Ja'far

"Jafar" redirects here. For other uses, see Jafar (disambiguation).

Ja'far
Pronunciation	Arabic: [ʤʕa.far] Egyptian Arabic: [gʕæ.fær]
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Arabic
Meaning	"Spring"
Other names
Alternative spelling	Jaafar, Jaffar, Jafer, Jaffer, Gafar, Gaafar
Related names	Cafer, Jifar (name)

Ja'far (Arabic: جعفر ‎‎), meaning spring or rivulet, is a masculine Arabic given name, especially common among Shia Muslims. It may also be transliterated Jafar, Jaffar or Jafer or Jaffer or in Egyptian Arabic pronunciation, gafar. The Turkish spelling of the name is Cafer. The Bosniak spelling of the name is Džafer.

Historical persons

• Ja'far al-Sadiq (702—765), descendent of Ali, prominent Islamic Fiqh scholar and sixth Imam for Shia Muslims.
• Ja'far ibn Yahya (767–803), the vizier of Caliph Harun al-Rasheed
• Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (787–886), Persian scholar
• Mir Jafar Dasni (died 841), Yezidi leader who rebelled against Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim
• Ja'far ibn al-Furat (921–1001), Ikhshidid and Fatimid vizier
• Jafar Khan Zand, King of Persia

Modern persons

Given name

• Mir Jafar (1691–1765), Nawab of Bengal
• Jafar Khan (died 1789), shah of Persia (1785–1789)
• Jafar al-Askari (1887–1936), prime minister of Iraq
• Ja'far Pishevari (1893-1947), Azerbaijani politician
• Jafar Sharif-Emami (1910–1998), Prime minister of Iran
• Jafar Shahidi (1918–2008), scholar of Persian language and literature and historian of Islam
• Gaafar Nimeiry (1930-2009), President of Sudan
• Ja'afar Touqan (born 1938), Palestinian-Jordanian architect
• Jafar Zafarani (born 1947), Iranian mathematician
• Jafar Bolhari (born 1948), Iranian psychiatrist
• Jafar Panahi (born 1960), Iranian filmmaker
• Sayed Mohammed Jaffer (born 1985), Bahraini footballer
• Jafar Ebrahimi, Iranian poet
• Mufti Jafar Hussain, Pakistani Shia mujtahid and political leader

Surname

• Ahmed Gaafar (born 1985), Egyptian footballer
• Ali Jaafar (died 2006), sports anchorman for Iraqi state television
• Badr Jafar, Emirati business executive
• Farouk Gaafar, Egyptian footballer
• Majid Jafar (born 1976), UAE businessman
• Rahim Jaffer (born 1971), Canadian politician
• Mustapha Ben Jafar (born 1940), Tunisian politician and doctor
• Onn Jaafar (1895–1962), Malay politician
• Said Mohamed Jaffar (1918–1993) president of the State of Comoros

Fictional characters

• Jafar, the main antagonist in Aladdin and its first sequel, The Return of Jafar
• Jafar, one of the primary antagonists in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, based in the above character
• Jaffar, a character in the Fire Emblem universe
• Jaffar, a character in Prince of Persia media
• Ja'far, a character in the manga Magi

See also

• Khawlah bint Ja'far
• Zubaidah bint Ja`far
• Jifar (name), Ethiopian variant of the name
• Jaffa (Stargate), a fictional race in Stargate, usually pronounced "Ja'fár"