جعفر بن محمد بن حكيم

(One day) while the Commander of the Believers (a.s.) was delivering a sermon to the people he said, “Ask me before you lose me! I swear to Allāh that I will answer (your questions about) anything you might ask that has happened in the past or will happen in the future.” So Sa’d ibn Abī Waqqās got up and asked, “O Commander of the Believers! Tell me about the number of hairs that I have on my head and in my beard?” The Commander of the Believers (a.s.) replied, “I swear to Allāh that my love, the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.a.w.), informed me that you would be asking me this question. There is a Shayťān rooted in every strand of hair on your head and in your beard and there is a baby sheep in your house who will kill my son, Ḥusain (a.s.).” (‘Abd Al-Samīn/Asbagh added), “’Umar ibn Sa’d (the killer of Imam Ḥusain (a.s.)) was a child then and he was playing in front of his father (Sa’d ibn Abī Waqqās).”

I went for Hajj one year. Then, I went to Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (as). So, he said: Where were you, O Mushma`il? So, I said: May I be your sacrifice! I was on Hajj. So, he said: Do you know how many good deeds a pilgrim receives? So, I said: I do not know until you teach me. So, he said: When a worshiper makes seven circuits around this House, prays two units, and performs the sa`i between Safa and Marwa, Allah records six thousand good deeds for him, erases six thousand sins from him, raises him by six thousand levels, fulfills six thousand of his needs in this world, and saves the same amount for [his needs in] the Hereafter. So, I said to him: May I be your sacrifice! This is a lot! He said: Shall I not inform you of something that is more [rewarding] than that? He said: I said: Of course. So, he (as) said: Fulfilling a need of a believing person is better than a Hajj, another Hajj, another Hajj – until he counted ten Hajj [pilgrimages].

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘The debt of an absent person is paid from his assets when enough proof is presented to prove his indebtedness. His assets are sold to make necessary payments in his absence and he faces the proof against him. One who has presented proofs receives payments upon providing guarantee and security, if he does not want to wait.’”

I heard Abd al-Malik b. A`yan asking Aba Abdillah عليه السلام – and he did not cease asking him – until he said to him: so the people were destroyed then (after the messenger of Allah)? he said: yes, by Allah, O the son of A`yan, all the people were destroyed, I (Abd al-Malik) said: whomever was in the east and the west? he said: it (the whole earth) was opened up to misguidance, yes, by Allah, they were all destroyed, except three, then joined Abu Sasan, Ammar, Shatira and Abu Umra, so they became seven.

I asked Aba Ja’far عليه السلام about the Shahada (giving witness) of a Walad Zina (child born out of Nikah) – is it permissible? he عليه السلام said: No. I said: al-Hakam b. Utayba holds it to be permissible, so he عليه السلام said: O Allah – do not forgive his sin! Allah was not addressing al-Hakam when He said: ‘it is a reminder unto you and your Qawm (relations)’ (43:44). al-Hakam can go to the right and to the left, for by Allah he will not find true knowledge except with the Ahl al-Bayt upon whom Jibril عليه السلام descended.

I asked Aba Ja’far عليه السلام about the Shahada (giving witness) of a Walad Zina (child born out of Nikah) – is it permissible? he عليه السلام said: No. I said: al-Hakam bin Utayba holds it to be permissible, so he عليه السلام said: O Allāh – do not forgive his sin! Allāh was not addressing al-Hakam when He said: “it is a reminder unto you and your Qawm (relations)” (43:44) – let al-Hakam go to the right and to the left for by Allāh he will not find true knowledge except with the Ahl al-Bayt upon whom Jibrail عليه السلام descended.

It was said to Abi Abdillah (AS) while I was with him: "Salim b. Abi Hafsa narrates from you that you speak with seventy facets, for each facet you have a way out [a possible alternative interpretation to avoid speaking a lie]". So he (the Imam) said: "What does Salim want from me? Does he want me to come with the angels (to prove my truth)?! For by Allah, not even the prophets came with them, and Ibrahim had said “I am sick” (37:89) but by Allah he was not sick nor did he lie, and Ibrahim also said: “Rather this, the biggest one of them (idol) has done it” (21:63) while he had not done it nor did he lie, and Yusuf said: “You are thieves” (12:70) and by Allah they were not thieves nor did he lie."

“Two rakat Salaat of a married person is equal to seventy rakats of an unmarried person.”

I was seated at Abi Abdillah’s عليه السلام place when Umm Khalid – whose hand had been cut by Yusuf [b. Umar] – came seeking permission to see him. Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said [to me]: Would you like to hear her speech? I said: Yes, may I be made your ransom. He said: Then draw near, and he made me sit upon the rug [which he was seated on]. She entered and spoke and I found her to be a very eloquent woman. She asked him about so and so [Abu Bakr and Umar], so he said to her: Deem them to be your leaders, she said: Do you allow me to say to my Lord when I meet him that you ordered me to take them as my authorities? He said: Yes. She said: [I ask this] because this one who is with you on the rug [i.e. Abu Basir] orders me to disassociate from them while Kathir al-Nawwa orders me to take them as authorities, so which one is more beloved to you? He [the Imam] said: This one [i.e. Abu Basir] and his companions are by Allah more beloved to me than Kathir al-Nawwa and his fellows. This one [i.e. Abu Basir] argues by saying: “whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers” (5:44), “and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the wrongdoers” (5:45), “and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient” (5:47). So when she had departed he said: I feared that she will go and inform Kathir [if I would have answered her to disassociate from the two directly] who would then make this infamous about me in Kufa. O Allah I resort to you in disassociating myself from Kathir in this world and the hereafter.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The body is made out of bread (food).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once mentioned eggs and said, ‘It is light and it reduces the desire for meat.’ “He (the narrator) has said, ‘Muhammad ibn Tsma‘il ibn Bazi‘ has narrated from Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Hakim from Murazim with an addition of, ‘it does not have the harmfulness of meat.”