The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khawla Bint Hakim & Uthman Ibn Madhun: The Righteous Couple | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Al-Shifa bint Abdullah (ra): The Healer and Scholar | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Shurahbil Ibn Hasana (ra): The Scribe and Commander | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra): The Legendary Military General | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Amr ibn al-As (ra): His Wicked Father and “Better” Brother | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid (ra): From False Prophet to Shaheed | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Zayd ibn al-Khattab (ra): The Quiet Brother of Omar (ra) | The Firsts
Jafar Ibn Abi Talib (ra): Flying in Paradise
Before he earned his wings in Paradise, he earned a special place in the heart of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He went down in history as the eloquent young man who brought a king in Abyssinia to Islam.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back to the first and inshallah ta'ala tonight we will continue with Ja'far ibn Abi Talib radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and his story of Islam. Now I want to just start off by saying that sometimes you have some of these firsts, some of these nobles that are overlooked because of who they're related to. And so when you think about the children of Abi Talib and Fatima bint Asad you obviously think of none other than Ali ibn Abi Talib radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. But Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is truly a special person and special in his own right. Not just because of who he's related to but because of who he himself would become radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And you know if you've watched the movie The Message that's when a lot of people saw the role of Ja'far in Abyssinia and that's really probably the only incident that most people can recall when they're thinking about Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is the role that he played in Abyssinia. But his life is just full of benefits and full of quality for us to take lessons from and for us to really appreciate the role that he played in setting the stage for Islam. And so when you talk about the firsts, Ja'far radiAllahu anhu is not only one of the first converts he's part of the first hijrah to Abyssinia even though he's from the second batch to Abyssinia which is modern day Ethiopia. He's from the first to do hijrah for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in that sense to migrate for the sake of Allah. He's the first to do da'wah to a king. He's the first to have a king convert to Islam at his hand. He is amongst the first Muslims who would be martyred in battle as a commander which we'll see in the battle of Mu'tah. He's the first to recite Quran in the court of a king. You have so many different ways to look at it but he is someone that holds much to his own right.
And I want us to really appreciate him insha'Allah ta'ala as we go through his life. Amongst his names he's known as Abu Abdillah because of his son Abdullah and Dhul Janahain the one with two wings which obviously has a beautiful story to it insha'Allah ta'ala that we will talk about. Now a lot of the family history of Banu Hashim we covered when we talked about Ali and Fatima may Allah be pleased with them but I want to talk about just a little bit once again about the way that Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu comes into the picture and reminds everyone who his mother is. We know his father Abu Talib and his mother is Fatima bint Asad radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anha who if you remember was the first Hashimi woman to accept Islam. The first woman from the tribe of Banu Hashim to accept Islam and some say the 10th or the 11th person to accept Islam, the one who the Prophet sallall Now, if you remember with Fatima bint Asad, when she accepted Islam, she accepted Islam instantly. And she was amongst those, by the way, who considered to make hijrah to Abyssinia with her son, Ja'far, and with her daughter-in-law. But she had a specific love for Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, because Ja'far looked like the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And so her love of Ja'far was connected to his resemblance of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, which we will talk about. So amongst the children of Abu Talib and the cousins of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, no one looked more like the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
than Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And if you remember the names, the way that these names are chosen, and the children of Abu Talib all had something to live up to. There was actually a khutbah that you can find called, What's in a Name, right? We talked about the importance of naming your children with lofty names that they can aspire to. And you look at Abu Talib and how he named his four sons. We said Talib is the oldest, and each one of them has 10 years between them. So Talib is the oldest son, same age as the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And Talib means someone with high aspirations. Aqeel, who's 10 years younger than Talib, is someone with high intellect. Okay, someone with high intellect. Ja'far is 10 years after Aqeel. And Ja'far means someone with high eloquence, okay, with flowing speech and compassion. And this refers to a flowing river or a cow with extra milk. And we know that milk is ilm, milk is knowledge. So he's elevated in his intellect, or elevated in his eloquence in this regard, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu refers to one who is high in nobility, aluwash-sharaf. And we can see, subhanAllah, the way that these names actually would play out. So Ja'far is the brother that comes right before Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And if you remember the story of how Ali ended up in the house of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, it gives us some insight into how Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was raised as well. Al-Abbas came to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and they spoke about the poverty of Abu Talib. So Al-Abbas, who is the brother of Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, comes to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and he says that, you know that Abu Talib is going through
