Mosul.

His father—some say it was his uncle—had served as an official under Kisrā. Later, Ṣuhayb was taken to Mecca, where ʿAbd Allāh ibn Judʿān al-Qurashī al-Taymī bought him. Another report holds that he actually escaped, reached Mecca on his own, and entered into an alliance with Ibn Judʿān.

He was one of the leading early converts and a veteran of Badr.

Those who transmitted from him include his sons Ḥabīb, Ziyād (1), and Ḥamzah; Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab; Kaʿb al-Aḥbār; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā; and others. Only a handful of his reports are extant, yet the compilers still incorporated them into their books.

Ṣuhayb was a man of merit, highly revered, and the father of several children. When ʿUmar was mortally wounded, he deputed Ṣuhayb to lead the Muslims in prayer until the members of the Consultative Council (shūrā) could agree upon a new leader.

He was celebrated for his generosity and open-handedness, may Allah be pleased with him.

He died in Madinah in Shawwāl of the year 38 AH. He was among those who kept out of the civil strife and minded his own affairs, may Allah be pleased with him.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir said: “Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān ibn Mālik ibn ʿAbd (2) ʿAmr ibn ʿUqayl ibn ʿĀmir, Abū Yaḥyā—some say Abū Ghassān—al-Namirī, ‘the Roman,’ a participant at Badr and one of the Emigrants.”

Those who narrated from him, Ibn ʿAsākir continues, include his own children, Ibn ʿUmar, Jābir, Ibn al-Musayyab, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, Ibn Abī Laylā, and his eight sons: ʿUthmān, Ṣayfī, Ḥamzah, Saʿd, ʿAbbād, Ḥabīb, Ṣāliḥ, and Muḥammad.