Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman

Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-ʾAsadī
محمد بن عثمان الأسدي
Deputy of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi
In office
881–917
Preceded byUthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi
Succeeded byAbu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti
Personal life
Died917 CE
RegionIraq
Known forSecond of the Four Deputies
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationShia
JurisprudenceJa'fari
CreedTwelver
Muslim leader
Disciple ofMuhammad al-Mahdi

Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAmrī al-Asadī (Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد بن عثمان بن سعيد العمري الأسدي) was the second of the Four Deputies, who are believed by Twelver Shia Muslims to have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Abu Ja'far in this role succeeded his father, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, the first deputy. After some forty years in office, Abu Ja'far died in 304 or 305 AH (917 or 918 CE) and was succeeded by Ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti, the third deputy. Abu Ja'far has been credited with the unification of the mainstream Shia.