Jābir ibn Yazīd al-Juʿfī (Arabic: جابر بن یزید الجُعفی), died c. 745–750, was a Kufan transmitter of hadith and a companion of the Shi'a Imams Muhammad al-Baqir (677–732) and Ja'far al-Sadiq (c. 700–765).[1] His reputation among later Muslims was uneven: while some Sunni and Shia scholars considered him a reliable authority, others rejected him for his alleged 'extremist' or 'exaggerated' (ghulāt) ideas.[1] In some sources he is said to have followed the ideas of the 'exaggerator' al-Mughira ibn Sa'id, while other sources deny this.[1]
He was sometimes recognized as the bāb (gate) of the fifth Twelver Shia Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, who related 70 (or 70000) secret hadiths to him. Jabir is also the main narrator of some other hadiths which are collected in a book named Risālat al-Juʿfi.[2][3][4] Shia do not reject Jabir as a ghali (lit. 'one who exaggerates'), possibly because he sided with al-Baqir in the conflict with al-Mughira bin Sa'id al-'Ijli, the well-known ghali.[5][6]
Jabir is also transmitter of the ghulāt book Umm al-Kitāb,[7] which contains Muhammad al-Baqir's answers to questions posed by his followers.[2] In the main part of this book, al-Baqir reveals secrets to al-Ju'fi, such as how the cosmos was created, how the human soul fell into this world, and how it could be delivered from it.[4] Ibn Hajar says: Abu Na'eem on the authority of Thori said that whenever Jabir hadith says: Hadathna and tell us, his narration is correct. According to Sufyan, Ibn Mahdi said, "I have never seen anyone more pious than him in narrating hadith." Ibn Aliyyah said on the authority of Sha'ba that: Jabir is a Sadiq in narrating the hadith. Also, Yahya bin Abi Bakir, on the authority of Shuba, said that: Whenever Jabir says hadith and hearsay, he is one of the most reliable people. It has also been narrated from Zuhair bin Muawiyah: When he used to say: You heard, he was one of the most truthful people. Vaqi' says: "Doubt whatever you want, but do not doubt that Jabir is trustworthy." Adel Nawihaz says: "Jabir is one of the followers and jurists of the Imamiyyah and from the people of Kufa; It has many traditions. His knowledge of religion is abundant. Some of the great scholars of hadith have praised him and others have accused him of believing in Rajat. Jaber died in Kufa. He has a book called "Tafseer al-Qur'an". Zarkali mentioned it in the book "Alam". Sheikh Tusi considered him one of the companions of Imam Baqir and Jafar Sadiq.[8] According to Henry Corbin, this book resembles the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, thus illustrating a similarity between Shia Imamology and Gnostic Christology. A major concept of this work is the description of the numinous experience. Its central motif is the psychological and philosophical explanation of spiritual symbols, with believers instructed to perform acts of self-purification and renewal. Colors are used to symbolize theories and levels of consciousness which one must recognize in oneself.[9]