wikishia:Featured articles/2024/18
Jaʿfarī School is another title for Twelver Shi'ism seen especially from its juristic aspect. The immense number of the hadiths of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a), compared to those from the other Imams (a), is the reason why Twelver Shi'ism and its jurisprudence received the eponym "Ja'fari".
After the demise of the Prophet (s), Imam Ali (a) was a point of reference for the caliphs and the companions of the Prophet (s) in religious and juristic issues. However, when the Imam (a) was martyred, Ahl al-Bayt (a) and their followers faced persecutions and the contacts between the Imams (a) and the Shi'a were restricted. On the other hand, many hadiths were forged and falsely attributed to the Prophet (s) for the benefit of the rulers or other worldly purposes, such that distinguishing the authentic hadiths from the forged ones became difficult. It can be said that from 40/661 until the end of the 1st/7th century, people—except a small number of the Companions and the Followers—were deprived of the authentic jurisprudence of Ahl al-Bayt (a).
However, at the time of Imam al-Baqir (a) the persecutions and restrictions were gradually alleviated and at the time of Imam al-Sadiq (a) the best situation for teaching and disseminating the true knowledge was prepared. This was a result of the Abbasid revolution and the decline of the Umayyad rule and the relative religious and political freedom that followed....
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