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JAFAR
IBN ABI TALIB Radhia
Allahu Anaha
In
spite of his noble standing among the Quraysh, Abu Talib,
an uncle of the Prophet, was quite poor. He had a large
family and did not have enough means to support them
adequately. His poverty-stricken situation became much
worse when a severe drought hit the Arabian peninsula. The
drought destroyed vegetation and livestock and, it is
said, people were driven to eat bones in the struggle for
survival.
It
was during this time of drought, before his call to
prophethood, that Muhammad said to his uncle, al Abbas:
"Your brother, Abu Talib, has a large family. People
as you see have been afflicted by this severe drought and
are facing starvation. Let us go to Abu Talib and take
over responsibility for some of his family. It will take
one of his sons and you can taken another and we will look
after them."
"What
you suggest is certainly righteous and commendable,"
replied al-Abbas, and together they went to Abu Talib and
said to him: "We want to ease some of the burden of
your family until such time as this distressing period has
gone." Abu Talib agreed.
"If
you allow me to keep Aqeel (one of his sons older than
Ali), then you may do whatever you like ," he said.
It
was in this way that Muhammad took Ali into his household
and al-Abbas took Jafar into his. Jafar had a very close
resemblance to the Prophet. It is said there were five men
from the Hashim clan who resembled the Prophet so much,
they were often mistaken for him. They were: Abu Sufyan
ibn al-Harith and Qutham ibn al-Abbas both of whom were
cousins of his. As-Saib ibn Ubayd, the grandfather of Imam
ash Shafi: al-Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet,
who resembled him most of all; and Jafar ibn Abi Talib.
Jafar
stayed with his uncle, al-Abbas, until he was a young man.
Then he married Asma bint Umays, a sister of Maymunah who
was later to become a wife of the Prophet. After his
marriage, Jafar went to live on his own. He and his wife
were among the first persons to accept Islam. He became a
Muslim at the hands of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may God be
pleased with him.
The
young Jafar and his wife were devoted followers of Islam.
They bore the harsh treatment and the persecution of the
Quraysh with patience and steadfastness because they both
realized that the road to Paradise was strewn with. thorns
and paved with pain and hardship.
The
Quraysh made life intolerable for them both and for their
brethren in faith. They tried to obstruct them from
observing or performing the duties and rites of Islam.
They prevented them from tasting the full sweetness of
worship undisturbed. The Quraysh waylaid them at every
turn and severely restricted their freedom of movement.
Jafar
eventually went to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and
sought permission for himself and a small group of the
Sahabah, including his wife, to make hijrah to the land of
Abyssinia. With great sadness, the Prophet gave his
permission. It pained him that these pure and righteous
souls should be forced to leave their homes and the
familiar and cherished scenes and memories of their
childhood and youth, not for any crime but only because
they said, "Our Lord is One. Allah is our Lord."
The
group of Muhajirin left Makkah bound for the land of
Abyssinia. Leading them was Jafar ibn Abi Talib. Soon they
settled down in this new land under the care and
protection of the Negus, the just and righteous ruler of
Abyssinia. For the first time since they became Muslims,
they savoured the taste of freedom and security and
enjoyed the sweetness of worship undisturbed.
When
the Quraysh learnt of the departure of the small group of
Muslims and the peaceful life they enjoyed under the
protection of the Negus, they made plans to secure their
extradition and their return to the great prison that was
Makkah. They sent two of their most formidable men, Amr
ibn al-Aas and Abdullah ibn Abi Rabiah, to accomplish this
task and loaded them with valuable and much sought after
presents for the Negus and his bishops.
In
Abyssinia, the two Quraysh emissaries first presented
their girls to the bishops and to each of them they said:
"There are some wicked young people moving about
freely in the King's land. They have attacked the religion
of their forefathers and caused disunity among their
people. When we speak to the King about them, advise him
to surrender them to us without his asking them about
their religion. The respected leaders of their own people
are more aware of them and know better what they
believe."
The
bishops agreed.
Amr
and Abdullah then went to the Negus himself and presented
him with gifts which he greatly admired. They said to him:
"O King, there is a group of evil persons from among
our youth who have escaped to your kingdom. They practice
a religion which neither we nor you know. They have
forsaken our religion and have not entered into your
religion. The respected leaders of their people - from
among their own parents and uncles. and from their own
clans - have sent us to you to request you to return them.
They know best what trouble they have caused."
