When the Imam was born and became a grown-up...

When the Imam was born and became a grown-up, Jabir met and recognized him, then, he kissed him and told him the message from the Holy Prophet and that the Prophet sent his salaams to him. Imam al-Baqir took him to his home and asked his friends to gather as many people as they could. When they all assembled in his house, the Imam asked Jabir to tell the whole story again.

Jabir narrated the story, they all cried and attested in unison of the Imamate of the fifth Imam and also the names of the other seven Imams in his lineup to the twelfth Imam. His Character and Personality Allah singled out the Imams of the members of the Prophet’s Household (peace be on them) with distinguished features and outstanding merits. He bestowed upon them absolute perfection which He had granted to His Messengers and Prophets.

At this juncture, it is pertinent to mention that the qualities and features of Imam al-Baqir (peace be on him) were similar to those of his great grandfather, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). While describing his features, Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari said that his features were similar to those of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family [6] . His morals were also similar to the Prophet’s high morals which distinguished him from the other Prophets.

Another attribute of Imam al-Baqir is his immense knowledge and wisdom since his childhood. The proof of this fact is the innumerable traditions recounted from him and the large number of illustrious men of science and Shiite scholars who were trained by him in different Islamic sciences. The historians have unanimously agreed that he was given the epithet al-Bāqir was given to him by the Prophet because he splits knowledge in detail so that it can be spread to all people truly and correctly.

Imam al-Rida (PBUH) was reported to have said the following in this regard: “O (you) who split open knowledge (making it available) to the people of piety and the best of those who seek to answer the call of the Exalted [7] .” Sheikh al-Mufid in his al-Irshād while describing the personality of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (PBUH) writes: “Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) was superior to all his brothers in knowledge, piety, and dignity. He had a higher position in relation to his siblings.

Everyone praised him with glory and he was respected by the Sunni and Shi’a scholars.