Zurarah ibn A'yan

Zurārah ibn Aʿyan (about 690-768 AD) (Arabic: زُرارة بن أعيَن), who according to Shia sources, was a famous companion of Imam Baqir, Imam Sadiq, and Imam Kazim. He evolved the theory that the knowledge of God is an obligation on every believer and cannot be attained without an Imam designated by God, and thus complete obedience to the Imam is a religious duty.

He was a Muhaddith and Islamic scholar with great knowledge in religion, and was also one of the companions known as the companions of consensus whose hadith are given extra credence by Shia scholars. Muḥaddith Qummī in his book Tuḥfat al-Aḥbāb said that "his excellence and status are too great to mention here".

Zurārah was a disciple of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba before joining al-Baqir. As a prominent traditionist and theologian, Zurārah played an important role in developing the Shia thought. Zurārah lived long enough to also become a close disciple of Jaʿfar al-Sadiq. Al-Baqir praised him (along with Abū Baṣīr al-Murādī, Muḥammad ibn Muslim, and Burayd ibn Muʿāwiya al-ʿIjlī) as worthy of the paradise. Also al-Sadiq lauded him (along with the other three mentioned above) for upholding and promoting the Imami Madhhab, Al-Sadiq also said that the prophetic hadiths would have been lost without them. However there are some reports in Al-Kafi that report Jafar Al-Sadiq telling his followers to avoid Zurarah as he tells lies. Some of the narrations that were mentioned in his condemnation of Zurarah, as stated by Imam Sadiq, were stated in the position of taqiyyah and to protect Zurarah from the government. Some of his jurisprudential thoughts and methods have been criticized. Mirdamad, by confirming Zurarah and believing his belief to be true, has condemned him in the sources because of his mistake in understanding issues such as qadha, qadr, ability, and tolerance in understanding the position of Sadiq. In a narration from Sadiq addressed to Hamza bin Hamran, Zarara's nephew, it is also emphasized that Sadiq was acquitted by what others have narrated about Zarara, not by Zarara himself.