As a child, Ja'far Al-Sadiq studied under his grandfather, Zayn al-Abidin. After his grandfather's death, he studied under and accompanied his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, until Muhammad al-Baqir died in 733.

Ja'far Al-Sadiq became well versed in Islamic sciences, including Hadith, Sunnah, and the Qur'an. In addition to his knowledge of Islamic sciences, Ja'far Al-Sadiq was also an adept in natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, anatomy, alchemy and other subjects.

The foremost Islamic alchemist, Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, known in Europe as Geber, was Ja'far Al-Sadiq's most prominent student. Ja'far Al-Sadiq was known for his liberal views on learning, and was keen to debate with scholars of different faiths and of different beliefs.

Abū Hanīfa was an Islamic scholar and Jurist. He was a student of Ja'far Al-Sadiq, as was Imam Malik ibn Anas, who quotes 12 hadiths from Imam Jafar Sadiq in his famous Al-Muwatta.[8]

Quotations

• Whoever attacks a matter without knowledge cuts off his own nose.

• Intellect is the guide of the believer.

• The perfection of intellect is in three (things): humbleness for God, good certainty, and silence except for good.

• Ignorance is in three (things): Arrogance, the intensity of dispute, and the ignorance about God.

• Certainly, knowledge is a lock and its key is the question.

• When the believer becomes angry, his anger should not take him out of the truth; and when he becomes satisfied, his satisfaction should not bring him into falsehood.

• Some manners of the ignorant are: the answer before he hears, the opposition before he understands, and the judgment with what he does not know.