Imam Ja'far Ibn Mohammad al-Sadiq (p.b.u.h.) had more opportunities than other Imams in his lifetime to convey the teachings of the Prophet's household—pure Islamic teachings—to the enthusiastic hearts of those who had a thirst for these teachings.
It is a mistake to assume that all those thousands of students who were taught by Imam Sadiq were Shia Muslims who believed in his being an Imam. That was not the case. There were many individuals among his students who did not believe—the way Shia Muslims do—that he was an Imam, but they used to go to him to benefit from his knowledge and what he knew about Islamic teachings.
We have many narrations from Imam Sadiq (p.b.u.h.) that have been related by Sunni Muslims, non-Shia Muslims. This points to the fact that the Islamic Ummah and the Muslim world still need the teachings of Imam Sadiq and other Imams. They must benefit from these teachings. Members of the Islamic Ummah from various social classes must add to one another's knowledge in this way so that they can help improve the level of Islamic teachings—which requires that we avoid building a wall of enmity and spite between Muslims of various denominations. This is what we mean by Islamic unity.
March 20, 2008.
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