Born on the Prophet's birthday
Ja'far b. Muhammad (a), the sixth Imam, was born in Madinah on 17 Rabi al-Awwal 83 AH — the date the Shia keep for the birth of his ancestor the Prophet (s). He grew up in the household of two Imams, spending twelve years with his grandfather Zayn al-Abidin (a) and thirty-one with his father al-Baqir (a), before an Imamate of thirty-four years that spanned the fall of the Umayyads and the rise of the Abbasids.
The founder of a school
The weakness of the late Umayyad state gave him a freedom no Imam before or after enjoyed. Thousands studied with him in Madinah and Kufa — the sources count some four thousand transmitters — and the greater part of the hadith of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the Shia collections comes through him, which is why Twelver law is called the Ja'fari school. Sunni jurists such as Abu Hanifa and Malik b. Anas also transmitted from him. He refused every invitation to armed revolt, opposed the extremists (ghulat) who deified the Imams, and built the network of deputies that later Imams relied on.
Observance
His birth is celebrated together with the Mawlid of the Prophet (s) on the 17th, the last day of Islamic Unity Week. He was martyred in Shawwal 148 AH and lies in al-Baqi.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
