Imam Al-Sadiq

However, I do not think that these traditions are as equal as those which praise him. In
addition to this there are traditions which unveil the defaming traditions and denote that their
owners issued them for unknown purposes. Among such traditions is that which the author of
al- Khara'ij wal Jara'ih has reported on the authority of al- Walid b. Sabih.(540) who said: "A
man came to me and said: 'Come to show you the son of your Lord'. I went with him. He
brought me to some people who were drinking (wine). Among them was Isma'il b. Ja'far. I
was full of sadness. So, I went out and came to the black stone. Suddenly, I found Isma'il
leaning against the walls of the House and weeping. He wetted the walls of the Kaaba with
his tears.
I came back quickly. I found Isma'il sitting with those people (who were drinking wine). I
came back (to the black stone). It was him leaning against the walls of the Kaaba and weeping
bitter tears. He said: "I told Abu Abd Allah, peace be upon, about that.' He said: "Indeed, my
son was afflicted with a Satan who appears in his shape.'"
Of course, this is the best tradition about the righteousness of Isma'il. Therefore, it is better
for us to put aside the traditions that defame Isma'il or we must explain that they have
purposes other than the apparent ones. Moreover, if Isma'il had been as the defaming
traditions describe, then al-Sadiq, peace be on him, would have not accompanied him
everywhere and every time and would have dismissed him as he dismissed his son Abd Allah.
After Isma'il had died, people believed that he was not the Imam after his father. But some
people believed in his Imamate again, after the death of his father. Those who believed in his
Imamate are called the Isma'ilites as we have already mentioned.
In his book al- Irshad, al- Shaykh al- Mufid, may Allah rest him in peace, has mentioned that
those who believed in his life were not among the followers of his father nor did they were
among his reliable reporters. After the death of al- Sadiq, peace be on him, some of them
believed in the Imamate of Musa, peace be on him. And the rest became two parties- one
party believed in the death of Isma'il and believed in the Imamate of his son Mohammed, for
they thought that the Imamate was for his father, so the son is worthier of the Imamate than
the brother. The other party has insisted on the life of Isma'il. Today they are very few. These
two parties are called the Isma'ilites. At the present time, we know only those who claim that
the Imamate after Isma'il is for his grandsons forever.
Abd Allah al- Aftah:
Abd Allah al- Aftah was the eldest son of al- Sadiq, peace be on him, after Isma'il. For this
reason a group of people believed in his Imamate, but they forgot that the eldest son should
have no defect, while Abd Allah was broad- legged (aftah al- rijlayn). So, people called him
al- Aftah (i.e. broad-legged) and those who believed in his Imamate were called the Aftahiya.