The Bright Role of the Imam Imam Abu Ja‘far (al-Baqir)...

The Bright Role of the Imam Imam Abu Ja‘far (al-Baqir), peace be on him, came to a world full of discords, disturbances, and events. He saw that the Islamic community had lost all of its qualities. It lost all the characteristics which Allah wanted for it, such as unity, perfection, and development in the fields of knowledge and production. So, through his spiritual leadership, the Imam did his best to renew the glory of the community and to rebuild its cultural entity.

Thus, he proclaimed knowledge and thought. He refrained from practicing all political activities, and devoted himself to knowledge only. The orientalist, Rowit M. Ronaldson, said: “He (al-Baqir) lived honored. He dedicated himself to knowledge during his isolation in Medina. The people came to him to ask him about the Imamate.”[^2] Some notables of the community went to the Imam to study knowledge under him. Among them was the great scholar, Jabir b. Yazïd al-Ju‘fi.

When the Imam met him for the first time, he asked him: -Where are you from? From Kufa. From which tribe? From Ju‘f. What has brought you here? Seeking knowledge. From whom? From you.[^3] Then knowledge-loving deputations came to the Imam frequently to learn knowledge and sciences from him.

Shaykh Abu Zahra said: “All the scholars who went to (Medina), the city of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, went to him to learn the principal features of religion from him.”[^4] The jurists learned from him the lawful and the unlawful.[^5] However, the Islamic world took from the Imam all the elements of its development and progress. The cultural movement that depended on the Imam was not confined to his time only. Rather it included all the times that followed him.

Thus, the scientific life appeared, and sciences developed very much. For this reason, the scientific life in Islam prospered. Surely, the cultural life in Islam is indebted to this great Imam, for he renewed and led it throughout history. The Sciences the Imam Discussed The Imam studied several sciences, and then he taught them to the scholars in the Mosque of the Prophet or in the yard of his house.

Among these traditions are the following: The Tradition: Imam Abu Ja‘far (al-Baqir), peace be no him, took great care of the traditions which were reported on the authority of his grandfather, the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family, and on the authority of his pure grandfathers, peace be on them.