The
Negus looked towards his bishops who said: "They
speak the truth, O King. Their own people know them better
and are better acquainted with what they have done. Send
them back so that they themselves might judge them."
The
Negus was quite angry with this suggestion and said:
"No. By God, I won't surrender them to anyone until I
myself call them and question them about what they have
been accused. If what these two men have said is true,
then I will hand them over to you. If however it is not
so, then I shall protect them so long as they desire to
remain under my protection."
The
Negus then summoned the Muslims to meet him. Before going,
they consulted with one another as a group and agreed that
Jafar ibn Abi Talib and no one else should speak on their
behalf.
In
the court of the Negus, the bishops, dressed in green
surplises and impressive headgear, were seated on his
right and on his left. The Qurayshite emissaries were also
seated when the Muslims entered and took their seats. The
Negus turned to them and asked:
"What
is this religion which you have introduced for yourself
and which has served to cut you off from the religion of
your people? You also did not enter my religion nor the
religion of any other community."
Jafar
ibn Abi Talib then advanced and made a speech that was
moving and eloquent and which is still one of the most
compelling descriptions of Islam. the appeal of the noble
Prophet and the condition of Makkan society at the time.
He said: "O King, we were a people in a state of
ignorance and immorality, worshipping idols and eating the
flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination
and shameful deeds. breaking the ties of kinship, treating
guests badly and the strong among us exploited the weak.
"We remained in this state until Allah sent us a
Prophet, one of our own people whose lineage,
truthfulness, trustworthiness and integrity were
well-known to us. "He called us to worship Allah
alone and to renounce the stones and the idols which we
and our ancestors used to worship besides Allah.
"He
commanded us to speak the truth, to honor our promises, to
be kind to our relations, to be helpful to our neighbors,
to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from bloodshed. to
avoid obscenities and false witness, not to appropriate an
orphan's property nor slander chaste women.
"He
ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to associate
anything with him, to uphold Salat, to give Zakat and fast
in the month of Ramadan.
"We
believed in him and what he brought to us from Allah and
we follow him in what he has asked us to do and we keep
away from what he forbade us from doing.
"Thereupon,
O King, our people attacked us, visited the severest
punishment on us to make us renounce our religion and take
us back to the old immorality and the worship of idols.
"They
oppressed us, made life intolerable for us and obstructed
us from observing our religion. So we left for your
country, choosing you before anyone else, desiring your
protection and hoping to live in Justice and in peace m
your midst."
The
Negus was impressed and was eager to hear more. He asked
Jafar: "Do you have with you something of what your
Prophet
brought concerning God?" "Yes," replied
Jafar.
"Then
read it to me," requested the Negus. Jafar, in his
rich, melodious voice recited for him the first portion of
Surah Maryam which deals with the story of Jesus and his
mother Mary.
On
hearing the words of the Quran, the Negus was moved to
tears. To the Muslims, he said: "The message of your
Prophet and that of Jesus came from the same
source..." To Amr and his companion, he said:"
Go. For, by God, I will never surrender them to you."
That, however, was not the end of the matter. The wily Amr
made up his mind to go to the King the following day
"to mention something about the Muslims belief which
will certainly fill his heart with anger and make him
detest them" On the morrow, Amr went to the Negus and
said:
"O
King. these people to whom you have given refuge and whom
you protect say something terrible about Jesus the son of
Mary (that he is a slave). Send for them and ask them what
they say about him."
The
Negus summoned the Muslims once more and Jafar acted as
their spokesman. The Negus put the question: "What do
you say about Jesus, the son of Mary?"
"Regarding
him, we only say what has been revealed to our Prophet
," replied Jaffar. "And what is that?"
enquired the Negus.
"Our
Prophet says that Jesus is the servant of God and His
Prophet. His spirit and His word which He cast into Mary
the Virgin."
The
Negus was obviously excited by this reply and exclaimed:
"By God, Jesus the son of Mary was exactly as your
Prophet has described him"
The
bishops around the Negus grunted in disgust at what they
had heard and were reprimanded by the Negus. He turned to
the Muslims and said:
"Go,
for you are safe and secure. Whoever obstructs you will
pay for it and whoever opposes you will be punished. For,
by God, I would rather not have a mountain of gold than
that anyone of you should come to any harm."
Turning
to Amr and his companion, he instructed his attendants:
"Return their gifts to these two men. I have no need
of them." Amr and his companion left broken and
frustrated. The Muslims stayed on in the land of the Negus
who proved to be most generous and kind to his guests.
