Sheik Sadooq’s father too was a person of high erudition. Imam Hassan Askari (a.s) had written a letter to him in the following manner:
After praising Allah, His Prophet (s.a) and the Imams (a.s), he addressed the Sheik as Mautamad (Secretary) and Cleric, Abal Hassan Ali ibne Hussain Babawiya Qummi. Then he prayed for the Sheik to be endowed with righteous progeny. Then he made a lengthy exhortation to the Sheik asking him to establish prayer, pay the Zakat and fulfill his obligations towards his kin (Sila ar Rehm).
He also asked the Sheik to cultivate the habit of offering the Nightly Prayers ( Namaz e Shab). The Imam (a.s) said that he was making this exhortation because the Prophet (s.a), in his last moments, had said to Hazrat Ali (a.s), ‘ O Ali! Offer the Namaz e Shab! One who belittled the Namaz e Shab has no relationship with us!’ Then the Imam (a.s) writes to the Sheik that it was his bounden duty to guide the Shias to implicitly follow this exhortation. In the end the Imam (a.s) exhorted the Sheik to ardently await the arrival of the Last Imam (a.s) because the Prophet (s.a) had said that the best act for his Umma was to await the arrival of the Imam (a.s)! Then Imam Hassan Askari (a.s) concluded the letter with some details about the Last Imam (a.s)”
Sheik Sudooq’s father, the 4th Deputy of the Imam (a.s) and Mohammed ibne Yaqub Kulaini died in the year 329 H. In that year many other prominent clerics too died. Therefore it is called the Year of the Breaking of the Stars. It is mentioned in the books of history that one day the 4th Deputy of the Imam (a.s), Ali ibne Mohammed Samri, was setting with an assembly of persons in Baghdad when he said, “Yarham Allah– May Allah be kind on Ali ibne Hussain Babawiya Qummi!” When he uttered these words, the assembled persons asked him the reason for saying what he said. They said that these words are used for deceased persons and Ali ibne Hussain Babawiya Qummi was alive. He replied that the person had just died. The assembly was surprised and they made a note of the date and time of the statement. When a caravan arrived at Baghdad , after many months, from Qum, they informed that their erudite cleric, Ali ibne Hussain Babawiya Qummi had expired on that day and at the time mentioned by Ali ibne Mhammed Samri sitting with his friends at Baghdad.
Sheik Sadooq’s father was married to the daughter of his paternal uncle, Mohammed ibne Hassan babawiya Qummi. For a very long time he remained issueless. It is said that when Hussain ibne Rooh was ordained the 3rd Deputy of the 12th Imam (a.s), Sheik Sudooq’s father was still residing in Qum and Hussain ibne Rooh was a resident of Baghdad that is hundreds of miles away from there. In those days traversing that distance was rather a difficult task. The Sheikh’s father once traveled to Baghdad. That was the time when the 2nd Deputy of the Imam (a.s) had expired and Hussain ibne Rooh had assumed charge of his responsibilities. .Ali ibne Babawiya Qummi met him and had a long discussion on many issues. Some scholars are of the view that after meeting the Deputy, he personally went to the presence of the Imam (a.s). But there isn’t any positive proof of this meeting. After this visit, Ali Ibne Babawiya returned back to Qum.
After returning to Qum he sent a letter to Hussain Ibne Rooh through a person, Ali ibne Jafar, requesting him to communicate his submission to the Imam (a.s) to offer prayer to Allah for endowing him with issues. Hussain ibne Rooh replied to him saying that he would present his case to the Imam (a.s) and would revert back with the reply in three days. There are different versions recorded by different scholars. But the sum total is that the Imam (a.s) had replied that Ali Ibne Babawiya will remain issueless from his the then spouse and that soon he would marry a Kaneez hailing from Deelam who would bear him children who will be a source of blessing to him. Deelam is a place in Iraq. The Imam (a.s) also said that this spouse would bear him 2 sons who will be erudite scholars and clerics and would be a great source of benefit to the people. He was also asked by the Imam (a.s) to name one of the son’s as Muhammed and the other as Hussain. In the end the Imam (a.s) communicated to him that he would pray to Allah that the two sons should bring him both spiritual and worldly benefit. The actual year of the birth of Sheik Sadooq isn’t recorded by any historian with authority. But they have made a circumstantial guess that since his father met Hussain Ibne Rooh in 305 H and communicated his request, Sheik Sadooq must have taken birth either in 305 H or 306 H. Sheik Sadooq always took pride in the fact that he was born with the special prayer of the 12trh Imam (a.s) and also that he was given a name by the Imam (a.s) himself. The given name of Sheik Sadooq was Mohammed and his younger brother was named Hussain. Sheik Sadooq had another brother who, although a very pious person, wasn’t an erudite scholar unlike his elder brothers.
In their early days of education, Mohammed and Hussain, were known for their memory and power of retention. Whatever they heard once, never escaped their memory. The people of Qum used to be surprised at this faculty of the little brothers. Their mentors used to be surprised at the prowess of these children. Sheik Sadooq was known to the people as Sadooq because of his implicit truthfulness. His truthfulness was complemented by his strong memory that he remembered every event verbatim and was able to recount it word for word! Thus he is rightly remembered with the title of Sadooq!!
The Sheik and his father together are remembered as Sadooqain—or the two truthful ones! If you find a mention in any book quoting Sadooq, it would mean that the reference is only to him. But if in another place the mention is of Sadooqain, the reference is both to the son and the father