In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you *Portraits from the Lives of the Companions*
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Among the Banu 'Abd Manaf were five men
who bore the strongest resemblance to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
so much so that those with weak eyesight would frequently mistake the Prophet for them.
No doubt you wish to know these five who resembled your Prophet, upon him be the best of blessings and purest of peace.
So come, let us get to know them.
They are Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's cousin and foster brother;
Qutham ibn al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, also the Prophet's cousin;
al-Sa'ib ibn 'Ubayd ibn 'Abd Yazid ibn Hashim, the grandfather of Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him;
al-Hasan ibn 'Ali, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
who bore the closest resemblance of all five to the Prophet, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him;
and Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the brother of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.
So come, let us recount to you glimpses from the life of Ja'far.
Despite his noble status in Quraysh and his high standing among his people,
Abu Talib was a man of modest means and had many children to support.
His situation worsened considerably due to a severe drought that struck Quraysh,
destroying livestock and compelling people to consume decaying bones.
There was no one among Banu Hashim at that time
of greater means than Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah and his uncle al-'Abbas.
Muhammad said to al-'Abbas:
"O uncle, your brother Abu Talib has a large family,
and the people have been struck, as you see, by severe drought and gnawing hunger.
Let us go to him and relieve him of some of his dependents;
I shall take one of his sons and you take another,
so we may provide for the two of them on his behalf."
Al-'Abbas replied:
"You have indeed called to good and urged toward righteousness."
Then they went together until they came to Abu Talib,
and Muhammad said to him:
"We wish to relieve you of some of the burden of your dependents
until this hardship afflicting the people is lifted."
Abu Talib said to them:
"If you leave 'Aqil with me, then do as you wish."
So Muhammad took 'Ali into his care,
and al-'Abbas took Ja'far and added him to his household.
'Ali remained with Muhammad until Allah sent him with the religion of guidance and truth,
becoming the first among the youth to believe.
Ja'far remained with his uncle al-'Abbas
until he grew up, embraced Islam, and became self-sufficient.
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib joined the caravan of light,
along with his wife, Asma' bint 'Umays, from the very beginning of the journey.
They both embraced Islam at the hands of al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him,
before the Messenger entered the House of al-Arqam.
The Hashimite youth and his young wife suffered at the hands of Quraysh's persecution and torment
just as the early Muslims did.
Yet they endured the harm patiently,
knowing well that the path to Paradise is strewn with thorns
and surrounded by hardships.
But what troubled them and their brothers in faith most of all
was that Quraysh stood between them and the practice of the rites of Islam,
depriving them of tasting the sweetness of worship.
For Quraysh lay in wait for them at every turn, watching their every breath.
Thereupon, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib asked permission of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
to emigrate with his wife and a group of the Companions to the land of Abyssinia.
He granted them permission, sorrowful and grieved,
for it weighed heavily upon him that these pure, righteous souls were forced
to leave their homes and depart from the playgrounds of their childhood and the dwellings of their youth,
without having committed any crime
other than saying, "Our Lord is Allah."
Yet he possessed neither the force nor the means to protect them from the persecution of Quraysh.
The vanguard of the first emigrants set out for the land of Abyssinia,
led by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.
They settled under the protection of the Negus, its just and righteous king,
tasting security for the first time since embracing Islam,
and delighting in the sweetness of worship with nothing to disturb their devotion
or cloud the serenity of their happiness.
But no sooner did Quraysh learn of the departure of this group of Muslims to the land of Abyssinia,
and discover how they had obtained safety for their religion under the protection of its king
and security for their faith,
than they hastened to conspire against them, seeking to kill them or bring them back to the great prison.
So let us leave the narrative to Umm Salamah, that she may recount the event as her eyes saw it and her ears heard it.
Umm Salamah said: "When we arrived in the land of Abyssinia, we found the finest hospitality;
we were secure in our religion and worshipped Allah, our Lord, without being harmed or hearing anything we disliked.
When this reached Quraysh, they plotted against us and dispatched to the Negus two formidable men:
'Amr ibn al-'As and 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah.
They sent with them many gifts for the Negus and his bishops, consisting of the finest rarities from the land of the Hijaz.
They instructed them to give each bishop his gift before speaking to the King of Abyssinia regarding our affair.
When they arrived in Abyssinia, they met the Negus's bishops and presented each with his gift.
There was not a single bishop left to whom they did not give a present, saying to him:
'Some foolish youths among us have arrived in the King's land; they have abandoned the religion of their forefathers and divided their people.
When we speak to the King concerning them, advise him to surrender them to us without questioning them about their religion,
for the nobles of their people know them best and understand what they believe.'
The bishops agreed, saying, 'Yes.'
Umm Salamah said:
'Nothing was more abhorrent to 'Amr and his companion than the prospect of the Negus summoning any of us to hear our words.'
Then they came before the Negus and presented him with the gifts,
which he found delightful and admired.
Then they spoke to him, saying:
'O King, a group of our wicked youths have sought refuge in your kingdom;
they have introduced a religion known neither to us nor to you.
They have abandoned our religion without embracing yours.
