Ja'far ibn Abi Talib
جَعْفَرُ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍJaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib
Companion · Leader of Abyssinian Muslim community
Biography
Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه was the elder brother of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and thus first cousin of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He is known by two titles: Dhū al-Janaḥayn (the one with two wings, because he was martyred at the Battle of Muʾtah and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said Allah replaced his two arms with two wings in Jannah) and Abū al-Masākīn (Father of the Poor, for his extraordinary generosity).
He went to Abyssinia as part of the first emigration and took on the role of leader of the Muslim émigré community there. When Quraysh sent their own delegation to the Najashi (Abū Jahl's associate ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was part of it) demanding the Muslims be extradited, Jaʿfar stood before the king and explained Islām. He recited the opening of Sūrat Maryam, the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the Najashi wept and said he would not hand them over.
Because he led the community in Abyssinia, Jaʿfar did not participate in the battles of Badr or Uḥud. He returned to Madīnah only after the Battle of Khaybar in the seventh year of the Hijra, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم sent a letter summoning him back.
His reunion with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is famous: the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم embraced him and said: "I don't know which makes me happier, Jaʿfar's return or the victory of Khaybar."
He was martyred at Muʾtah in the eighth year of the Hijra, fighting the Byzantines.
Stories
The First Hijra: Fifteen Muslims Emigrate to Abyssinia
storyAfter a year and a half of public Dawah, more than a year of open torture, of camel entrails, of burning iron, of choking, of boulder and desert heat,…
Read the full story →Surah An-Najm, the Quraysh's Sajdah, and the Return from Abyssinia
storyThree months. That is how long the first Abyssinian emigrants lasted before a rumor brought them back to the very land they had fled. They had immigr…
Read the full story →The Return from Abyssinia and the Second Hijra of Eighty
storyThe first batch of Abyssinian emigrants, twelve men and five women, seventeen in total, returned to Mecca on a false rumor that Quraysh had accepted I…
Read the full story →Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib Before the Najāshī
storySpeaker introduction: Umm Salamah (رضي الله عنها), who would later become a wife of the Prophet (SAW), is the primary narrator of the Abyssinian perio…
Read the full story →The Marriage of Umm Ḥabībah and Abyssinia as Plan B
storySpeaker's framing: Before returning to the events in Makkah, the speaker wraps up the Abyssinia narrative with two final points: the marriage of Umm Ḥ…
Read the full story →The Mu'akhah: The Prophet's Institution of Brotherhood Pairings
early islamOne of the first acts of the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah, even before the Masjid al-Nabawī was built, was the institution of **al-Muʾākhah** (المُؤَاخَاة): t…
Read the full story →Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, Umm al-Masakin, and Her Remarkable Family
companion biographyShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: ZAYNAB BINT KHUZAYMAH Zaynab bint Khuzaymah al-Hilāliyyah, of the Banū Hilāl of Najd rather than Quraysh, was already k…
Read the full story →The Departure for Mu'tah
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **A RAPIDLY GROWING COMMUNITY** Around 3,000 companions volunteered for the expedition, ten times the number at Badr ju…
Read the full story →The Deaths of the Three Commanders at Mu'tah
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **CONFIDENCE, NOT DESPERATION** Facing a force several times their number, the companions did not regard the battle as…
Read the full story →Khalid's Tactical Withdrawal at Mu'tah
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **A TWO-PRONGED TACTIC** With only two or three explicit narrations to work from, the shaykh reconstructs Khālid ibn al…
Read the full story →Knowledge of the Unseen: The Death of the Najāshī and 'My Lord Killed Your Lord'
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: The fifth category is knowledge of the unseen (عِلْم الْغَيْب) granted to the Prophet ﷺ. Here a distinction is needed. T…
Read the full story →Historical context
Najashi: The Just King, Arian Christianity, and the Minority Model
historical noteWhen the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described the Najashi to the Sahābah, he said: "There is a just king there who does not oppress. A land of truth."…
Read the historical context →The Return of Jafar, and the People of Two Hijrahs
historical noteShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **TWO JOYS IN ONE DAY** On the very day the last of Khaybar fell, Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib arrived from Abyssinia with arou…
Read the historical context →The Letter to the Najashi
historical noteShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **A CHAPTER OF LETTERS** After Khaybar the sīrah turns to a segment early biographers typically group together: the Pro…
Read the historical context →The Custody Dispute Over Umarah bint Hamzah
historical noteShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **A CHILD RUNS AFTER THE CARAVAN** As the Muslims left Mecca, a girl of six or seven ran after them calling out to be t…
Read the historical context →The Prophet's ﷺ Grief in Medina
historical noteShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: **LIVE NEWS FROM 700 KILOMETERS AWAY** While the battle unfolded at Mu'tah, the Prophet ﷺ described it to the gathered…
Read the historical context →