The First University of Shi'a Undoubtedly...

The First University of Shi'a Undoubtedly, the second half of the second century of Hijra has been a critical chapter in the history of Islam.

At a time when Abbasids and Umayyads were tearing each other apart like wild beasts to take the reins of the Islamic dynasty into their own hands and like vultures, they were attacking each other on the corpse of khilafat, the so-called Islamic one, the true leaders grasped the suitable opportunity to expand the realities of Islam and propagate the Qur'anic teachings. Two of our exalted Imams took the most advantage of these opportunities.

The fifth Imam Hazrat Baqerul Ulum (the analyzer of science) (a) laid the foundation of a university and prepared the way in such a manner that all interested people were attracted there and all seekers of knowledge gathered around to acquire different sciences from all over the world. Similarly, our 6th Imam Ja'far b. Muhammad (a) could teach thousands of capable persons in the different fields of arts and sciences and introduced the Shi'a Ja'fary sect to the world.

Actually he presented the real outlook of Islam to the people of the world because the realities of Islam were changed completely during the caliphate of Umayyads and Marwans. This was due to the improper acts of the caliphs and the people were bewildered and puzzled.

Numbers of Students Shaikh at-Tusi has mentioned the total number of the followers of Imam al-Baqer (a) as 484 persons and the total number of the students of Imam al-Sadiq (a) as 3197 men and 12 women, in his book Rijal (the biographies of the transmitters of the prophetic traditions). It is obvious that these numbers refer only to those persons whose names are individually mentioned in different books or are famous.

Otherwise, there were many others who were not famous or their names were not mentioned and have been forgotten. The learned men have written about the numbers of the students and those who flourished under Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a) as two thousand persons, just in the great Mosque of Kufa alone who used to come and listen to his lectures. Therefore, the number of students should be more than this in all other centres and towns.

In fact, each of these liberal men is a burning candle and a shining star. So to have the knowledge and information about the life of each of them is a must for every Muslim because their lives are marked by bravery and chivalry.