Question:

Is there any reason why the sixth Imam (a.) has the title “As-Sadiq”?

Response:

Abu Hamzah reported, that Abu Khalid Al-Kabuli said: ,,I came in to my master Ali Ibn Al-Husain (a.) and said to him: ,,O son of the Messenger of God, tell me about those, to whom God made the obedience (4:59) and love (42:23) obligatory and imposed on His creation their imitation after the Messenger (s.)!” He said: ,,O Abu Kankar, the owners of the authority, whom God has appointed as the Imams of the people and to whom He has made obedience obligatory, are the Commander of the Faithful, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.), whereupon the authority ends with us.” Then he fell silent. I said to him: ,,O my master, we were told by the Commander of the Faithful (a.) that he said: ,,The earth does not remain without the proof of God for His servants!” Who is the proof and Imam after you?” He said: ,,My son Muhammad, who is called the Splitting One (Baqir) in the Torah. He splits up the knowledge and he is the proof and Imam after me and after Muhammad it is his son Ja’far, who is called the truthful one (Sadiq) among the inhabitants of heaven.” I said to him: ,,O my master, how did his name become the truthful one (Sadiq) while you are all truthful (Sadiq)?” He said: ,,My father narrated to me from his father, that the Messenger (s.a.) said: ,,When my son Ja’far Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Al-Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a. ) is born, then call him the truthful one (Sadiq), because the fifth from his descendants, who carries the name Ja’far, claims the office of Imamate by fabricating and lying about God, therefore he is the liar (Kadhab) with God, who lies about God and claims to that, of which he is not the owner of and he is the opponent (Mukhalif) of his father and the envious one of his brother. It is this one, who discloses the secret of God during the concealment of the guardian (Wali) appointed by God.” After that Ali Ibn Al-Husain (a. ) wept heavily and said: ,,It has appeared to me, that I am with Ja’far, the liar, while he persuades the tyrant of his time, to seek out the matter of the guardian (Wali) appointed by God, the helper of the guarded ones by God and the representative of the ordination of his father, while he is unaware of his birth and is greedy for his murder, so that he may successfully get away with the inheritance of his father out of greediness, until he takes it unlawfully.” I said to him: ,,O son of the Messenger of God, will this happen?” He said: ,,Yes, by my Lord, it is recorded with us in the document, in which the trials have been mentioned, which we will have to deal with after the death of the Messenger (s.).” [Musnad Al-Askari of Al-Attaridi, page 52 – 53]

روى الطبرسي أبو منصور بإسناده عن أبي حمزة الثمالي عن أبي خالد الكابلي قال: دخلت على سيدي علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام فقلت له: يابن رسول الله أخبرني بالذين فرض الله طاعتهم ومودتهم وأوجب على خلقه الإقتداء بهم بعد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فقال لي: يا أبا كنكر إن أولي الأمر الذين جعلهم الله أئمة الناس وأوجب عليهم طاعتهم أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب ثم انتهى الأمر إلينا ثم سكت فقلت له: يا سيدي روي لنا عن أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام أنه قال: لا تخلو الأرض من حجة الله على عباده فمن الحجة والإمام بعدك؟ قال: ابني محمد واسمه في التوراة باقر يبقر العلم بقرا هو الحجة والإمام بعدي ومن بعد محمد ابنه جعفر اسمه عند أهل السماء الصادق فقلت له: يا سيدي فكيف صار اسمه الصادق وكلكم صادقون فقال: حدثني أبي عن أبيه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله قال: إذا ولد ابني جعفر بن محمد بن علي بن الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب فسموه الصادق فإن الخامس من ولده الذي اسمه جعفر يدعي الإمامة إجتراء على الله وكذبا عليه فهو عند الله الكذاب المفتري على الله المدعي لما ليس له بأهل المخالف على أبي الحاسد لأخيه ذلك الذي يكشف سر الله عند غيبة ولي الله ثم بكى علي بن الحسين بكاء شديدا ثم قال: كأني بجعفر الكذاب وقد حمل طاغية زمانه على تفتيش أمر ولي الله المغيث في حفظ الله والتوكيل بحرم أبيه جهلا منه بولادته وحرصا على قتله أن ظفر به طمعا في ميراث أبيه حتى يأخذ بغير حقه قال أبو خالد: فقلت له يابن رسول الله وإن ذلك لكائن فقال: أي وربي إنه مكتوب عندنا في الصحيفة التي فيها ذكر المحن التي تجري علينا بعد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله