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 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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