He spent his time in various kinds of worship, reckoning himself in this regard.

He spent his time in various kinds of worship, reckoning himself in this regard. Seeing him reminded the people of the Hereafter. Listening to his speech made the people pious. Following him brought about the Paradise.

His illuminated face and his purified deeds showed that he was from the progeny of (S).” A group of religious leaders, such as Yahya Ibn Sa’id Ansari, Ibn Jurayh, Malik Ibn Anas, Thuri, Ibn Ayinah, Shu’bah, and Ayyub Sajistani have narrated traditions from him, considering it an honor for themselves.”[^12] Shiykh Mufid has written about Imam Sadiq (a.s.), “Sadiq; Ja’far Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Husayn (a.s.) was chosen among his brothers and appointed as his father’s caliph and successor.

He was superior to his brothers in terms of knowledge. He was the most famous and the most honorable of them for the public and the elites. His sciences were distributed in all regions. The great number of traditions narrated from him is not narrated from other members the Ahlul Bayt.

The tradition experts have counted four thousand trustworthy narrators for his traditions.”[^13] Texts Proving His Imamate As mentioned before, there are various reasons for proving the Imamate of the twelve infallible Imams (a.s.) that suffice for proving the Imamate of each. Moreover, there are specific reasons for proving the Imamate of each of the Imams (a.s.), namely the traditions from an Imam about the Imam after himself. The general reasons are not repeated here.

Abu Nazrah has said, “Imam Baqir (a.s.) called his son, Ja’far Sadiq, before his demise to devolve the Imamate to him. His brother, Ziyad Ibn Ali said, ‘It was good if you did as Hasan (a.s.) did in case of Husayn (a.s.).’ Imam Baqir (a.s.) answered, ‘The trusts cannot be compared via example. The imamate is an ancient promise, which has reached to us from Allah’s Hujjat s.’”[^14] Abu Sabah Kanani has said, “Imam Abu Ja’far (a.s.) looked at his son, Abu Abdillah, and told me, ‘Do you see him?

He is one of the persons about who the Almighty Allah has stated, ‘And We wished to be Gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in Faith) and make them heirs.’ [^15]”[^16] Jabir Ibn Yazid Ju’fi has said, “Imam Abu Ja’far, Muhammad Baqir, (a.s.) was asked about the Imam after himself.