Portrait of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq embracing his student.

Note: The story here told about the giraffe will be repeated throughout the centuries, some will agree with the giraffe is a crossbreed of many animals others like here will reject it. The most famous of them is al Jahiz: Kitab al Hayawan (d869).

He  recommended against the purchase of African (Zanj) slaves, making an exception of the Nubians will also be repeated many times. See: Al-Kulayni (d939)

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 Ja’far al Sadiq; Tauhid al Mufaddal:

(Prefered Unity) (d765)

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Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAli al-Sadiq (702 – 765), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian. He was the founder of the Jaʿfari school of Islamic jurisprudence and the sixth Imam of the Twelver and Ismaʿili denominations of Shiʿa Islam.

Taken from: TAUHID MUFADDAL  Traducido del árabe al castellano por:El sheij Huyyatul Islam Muhammad Muallemi Zadeh

 

Reflect now on the creation of the giraffe and its various parts, which resemble those of other species. Thus his head is like that of the horse, his neck like that of the camel, his hooves like those of the cow, and his skin like the skin of the tiger. Some people ignorant of how God, Mighty and Majestic creates things, conjecture that this animal is the product of the crossing of several males of different species with a particular female, arguing that this occurs when different animals meet In one source to drink water. Whoever says this is ignorant, and his knowledge of the Creator is scarce. Because no animal species can fertilize a different species. For example, the horse does not fertilize the camel, nor the camel to the cow. If two species are similar, being very close in creation, they can cross. For example, the donkey and the horse, giving rise to the mule; Or the wolf and the hyena. On the other hand, what is born of the cross is not like the giraffe, which has a part like the horse, another like the camel, another like the cow, etc., but it is somewhat intermediate between the two. Thus you see the mule, his head, ears, rump, hooves and even his voice is intermediate between the donkey and the horse. This shows that the giraffe is not born of different species as the ignorant conjectured, but that it is one of the wonderful creatures of God's creation that points out His Power, which cannot weaken anything. This is so that they know that He is the creator of all species of animals, that can unite the members he wants and separate those he wants; Which increases in creation what He want and reduces what He want. All this indicates that He is Omnipotent, that nothing and nobody can preclude him from doing anything. As for the benefit of her long neck (of the giraffe), it is because she feeds on the tall trees that exist in the jungle, needing it (to the long neck) to take advantage of the leaves and the fruits of these trees.


Taken from: BARDA and BARDA-DARI vi. Regulations Governing Slavery in Islamic Jurisprudence by Hamid Algar (iranicaonline.org)
Ja’far al-­Sadeq recommended against the purchase of African (Zanj) slaves, making an exception of the Nubians.
Note: work not extant; found in Horr ‘Ameli, Wasa'il al-shi'ah VII/1, p. 56

Taken from: Male and Female Circumcision by Sami Awad Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh
One asked Ja’far what to do with a female slave captured from a polytheistic region and who converts to Islam, but there is no woman to circumcise her.
He answered: Circumcision is a sunnah for men but not for women.
Ja’far Al-Sadiq says: The slave’s (girl's) circumcision is a meritorious act and not a sunnah or obligatory, but what thing is better than a meritorious act?
Ja’far Al-Sadiq says: Man's circumcision is a sunnah, and for woman a meritorious act.
Note: work not extant; found in Horr ‘Ameli, Wasa'il al-shi'ah vol15 p167.