some difficult times, that he is suffering from poverty. And he suggests to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, how about we make things easy on him by helping him with his children? So you take one of his children and I will take one of his children and we'll raise them to lighten the burden on Abu Talib. So they go to Abu Talib together and Abu Talib says, you know, as they present that, you know, we can take two of your children to raise them to lessen the burden that is upon you. Abu Talib says, you can take all of them or you can take whoever you want from amongst them, but just make sure you leave me, Aqeel. So Abu Talib loved Aqeel in particular in a special way. So he said, look, you can take one of them each, but make sure you leave me Aqeel. Now, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam at this point of course, is living in a much better financial situation, being married to Khadijah radiAllahu ta'ala Anha. And if you haven't deciphered it yet, Al-Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anha was also someone who was in a better financial state, who was skilled in his trade and often is referenced in that regard, in regards to his successful business endeavors when we're talking about some of these other people. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam takes Ali and Al-Abbas takes Ja'far, okay? So you can imagine them leaving the house of Abu Talib, Ja'far is going to go live with Al-Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and be raised in his house. Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu would go with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and be raised in his house. And as we said, it is the divine planning of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that Ali was not officially adopted, which of course, tabanni was a practice in jahliyyah, which was to actually fully take on the name of the person that adopts you. He never became Ali ibn Muhammad, he was never breastfed by Khadijah,
even though Khadijah radiAllahu Anha had flowing milk. And this was Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's divine planning that would allow him to marry Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala Anha. As for Ja'far, he was raised by Al-Abbas in the same way that Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu was raised by the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, like a son, but at the same time, the difference between Ali's relationship with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and the relationship of Ja'far with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was beyond just the fact that Ali was raised in his house. Because of the age of Ja'far, Ja'far had a different type of relationship with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Right, so he was older than Ali, he was 10 years older than Ali, and he had a different relationship with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam that was more like a younger brother. And this is something that we'll see the deep love that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam has for Ja'far, which also gives us this idea of silatur rahim, to enjoy good family relations beyond just the siblings, beyond just your own children and your aunts and your uncles. But here you see the importance of having these strong relationships with our cousins, with our family members in the extended sense. So anyway, when does Ja'far embrace Islam? Some of the reports say that he was as early as the 15th or 16th person to accept Islam. So even though we don't have any specific records of the exact time of the conversion of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, we know that it was very early on, and we know that there was no hesitation. Of course, Banu Hashim, you know, you found the likes of Abu Lahab and you found the likes of Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And if Ali radiAllahu anhu embraced Islam that early, and then Fatima bint Asad embraced Islam that early, Ja'far is amongst those who embraced Islam very early on with his cousin, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And the dates suggest that it was probably just like we saw with Sa'eed bin Zayd and Fatima bint al-Khattab, Ja'far and his wife Asmaa bint Umais accepting Islam together. Now, who is Asmaa bint Umais? If you remember the story of Lubaba, when we talked about al-akhawat al-mu'minat, the believing sisters, as we talked about Lubaba bint al-Harith radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So Asmaa bint Umais is one of al-akhawat al-mu'minat, one of the believing sisters, the early Muslim women that would dedicate themselves to this cause, that would give themselves to the cause of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the messenger of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. The way that we see in Lubaba radiAllahu anhu's case and Maymunah bint al-Harith and Salma bint Umais, that same type of devotion in coming close to Allah and the messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. So you have Ja'far and Asmaa accepting Islam together. Now, we don't have much about their life before the migration to Abyssinia, before the migration to al-Habasha, but we do know that they were amongst the family of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and they were in that situation subjected to similar persecution. And that the persecution became so severe for Ja'far and Asmaa, that they sought permission to be amongst those that would go out to Abyssinia. And so we know that they were severely persecuted and we know that the next chapter in history would indicate the favor of Allah and the messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam upon Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu by choosing him to not just be amongst those that would go to Abyssinia, but to actually be the leader of this batch that would include some of the most noble of the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
the likes of Uthman, the likes of Ruqayya, the daughter of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, the likes of Zubair ibn al-Awwam, and Asmaa ibn Abi Bakr, and Ubadah ibn Samit, and Abu Salam, and Umm Salama. And the list goes on of some of the most noble companions that were in that batch of Abyssinia that would make hijrah to Abyssinia. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would choose Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who was amongst the youngest of them to be their spokesperson, to be their leader. And this is also something about the youth and the way that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was able to activate and empower the younger people amongst the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was in his early 20s when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam sent him to Abyssinia, but the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam still appointed him to be that first ambassador and that first spokesperson for Islam. And look how Ja'far would rise to the occasion. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he told the companions without knowing al-Najashi, without knowing the ruler of Abyssinia, As-Hama al-Najashi, personally, but he knew of his qualities and certainly through divine guidance, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, if you go to al-Habasha, if you go to Abyssinia, it is best for you, for their ruler will not tolerate injustice and it is a friendly country. So stay there until Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la relieves you from your distress. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is testifying to the justice of a Christian ruler in Abyssinia. And the messenger of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam will send with Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu as well, an invitation to Islam, to the ruler of Abyssinia, knowing that Najashi is a righteous man and he is someone who the truth will resonate with. Now this is a risky move, obviously, because if these people go to Abyssinia
