34 – Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib ʿAbd Manāf al-Hāshimī

The noble, the martyr, a man of lofty rank, the standard-bearer of the warriors. He was Abū ʿAbd Allāh, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—ʿAbd Manāf ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Qusay (1), of the Hāshim clan—and the brother of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, older than ʿAlī by ten years.

He accomplished the two migrations. After departing from Abyssinia he came to Madinah, reaching the Muslims while they were at Khaybar just after its capture. He remained in Madinah for several months, after which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placed him in command of the army for the expedition of Muʾtah near al-Karak, where he was martyred.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ rejoiced greatly at his arrival and—by Allah—was deeply saddened by his death.

He transmitted only a small number of hadith.

Among those who narrated from him were Ibn Masʿūd, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, Umm Salamah, and his son ʿAbd Allāh.

Hudayj ibn Muʿāwiyah—through Abū Isḥāq, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, from Ibn Masʿūd—reported:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent us to the Negus, eighty men in all: myself, Jaʿfar, Abū Mūsā, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUrfaṭah, and ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn.

Quraysh, meanwhile, dispatched ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and ʿUmārah ibn al-Walīd with a gift. They reached the Negus, and when they entered, they prostrated…"