HAZRAT JAFFER TAIYYAR BIN ABI TALIB (MAY ALLAH ALMIGHTY BE PLEASED WITH HIM)

Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) had a very strong love with all his companions and the same was reciprocated. The followers can only get ready to sacrifice their lives if they are sure that their leader has true love and care for them. Here, I will try to explore this aspect of the great personality of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessing and Peace Be Upon Him).

Love has many colours and manifestations; one such indication is if at times a lover calls his beloved by some title instead of calling by name then they like to be called with the title instead of their name. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) assigned some title to any of his companions then all of His (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) companions were liked for the rest of their lives to be called with the same title instead of their names.

This story is about the first cousin of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) Hazrat Jaffer Taiyyar Bin Abi Talib (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him). When he (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) returned from “Habsha” at that time Muslims were celebrating the success of Khyber. On seeing Jaffer (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him), the Holy Prophet (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) expressed his pleasure by hugging and kissing his forehead and exclaimed with joy in these words, “Today I have double happiness one due to the conquer of Khyber and other because of return of Jaffer (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him).

We can guess the kind of love Allah’s Messenger (Blessing and Peace Be Upon Him) would have with Hazrat Jaffer Taiyyar Bin Abi Talib (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him).

While sending an expedition during the “Mouta War” Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) bestowed the flag to Hazrat Zaid Bin Harith (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) and said these words, “If Zaid (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) got martyrdom it would be given to Jaffer (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) and then to Hazrat Abdullah Bin Rawaha (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him)”. It was the foresightfulness of the Holy Prophet (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) that he was anticipating that both of his companions would get martyrdom in this war.

During the war Hazrat Jaffer’s (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) hand was cut, and then he held the flag with another hand. When the second hand was cut he (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) held the flag with his mouth and finally got martyrdom. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) heard about this incident, he became deeply sad till the Angel Gabriel (Salutations on him) appeared with glad tidings about Jaffer (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him). Angel Gibrail (Salutations on him) delivered the message of God and said, “O Prophet of God (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) Allah almighty had given two new arms to Hazrat Jafar (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) with these arms he (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) used to fly with the angels of Jannat (the Paradise). On these glad tidings, Hazrat Jaffer (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) was given the title of Taiyyar or Zul Jinnaheen (man with two wings) but the famous one was Taiyyar. Afterwards, till now the same title was added to his name as Hazrat Jaffer Taiyyar and everyone remembered him (May Allah Almighty be pleased with him) with the same title. Before the bestowal of this great title, the Holy Prophet (Blessings and Peace Be Upon Him) used to call him with love as ‘Abu-al-Massakeen’ (father of the needy) due to his sheer generosity, openhandedness and getting pleasure while feeding the poor.

Reference

Encyclopaedia, Ishaab-ul-Nabi by Dr MS Naaz