Jafar Ibn Abi Taleb-part I

[أبو الحسنيين]

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IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL

“And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the family, and to make you pure and spotless” Holy Quran 33-33.

“Mohamed, the Messenger of Allah and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, but compassionate amongst each other”.
Holy Quran -48-29.

*The Great Companions of the Blessed Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
*JAFAR IBN ABI TALEB
It would be such a paramount importance to stress that the great Martyr of Islam “Jafar Ibn Abi Taleb” has a two honour titles : he is the Cousin as well as Companion of the Beloved Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) , he is the son of the kind uncle of the Blessed Prophet’s Abou Taleb who was a quite poor man as he had a large family and did not have enough means to support them adequately as such his poverty-stricken situation became much worse when a severe drought hit the Arabian Peninsula as the latter 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 the Blessed Prophet Mohamed suggested to his uncle Al Abbas: “Your brother, Abou Talib, has a large family. People as you see have been afflicted by this severe drought and are facing starvation, let us go to Abou Talib and take over responsibility for some of his family , I will take one of his sons and you can take another and we will look after them , what you suggest is certainly righteous and commendable”, replied Al-Abbas.

Together the Blessed Prophet Mohamed and his uncle Al Abbas went to Abou 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 “ , on the spot Abou Talib agreed , and added : “If you allow me to keep Aqeel (one of his sons older than Ali), then you may do whatever you like ”, he said , likewise , the Prophet Mohamed took Ali into his household and Al-Abbas took Jafar into his it was obvious to every one that the great Martyr Jafar had a very close resemblance to the Blessed Prophet.

In this context, it was revealed that five men from the Banu Hashim tribe had a close resemblance to the Blessed Prophet , they were: Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith and Quthom ibn al-Abbas both of whom were cousins of his, his grand-son Al Hassan ; Jafar and Al Saib ibn Ubayd the grand father of Imam Shafi ; Jafar stayed with his uncle, al-Abbas, until he was a young man , then he got married to “ Asma bint Umays”the 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.

The young Jafar and his wife were devoted followers of Islam and as a result of this, 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 besides that , the Qurayshiyine made life intolerable for them both and for their brethren in faith making all evil tricks 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 regarding this hardship and ongoing psychological onslaught , Jafar eventually went to the Blessed Prophet, peace be upon him, and sought permission for himself and a small group of the Companions or Sahabah, including his wife, to make “Hijrah” or migration to the land of Abyssinia and it was with great sorrow and pain that the Prophet gave his permission, it did pain because 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 first group of Muhajirin left Makkah bound for the land of Abyssinia , leading them was Jafar ibn Abi Talib , and on their arrival , they settled down in this new land under the care and protection of the Negus, the just and righteous ruler of Abyssinia, and it was a joyful experience as 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 rapidly sent two of their most formidable men, “Amr ibn al-As 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 gifts 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 so 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.”[/frame]