Imam Sadiq (as) and Jaber Ibn Hayyan (Part III) Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) Reference: The Great Muslim Scientist and Philosopher, Jafar As-Sadiq

Kaaba Jaber asked: “What is more important: Kaaba as the Qibla of Muslims or Kaaba as a place of pilgrimage and Hajj?” Imam replied: “Kaaba is more important as the Qibla and the spiritual centre of Muslims.” “A large number of Muslims, for different reasons, cannot go there, but all of them turn towards it during their prayers 5 times a day and their calls of Allahu Akbar resound in the Kaaba.” “No religion in the world ever had nor ever will have such a sunique spiritual centre as the Kaaba, which is the Qibla of the Muslims.”

Suicide Jaber asked: Why do some people commit suicide?” Imam said: “Those who commit suicide have no religious convictions. A religious person would never commit suicide.” “Every living being has a strong desire to stay alive. The desire to live becomes weak in some, who are not religious due to the following reason:

Laziness A lazy person does not work and faces disappointments. When a man finds himself helpless he commits suicide. O Jaber, man is lazy by nature and does not want to work. This is the beauty of Islam that it does not let a Muslim become lazy. Every morning sleep is sweet, but his religious duty forces a Muslim to get up before sunrise for fajr. After fajr he starts work. In the same way other prayers also do not let him become lazy.

Gambling When a man loses his fortune in a short period of time, he becomes desperate and commits suicide. This is why gambling is haram in Islam.

Insanity In many cases it is genetic. Ancestors of persons who suffer from genetic insanity must have been alcoholics. This kind of insanity is not among Muslims. Since they do not drink alcohol they do not suffer from genetic insanity. Children of those persons, who take liquor may suffer from two kinds of chronic diseases- genetic insanity and Parkinson’s disease. These diseases are very common in countries where alocholic drinks are popular. Genetic insanity weakens the will to live. A person gets so sick that he becomes hostile to himself and commits suicide.

Constant failure Another cause of suicide is constant failure in life. But those who have strong faith in Allah and trust His help and guidance never give up hope and kill themselves.”

Why follow the fiqh of Imam Sadiq? Direct knowledge from the Holy Prophet as he was from the Prophets progeny. Abu Hanifa was the student of Imam Sadiq. Maliki was also the student of Imam Sadiq. Shafi was the student of Maliki. Hambali was the student of Shafi. Referring to the two years that Abu Hanifa spent learning fiqh from Imam Sadiq, Abu Hanifa said: “Were it not for the two years, al-Numan (Abu Hanifa) would have perished.”