The nobles of their people—their fathers, uncles, and kinsmen—have sent us to you
so that you may return them to their folk, for they know best the discord these youths have caused.'
The Negus looked toward his bishops,
and the bishops said:
'They speak the truth, O King;
their people know them best and are fully aware of what they have done.
So return them to them, that they may decide their fate.'
The King grew intensely angry at his bishops' words and said:
'No, by Allah! I shall not surrender them to anyone until I summon them and question them about what has been attributed to them.
If they are as these two men say, I will hand them over to them;
but if they are otherwise, I shall protect them and grant them generous hospitality as long as they reside near me.'
Umm Salamah said:
'Then the Negus sent for us, summoning us to meet him.
So we gathered before going to him,
and we said to one another:
"The King will surely ask you about your religion,
so proclaim openly what you believe,
and let Ja'far ibn Abi Talib speak on your behalf,
and let no one else speak."'
Umm Salamah said:
'Then we went to the Negus,
and we found that he had assembled his bishops,
who sat to his right and to his left,
donning their robes,
wearing their cowls,
with their scriptures laid out before them.
We also found 'Amr ibn al-'As
and 'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah in his presence.
When we were seated,
the Negus turned to us and said:
"What is this religion that you have innovated for yourselves,
by which you have departed from the religion of your people,
yet have not entered into my religion,
nor into any of these other faiths?"
Thereupon Ja'far ibn Abi Talib stepped forward and said:
"O King,
we were a people of ignorance (*jahiliyyah*),
worshipping idols, eating unslaughtered carrion,
committing abominations, severing ties of kinship,
mistreating our neighbors,
and the strong among us devoured the weak.
We remained in this state
until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among ourselves,
whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we knew well.
He called us to Allah,
to declare His oneness and worship Him,
and to cast off whatever we and our forefathers used to worship
besides Him of stones and idols.
He commanded us to speak the truth, to fulfill trusts,
to maintain kinship ties, to be good neighbors,
to refrain from forbidden acts and bloodshed.
He forbade us from indecencies, false testimony,
devouring the orphan's property, and slandering chaste women.
He commanded us to worship Allah alone,
“Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him).” (3:64)
to establish prayer, to pay zakat,
and to fast during Ramadan.
So we believed him and had faith in him,
and we followed him in all that he brought from Allah.
We deemed lawful what he made lawful for us,
and we deemed forbidden what he prohibited to us.
But our people, O King,
attacked us with hostility,
torturing us severely to turn us away from our religion
and force us back to the worship of idols.
So when they wronged us, subjugated us, constrained us,
and stood between us and our religion,
[we emigrated] to your country,
chose you above all others,
sought your protection,
and hoped that we would not be wronged in your presence."
Umm Salamah said:
'The Negus then turned to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib
and asked, "Do you have with you anything of what your Prophet brought from Allah?"
He replied, "Yes."
The Negus said, "Then recite it to me."
So he recited the opening portion of Surah Maryam.
Umm Salamah said:
'The Negus wept until his beard was drenched with tears,
and his bishops wept until their scriptures were soaked,
upon hearing what was recited from the words of Allah.
Thereupon the Negus said to us:
"Verily, this which your Prophet has brought
and that which Jesus brought
emanate from the very same source of light."
Then he turned to 'Amr and his companion
and said to them, "Depart,
for by Allah, I shall never surrender them to you!"'
Umm Salamah said:
'When we left the presence of the Negus,
'Amr ibn al-'As threatened us,
saying to his companion:
"By Allah, I will come to the King tomorrow
and mention something about them that will fill his chest with rage against them,
charge his heart with hatred for them,
and drive him to uproot them completely!"
'Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'ah said to him:
"Do not do so, O 'Amr,
for they are our kinsmen,
even if they have opposed us."
But 'Amr said to him:
"Leave this aside!
"By Allah, I will surely tell him something that will shake the very ground beneath their feet!
By Allah, I will tell him
that they claim Jesus, son of Mary, is merely a servant!"
The next morning,
'Amr went to the Negus
and said to him, "O King!
Those whom you have sheltered and protected
say a dreadful thing
about Jesus, son of Mary!
Send for them
and ask them what they say about him."
Umm Salamah said:
"When we learned of this,
we were overcome with such distress and grief
as we had never experienced before.
We said to one another,
'What will you say about Jesus, son of Mary,
when the King asks you about him?'
We replied,
'By Allah, we shall say nothing about him except what Allah has said,
and we will not depart in the least
from what our Prophet brought,
come what may.'
Then we agreed that the one who would speak
on our behalf once again would be Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.
When the Negus summoned us,
we entered his court
and found his bishops seated around him in the same manner
as we had seen them before,
and we found 'Amr ibn al-'As and his companion with him.
When we stood before him,
he addressed us immediately, saying,
'What do you say about Jesus, son of Mary?'
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib said to him,
'We say concerning him only what our Prophet, peace be upon him, brought.'
The Negus asked,
'And what does he say about him?'
Ja'far replied,
'He says of him
that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger,
and His spirit and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, the virgin maiden.'
No sooner had the Negus heard Ja'far's words
than he struck the ground with his hand and said,
'By Allah!
By Allah, Jesus, son of Mary, did not exceed what your Prophet has brought by the width of a single hair!'
At this, the bishops around the Negus snorted loudly
in outrage at what they had heard from him.
He said, 'Even if you snort!'
Then he turned to us and said,
'Go, for you are safe and secure.
Whoever insults you shall be fined,
and whoever harms you shall be punished.
By Allah, I would not like to have a mountain of gold
if it meant that any one of you should suffer harm.'
Then he looked at 'Amr and his companion and said,
'Return these two men's gifts to them,
for I have no need of them.'"
Umm Salamah said:
"So 'Amr and his companion departed, broken and humiliated,
dragging the tails of bitter disappointment.
As for us,
we stayed with the Negus in the best of abodes, under the care of the most generous host."
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib spent,
along with his wife, ten years in the realm of the Negus,
living in safety and tranquility.
In the seventh year of the Hijrah,
he departed from the land of Abyssinia with a group of Muslims,
heading for Yathrib.
When they arrived there,
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
had just returned from Khaybar,
after Allah had granted him victory over it.
He rejoiced exceedingly at meeting Ja'far,
so much so that he said,
"I do not know which of the two delights me more:
the conquest of Khaybar,
or the arrival of Ja'far?"
The joy of the Muslims in general,
and the poor among them in particular, over Ja'far's return
was no less than the joy of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
For Ja'far had immense compassion for the weak
and showed them abundant kindness,
to the extent that he was called "the Father of the Poor."
Abu Hurayrah narrated concerning him, saying:
"The best of people to us, the community of the poor,
was Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.
He would take us to his home
and feed us whatever he had.
When his food ran out,
he would bring out for us the leather container in which clarified butter was kept,
even though nothing remained inside it,
and we would slit it open and lick whatever was left sticking to its sides."
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib's stay in Medina was not long.
At the beginning of the eighth year of the Hijrah,
the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, prepared an army
to confront the Romans in the land of the Levant (al-Sham).
He appointed Zayd ibn Harithah as commander of the army,
saying, "If Zayd is killed or wounded,
then the commander shall be Ja'far ibn Abi Talib.
If Ja'far is killed or wounded,
then the commander shall be 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah.
And if 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah is killed or wounded,
then let the Muslims choose a commander from among themselves."
When the Muslims reached Mu'tah,
a village located on the outskirts of the Levant in Jordan,
they found that the Romans had prepared an army of one hundred thousand,
reinforced by another one hundred thousand Christian Arabs
from the tribes of Lakhm, Judham, Quda'ah, and others.
As for the Muslim army,
it consisted of only three thousand men.
No sooner had the two forces clashed
and the fierce battle commenced,
than Zayd ibn Harithah fell,
slain while charging forward without turning his back.
Thereupon, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib swiftly leaped
from the back of a reddish-blonde mare of his,
hamstrung her with his sword
so that the enemy could not make use of her after him,
took up the banner, and plunged deep into the Roman ranks,
chanting:
"O welcome Paradise as it draws near,
so sweet and with its refreshing, cool drinks!
The Romans are Romans whose punishment is near,
disbelievers of alien lineage;
upon me is to strike them down when we meet!"
He continued to charge through the enemy lines,
striking and fighting with his sword,
until a blow struck him, severing his right hand.
He then seized the banner with his left hand,
but soon another blow struck him, severing his left hand.
He clasped the banner with his chest and upper arms,
but soon a third blow struck him,
cutting him into two halves.
'Abdullah ibn Rawahah then took up the banner from him,
until he too was united in martyrdom with his companions.
News reached the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
of the death of his three commanders,
and he grieved over them with the deepest and most painful sorrow.
He went to the house of his cousin, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib,
and found his wife, Asma',
preparing to receive her absent husband.
She had kneaded her dough,
washed her sons, anointed their hair, and dressed them in clean clothes.
Asma' said:
"When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, entered upon us,
I saw a veil of sorrow cloaking his noble face,
and fear crept into my heart,
though I did not wish to ask him about Ja'far
out of dread of hearing what I feared."
He greeted her and said,
"Bring me the children of Ja'far."
She called them for him,
and they rushed toward him full of joy and excitement,
crowding around him,
each wanting his full attention.
He leaned over them,
began to smell and embrace them,
while his eyes overflowed with tears.
She said, "O Messenger of Allah!
May my father and mother be ransomed for you, what makes you weep?
Has any news reached you regarding Ja'far and his companions?"
He said, "Yes,
they were martyred this day."
At that moment,
the smiles vanished from the children's faces
when they heard their mother weeping and wailing,
and they froze in their places as though birds were perched on their heads.
As for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
he walked away, wiping away his tears,
and saying:
"O Allah, look after Ja'far's children in his stead!
O Allah, care for Ja'far's family in his stead!"
Then he said:
"I have seen Ja'far in Paradise,
with two wings drenched in blood,
flying wherever he wills."
"I have seen Ja'far in Paradise,
with two wings drenched in blood,
flying wherever he wills."
A noble hadith.