Fourth: Answering Al-Tijani in his claim that the four Sunni Imams learned knowledge from Imam Jaffar Al-Saddiq
Al-Tijani, when he was about to discuss some kids ( as he mentioned ) , says:
“One of the boys asked me, "Which Madhhab (religious school) is followed in Tunis'?" I said, "The Maliki madhhab." And noticed that some of them laughed, but I did not pay much attention. He asked me, "Do you not know the Jafari Madhhab?" I said, "What is this new name? No we only know the four Madhahibs, and apart from that is not within Islam."
He smiled and said, "The Jafari Madhhab is the essence of Islam, do you not know that Imam Abu Hanifah studied under Imam Jafar al-Sadiq? And that Abu Hanifah said, "Without the two years al-Numan would have perished." I remained silent and did not answer, for I had heard a name that I had never heard before, but thanked Allah that he - i.e. their Imam Jafar al-Sadiq - was not a teacher of Imam Malik, and said that we are Malikis and not Hanafis. He said, "The four Madhahibs took from each other, Ahmed ibn Hanbal took from al-Shafii, and al-Shafii took from Malik, and Malik took from Abu Hanifah, and Abu Hanifah from Jafar al-Sadiq, therefore, all of them were students of Jafar ibn Muhammad, who was the first to open an Islamic University in the mosque of his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah. and under him studied no less than four thousand jurisprudents and specialists in Hadith (prophetic traditions).”
I say:
- The claim that Abu Hunayfah was taught by Jaffar Al-Sadiq is a lie that is known to anyone who read something about the life of Abu Hunayfah. What is known and famous is that Abu Hunayfah was taught by some of the grandest scholars at his time, most notably Isma’el bin Hammad Abu Sulayman Al-Kufi who was one of the most distinguished teachers of Abu Hunayfah. In addition, Abu Hunayafah was taught by Ebraheem bin Muhamed Al-Muntashir, Ebraheem bin Zayd Al-Nakh’ei, Ayyob Al-Sikhtiyani, Al-Harith Al-Hamadhani, Rabee’ea Al-Madani, Salim bin Abdullah bin Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased at him, Sa’eed bin Masrooq the son of Sufyan Al-Thuwray, Sulayman Al-Hilalay, A’asim bin Kaleeb and many others.
- Even if Jaffar Al-Sadiq taught Abu Hunayfah, then the matter will not be more than that Abu Hunayfah took knowledge from Al-Saddiq and it does not mean that Abu Hunayfah became a Jaffari. I am saying this as a supposition, otherwise it is confirmed that Abu Hunayfah used to give religious verdicts at the time of Abi Jaffar, the father of Jaffar Al-Sadiq! And Al-Tijani’s saying that the four famous Sunni schools follow the Jaffari school is a degraded saying. Ahmed did not read for al-Shafi’ei (read for him hadeeths’ strengths as a student), but sat with him. Al-Shafi’ei read “Al-Muwti” on Malik and the book has only 9 hadeeths that are narrated by Jaffar Al-Saddiq. And no one said that Malik was one of the students of Abu Hunayfah, but they said that Malik was contemporary with Abu Hunayfah.
- The Shia themselves narrate in their most trustworthy books what proves that Abu Hunayfah was never a pupil of Abi Jaffar, let alone Jaffar Al-Sadiq. Instead, the Shia claim that Abu Hunayfah was their enemy! Here, their master Al-Kulayni narrates in their most trustworthy book which equals Al-Buikhari for us, “Usool Al-Kafi”:
“Sadeer said: “I heard Abu Jaffar, peace be upon him saying, while holding my hand and exiting then he stood in front of the house: “O’ Sadeer, the matter of the people is that they come to these rocks and go round them and then they come to us and let us know their wilayah for us and it is Allah’s saying: “I am the most forgiver for those who repented, believed, and did good deeds and then were guided.” Abu Jaffar pointed to his chest and said: “Guided to our wilayah.” Then he said: “O’ sadeer, let me show you those who hinders the religion of Allah.” Then he looked to Abu Hunayfah and Sufyan Al-Thuwray at that time and they were in a circle in the mosque. Abu Jaffar said: “Those are who hinders the religion of Allah without guidance from Allah and without an obvious book. If those dirts sat in their houses, then the people who would look for someone to tell them about Almighty Allah and about His prophet would come to us and we would tell them about the almighty Allah and about His prophet.”
- And what Al-Tijani says that Jaffar Al-Sadiq taught more than four thousands jurisprudents and specialists in hadeeth is a very normal thing I say! And why not when the Shia narrates: “Some people from around the city asked for the permission of Jaffar Al-Sadiq to enter. Al-Saddiq allowed them to enter. They entered and asked him, in one sitting, thirty thousands questions and he, peace be upon him, answered them and he was only ten years old.” Then what is the value of the knowledge of the four Sunni Imams in comparison to these scholars!