a debate that took place: “What is your opinion of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad?”
He replied, “He is reliable.”

Abbas transmitted from Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn that he said, “Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad is reliable, trustworthy.”
Likewise, Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr, al-Dārimī, and Aḥmad ibn Abī Maryam narrated from Yaḥyā that he declared, “He is reliable.”
Ibn Abī Maryam added, reporting from Yaḥyā: “I used not to ask Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd about his reports, so he said to me, ‘Why do you not ask me about the ḥadith of Jaʿfar?’ I answered, ‘I have no need for it.’ He retorted, ‘If he has retained anything, it is his father’s musnad report’—meaning the narration of Jābir concerning the rites of pilgrimage.”

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn also said: “Hafṣ ibn Ghiyāth travelled to ʿAbbādān, a frontier garrison, and the people of Baṣrah gathered around him and said, ‘Do not relate to us from three men: Ashʿath ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, and Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad.’ He replied, ‘As for Ashʿath—he is yours; as for ʿAmr—you know best about him; but as for Jaʿfar, had you been in Kūfah, iron-soled sandals would have rained down upon you!’”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: “I heard Abū Zurʿah asked about Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad from his father, about Suhayl from his father, and about al-ʿAlāʾ from his father: which chain is soundest? He answered, ‘Jaʿfar is in a league of his own; he cannot be compared to those men.’ I also heard Abū Ḥātim say, ‘Concerning Jaʿfar one does not even inquire.’

I say: Jaʿfar is reliable and truthful; he is not as firmly established as Shuʿbah, yet he is more trustworthy than Suhayl and Ibn Isḥāq. He stands on the level of Ibn Abī Dhiʾb and his peers. Most of his narrations from his father are mursal (with a missing link).

Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdī remarked, “He has numerous reports from his father, from Jābir, and from his forefathers, along with written collections belonging to the Household. The leading imams have transmitted from him, and he is among the reliable transmitters,” as Ibn Maʿīn affirmed.

ʿAmr ibn Abī al-Miqdām said, “Whenever I looked at Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad I knew he was of prophetic stock; I once saw him standing at the Jamrah saying, ‘Ask me, ask me.’”

Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī al-Aswad reported that he heard Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad say, “Ask me before you lose me, for after me no one will relate to you what I relate.”

Ibn ʿUqda the ḥāfiẓ narrated: “Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ḥāzim told us; Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Rummānī Abū Najīḥ told me; I heard Ḥasan ibn Ziyād say: I heard Abū Ḥanīfah asked, ‘Who is the most learned jurist you have encountered?’ He replied, ‘I have never seen anyone with deeper understanding of jurisprudence than Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad; when…’”} }