Ja'far al-Sadiq
c. 702 CE–c. 765 CE · Kufa
Ja'far al-Sadiq ("the Truthful," a title given by later tradition) was a scholar of Medina who became one of the most influential teachers of early Islam. Most sources place his birth around 702 CE (83 AH), though some give c. 700; he died in Medina in 765 CE (148 AH). He was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through Ali and Fatima, and son of Muhammad al-Baqir.
In Shia belief he is the sixth imam (divinely guided leader of the community) — a doctrine held by Shia Muslims, not by Sunnis, who revere him instead as a respected transmitter of hadith (reports of the Prophet's words and deeds). Sources describe him keeping clear of the political revolts of his day, including his uncle Zayd's uprising and the Abbasid revolution. Tradition credits a large teaching circle around him; the Sunni jurists Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas are reported to have learned from him, and Twelver Shiism names its school of law "Ja'fari" after him.
After his death his following split: the larger group followed his son Musa al-Kazim and became the Twelvers, while others held that his son Isma'il (who died before his father) or Isma'il's line carried the imamate, becoming the Ismailis. Shia sources report that he was poisoned at the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur's instigation; this is a traditional account rather than an independently established fact.
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the map →
Kufa
What they did here
Shia tradition reports that the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur summoned him from Medina toward Iraq on several occasions, during which he is said to have visited Kufa and nearby centers (Hira, Najaf), where he taught and disputed with extremist (ghulat) factions. The number, dating, and duration of these visits vary across sources and rest largely on Shia tradition rather than independent documentation; earlier reports of a multi-year residence are not securely established.
About Kufa
Kufa, on the Euphrates in central Iraq near Najaf, was a garrison-town (misr) founded by the Muslims around 638 during the conquest of Iraq. It became a major centre of early Arabic grammar, jurisprudence, and Shi'i scholarship, and for a time the capital of the caliph Ali; the traditionist Ibn Abi Shayba (d. 849) and the Twelver scholar Ibn Babawayh al-Saduq (d. 991) are among those connected to it.
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Ja'far al-Sadiq’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Christian world
Jewish world
Hindu world
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.