Jaʿfar al-Kadhdhāb (the liar), the uncle of Imam Mahdi!
A narration
Abu l-Adyān , one of the servants of Imam Ḥasan al-ʿAskari, said:
“In the last days of Imam Hasan Askari’s life , he gave me some letters and asked me to take them to Mdāen. ‘You shall return to Samaraa in fifteen days. At that time people shall be crying and you shall find my body waiting to be washed [ before being buried’ Imam said to me. ‘My lord! Who will be your successor at that time?’ I asked. ‘The one who asks you about the answers to my letters’ Imam responded. ‘Give me another sign!’ I said again. ‘The one who prays on my body, shall be my following Imam’ He continued. ‘Can you give me one more sign?’ I insisted. ‘The one who informs about what in the parcel is’ He said but I could not ask what in the parcel is.
I took the letters to Madāen and as Imam foretold, I returned in fifteen days . When I arrived at his house , I heard people crying and saw his body waiting to be washed [before being buried].
Then I saw Ja’afar , Imam Hasan al-Askari‘s brother standing at the door and some people condoling him on his brother’s death and congratulating him on his Imamate. “If Ja’afar is the next Imam, he shall ruin Imamate completely. “I thought, because I knew he played music, drank and gambled. But since I was looking for the sings, Imam Hasan al-Askari gave me, I went to him and condoled him, but [not surprisingly] he did not ask about any of them [not the answers to the letters]. At that time ‘Aqid, one of the servants, came out and said to ja’afar, “My lord! Your brother’s body is ready. Come and pray on him. “I followed him into the house and some others came in after us. As soon as he wanted to pray on the Imam’s body, a brunet boy, with waved hair and pearl white teeth came out. He went to ja’afar and said, ‘Oh, uncle! Move aside! I am more appropriate to pray on my father’s body than you’ Ja’afar stepped aside with a white face and without even one word! The boy came along and prayed on Imam Hasan al-Askari’s body. After the pray, he came to me and said, ‘Give me the responses to my father’s letter.’ So I gave him those letters. ‘Here two signs!’ I thought. But what is the parcel thing? Then I went to Ja’afar and found him sighing deeply! One asked him who that boy was. ‘I have not seen him before and I do not even know him; I swear to God!’ He answered.
In the meantime, some people from Qom came and asked about Imam Hasan al-Askari. When we told them Imam had passed away, they asked ‘To whom shall we condole?’ When people showed them Ja’afar, they asked him, ‘We have brought some letters and some money. Tell us who sent the letters and how much the money is.’ Ja’afar got angry and cried: ‘Are you asking me about occult knowledge?’ Suddenly a servant came out and said, ‘You have brought a letter form who and another from who [he said the names of the senders] and also a parcel in which there are one thousand dinars and the marks on ten of them are almost wiped out.’ They gave him the letters and the money and said, ‘The one who has sent you, is the real Imam …’ (Kamāl-al-Din, vol. 2, p. 475)
Who is Jaʿfar?
Ja’far, generally known as Kazzab (d. 271 A.H.), was the son of Imam Ali al-Naqi and the brother of Imam Hasan al-Askari. Since he had claimed Imamate against Imam Mahdi, the biographers refer to him as Kazzab (liar). He was initially a wayward and an evil person. He had left no stone unturned in his enmity to Imam Hasan Askari. He did not give up trying to get the Imam imprisoned, though he always failed in his efforts.
Regarding Ja’far Kazzab and his son, there is a saying of Imam Mahdi that they are like the brothers of the Prophet Joseph. Ṭabarsi and some other scholars are of the view that Ja’far had repented like the brothers of the Joseph and that after this repentance, he came to be known as Ja’far Tawwāb (Ja’far the repentant).
According to the narrations, Imam Mahdi (as) bears the special characteristics and more from the previous Prophets. He is the embodiment of their virtues and qualities. He carries their signs and is the inheritor of all that they stood for and what was revealed upon them. However, the following text mentions the similarity between Abel (as) and Imam Mahdi (as).
