Jaʿfar and ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah

Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He was older than ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. He made hijrah to al-Ḥabashah, and he held some great positions there: he was the spokesman of the Muslims before al-Najāshī, and he was the one who taught al-Najāshī about Islam. He took part in both the hijrah to al-Ḥabashah and the hijrah to Madīnah. And when he arrived at Khaybar, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: I do not know which gives me more joy, the opening of Khaybar or the arrival of Jaʿfar. And he is the one with the two wings, as mentioned before.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah (may Allah be pleased with him): one of the nuqabāʾ who gave the pledge to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) at the Bayʿah of al-ʿAqabah. He was an excellent poet; he has a lot of poetry in support of Islam, in defence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and in praise of him. There is a hadith, from Abū Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: while I was asleep, two men came to me and took me by the upper arms and brought me to a rugged mountain, and they told me: climb. I said: I cannot. They said: we will make it easy for you. And we heard some loud voices screaming, an uproar. I said: what are these voices? They said: this is the howling of the people of the Hellfire.

And then we moved on, and I saw people hanging by their hamstrings, their mouths split open, and blood streaming from them. I said: who are these? I was told: these are the people who break their fast before the time — before the right time. And then we moved on, and I saw people who were bloated, and a stench would come out from them, a horrible smell, and they had a very ugly look. I said: who are these? These are the slain among the disbelievers. And then I saw people who were bloated, and a stench would come out from them, and their smell was so horrible it was like toilets. I said: who are these? They said: these are the ones who commit fornication and adultery.

And then I saw women, and snakes were eating at their breasts. I said: what is wrong with these? They said: these are the women who withhold their milk from their children — they do not breastfeed their infants. And then we carried on, and I saw children playing between two rivers. I said: who are these? They said: these are the children of the believers. And then we climbed to a high place, and I saw three men drinking wine. I said: who are these? They said: these are Jaʿfar, Zayd and Ibn Rawāḥah. And then we went to a higher place, and I saw three men. I said: who are these? They said: Ibrāhīm, Mūsā and ʿĪsā, and they are waiting for you. This hadith was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Ḥibbān in their Ṣaḥīḥs.