I thus greeted them and he permitted me.

I thus greeted them and he permitted me... etc.”[^4] In the introduction of his book entitled al-Imam al-Sadiq that he wrote after seven books had been written about seven of the Muslim master scholars—namely Abu-Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas, Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi`iy, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyah, Ibn Hazm, and Zayd ibn `Ali—Shaykh Muhammad Abu-Zuhrah writes down the following: “Seeking Almighty Allah’s help and guidance, I have decided to write down a book about Imam al-Sadiq after I have written about seven of the noble Muslim master scholars.

I have postponed writing about Imam al-Sadiq not because he is less than anyone of these seven personalities; rather because he has the merit of preference over the majority of them and has a particular preference over the major scholars among these seven ones. Abu-Hanifah used to report from Imam al-Sadiq declaring his having been the most knowledgeable of the people’s doctrinal differences[^5] and the most experienced among all the jurisprudents.

As for Malik ibn Anas, he learnt from Imam al-Sadiq the religious studies and also reported from him. It is indeed a sufficient virtue to be the mentor of Abu-Hanifah and Malik ibn Anas. It is unfeasible to ascribe any imperfection to him or to prefer any other person to him in fields of virtue and merit. Besides, he is the grandson of Zayn al-`Ābidin (Imam `Ali ibn al-Husayn) who was the master of the holy city of al-Madinah in his age in fields of merit, honor, religiousness, and knowledge.

Ibn Shihab al-Zuhriy as well as many other Tabi`un studied under him. He is also the son of Muhammad al-Baqir who split the knowledge and got to its core. Correspondingly, Imam Ja`far al-Sadiq is one of those for whom Almighty Allah has joined self-honor and additional honor due to the high lineage, the Hashimite kinship, and the Muhammadan dignity...

etc.”[^6] The following is quoted from the book of Hilyat al-Awliya' : “From the knowledge of al-Sadiq, a group of the Tabi`un received their knowledge. Among them were Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Ansariy, Ayyub al-Sakhtiyaniy, Abu-`Amr ibn al-`Ala, Yazid ibn `Abdullah al-Ma`adiy, Shu`bah ibn al-Qasim, Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah, and many others.” As a matter of fact, the Hadiths that the Sahabah received from the Holy Imams of the were written down on papers.

The shares of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja`far al-Sadiq were the largest in this field.