Jafar Ibn Abu Talib was the son of Abu Talib, cousin of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and brother of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He embraced Islam in the initial days of its preaching and since then remained a loyal companion of the Messenger of Allah. As Abu Talib had a big family and he had little means to support them, Al-Abbas asked Abu Talib to share some burden of his family with him to which Abu Talib agreed and hence Al-Abbas took Jafar into his household. Jafar then stayed with him until he was young and went to live on his own after his marriage to Asma bint Umays.
Later Quraysh unleashed their brutal tortures on the Muslims and Jafar and his wife suffered a lot. The oppression was almost beyond one could endure and hence they took the permission of the Messenger of Allah and migrated to Abyssinia for a safe haven. However their migration also did not end their woes and the Makkans sent two of their emissaries, Amr Ibn Al-Aas and Abdullah Ibn Abu Rabia, to Abyssinia to bring the group back. They both offered Negus, king of Abyssinia, valuable gifts and presents in order to take the Muslims back to Makkah for persecution, however it was Jafar, who was leading the group of migrated Muslims, who showed courage and strength and put forward their story before the king without any hesitation or fear.
Muslims were firm on their faith and it was their resoluteness of not to bow down before the king in his court that drew the attention of Negus towards them. Jafar said, “We do not bow down before anyone except Allah.”
Then he gave a thought-provoking and captivating speech which moved the king and others in the court. He said, “O King! We were ignorant people and we lived like wild animals. The strong among us lived by preying upon the weak. We obeyed no law and we acknowledged no authority save that of brute force. We worshipped idols made of stone or wood, and we knew nothing of human dignity.
“And then God, in His Mercy, sent to us His Messenger who was himself one of us. We knew about his truthfulness and his integrity. His character was exemplary, and he was the most well-born of the Arabs. He invited us toward the worship of One God, and he forbade us to worship idols. He exhorted us to tell the truth, and to protect the weak, the poor, the humble, the widows and the orphans. He ordered us to show respect to women, and never to slander them.
“We obeyed him and followed his teachings. Most of the people in our country are still polytheists, and they resented our conversion to the new faith which is called Islam. They began to persecute us and it was in order to escape from persecution by them that we sought and found sanctuary in your kingdom.”
Then he recited a few verses of Surah Maryam to which Negus began to cry until his beard became wet. After listening to the conversation, Negus said to the emissaries, “Of a truth, this and what Musa brought, come from the same niche. You two may go, for by Allah, I will never give them up and they shall not be betrayed.”
The emissaries plotted another way in order to fulfil their task. They said to Negus, “The Muslims say dreadful things about Isa, the son of Mary.” Jafar replied, “We say about him that which our Prophet brought, saying, he is the slave of Allah and His Messenger, and His spirit, and His word, which He cast into Maryam the blessed virgin.”
The prompt and true answer of Jafar convinced Negus and he drew a line on the ground with his stick and said, “There is nothing more than this line between your Deen and ours.” The two emissaries returned empty-handed and frustrated.
Jafar made Abyssinia his second home and remained there for almost ten years. It was in the seventh year of Hijra that he came to Medina and joined the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger loved Jafar and had great regard for him as to when he got the news of Jafar’s return after coming successfully from the conquest of Khaybar, he said, “I do not know what fills me with more happiness, conquest of Khaybar or the coming of Jafar.”
Jafar was soft at heart and was much concerned about the welfare of the poor and hence got the sobriquet ‘Father of the poor.’ Abu Hurairah once 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 attained martyrdom during the battle of Mutah. The battle was expected to be fierce and hence the Messenger of Allah gave the instruction: “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.”
He fought valiantly during the battle and penetrated deep into the ranks of the enemies. He was holding the banner of Islam in one of his hands until it was cut by the enemies. He then took the banner in his second hand which was also cut by the enemies but even then he managed to raise the banner by holding it in his mouth until he was attacked from behind and died. When the news of his martyrdom reached the Messenger of Allah, he cried and then Jibril (may Allah be pleased with him) came and consolingly said to him, “Jafar was a brave and loyal soldier. God has given him everlasting life, and in place of his arms which were cut off in the battle, the Lord has given him a pair of wings.” Because of this narration he is also referred as Jafar At-Tayyar (Jafar – the man with wings).