during the first migration to Abyssinia.

He actually saw the Prophet.

When the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—passed away, the boy was eleven years old, or a little older.

His father was among the earliest believers and one of the combatants at Badr.

His grandfather, ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah, had been the chief and elder of the polytheists; he was killed at Badr. His father, Abū Hudhayfa, was martyred at the Battle of al-Yamāmah, so Muḥammad was raised in the care of ʿUthmān.

His mother was Sahlah bint Suhayl al-ʿĀmiriyyah.

He grew up in comfort and prestige, yet he later joined those who revolted against ʿUthmān and seized control of Egypt.

Those who narrated from him include ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Mulayl (1) al-Balawī.

Ibn Yūnus said: In Egypt Muḥammad ibn Abī Hudhayfa opposed the acting governor ʿUqbah ibn Mālik—whom ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Sarḥ had appointed when he went to see ʿUthmān—expelled ʿUqbah from Fusṭāṭ, and declared his disavowal of ʿUthmān.

He was nicknamed “the ill-omen of Quraysh.”

Shabāb, in his list of ʿAlī’s governors over Egypt, said: “He first appointed Muḥammad, then removed him in favor of Qays ibn Saʿd (2).”

Ibn al-Mubārak narrated: Ḥarmalah ibn ʿImrān told us, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Mulayl told me, my father related:

“I was sitting with ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir near the pulpit on a Friday when Muḥammad ibn Abī Hudhayfa came out, ascended the pulpit, delivered a sermon, and recited a surah—he was among the most proficient reciters. ʿUqbah said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: “Men will recite the Quran yet it will not pass beyond their collarbones; they will bolt from the religion as an arrow bolts….”’ ”