and a Najashi finds them to be amongst, you know, those that are like, they have been characterized by the people of Mecca and a Najashi punishes them and persecutes them, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would have lost the finest batch of his companions, right? I mean, these are the best of his companions. This wasn't like a test run where you could send some companions and hold back others. These people include the closest family members of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and some of the best of people. So this is a risky move if Najashi does not live up to what's expected of him, right? So there are different ways that this could go. Najashi could reject Islam and he could reject taking them in. And there could be many reasons for him rejecting them taking him in. One of them is that a Najashi has a relationship with some of the leaders of Quraysh and that, you know, you don't want to, you don't want to put in a bad place or you don't want to, you know, jeopardize your trade routes. You don't want to jeopardize your diplomatic relations with the people of Mecca. And so, you know, he could have said that, you know what, I'm going to send all of these people back or I'll even kill them or I'll do something with them because I don't want to ruin what I have right now with the people in Mecca. He could have done that. Or he could have, you know, accepted them but rejected their religion, all right? So he could have stayed Christian but rejected their religion. And at the same time, he could have said, but you still have refuge here, all right? Which for the purpose of the hijrah would have been sufficient, okay? That at the bare minimum, he gives them refuge from what's happening in Mecca. And that way, as things become more severe in Mecca, people have an alternative and you will find that even Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu
was on his way to Abyssinia, right? So we're talking about the future baches that would then go to Abyssinia to escape the persecution of Mecca. Even Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was going to make his way to Abyssinia and then he was stopped because of someone recognizing his noble qualities and offering him protection. And that's another story that I don't want to take too much time with, but he could have just said, you know, I'm going to give you refuge, but I'm not going to accept your religion. Or the third one is that he accepts Islam and he accepts them and gives them refuge in the land of Abyssinia. So subhanAllah, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is putting a lot into this migration by the types of people that he is sending and Quraysh know that the stakes are high as well. They know that, and that's why they would first try to stop them from migrating to Abyssinia. They would try to capture them on the way, but they were not able to. But they also know that if they are able to get Najashi to send them back, that that will be a crippling blow to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and to the early Muslims as they are dealing with that persecution. So anyway, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam sends them and they settle that land. Initially, a Najashi grants them refuge. He does not accept their religion right away. And Quraysh sends to him these two men, and they're not just any two men. They're two men that are skillful in convincing, in potentially convincing a Najashi to do what Quraysh wants him to do. He sends to them Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'a and more famously, Amr ibn Aas. And they have all of these gifts and they have all of these clothes. They have all of these skins of leather. And Amr ibn Aas has a relationship with Najashi
through his father, Al-Aas, that precedes Islam. So he's able to tap into not just his ability to convince him of things, not just his eloquence, but also his relationship with the Najashi. And he is going to try to use first and foremost bribery, along with, of course, invoking the relationship that he has with the Najashi. And even, by the way, brings a gift to each of the generals of a Najashi. So he brings all of these gifts from Quraysh and they give these gifts to a Najashi and to all of the generals. And then at that point, after he gives the gifts, after they reminisce on some of the memories and talk about the relationship that they had, Amr ibn Aas says that there are some people, sufaha, fools from our land that have taken refuge here. And he said that these are people that are the worst of us. They reject our religion and they reject your religion. So he also knows that Najashi is a religious man. And so if he can convince him that Islam is not just opposed to our idolatry, it's also opposed to your religion, your way, and is insulting to your way, then maybe he can tap into his religious sensitivity. So they have a lot going for them. They have the diplomatic relations, they have the religious angle, they have the relationship angle, they have the gifts and the bribery and the wealth. They have a lot that's going for them as they approach a Najashi to speak to him about them. So a Najashi summons the Muslims to the court and Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is chosen to speak at that moment. So Ja'far comes forward and at that point, Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu gives probably, you know, one of the most eloquent speeches ever about Islam. In fact, if you just read the speech of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, you can see the beautiful ways
that he was able to explain Islam concisely, yet encompass so many different things. So Najashi asks him to tell him about this religion. So Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, and obviously it's much more beautiful in Arabic, but he says to him, O king, we were a people in a state of ignorance and immorality, immorality and straying and observations. Morality, worshiping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating our guests badly, and the strong amongst us exploited the weak. We remained in this state until Allah sent us a prophet, one of our own, 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 beside Allah. He commanded us to speak the truth, to honor our promises, to be kind to our relatives, to be helpful to our neighbors, to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from bloodshed, to avoid obscenities and false witness, and to not appropriate an orphan's property nor slander chaste woman. He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anything with him, to uphold prayer, to give sadaqah, to give zakah, to give charity and to fast in the month of Ramadan. We believed in him and what he brought to us from Allah and we follow him and what he has asked us to do and we keep away from what he has forbidden us from. Thereupon, O King, our people attacked us, they visited the severest punishment upon us to make us renounce our religion and take us back to the old immorality and the worship of idols. They oppressed us, they made life intolerable for us and they obstructed us from observing our religion.
