Will you give information about Jabir bin Abdullah's life, his view on hadiths and his hadith narrations?

The Details of the Question
Will you give information about Jabir bin Abdullah's life, his view on hadiths and his hadith narrations?
The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

Jabir bin Abdullah's father accepted Islam by taking part in the Second Aqaba Pledge. Jabir was about 18-19 years old then. He wanted to join the battles of Badr and Uhud but his father prevented him. Jabir's father, Abdullah, was martyred at the Battle of Uhud. Jabir said the following about it:

"My father was martyred at the Battle of Uhud. My sister gave me a camel and said, 'Go and carry your father’s dead body with this camel; bury him in the cemetery of Sons of Salama.' I went to the battlefield with a few people. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was informed about my arrival, he summoned me. The Messenger of Allah was at Uhud then. He said,

'I swear by Allah in whose hand is my soul that Abdullah will be buried with his brothers (martyrs of Uhud).'

Thereupon, my father was buried with his friends at Uhud."

Hz. Jabir reported 1540 hadiths from the Messenger of Allah. Some people from the Companions and Tabiun went to Jabir Ibn Abdullah in order to learn hadiths from him. Jabir b. Abdullah taught people hadiths in a circle in Masjid an-Nabawi.

Jabir ibn Abdullah made a journey to Damascus that lasted a month in order to learn a hadith that he did not hear from the Messenger of Allah in person from its source, Abdullah ibn Unays.  

He narrates this incident as follows:

"I heard a hadith whose narrator was a Companion. I took a camel and went to Damascus after a journey that lasted a month. I saw Abdullah ibn Unays there. I said to his servant, 'Tell him that Jabir is at the door.' Abdullah appeared. When we met at the door of his house, he said 'Jabir Ibn Abdullah!' and hugged me. I said, 'Yes. I came to you when I heard that you heard from the Messenger of Allah a hadith that I did not know.'  Thereupon, he narrated me the hadith that he heard from the Messenger of Allah:

'Allah will resurrect people naked and uncircumcised on the Day of Judgment.'"

Once, Jabir went to Egypt in order to learn one hadith from Uqba Ibn Amira and returned to Madinah after learning it.

Jabir ibn Abdullah talked to the Messenger of Allah a lot and he lived a long time after the death of the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, he narrated a lot of hadiths.

Jabir ibn Abdullah knew the Sunnah very well. He is regarded among the hafizes of the Sunnah. He learned hadiths not only from the Prophet (pbuh) but also from Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar, Hz. Ali, Abu Ubayda, Talha, Muadh Ibn Jabal, Ammar Ibn Yasir, Khalid Ibn Walid, Abu Said, Abdullah Ibn Unays, Umm Sharik and Umm Malik.

Hz. Jabir is one of the people who systematized hadith learning and teaching. He taught hadiths regularly in the hadith circle that he established in Masjid an-Nabawi in Madinah. This circle of his became an assembly that was advised and people came from different places in order to learn from him. Abu Zubayr said Ata sent him to Jabir and learned hadiths for them. Then, he said, "Jabir ibn Abdullah was a reliable person and knew a lot of hadiths." Thus, he pointed out that his narrations were sound and his knowledge was vast.

Jabir Ibn Abdullah, who narrated a lot of hadiths from the Prophet, learned several useful sciences from the Messenger of Allah. He had a booklet including his narrations about hajj worshipping. Rabi’ Ibn Sad said he saw Jabir writing hadiths on some flat materials next to Ibn Thabit. Abu Zubayr, Abu Sufyan and ash-Sha’bi listened to hadiths from Jabir and learned from him. The hadiths they heard from Jabir was from this booklet. Mujahid narrated hadiths from Jabir's booklet.

Jabir ibn Abdullah also dictated hadiths. The narration of Abdullah ibn Muhammed ibn Uqayl regarding the issue is as follows:

"I and Abu Jafar went to Jabir Ibn and wrote hadiths from him on the small tablets we had. According to the statement of Abu Hatim, Sulayman ibn Qays al Yashkuri sat in front of Jabir, learnt from him and wrote a booklet from him."

(Dr. Nevzat Aşık, Sahabe ve Hadis Rivayetleri)

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