And we know from the lives of our imams that things of this kind have been attributed to Ja‘far al-Sādiq—who was not a prophet—which anyone familiar with Ja‘far, may Allah be pleased with him, knows to be falsely ascribed to him. Indeed, the lies attributed to him are among the most egregious. He has even been credited with prognostications based on “terrestrial movements,” such as the twitching of bodily parts, and atmospheric phenomena such as thunder, lightning, halos, and Allah’s bow, which is called “Qaws Quzah” (the rainbow), and similar things. Scholars know that he is entirely innocent of all this.
Likewise, “the Table,” upon which a group of the Rāfidah based their errors, has been attributed to him. It is a fabrication falsely ascribed to him by Abd Allāh ibn Mu‘āwiya, a man notorious for lying, notwithstanding his leadership and high standing among his followers. The book “Al-Jafr wa-l-Bitāqa wa-l-Haft” has likewise been attributed to him. All of this is falsely ascribed to him, by the agreement of scholars familiar with him.
Even the “Epistles of the Brethren of Purity” have been attributed to him. This displays the utmost ignorance, for these epistles were composed more than two hundred years after his death. He died in 148 AH, whereas these epistles were composed under the Buyid dynasty during the fourth century AH, early in the reign of the Banū Ubayd, who built Cairo. A group composed them, claiming to have reconciled Islamic law and philosophy through them; thus they went astray and led others astray.
The students of Ja‘far al-Sādiq who learned from him—such as Mālik ibn Anas, Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna, and other imams of Islam like them—are innocent of these fabrications.