So we left for your land, choosing you before anyone else, desiring your protection and hoping to live in justice and in peace in your midst. So Najashi hears these beautiful words and subhanAllah this is the way that Ja'far radiya Allahu anhu really lives up to his name and summarizes Islam in a pretty intimidating setting. Right, you're standing in the court of a Najashi and what you say about Islam here is going to be highly consequential. And Najashi was so moved and so touched that he asked him, he said, do you have anything of this divine revelation, of this revelation that has come to your prophet? And subhanAllah we find that Ja'far radiya Allahu anhu chooses Surah Maryam and particularly chooses to recite the story of the birth of Jesus, the son of Mary, peace be upon them, from Surah Maryam. Wathkur fil kitabi Maryam. And he reads from Wathkur fil kitabi Maryam, make mention in the book of Maryam alayhi salam, all the way through the virtues of Maryam, through the birth of Isa alayhi salam, through Jesus peace be upon him speaking from the cradle. And when he finished reciting, he looked up and he saw that Najashi was in tears and that some of the generals of Najashi were in tears as well. Najashi, he said, he took a stick and he said that wallahi ma kharaja Isa ibn Maryam a'an hadhil udh. He said, I swear that Isa alayhi salam did not exceed what you have said by the length of the stick. He said, this and what Isa alayhi salam brought are from the same source. And he says, you may go and he says, wallahi, I will never give them up to you and they will never be betrayed.
And Amr ibn As, of course, he tried. He spoke to Abdullah that night and said, how can we get him to change his mind? So they came and they said, you know, let's say to Najashi that they say that Isa alayhi salam, that Jesus peace be upon him is nothing more than a creature. And so Najashi summons them again and he explains that Isa alayhi salam is the word of God, is the servant of God, is the messenger of God, is al-Masih. And Najashi is once again satisfied and he sends back Amr ibn As and he sends back Abdullah ibn Abi Rabi'a back to Mecca. And he threatens them that if you come and you try to take them, he says, wallahi, that no matter what you do, he said not for a mountain of gold would I allow them to be hurt, nor would I exchange them. And then Najashi even gives back their bribes and sends them back to Mecca in that regard. At that point, Najashi dismisses everyone from the courts and he tells Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that he himself has now embraced Islam, that he has become Muslim. We'll talk about Najashi, I'm paraphrasing this part of the story because I want to talk about Najashi from his vantage point inshaAllah ta'ala in some detail. So at this point now, the Muslims are settled in Abyssinia. Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu has successfully, you know, given da'wah to the king who has secretly embraced Islam. They have protection, they live as a minority there and they're going to stay there for a long time. Some of them will stay longer than others. Ja'far and Asma will stay in Abyssinia for an entire decade to 12 years. And what you find subhanAllah is that with Ja'far and Asma, that all three of their sons were actually born in Ethiopia, were born in Abyssinia. So they had Abdullah, they had Muhammad and they had Aoun. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with them all.
So they settle in Abyssinia and they have their children there and obviously a huge portion of the seerah is missed because they're settled in Abyssinia. They're not with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in Mecca, nor are they with the initial, you know, migration to Medina. And so they will settle there and they will stay in Abyssinia while Badr takes place, while Uhud takes place, while Khandaq takes place. When does Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu make his way to Medina? It was at the same time as Khaibar. Okay, so we're talking about much later into the time in Medina, several years after the hijrah. And it was right at the time that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam had won the battle of Khaibar. And when Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu came, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam kissed him between his eyes and he was in so much joy. He embraced Ja'far and kissed him between his eyes. Imagine how much he loved Ja'far and how much he missed him and how much there was left to be discussed between the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and Ja'far and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam kisses him right between his eyes. And he says, maa adri bi ayyuhuma ana afrah bi qudumi Ja'far am bi fathi Khaibar. He said that, I don't know which of the two things has given me greater joy. Is it the coming of Ja'far or is it the conquest of Khaibar? You know, that these are two wonderful pieces of news and I don't know which of them is greater right now. But he was so happy to have Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu back in his midst, a person who was like a brother to him and a person who resembled the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in so many different ways. Now subhanAllah, there are certain stories and qualities that I want to talk about here now inshaAllah ta'ala.
When Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu finally is part of the community in Medina and we get to observe some of his qualities post-Islam since almost all of it was lived in Abyssinia. He settled there, he had his family there and now he's with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. You might remember that when Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was martyred, that you know, these families, Banu Hashim, they wanted to take care of each other's children. And when Hamza radiAllahu anhu's daughter was left behind after he was martyred, Ali, Ja'far and Zayd all wanted to raise the daughter of Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And the way the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam settled it between the three, he comes to them and Zayd says that she is the daughter of my brother, Zayd ibn Haritha. She is the daughter of my brother. And what Zayd meant by that is that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam did mu'akha, he paired off Zayd and Hamza at the time of the hijrah. So he said she's the daughter of my brother, so I should be the one to take care of her. Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, look, she's the daughter of my uncle because Hamza is the uncle of Ja'far. And my wife is her maternal aunt as well, because Asma bint Umais is the sister of Salma bint Umais. Salma bint Umais is the wife of Hamza. So Salma is the wife of Hamza, Asma is the wife of Ja'far. So Ja'far says Hamza is my uncle and my wife and his wife are sisters. Therefore, because she's the maternal aunt of his daughter, that she's going to be the best person to take care of his daughter. Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, she's the daughter of my uncle. And he tried to make that claim. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, the way he judges between the three is he says to all three of them something beautiful.
So he says to Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And he says to him, anta minni wa ana mink. You are from me and I am from you. To Zaid he says, anta akhoona, you are our brother, instead of Hamza, not just Hamza, you're not just the brother of Hamza. You are our brother, wa maulana, and freed servants. So subhanAllah, it's a way of, you know, showing Zaid radiAllahu ta'ala anhu his favor, that you're not just the beloved one of Hamza, the brother of Hamza, you're our brother. And our mawla, under my guardianship. And then he says to Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, that he has the best right, the greatest right to raise the daughter of Hamza. Why? Because number one, al khala bi manzeeratil um. So you find the famous hadith where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, the maternal aunt is like the mother. The maternal aunt is like the mother. And so, you know, asma is closest to her in that sense. But then he says to Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, ashbahta khalqi wa khuluqi. And this is not the only time he would say this to Ja'far. He says that you are the closest to me, both in your physical appearance as well as in your character. What an amazing compliment to be given to you by the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. That there is no person who resembles me in external appearance, in khalq and khuluq, your internal appearance, meaning your character, than you, O Ja'far. What an amazing compliment for the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam to give to him. So we'll talk about some of those qualities in Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. But before that, I want to actually talk about how Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu challenges Asma' bint Umays. Now you have Ja'far and Asma' bint Umays in the community of Medina. And this is new, right?
I mean, they've been away from the community of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam for all of these years. And Umar radiAllahu anhu comes to visit Hafsa and he sees in the house of Hafsa radiAllahu anha Asma' And he asks about her, he says, who is that? And Hafsa says, you know, she's al-Habashiya, she's Asma' the Abyssinian. At that point, that's how she's to be known. So Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says to her, sabaqnakum bil hijrah, that we preceded you in hijrah. We preceded you in the migration. And Asma' radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, she didn't like that comment from Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Asma' says that, you know, because he was saying it, we preceded you in the hijrah. So we have more right to the messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam than you. So she responded and she said to Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, she said, Wallahi, you had the privilege of being in the companionship of the messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam who fed the hungry amongst you and instructed the ignorant amongst you. Whereas we were far away in the land of Abyssinia among strangers and enemies. And that was all for Allah and his messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam. And she said to him, Wallahi, I will not eat or drink until I make mention to Allah's messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam of what you have said. We remained in that land of in constant trouble and fear. And I will talk to Allah's messenger, I'll explain to Allah's messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam and ask him about, you know, who has more right to him. And she said, I will not lie or deviate or add anything to what you have said. So Allah's messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam comes, Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam comes and she says, Ya Rasulullah, Umar radiAllahu anhu says so and so. He says that, Sadaqnakum bil hijrah, that we preceded you to the migration. Therefore, we have more right to you than those from Abyssinia. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam says that his right is not more than yours.
For him and his companions have only one hijrah and you are Ashabul Hijratain, you are the people of two hijrahs. SubhanAllah, so the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam rules in the favor of Asma, the wife of Ja'far in that sense and says you are the people of two hijrahs. What a noble deed to do. Remember the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned that Islam wipes away everything that comes before it. Hajj, Mabroor wipes away everything that comes before it. Hijrah wipes away everything that comes before it. And these were the people that made the two most noble hijrahs, the hijrah to Abyssinia as well as the hijrah to Medina, all for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he said and this is in Al-Bukhari that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said to Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu that no one resembles me more in both physical appearance as well as character than you O Ja'far. What about Abu Hurairah radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu who knew so many of the companions? What does he say about Ja'far radiyaAllahu anhu? He says that none has put on sandals nor worn them, nor ridden a mount or a camel after the messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam that is better than Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. That's a high level of praise that there is no person that you see after the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, afdhalu min Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. And there are reasons for this, right? This wasn't just because of the way that he looked and some of these characteristics in the vague sense. There are reasons for this. Abu Hurairah radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says that we used to call Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu Abu al-masakin, the father of the poor. So when we would come to him, he would draw us close to him as long as he was present. He said one day we came to him and we could not find anything with him. That Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was the father of the poor in that he used to come close to them and he would give everything that he had.