His nearest and closest kin killed Abel – that is his brother, Cain – the Almighty Allah says in the Quran: “And relate to them the story of the two sons of Adam with truth when they both offered an offering, but it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other. He said: I will most certainly slay you. (The other) said: Allah only accepts from those who guard (against evil).” (Surah Māedah verse 27)
In the same way the closest relative of Imam Mahdi tried to eliminate him, and that was his paternal uncle, Ja’far Kazzāb (the liar). However, some Hadiths indicate that the Ja’far did not repent and remained firm on his enmity with Imam ‘Askari and denial of Imam Mahdi. For instance, Imam Sajjād said,
عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ اَلْحُسَيْنِ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ فِي حَدِيثٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اَللَّهِ صَلَّى اَللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ وَ سَلَّمَ قَالَ: إِذَا وُلِدَ اِبْنِي جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ اَلْحُسَيْنِ فَسَمُّوهُ اَلصَّادِقَ ، فَإِنَّ لِلْخَامِسِ مِنْ وُلْدِهِ وَلَداً اِسْمُهُ جَعْفَرٌ يَدَّعِي اَلْإِمَامَةَ اِجْتِرَاءً عَلَى اَللَّهِ وَ كَذِباً، فَهُوَ عِنْدَ اَللَّهِ جَعْفَرٌ اَلْكَذَّابُ اَلْمُفْتَرِي عَلَى اَللَّهِ اَلْمُدَّعِي مَا لَيْسَ لَهُ بِأَهْلٍ؛ اَلْمُخَالِفُ لِأَبِيهِ، اَلْحَاسِدُ لِأَخِيهِ ذَلِكَ اَلَّذِي يَرُومُ كَشْفَ سِرِّ اَللَّهِ عِنْدَ غَيْبَةِ وَلِيِّ اَللَّهِ ...ثم بكي علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام بكاء شديدا، ثم قال: كأني بجعفر الكذاب وقد حمل طاغية زمانه على تفتيش أمر ولي الله، والمغيب في حفظ الله والتوكيل بحرم أبيه جهلا منه بولادته، وحرصا منه على قتله إن ظفر به، (و) طمعا في ميراثه حتى يأخذه بغير حقه.
Imam Sajjād quoted from the Prophet to have said: “There will be my son with name Ja'far bin Muhammad bin Ali Bin Husain Bin Ali ibn Abu Ṭalib and he will be "Ṣādiq", and after him in the fifth generation there will another son from him in his fifth generation whose name will also be Ja'far, who will claim Imamate and he will be a liar..."then Imam Sajjād crried and said, ‘As if I can see that Ja’far Kazzab, helping the tyrant of the time in searching for the vicegerent of Allah. He will try to spy on him and not knowing about the birth of Imam Mahdi, he will become the executor of his father’s estate and will desire that were he to gain upper hand on the Mahdi he will eliminate him, and will be greedy for his inheritance, till he will usurp it wrongfully.” (Muntakhab al-Athar, vol. 2, p. 217.)
«عن الإمام الحسن العسكري عليه السلام قوله: (فوالله ما مثلي ومثله إلاَّ مثل هابيل وقابيل ابني آدم حيث حسد قابيل لهابيل على ما أعطاه الله لهابيل من فضله»
Narration from Imam Hasan Al-Askari, he said: “Verily! my example and his (Ja’far) example is like of Abel and Cain sons of Adam. Where Cain had an envy with his brother Abel. (you can well understand what was the fate of Cain as per Quran)” (Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 50, p. 228.)
There are many more authentic hadiths/narrations we can quote about Ja'far but these few are enough to conclude did Ja'far really repented and should he be called repenter?
The Holy Prophet had called him liar. Also, Imam Sajjād has called him liar and in one hadith he compared him with the son of Prophet Noah. Imam Hasan al-Askari had considered him as Cain - the one who killed his brother Abel.
Now based on these above few hadiths if you look at the Tawqiʿ of Imam Mahdi a.s then you will see why he considered his uncle Ja'far as similar to the likes of Prophet Joseph's brother. In other words, Ja'far not only falsely claimed Imamate but also put great oppression on his father, brother, and nephew and it was he because of whom Mu'tamid had caused so many oppressions on the family of Ahlulbay. Therefore, majority of great ‘Ulama like Sheikh Ṣaduq, Sheikh Mufīd, till Ayatollah Khoei etc. had considered him as liar, deviant etc.
Source: https://www.Mahdism.net
