al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi

Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar al-Juʿfī (Arabic: أبو عبد ﷲ المفضل بن عمر الجعفي), died before 799, was an early Shi'i leader and the purported author of a number of religious and philosophical writings.

[4] Early Imami[b] heresiographers and Nusayri sources regard al-Mufaddal as a staunch supporter of Abu al-Khattab's ideas who later spawned his own ghulāt movement (the Mufaḍḍaliyya).

[2][c] A recurring theme in these texts is the myth of the world's creation through the fall from grace of pre-existent "shadows" or human souls, whom God punished for their disobedience by concealing himself from them and by casting them down into the seven heavens.

[9] The Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-aẓilla (Book of the Seven and the Shadows, 8th to 11th centuries)[10] develops the theme of seven primordial Adams who rule over the seven heavens and initiate the seven historical world cycles.

[13][d] Those who reach the seventh heaven and attain the rank of Bāb ("Gate")[e] enjoy a beatific vision of God and share the divine power to manifest themselves in the world of matter.

[15] The dialectical style of the Kitāb al-Ihlīlaja is more typical of early Muslim speculative theology (kalām),[16] and the work may originally have been authored by the 8th-century scribe Muhammad ibn Layth.

[19][f] At some point during his life, al-Mufaddal's relations with Ja'far al-Sadiq soured because of his adherence to the teachings of the Kufan ghulāt leader Abu al-Khattab (died 755–6).

On the one hand, early Imami (i.e., proto-Twelver Shi'i)[b] heresiographers report the existence of a ghulāt sect named after him, the Mufaḍḍaliyya, who would have declared Ja'far to be God and al-Mufaddal his prophet or Imam.

[26] It sets out in great detail the ghulāt myth of the pre-existent "shadows" (Arabic: aẓilla) whose fall from grace led to the creation of the material world.

[29] A central element of the Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-aẓilla is the creation myth involving pre-existent "shadows", which also occurs in many other ghulāt works with slightly different details.

[m] The Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ (Book of the Path) is another purported dialogue between al-Mufaddal and Ja'far al-Sadiq, likely composed in the period between the Minor and the Major Occultation (874–941).

[13][d] On the other hand, those believers who perform good works and advance in knowledge also travel upwards on the ladder, putting on ever more pure and luminous 'shirts' or bodies, ultimately reaching the realm of the divine.

[14] This upwards path is represented as consisting of seven stages above that of humanity, each located in one of the seven heavens:[40] At every degree the initiate receives the chance to gain a new level of 'hidden' or 'occult' (bāṭin) knowledge.

Those who reach the seventh degree (that of Bāb or "Gate")[e] are granted wondrous powers such as making themselves invisible, or seeing and hearing all things –including a beatific vision of God– without having to look or listen.

Though both were preserved by the 17th-century Shi'i scholar Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (died 1699), the only element connecting them to Shi'ism is their ascription to Ja'far al-Sadiq and al-Mufaddal.

The work consists of a series of lectures about the existence and oneness (tawḥīd) of God presented to al-Mufaddal by Ja'far al-Sadiq, who is answering a challenge made to him by the self-declared atheist Ibn Abi al-Awja'.

[53] In four "sessions" (majālis), Ja'far argues that the cosmic order and harmony which can be detected throughout nature necessitates the existence of a wise and providential creator.

Instead, it is a revised version of a work also attributed to the famous Mu'tazili litterateur al-Jahiz (died 868) under the title Kitāb al-Dalāʾil wa-l-iʿtibār ʿalā al-khalq wa-l-tadbīr (Book on the Proofs and Contemplation of Creation and Administration).

[57] Compared to pseudo-Jahiz's Kitāb al-Dalāʾil, the Tawḥīd al-Mufaḍḍal adds an introduction that sets up a frame story involving al-Mufaddal, Ibn Abi al-Awja', and Ja'far al-Sadiq, as well rhymed praises of God at the beginning of each chapter, and a brief concluding passage.

[65] Its teleological proof of the existence of God—based upon a discussion of the four elements, minerals, plants, animals, meteorology, and the human being—was likely inspired by pseudo-Aristotle's De mundo (On the Universe, 3rd/2nd century BCE), a work also used by the Syriac authors mentioned above.

[66] In particular, the Tawḥīd al-Mufaḍḍal/Kitāb al-Dalāʾil contains the same emphasis on the idea that God, who already in pseudo-Aristotle's De mundo is called "one", can only be known through the wisdom permeating his creative works, while his own essence (kunh) remains hidden for all.

[60] The Kitāb al-Ihlīlaja (Book of the Myrobalan Fruit)[t] is another work in which al-Mufaddal asks Ja'far al-Sadiq to present a proof of the existence and oneness of God in response to those who openly profess atheism.

[71] In comparison with the Tawḥīd al-Mufaḍḍal, the frame story here is less well integrated into the main text, which despite being written in the form of an epistle does not directly address al-Mufaddal's concerns about the appearance of people who would publicly deny the existence of God.