And he said we came to him one day and he couldn't find anything. So all he had was a jar of honey and he broke the jar. And so we began to lick the portion of honey off of what was left from what Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu had. So anything he had, he gave it. And he says in another narration that kana Ja'far ibn Abi Talib yuhibbul masakin, wayajlisu ilayhim, wayuhaddithunahum. He says that Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu used to love the poor. And he would sit with them and he would talk to them and they would talk to him. And in this narration, though this narration has a weakness in its chain, in Ibn Majah that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam gave him the kunya, the nickname of Abu al-masakin, the father of the poor. But this is really important here to mention because if the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam used to ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for hubb al-masakin, for the quality of the love of the poor, and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says about Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu that he is the most like me in character. Then you can imagine how noble this particular quality is. When you live in a society of the likes of Abu Bakr and Uthman and Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, and those people that were distinguished for their generosity, and you become known for your love of the poor. Notice that it wasn't that Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was the most generous in the sense that he gave more money than the others. No, it was the love of the poor that Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu had, that Abu Huraira radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu being from Ashab al-Suffah, being from the poor, appreciated and was able to distinguish from even the most noble companions that were around Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu in that very short time. So he was distinguished for his love of the poor, spending time with the poor,
talking to them, them talking to him, sharing whatever he had with them, and that is what Abu Huraira radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu took note of. And so you see the humility of Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, the empathy of Ja'far radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. This was despite his eloquence, this was despite his closeness to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, this was despite the leadership position that he had. He did not come into Medina with an arrogant posture. He came into Medina as humble as when he embraced Islam and demonstrating that same rahma, that same mercy, that rahmatan lil'alameen, that the mercy to the world's Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was known for. And then SubhanAllah, you know, it was only a short time after that he's going to take part in his first battle alongside or under the command of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and that is the battle of Mu'tah, which is a difficult battle against the Byzantines who had, you know, mobilized to attack the Muslims or they had attacked one of the emissaries, one of the ambassadors of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam dispatches an army to confront the Byzantines. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam sends in that battle, it's not that Jafar had a long time, but Jafar is distinguished, he sends in that battle the first commander Zayd ibn Haritha, the beloved one of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that if Zayd is killed, Jafar should take command. So if Zayd is killed, then you immediately look to Jafar and he is your commander. And if Jafar is killed, then you appoint Abdullah ibn Rawaha.
And if Abdullah ibn Rawaha is killed, then choose amongst you at that moment the best commander, right? Make a judgment call at that moment. Some of the ulama, they mentioned that the fact that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was even mentioning these possibilities was different, right? That the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was talking about all of these different scenarios and that if this person dies, appoint this person, if this person dies, appoint this person. So some of the ulama said that was unique and that was different about this battle. And it's as if the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam knew, he was giving an indication that this was going to be a difficult battle, a battle that they were not, that was not like the other battles that they would experience. So subhanAllah they go out to Mu'tah, which is in Jordan today, in modern-day Jordan. And... when they get to Mu'tah, the army, the Muslim army finds that there are over a hundred thousand men that have been amassed by the Byzantines. And they are their more skilled warriors and this is meant to be a statement sent to the Muslims by the Byzantine empire, right? The Muslim army was anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 men. So it was one-fourth of the size and they were in the territory of the Byzantines because this is now under Byzantine territory. So they go to fight the Byzantines in this battle in Mu'tah. Zayd ibn Harithah, the beloved one of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, was killed almost immediately. He's one of the first people to die. Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu assumes the command and Ja'far, who had just made the hijrah to Medina to be in the companionship of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, is experiencing this difficult battle and he fights so bravely. He penetrates deep into their forces. He is swinging his sword right and left
and he is suffering all sorts of wounds along the way. But Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu is not giving up until Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu has both of his arms cut off. SubhanAllah. I mean this is a difficult way for a person to be slain. So he has both of his arms cut off and then he is stabbed and killed with over 70 wounds to his body. RadiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and he passes away. He becomes a shaheed, a martyr in the battle of Mu'tah. Abdullah ibn Rawaha takes the next command. He goes forth and he dies. At that point Khalid ibn al-Wareed, who had radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, just accepted Islam. He is chosen as the commander and he is able to rearrange the army to attack from different directions and to basically send off the Byzantine forces and to return back to Medina with what is left of the Muslim army. And so the nightmare and what the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was mentioning as a possibility of Zayd going down and then Ja'far going down and then Abdullah ibn Rawaha going down had actually happened. Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu she says that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was waiting anxiously for the news of Mu'tah. It's as if he felt something SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam about this particular battle. And when the news came, she says that when the news came of the death of Ja'far arafna fee wajhi an-nabiyyi SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam al-huzn, we saw this grief overcome the face of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. He had just gotten his cousin back to Medina, his brother back who resembled him most in appearance and character. He loved him so deeply and he just got him back. On top of this Zayd, his son,
right, who in Jahiliyya, who he adopted as a son and his beloved one also was killed in this battle. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam lost Zayd and Ja'far. That's a major hit to the family of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and to the heart of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And this is one of the most human moments or one of the ways that you see the heart of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam really shine in a difficult moment. It's a narration in Tabaqat ibn Sa'ad by Asma' radiAllahu anha herself who talks about waiting for Ja'far to come home. They just moved to Medina. Asma' radiAllahu anha knows that Ja'far has gone out to battle. She knows that the army is on its way back from battle. What she doesn't know is that her husband is dead. And if you can imagine Abu al-Masakeen, if Ja'far was known for having a character that most resembled the character of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and he had such compassion for the Masakeen in Medina that he barely knew but would sit with them and love them and listen to them and be listened to by them. Imagine what he was like as a husband. Right? The way I mean think about how the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is described as being so much more in his home than the perfection even that he showed outside of his home. And imagine how much Asma' loved him. They spent 12 years in a foreign land together, raised their family as this minority, came to Medina, were now in the presence of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and she is witnessing the best of her husband Ja'far radiAllahu anha.
