Siyyid Mulla Jafar

Saint-Siyyid Mulla Jafar
Venerated in	Esoteric Shi'ism
Major shrine	Shrine of Mulla Jafar

Saint-Siyyid Mulla Jafar 1st Auxiliary Imam of Esoteric Shi'ism
Auxiliary Imam
In office 14 September 1204 – 15 September 1241
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Siyyid Musa
Personal details
Born	Jafar al-Karim ibn Sayyid Kazim al-Farsi (1164-06-08)8 June 1164
Died	(1241-09-15)15 September 1241 Batoe Lempar, Hindia Belanda
Resting place	Shrine of Mulla Jafar
Spouse	Sayyida Kazima
Parents	Sayyid Kazim al-Farsi (father) Sharifa Amina (mother)
Known for	Establishing the Auxiliary Imamate, under which the modern-day Shia Convocation operates; creating the Jafariyya Sufi Order of which he was its grand master.

Siyyid Mulla Jafar was one of the most influential figures in Esoteric Shi'ism credited with establishing the Auxiliary Imamate, an office whose function is to preserve the teachings and gnosis of the Infallible Shia Imams in their absence. He subsequently became the first Auxiliary Imam and is venerated in Esoteric Shi'ism as a saint with a shrine in Batoe Lempar, Hindia Belanda where he was laid to rest on the 15th of September, 1241.

Mulla Jafar was born in present-day Southern Maqtajer to a family of Shia partisans loyal to the cause of the Infallible Imams. His father, Sayyid Kazim al-Farsi, was a leader of the Shia community in what is now Maqtajer.

Biography

Flight from the Yazidi Kingdom of something something Tabadashahr

After the Shias of Maqtajer split over a dispute on a number of religious doctrines, most importantly regarding the esotericism of religious texts and the need for a religious institution in the absence of the Infallible Imam, Mulla Jafar led his followers who formed a minority of the Shias of Maqtajer at the time to take refuge in the neighbouring Duchy of Srambi (present-day Province of Northwestern Malaya in Hindia Belanda).

Establishment of the Auxiliary Imamate

In the absence of the Infallible Imam, Mulla Jafar argued that a need arises for a religious institution tasked to preserving the sacred teachings and gnosis of the Fourteen Infallibles. To this end, he established the Auxiliary Imamate, which would serve as the nexus of Esoteric Shia religious life and the protector of the welfare of the Esoteric Shia faithful.

Sainthood

The Auxiliary Imamate
Preceded by Office created	1st Auxiliary Imam of Esoteric Shi'ism 1204–1241	Succeeded by Siyyid Musa