even in the pre-Islamic era. According to one account, he was martyred in Syria in this very year, and after his death ʿUmar married his wife, Fāṭimah.

Shuraḥbīl ibn Ḥasnah (1) was one of the four divisional commanders and the governor of Palestine. His full name is Shuraḥbīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muṭāʿ ibn Qaṭn al-Kindī, an ally of Banū Zuhrah. Ḥasnah was his mother, and the name by which he came to be known. He embraced Islam early, emigrated to Abyssinia, and Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq equipped him for the Syrian campaign, placing him in command of one quarter of the army—a position he retained under ʿUmar’s caliphate as well. He, Abū ʿUbaydah, and Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī all succumbed to the plague on the same day in 18 AH. Two hadiths are transmitted from him; Ibn Mājah records one of them in the chapter on ablution and elsewhere (2).

ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ (3) ibn Hilāl ibn Uhَيb (ibn Ḍabbah ibn al-Ḥārith) ibn Fihr al-Qurashī, better known as Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ al-Fihrī, was “the trustee of this ummah,” one of the ten promised Paradise, and one of the five who entered Islam on the same day—ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn, ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Asad, and Abū ʿUbaydah himself—all at the hands of al-Ṣiddīq. After the Hijrah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established a bond of brotherhood between him and Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, though another report names Muḥammad ibn Maslamah. He fought at Badr and every subsequent battle.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Every nation has a trustee, and the trustee of this nation is Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ,” a report found in both Ṣaḥīḥs (4). The two Ṣaḥīḥs also relate (5) that on the Day of the Saqīfah Abū Bakr declared, “I am content for you to pledge allegiance to either of these two men,” meaning ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb or Abū ʿUbaydah. Abū Bakr sent Abū ʿUbaydah as commander of one quarter of the army to Syria; later, when he appointed Khālid to Iraq, Khālid was placed above Abū ʿUbaydah and others because of his military expertise (6). When the caliphate passed to ʿUmar, he relieved Khālid and installed Abū ʿUbaydah, instructing him to consult Khālid—thus combining for the ummah the trustworthiness of Abū ʿUbaydah with the bravery of Khālid.

Ibn ʿAsākir said: He was the first to be called “Commander of Commanders” in Syria. They also said that Abū ʿUbaydah was tall, slender, and slightly stooped (7).