So what does Asma' say? She says that when the army was coming back, she said I got myself ready. I went and I wore a new set of clothes. I perfumed myself. I took all of the children of Ja'far. I bathed them. I clothed them. I gave them the best of perfume. I got them ready. She said I cooked the best meal. I prepared the dough. I was waiting for my husband to come back. And imagine the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam has to tell her that your husband's not coming back. Right? I mean you talk about the difficulty of breaking the news and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam himself is really hurting over the death of Ja'far. So she says that when Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam came to us then, she said that I opened the door and she said that his face looked off. He looked sad and I was anxious but I was afraid to even ask him what happened. But you could see in the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, his expressions were in his face SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. You could tell that something was wrong. But she said I didn't want to ask him because I was afraid he would tell me what I didn't want to hear. So she said I didn't want to hear. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam greeted me and he said bring me Ja'far's children. And she said that when they came, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, you know, they crowded around him and they were so happy. They loved the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. They loved to see him. He is an uncle to them. He is so beloved to them. So she said each one of them wanting to claim him for themselves. So each one of them jumping on the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. This was the way that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was as an uncle, as a brother, as a messenger Alaihi Salatu Wasalam. So they each jumped on the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and she says that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he grabbed each one of them. And she uses these words. She said that he would put his nose in their hair. He was smelling them
Alaihi Salatu Wasallam. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam could not contain his tears as he was holding the children of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. So Asma' radiAllahu Anha says, I asked the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, have you heard anything about Ja'far? Right? Because she now knows something is wrong and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is unable to hide it because he's grabbing the kids and he's sniffing their hair and he's crying SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that he's been killed. And when he said that to me, Asma' is speaking, she said that I screamed, I shouted. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, you know, tried to calm me down and he told me to not wail, to not scream. And he SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he left the home and this is where we actually find the famous narration where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Asna'u li aali ja'far ta'aman. That make food for the family of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu faqad ataahum ma yashghalahum. Make food for the family of Ja'far faqad ataahum ma yashghalahum. Make food for the family of Ja'far because they are busy with what has come to them, with the news that has come to them. So this is where we find the sunnah of taking care of the family when they are dealing with the death in the family. And SubhanAllah, we see the opposite today, by the way. I mean, the sunnah is to prepare food for the family, not to make the family prepare food or be burdened with hosting other people. We do the complete opposite. We burden the family. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was saying, prepare food for them, take care of their needs because they're busy right now. They've been struck with news that keeps them busy. So give them space. And SubhanAllah, we do the complete opposite of the sunnah, but this is where we actually find
the narration about how to take care of the family of the deceased. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he then says the beautiful words that he saw something. He said, ra'aytu ja'faran yateeru fil jannah ma'al malaika isra. I saw Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu flying in Jannah with the angels. What a beautiful sight to see. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw many things. He saw waraqa, he saw Zaid ibn Amir as we spoke about, and these were people that he saw in Jannah. But what comfort does it give to the family of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhu when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that I saw him yateeru fil jannah ma'al malaika flying in Jannah along with the angels and hence the nickname, dhul janahain, the two-winged person. And this is not a nickname that comes later on in Islam. This is a nickname that the sahaba knew Ja'far by, the one with two wings because of what the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the possessor of two wings. And it's even narrated that Abdullah ibn Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma when he used to greet the son of Ja'far, Abdullah ibn Ja'far, who grew up to be a great companion, that he used to say, assalamu alaika, ya ibn dhul janahain, he said to him, peace be on to you, oh son of dhul janahain, the possessor of two wings. So Ja'far becomes known as the one who flies amongst the angels with his two wings radiAllahu ta'ala anhum. Some of you might remember, subhanAllah, I'd given a talk about my mother, may Allah have mercy on her, May Hashim, almost 10 years ago at an ikna convention. I told her story and subhanAllah,
