—the Ḥusaynid, the Medinan, Abū Jaʿfar, the foremost man of Banū Hāshim in his day, known by the honorific “al-Dībāj” (1). He was the brother of Mūsā al-Kāẓim (2), and in merit and dignity he was in no way inferior to his brother.

He transmitted ḥadith from his father and from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah. Among those who reported from him were Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-ʿAdanī, Yaʿqūb ibn Kāsib, Ibrāhīm ibn al-Munḏir al-Ḥizāmī, and others.

He was noble, imposing, intelligent, a capable horseman, courageous, and suited to lead; he also had several brothers.

When the ʿAbbāsid realm was thrown into turmoil by the great crisis—the killing of al-Amīn, the twenty-month siege of Baghdad, and then the ʿAbbāsids’ deposition of al-Maʾmūn—this Muḥammad summoned people to pledge allegiance to him. He rose in Mecca, and they acclaimed him in the year 200 AH, though he was already advanced in age. It so happened that Abū Isḥāq al-Muʿtaṣim was on pilgrimage that year; he dispatched an army against Muḥammad, who was captured. Abū Isḥāq did him no harm but took him along to Baghdad, where Muḥammad did not remain long before he died (3).

He used to fast one day and break the fast the next.

His death occurred in Jurjān during the month of Shaʿbān. Al-Maʾmūn led the funeral prayer for him, personally descended into his grave, and said, “This is a tie of kinship that has been severed for many years.” (4)

It was said that the cause of his death—he was in his seventies—was that he had marital relations, then entered the bathhouse and underwent cupping, whereupon he died suddenly. May Allah have mercy on him; he passed away in 203 AH.