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Living in Basrah, one of the
major centres of political activities, and being contemporary
with the events of the lively period (28-93 A.H.), Jabir was
able to form a clear understanding of the complicated course of
the political and religious affairs of the growing Muslim
community. As a result, he chose the most effective way to
attain his aims. He kept himself apart from all Political
activities and followed a very careful course in his relations
with the 'Umayyad rulers. On the other hand, he devoted his
time to teaching people Islam and formulating legal opinions on
religious problems.
With regard to his way of life,
Jabir led a pious and ascetic existence. He once said, "I asked
of my God three things which He granted me; a good wife, a good
riding camel and my daily bread upon which to live from day to
day."23 Speaking about his wealth, Jabir told his companions,
"I am the richest of all of you; I possess no dirham, nor do I
owe any one a dirham."24 al-Hajjaj b. 'Uyaynah said, "Jabir b.
Zaid used to visit us in our mosque; one day he came wearing an
old pair of shoes and said, "Sixty years of my life have passed;
these shoes of mine I like more than any other thing which is
past, unless it be good work I have done."25 Muhammad b. Sirin
said, "Abu al-Sha'tha' was pious.26 Simplicity and piety are
the main attributes of Jabir's life.
Jabir's wide knowledge of the
interpretation of the Qur'an and the Sunnah made him an
outstanding figure in this field of knowledge, and he is
described by the Traditionalists as reliable (thiqah).27 The
only exception to this was a al-'Asili, who regarded him as weak
(dha'if) Traditionalist, but his view was rejected by Ibn Hajar
al-'Asqalani.28 Apart from his regular students who studied
Traditions and Futya with him, people used to come to him
seeking his legal opinions on religious matters. Some of these
opinions were written in the form of questions sent to him by
friends outside Basrah. He is described as the most learned man
in the field of Fatawa.29 Many of his students used to put down
his legal opinions in writing, but Jabir was not in favour of
recording his opinions in this way; On hearing of his students
writing them down, Jabir commented, "To God we belong (Inna
lilah). They are writing down the opinions which I may change
tomorrow!30 Yet not-withstanding, most of his opinions and
narrations (riwayat) were recorded by his students. His
knowledge was transmitted to later generations through two
channels; the main one based upon what was recorded by his
Ibadhi students such as Dhuman b. al-Sa'ib, Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim
b. Abi Karimah, Abu Nuh Salih al-Dahhan, Hayyan al-'A'raj, and
others. The second is based upon what was recorded by his non-Ibadhi
students, among whom were 'Amr b. Harim, Qatadah b. Di'amah al-Sadusi,
Aiyub al-Sikhtiyani, and others.31
Among the extant works in which
legal opinions (Fatawa) and narrations (Riwayat) from Jabir are
recorded are: -
1)
Riwayat Dumam; narrated
by Abu Sufrah 'Abd al-Malik b. Sufrah, from al-Rabi' b. Habib,
from Dumam from Jabir b. Zaid.32
2)
Musnad al-Rabi b. Habib
al-Farahidi, from Abu 'Ubaidah, and Duman from Jabir b. Zaid.33
3)
Jabir's correspondence (Jawabat)
which contain some of his legal opinions sent in letters to some
of his friends and followers.
All these were recorded by
Ibadhis. There are also the following works:-
1)
Kitab al-Nikah, which
contains legal opinions on marriage, reported from Jabir. It is
still not known by whom this book was narrated, but being
included in the Ms. of K. Nikah al-shighar, by 'Abd al'-Aziz,
this suggests that it was probably narrated by the same author
of K. Nikah al-shighar.34
2)
K. al-Salat,35 this book
is narrated by Habib b. Abu Habib al-Harmi, from 'Amr b. Harim
from Jabir b. Zaid.36
3)
The narrations from 'Amr
b. Dinar, and 'Amr b. Harim, included in parts V and VI of K.
Aqwal Qatadah, contain Traditions and legal opinions mainly on
the subject of marriage, zakat, and prayers, besides his other
legal opinions and Traditions reported from him by Qatadah.38
It is reported that the books of
Jabir were in the possession of Abu 'Ubaidah Muslim b. Abu
Karimah, then they came to al-Rabi' b. Habib, then Abu Sufyan
Mahbub b. al-Rahil, then his son Mohammad b. Mahbub, from whom
they were transcribed in Mecca.39 |