her family, she was a descendant of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib radiAllahu ta'ala anhum and I grew up with this image on the wall actually right next to her bed where everyone from the descendants of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, it's not just the way that Banu Hashim, the way that they trace their lineage back to who it is from Banu Hashim they trace their lineage to, but they actually have a unique thing for Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum where they prepare the names on the leather and they trace the lineage back that for her, for their portion of Banu Hashim, they have two wings at the top and subhanAllah growing up it's, I would always look at that on her wall right next to her bed, those two wings of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum and then the family of Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum descending from that. So subhanAllah, I mean these people made sacrifices for Islam that we are feeling today even in our very being of Islam, of being Muslims today in so many different ways. Because Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum was murdered or martyred during the Prophet's salallahu alayhi wa sallam's life, we don't have hadiths narrated by Ja'far radiAllahu ta'ala anhum himself instead we have a hadith narrated about him by primarily you know Umm Salama who was of course in Abyssinia, Abu Huraira bin Mas'ud and his son Abdullah bin Ja'far who we mentioned would grow up to be a famous companion and would narrate many a hadith from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. As for Asmaa bint Umais, may Allah be pleased with her, when we talk about the way that the companions used to marry the widows, Asmaa bint Umais you might have heard her name already a few times as we're going through the stories of these people Asmaa bint Umais radiAllahu ta'ala anhu after the death of Ja'far was married to none other than
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Abu Bakr marries Asmaa and he has his one son in Islam born to Asmaa bint Umais and he is Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. She gave birth to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr at the Miqat as they were on their way to Hajj. When you talk about the Hulayfa, the Miqat in Medina as you make your way to Hajj, she gave birth to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr there. She is the woman that performed the ghusl of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu when he passed away and she's also the woman who helped prepare the body of Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anhu when she passed away. So she performed, she marries Abu Bakr, she has a son from Abu Bakr, she performs the ghusl of Abu Bakr and she of course performs as well the ghusl of Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. After that you now have a woman that's been widowed and she's been married to Ja'far and Abu Bakr. What an incredible and she has children from both of them. That in and of itself is incredible and after that who comes to marry her? When Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anhu dies, Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu sometime afterwards then proposes to her and marries her and it said that Asma bint Umais, she turned down a ton of proposals. It's not like she had a shortage of people proposing to her. She had many people proposing to her because of who she was and she kept turning them down. She's like who am I going to follow up Ja'far and then Abu Bakr with? But then when Ali came, she accepted his proposal and she married Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and she'd even live past Ali and she wouldn't marry after Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was martyred. So this woman marries two of the four, subhanAllah, of these khulafa and there's a beautiful story that
takes place. It's a funny story but it's a beautiful story and I'll end with it inshaAllah because when she married Abu Bakr, we said she had Muhammad and she already had a Muhammad from Ja'far too. So she has Muhammad bin Ja'far and she has Muhammad bin Abu Bakr and they're both her sons and now she's married to Ali bin Abi Talib and Muhammad bin Ja'far and Muhammad bin Abi Bakr get into an argument and Muhammad bin Abi Bakr says to Muhammad bin Ja'far who was older than him, his older half-brother, he says, ana akramu mink, I'm better than you, wa abi akramu min abik and my father is better than your father. So he pulled that card. He said Abu Bakr is better than Ja'far and I'm better than you. Now when he says that Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, what's he gonna do here right? I mean this is an interesting argument to settle amongst two brothers. So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, ya asmaa iqdi baynahuma, he said Asmaa you solve this one, you judge between these two in what they have said. So Asmaa radiAllahu ta'ala anha, she says, ma raaytushaban kana khayran min Ja'far. I never saw a young Arab man, a young man as good as Ja'far. Ja'far was the best of the young man. Wala kahlan khayran min Abu Bakr. And I never saw an old man better than Abu Bakr. So she married Ja'far when he was young, she married Abu Bakr when he was old. So she said Ja'far was the best of the young man, Abu Bakr was the best of the elderly man. And Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says, ma tarakti lana shay'a, you left nothing for us. You know subhanAllah, you praised Abu Bakr and you praised Ja'far. What about me? So she said that, inna thalatha anta akhassahum li khayar. She said that, look, you know, basically what it is, is that you belong to this company of three. And so that in and of itself is nobility and something to be proud of, right? That you belong to this category of three incredible human beings that we know radiAllahu ta'ala anhum ajma'een.
Abu Bakr and Ja'far and Ali and Asmaa and the children that came from that and the lessons that we take from the treatment of widows, the way the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam consoled that family, the way that the community move forward with that family. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy upon Ja'far and be pleased with him and allow us to fly with him in Jannah one day in the companionship of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and the righteous that have passed before us and those that will come after us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gather us amongst them and with them all in the realm of believing souls and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purify us from all that would hold us back from having their company. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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