Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh ʾal-ʾAnṣārī

 

عن عبد الله بن مغفل المزني قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الله الله في أصحابي لا تتخذوهم غرضا بعدي فمن أحبهم فبحبي أحبهم ومن أبغضهم فببغضي أبغضهم ومن آذاهم فقد آذاني ومن آذاني فقد آذى الله عز وجل ومن آذى الله يوشك أن يأخذه

ʿAbdullāh bin Mughaffal ʾal-Muzanī narrates that Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, “[Fear] Allāh! [Fear] Allāh in regards my Companions! Do not make them a target after me. He who loves them, loves them due to loving me. He who hates them, hates them due to hating me. He who harms them has harmed me. He who harms me [aims] harm at Allāh, Most Mighty and Majestic. And Allāh will soon seize he who [intends to] harm Him. [ʾAḥmad]

Another reminder that I have not written in a while, and this reminder specifically mentioning Syria. Yesterday I met someone who returned from his third welfare trip to Syria. He told me that each trip only adds to his confusion on the situation there, rather than clear up the facts. How then do I comment at this stage on Syria? As for other matters requiring exercise of the intellect, my mind does not focus on any topic right now. So perhaps if for nobody’s benefit other than my own, I shall put pen to paper on matters of the heart, not the mind.

 

I know that on the Day of Reckoning I do not have any deed worthy of presentation. I do not recall observing even a single prayer in my entire life, with my thoughts solely focussed on my Creator. My only hope lies in the intercession of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and Allāh forgiving me without taking me to account for my deeds. Yet both these are dependent on the recipient having faith. Am I truly a believer? Faith lies between hope and fear. What gives me hope, that I do indeed have faith, is the love for the Companions of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ which overcomes me. I thank Allāh for granting me such joy when thinking of them, which no soccer, cricket, Hollywood or Bollywood fanatic can match in his/her love of those idols. I just cannot get my mind across why a Muslim would adore such people, when a single Ḥadith or story of the Companions should be enough to make one an ardent admirer of that Companion and all Companions in general. I am especially irked when these fanatics include scholars and people otherwise ostensibly linked to religion. I may even be accused of being too informal when speaking of the Companions, but I am convinced that if I do have the honour of meeting them, they will fully understand that I was motivated by love, unlike the judgemental Muslim ʾUmmah who will not understand anything out of the straight and narrow.

I spend days pondering over a particular Companion. Currently it is Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh ʾal-ʾAnṣārī (may Allāh be pleased with him) who fills my thoughts. As a student of Ḥadīth, it struck me how often Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him) was associated with miracles. It would be bold of me to say that most miracles of the Prophetic era were associated with him. It may even be possible. However, such a statement cannot be made, even if I had the capacity to actually research and record each such event, for there may be miracles which have not been recorded. However, what I can confidently state, is that the number of miracles mentioned in the Ḥadīth, are out of proportion associated with Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him) as compared to the general body of the Companions. Of these, I shall mention two:

1.    The Continuously Increasing Dates

 

عَنْ الشَّعْبِيِّ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنِي جَابِرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ، أَنَّ أَبَاهُ اسْتُشْهِدَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ ، وَتَرَكَ سِتَّ بَنَاتٍ ، وَتَرَكَ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنًا ، فَلَمَّا حَضَرَ جِدَادُ النَّخْلِ ، أَتَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقُلْتُ : " قَدْ عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ وَالِدِي اسْتُشْهِدَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ ، وَتَرَكَ دَيْنًا كَثِيرًا ، وَإِنِّي أُحِبُّ أَنْ يَرَاكَ الْغُرَمَاءُ ، قَالَ : " اذْهَبْ ، فَبَيْدِرْ كُلَّ تَمْرٍ عَلَى نَاحِيَةٍ ، فَفَعَلْتُ ، ثُمَّ دَعَوْتُهُ ، فَلَمَّا نَظَرُوا إِلَيْهِ كَأَنَّمَا أُغْرُوا بِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةَ ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى مَا يَصْنَعُونَ أَطَافَ حَوْلَ أَعْظَمِهَا بَيْدَرًا ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ، ثُمَّ جَلَسَ عَلَيْهِ ، ثُمَّ قَالَ : ادْعُ أَصْحَابَكَ ، فَمَا زَالَ يَكِيلُ لَهُمْ حَتَّى أَدَّى اللَّهُ أَمَانَةَ وَالِدِي ، وَأَنَا رَاضٍ أَنْ يُؤَدِّيَ اللَّهُ أَمَانَةَ وَالِدِي لَمْ تَنْقُصْ تَمْرَةً وَاحِدَةً "

Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh ʾal-ʾAnṣārī narrated that his father was martyred at the Battle of Uḥud. He left behind 6 daughters and debts. When the season for harvesting the date-trees arrived I went to Allah's Messenger and said, "O Allah's Messenger! You know that my father was martyred on the Day of Uhud and owed much debt, and I wish that the creditors would see you.” [and thus accept the small harvest as full payment, as per Bukhārī]. He said, "Go and collect the various kinds of dates and place them separately in heaps." I did that and called him. On seeing him, the creditors started demanding [full payment] against me immediately. When he saw how they behaved, he went round the biggest heap three times and sat over it. He then said, "Call your companions [i.e. the creditors]." Then he kept on measuring and giving them, till Allah fulfilled my father's obligations. It would have pleased me if Allah had only cleared the debts of my father but in fact [the harvest] had not decreased by a single date [after the full payment]. [ʾAbū Dāwūd]

2.    Ever Increasing Mutton and Bread

فقد جاء في الحديث المتفق عليه أن جابر بن عبد الله رضي الله عنهما رأى جوعاً شديداً بالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فانطلق إلى بيته، وأخرج جراباً فيه صاع من شعير، وذبح شاة، وجهز هو وزوجته طعاماً، ثم دعا رسولَ الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - إليه، فلما رأى جابرٌ النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم – وبصحبته أهل الخندق فزع من ذلك المشهد ، وذهبت به الظنون كل مذهب ، وقال في نفسه : كيف يمكن لهذا الطعام أن يكفي كل هذا الحشد ، فعلم النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم – ما يدور في نفس جابر رضي الله عنه فأخبره بألا ينزل القدر، وألا يخبز الخبز، حتى يأتيه ويبارك فيه، ثم أكلوا جميعاً وشبعوا، والطعام كما هو.

Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh (may Allāh be pleaded with father and son) saw the Prophet Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, suffering from intense hunger. He went home and took out a jar of containing a Ṣāʿ measure of barley and slaughtered an ewe. He and his wife prepared food. He then invited Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. When Jābir saw the Prophet bringing the army of the Trench with him, the scenario made him anxious and various thoughts played out in his mind. He said to himself, “How can this food suffice this mass of people?” The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ knew what was going through Jābir’s mind and commanded him not to bring down the pot, nor finish bake the bread until he arrived and blessed it. The army ate to its fill, yet the food remained to the amount it originally was. [Meaning found in Muslim and Bukhārī]

The Supplication of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

I would ask, “Why so many miraculous events and blessings in the life of Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him)?” I would venture that it is the result of the following incident, wherein the teenaged boy, Jābir, sacrifices his personal desires for the sake of others and thereby gains the Duʿāʿ of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, which surely profited him for the rest of his life. May Allāh imbue us with such qualities and fill our hearts and lives with love for Allāh, His Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and the pious.

فقال النبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏تزوجت يا ‏ ‏جابر ‏ ‏قلت نعم قال بكرا أم ثيبا قلت ثيبا قال ‏ ‏هلا جارية تلاعبها وتلاعبك أو تضاحكها وتضاحكك قلت هلك أبي فترك سبع أو تسع بنات فكرهت أن أجيئهن بمثلهن فتزوجت امرأة تقوم عليهن قال فبارك الله عليك

“O Jābir,” the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ asked, “Have you married?”

“Yes,” I replied. “A virgin or not?” he asked.

“An elder woman,” I replied.

He said, “Why not a young girl? You could play with her and she play with you!”

I said, “My father is dead and left behind seven or nine daughters [the narrator is in doubt]. I disliked that I bring to them someone the same like them, so I instead married a woman who can raise them.”

He said, “Then may Allāh bless you!”

[ʾal-Bukhārī]

 

سليمان الكندي
Twitter: @sulayman_Kindi