Awn b. Abd Allah b. Ja'far al-Tayyar: Difference between revisions

‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far (known as ‘Awn Akbar) was son of Lady Zaynab (s) who was martyred in Karbala. Following the advice of his father, Abd Allah b. Ja’far, both he and his brother Muhammad accompanied Imam al-Husayn (a) and they were martyred in Karbala on the day of ‘Ashura.

His father was ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far b. Abi Talib b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib was among the companions of the Prophet (s). ‘Awn’s grandfather was Ja’far Tayyar who was chosen by the Prophet (s) as the chief of Muslims in their immigration to Ethiopia. ‘Awn’s mother was lady Zaynab (s), daughter of Imam Ali (a) and Lady Fatima (s).

‘Abd Allah had two sons called ‘Awn: ‘Awn Akbar whose mother was Lady Zaynab (s) and ‘awn Asghar whose mother was Jamana, daughter of Musayyib b. Najba, among the commanders of Tawwabin movement. There is a disagreement which one of ‘Abd Allah’s two sons attended in the tragedy of Karbala, but it is famous that ‘Awn Akbar was martyred in Karbala and ‘Awn Asghar was martyred in the event of Harra in Medina.

After Imam al-Husayn (a) moved from Mecca to Kufa, ‘Abd Allah b. ja’far wrote a letter to Imam (a) and asked him to change his decision and returns. ‘Abd Allah sent his letter to Imam (a) by his sons ‘Awn and Muhammad. When ‘Abd Allah found that Imam (a) was determined in his decision, advised his sons ‘Awn and Muhammad to accompany Imam (a) and fight along with Imam (a).

On the day of ‘Ashura, after Muhammad was martyred, ‘Awn went to the battlefield and made a battle cry as below:

“A true martyr in the shining paradise

if you do not know me, I am son of Ja’far,

that he flies with green wings and.”

According to Ibn Shahr Ashub, he killed 3 horsemen and 18 foot soldiers from the army of ‘Umar b. Sa’d and finally was martyred by ‘Abd Allah b. Qutba.

About him, in the Ziyarat of Nahiya (non-famous), it is mentioned, “Peace be upon ‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far, the flying in the paradise; the one, who was truthful in faith, a fighting peer, advising for the sake of the Merciful, the reciter of the twice-read verses and the Qur’an. May God curse his murderer, ‘Abd Allah b. Qutba al-Nabhani.”

Beside the current highway of Karbala to Baghdad, there is a grave which is attributed to ‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah. According to a report, that is where ‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far Tayyar, son of Lady Zaynab (s) who was martyred on the day of ‘Ashura. However, according to another report, the mentioned grave belongs to ‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah, a descendant of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (a) and this seems more accurate, since ‘Awn b. ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far must have been buried beside other martyrs of Karbala.