foods and
drinks as well as the acceptable dress and legal forms of matrimony.
[Tuhaf-al-Uquool, Pages 393-402]
In discussing and refuting the Sufis' principle of abstaining from the World,
the Imam has comprehensively answered to their wrong interpretations of the
verses of the Holy Qur'an and began with the following words:
"… tell me whether you have any knowledge of the distinction between the
repealing and the repealed verses of the Holy Qur'an and the decisive and
allegorical ones, about which many people deviated and many others perished."[Tuhaf-al-Uquool, Pages 410-411]
This sentence of the Imam is the principle basis of interpreting of the
Qur'an that condemns conjecture and speculation of Allah's commandments without
thorough knowledge. Imam herein has also reconfirmed that it is impossible to
understand the Qur'an without the teachings of the Ahlul Bait [as], which are the
two thaqalain left behind by the Holy Prophet Muhammad [saww].
Imam's wisdom and sincere advise to us the believers and muslims as well as
the entire humanity stand out and need not only to be pondered upon and
practiced, but also propagated, which will alleviate the current negative image of
Islam that has been portrayed by the extremists, who have played directly into
the hands of the enemies by misinterpreting the Qur'anic commandments.
One such example of the Imam's wisdom, which has an ocean of depth is:
"Knowledge is protection, honesty is glory, ignorance is humility,
understanding is honor, open-handedness is success and good manners achieve affection."
[Tuhaf-al-Uquool, Pages 420]
Imam's advise to his shias include fearing Allah, the Great the Almighty, to
cleave to piety in religion, to make every effort for Allah, to be truthful in
talking, being trustworthy, performing long worship, treating of neighbors
kindly, keeping close relations, escorting the deceased, visiting the ill,
fulfilling of each one's rights, and having good manners.
Having given this advise to us through Zayd al-Shahham, Imam emphasizes:
"This is the education of Ja'far" whereby if the contrary is true, the disgrace
will also be attributed to the Imam.[Imam Al-Sadiq by Sheikh Al-Muzzaffar, Page 214]
On friendship, the Imam exhorts us and says: "Adjust yourself to good
friendship to him whom you make friends with." And warns us "Do you not know that
whoever accompanies a believer for forty steps, Allah will ask him about the
believer on the Day of Judgment."[Imam Al-Sadiq by Sheikh Al-Muzzaffar, Page 223]
Fortunately, there is a lot of literature on this Imam's life both by the
Shias and Sunnis as well the non-muslims and the works of this Imam cannot be
compiled and narrated during such short gatherings. Brothers and Sisters, it is
compulsorily important and indispensable that we inculcate the trend of reading
so that we can gather much more of the life, works and contributions of our
Aeimmah [as] not only to the muslims and shias in particular but to the general
Humanity as well. This will illuminate our entire outlook and thus avail us a
position to be with our Imam of the Time, Insha-allah.
Having seen this extremely brief account of the life Imam Jaffar as-Sadiq
[a], which is much less than even five percent of the reported facts, we can very
clearly conclude many things. First and foremost is that the dynamism that he
created in the outlook of the followers of the Ahlul Bait [as], which became
the basis of Ijtehad also, makes our religion a 'live' religion and very
progressive exhorting us to be ahead of the times and serve humanity. The extensive
sacrifices of the Imam also earned us our title of being called the
'Ja'faaris'.
We can also conclude that by acquiring in-depth knowledge of the various
bounties of the Almighty, we can get closer to our Lord and understand HIM better,
a duty of every believer, rather every human being.
Finally, we can see that Imam Sadiq [a] was one of the flowers of the gate of
the city of knowledge, and given some peace, he managed to open more than 500
sciences for the benefit of humanity and for centuries to come. This reminds
us that had Amirul Mu'mineen [as], the gate to the City of Knowledge had that
peace in his time, how much this entire race of humans would have benefited;
and if The Holy Prophet, the City of Knowledge himself, was not continuously
engaged in battles and opposition, can we even imagine the state of the World
today?
We collectively say, Ya Allah condemn and curse the first tyrant who unjustly
and wrongfully usurped that which rightly belonged to Muhammad and his
Progeny, and also curse those who after him, followed in his footsteps. May the
Almighty's curse be on Abu Sufyan, Muawiya and Yezid ibne Muawiya for having
tortured and killed and set the pace and precedence of the usurpation of the rights
of the Holy prophet and his descendants.
Very often the Banu Abbas have been wrongly accredited that they were the
pioneers of the Muslim awakening. The French scholars in their thesis have
vehemently and emphatically denied this and have said that "the family of the Holy
Prophet, who worked hard under very hostile conditions and made great
sacrifices to bring about that golden age of knowledge".
"It is an irony of fate that blood thirsty Banu Abbas, who were never
interested in knowledge, took the credit for the intellectual awakening of Muslims.
The Standard of morality, knowledge and intelligence of that tribe can be
judged by the heinous and horrid acts of savagery they perpetrated. They murdered
in cold blood thousands of innocent muslims, men, women and children. They
feasted merrily amid moaning and groaning of their guests, who they had invited
and than cut into pieces. They accumulated wealth and were interested only in
luxurious life, worldly pleasures and satisfaction of their carnal desires."[The Great Muslim Scientist & Philosopher - Imam Sadiq, French thesis, Page
12]
Both the clans of Banu Ummayya and Banu Abbas focused on strengthening their
power base, wealth, luxury and sexual indecencies, under the banner of leading
Muslims and in the process always felt threatened by the Family of the Holy
Prophet (s), whose sole aim was spreading of knowledge to be able to worship
the Almighty in absolute sincerity. These clans therefore hatched and executed
various plans and plots of annihilation and destruction of the Ahlul Bait [a]
and their followers. They both created milling machines of false ahadith, which
crept into the annals of history vide their state sponsored cronies and in
the process created terrorists, who were handsomely rewarded for their
atrocities against the Ahlul Bait [a] and their Shias.
Mansur Dawanki, the third Abbasid Caliph in less than five years, could not
bear the importance of Imam Sadiq [as] and was jealous and suspicious because
of the Imam's sincere efforts in spreading knowledge. Mansur therefore poisoned
the Imam and thus closed the Medina Academy.
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