Jafar
and his wife Asma spent about ten years in Abyssinia which
became a second home for them. There, Asma gave birth to
three children whom they named Abdullah, Muhammad and Awn.
Their second child was possibly the first child in the
history of the Muslim Ummah to be given the name Muhammad
after the noble Prophet, may God bless him and grant him
peace.
In
the seventh year of the hijrah, Jafar and his family left
Abyssinia with a group of Muslims and headed for Madinah.
When they arrived the Prophet was just returning from the
successful conquest of Khaybar. He was so overjoyed at
meeting Jafar that he said: "I do not know what fills
me with more happiness, the conquest of Khaybar or the
coming of Jafar."
Muslims
in general and the poor among them especially were just as
happy with the return of Jafar as the Prophet was. Jafar
quickly became known as a person who was much concerned
for the welfare of the poor and indigent. For this he was
nicknamed, the "Father of the Poor". Abu
Hurayrah said of him: "The best of men towards us
indigent folk was Jafar ibn Abi Talib. He would pass by us
on his way home and give us whatever food he had. Even if
his own food had run out, he would send us a pot in which
he had placed some butterfat and nothing more. We would
open it and lick it clean..."
Jafar's
stay in Madinah was not long. At the beginning of the
eighth year of the hijrah, the Prophet mobilized an army
to confront Byzantine forces in Syria because one of his
emissaries who had gone in peace had been treacherously
killed by a Byzantine governor. He appointed Zayd ibn
Harithah as commander of the army and gave the following
instructions: "If Zayd is wounded or killed, Jafar
ibn Abi Talib would take over the command. If Jafar is
killed or wounded, then your commander would be Abdullah
ibn Rawahah. If Abdullah ibn Rawahah is killed, then let
the Muslims choose for themselves a commander."
The
Prophet had never given such instructions to an army
before and the Muslims took this as an indication that he
expected the battle to be tough and that they would even
suffer major losses.
When
the Muslim army reached Mutah, a small village situated
among hills in Jordan, they discovered that the Byzantines
had amassed a hundred thousand men backed up by a massive
number of Christian Arabs from the tribes of Lakhm,
Judham, Qudaah and others. The Muslim army only numbered
three thousand.
Despite
the great odds against them, the Muslim forces engaged the
Byzantines in battle. Zayd ibn al-Harithah, the beloved
companion of the Prophet, was among the first to fall.
Jafar ibn Abi Talib then assumed command. Mounted on his
ruddy-complexioned horse, he penetrated deep into the
Byzantine ranks. As he spurred his horse on, he called
out: "How wonderful is Paradise as it draws near! How
pleasant and cool is its drink! Punishment for the
Byzantines is not far away!" Jafar continued to fight
vigorously but was eventually slain. The third in command,
Abdullah ibn Rawahah, also fell. Khalid ibn al-Walid, the
inveterate fighter who had recently accepted Islam, was
then chosen as the commander. He made a tactical
withdrawal, redeployed the Muslims and renewed the attack
from several directions. Eventually, the bulk of the
Byzantine forces fled in disarray.
The
news of the death of his three commanders reached the
Prophet in Madinah. The pain and grief he felt was
intense. He went to Jafar's house and met his wife Asma.
She was getting ready to receive her absent husband. She
had prepared dough and bathed and clothed the children.
Asma said: "When the Messenger of God approached us,
I saw a veil of sadness shrouding his noble face and I
became very apprehensive. But I did not dare ask him about
Jafar for fear that I would hear some unpleasant news. He
greeted and asked, 'Where are Jaffar's children?' I called
them for him and they came and crowded around him happily,
each one wanting to claim him for himself. He leaned over
and hugged them while tears flowed from his eyes.
'O
Messenger of God,' I asked, 'why do you cry? Have you
heard anything about Jafar and his two companions?'
'Yes,'
he replied. 'They have attained martyrdom.' The smiles and
the laughter vanished from the faces of the little
children when they heard their mother crying and wailing.
Women came and gathered around Asma.
"O
Asma," said the Prophet, "don't say anything
objectionable and don't beat your breast." He then
prayed to God to protect and sustain the family of Jafar
and assured them that he had attained Paradise.
The
Prophet left Asma's house and went to his daughter Fatimah
who was also weeping. To her, he said: "For such as
Jafar, you can (easily) cry yourself to death. Prepare
food for Jafar's family for today they are beside
themselves with grief."
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