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Hadith 17: (The Martyrdom of Jabir ibn Harram)
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them:
When the time of the Battle of Uhud approached, my father called me at night and said, "I think that I will be the first amongst the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to be murdered. I do not leave anyone after me dearer to me than you, except Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)'s soul and I owe some debt and you should repay it and treat your sisters favorably (nicely and politely)." So in the morning he was the first to be killed and was buried along with another (deceased). I did not like to leave him with the other so I took him out of the grave after six months of his burial and he was in the same condition as he was on the day of burial, except a slight change near his ear.
[Bukhari]
Values:
Aqeedah:
Loving Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be upon Him, more than you love yourself and your children, is a sign of the completeness of faith.
Loving Islam and Jihad in the cause of Almighty Allah is stronger than loving children and pleasures of the worldly life for the people of true strong faith.
Proving karamat of the faithful (spiritual gifts bestowed by Allah), two of them are mentioned here: Abdullah’s feeling of his near death, as he became the first martyr in the battle of Uhud, the earth did not consume the bodies of the martyrs of Uhud.
Fiqh (Jurisprudence):
1. It is recommended to make a will before death.
2. Loving children and being attached to them is not an excuse to abandon the obligatory jihad.
3. It is permissible to love one of the children more than the rest, provided that it does not affect being just towards all children.
4. It is permissible to move the body of the deceased from one place to another for a benefit.
5. It is permissible to burry two in one gave for a necessity, it is also mentioned that in Uhud, three were buried in one grave.
6. The heirs must pay off the debt of the deceased.
7. “The first to be killed” This indicates that it is not permissible to describe the deceased as a martyr, unless there is a clear Divine revelation that he is a martyr, because this is part of the unseen. We say, “We consider him a martyr”.
Generic Values:
1. One of the virtues and karamat of Abdullah bin Haram is expecting his death, and the earth did not compose his body, the angels shaded him with their wings, Almighty Allah talked to him directly without a mediator.
2. Encouraging to love Allah’s Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, and prioritizing loving Him over loving anything else even your children and your own self.
3. The love of fathers for their children is innate and motivates them to become preoccupied with them in their lives and even after their death, by making a will and saving for them.
4. The Companions of the Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, were brave; they went to battles even though they thought they would be killed, in order to support the religion of Allah.
5. The Companions endured poverty, hardships and having many children.
6. Advising the son to take care of his young sisters, Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, fulfilled this advice as he married a woman who previously married to help him take care of his younger sisters.
7. Jabir ibn Abdullah had nine sisters, he was the oldest and he had no brothers. He was 19 years old then, and he was not married then.
8. Some of the believers feel of their near death, and that is one of the karamat blessed by Allah upon His devoted servants.
9. The son cares about his father and loves him; Jabir could not tolerate leaving his father in the same grave with another, so he moved his body after six months and buried him in a private grave.
10. There were many martyrs in the Battle of Uhud, the Muslims were weak due having many wounded fighters. Muslims were in a hurry to get ready for another expected battle with the polytheists of Quraish, so due to the necessity, two or three martyrs were buried in one grave.
11. It is obligatory to pay off the debts of the deceased, especially the martyr, as debts are not to be forgiven as narrated by Muslim “Every fault but a debt will be forgiven to a martyr.”
12. “So in the morning” indicates that Allah’s Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, was fighting his enemies in the morning, this was the case back then, and if he did not fight at the beginning of the day, he would delay the fighting until after the sun goes down.
13. The bonding and compassion of the Muslim family among themselves is like a single body, a sound instinct and a religion that we follow.
Hadith Values:
1. This hadith is considered as a hadith by the Messenger, despite the fact that there are no words spoken by the Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, but it included approval by the Messenger, PBUH, to dig out the body of Abdullah ibn Haram and rebury it in a separate grave. So, this is Sunnah Taqririyyah, not Qawliyyah, which means sunnah by approval, not statements.
2. Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, is one of the seven who narrated the majority of the hadith by Allah’s Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, each of them narrated in the main six books of hadith more than one thousand hadith.
