Abu ʿUbayd (1) accepted Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, and Shaykh Abu ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr listed him among the Companions. Our teacher, the ḥadith master Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Dhahabi (2), said: “It is quite possible that he actually saw the Prophet (3); Allah knows best.”
Abu Quḥāfah, the father of al-Ṣiddīq (4)—while the full name of Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq is ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Quḥāfah ʿUthmān ibn ʿĀmir ibn ʿAmr (5) ibn Kaʿb ibn Saʿd ibn Taym ibn Murrah ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy ibn Ghalib—embraced Islam in the Year of the Conquest. Al-Ṣiddīq led him by the hand to the Prophet ﷺ, who said, “Why did you not leave the old man in his house so that we might have gone to him?”—in honour of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. Abu Bakr replied, “He is more entitled to come to you, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet ﷺ seated him before him; his head was white like a thaghāmah blossom (6). He prayed for him and said, “Change this grey, but keep clear of black dye.” (7)
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away and the caliphate devolved upon al-Ṣiddīq, the Muslims informed Abu Quḥāfah of this while he was in Mecca. He asked, “Have the clans of Banū Hāshim and Banū Makhzūm sanctioned it?” They replied, “Yes.” He said, “That is the grace of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills.” Shortly afterwards he was bereaved of his son, al-Ṣiddīq—may Allah be pleased with him. Abu Quḥāfah himself died in Muḥarram—others say in Rajab—of the year 14 AH, in Mecca, at the age of seventy-four years. May Allah have mercy on him and ennoble his resting place.
Among those whom our teacher Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Dhahabi (8) recorded as having been martyred in that same year, arranged alphabetically, are:
• Aws ibn Aws ibn ʿAtīk, slain on the Day of the Bridge.
• Bashīr ibn ʿAnbas ibn Yazīd al-Ẓafarī, a veteran of Uḥud, cousin of Qatādah ibn al-Nuʿmān, known as Fāris al-Ḥawāʾ—“the Horseman of the Cavern,” which was the name of his steed.
• Thābit ibn ʿAtīk of Banū ʿAmr ibn Mabdhūl, a Companion who fell on the Day of the Bridge.
• Thaʿlabah ibn ʿAmr ibn Miḥṣan al-Najjārī, a veteran of Badr, killed that day.
• al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAtīk ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Najjārī, who fought at Uḥud, killed that day.
• al-Ḥārith ibn Masʿūd ibn ʿAbdah, an Anṣārī Companion, killed that day.