the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ there were three Emigrants who issued legal verdicts: ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī; and three from the Helpers: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Muʿādh, and Zayd.

Niyār al-Aslamī reported that ʿUmar used to consult these men, and he specifically named Muʿādh among them.

Mūsā ibn ʿUlayy ibn Rabāḥ narrated—through his father—that ʿUmar once addressed the people at al-Jābiyyah, saying, “Whoever desires true understanding, let him come to Muʿādh ibn Jabal.” (1)

Al-Aʿmash narrated from Abū Sufyān:
“Our elders related that a man was away from his wife for two years. When he returned he found her pregnant, so he brought her to ʿUmar, who resolved to stone her. Muʿādh said to him, ‘If you have any claim against her, you have none against what is in her womb.’ ʿUmar therefore left her alone. She later delivered a boy who unmistakably resembled his father—his two front teeth had already emerged. The man declared, ‘This is my son.’ ʿUmar exclaimed, ‘Women are incapable of giving birth to another like Muʿādh! Had it not been for Muʿādh, ʿUmar would have perished.’” (2)

Al-Wāqidī related:
Ayyūb ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik told us, from his father, from his grandfather, that when Muʿādh set out for Syria ʿUmar would say, “His departure has impoverished Madinah and its people of fiqh and of the fatwas he used to give. I even spoke to Abū Bakr, asking him to keep Muʿādh back because the people needed him, but he refused and said, ‘A man who seeks the Divine Countenance—meaning martyrdom—I will not detain.’” (3)

I remarked, “A person may indeed be granted martyrdom while lying upon his bed.”

Al-Aʿmash narrated from Shimr ibn ʿAṭiyyah, from Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, who said, “The Companions…”