Mention of the distinguished people who died in that year
Among those of note who passed away were:
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb (1) – acknowledged as the master of the Qur’an reciters. His full lineage is Ubayy ibn Kaʿb ibn Qays ibn ʿUbayd ibn Zayd ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAmr ibn Mālik ibn al-Najjār. He was known by the kunyas Abū al-Mundhir and Abū al-Tufayl, an Anṣārī of the clan of al-Najjār and the foremost of the reciters. Ubayy was present at the Pledge of al-ʿAqabah, at Badr, and at every subsequent battle, and he enjoyed high standing and honor. He was one of the four Khazrajite reciters who gathered the Qurʾān during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. On one occasion he said to ʿUmar, “I received the Qur’an from the one from whom Jibrīl received it, while it was still fresh.”
In the Musnad, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah (2), through the chain of Abū Qilābah from Anas, it is related with an isnād raised to the Prophet: “The most proficient in recitation among my ummah is Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.” In the Ṣaḥīḥ (3) the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “Indeed Allah has commanded me to recite the Qur’an to you.” Ubayy asked, “Did He mention me by name to you?” The Prophet replied, “Yes,” and Ubayy’s eyes filled with tears. We have discussed this in detail in the Tafsīr under the verse, “Those who disbelieved from among the People of the Scripture and the idolaters were not going to desist until there had come to them clear proof (1)” (Quran 98:1).
Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī said that Ubayy died in 19 AH. Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn held that it was in 17 or 20 AH. Al-Wāqidī, citing several authorities, stated that he died in 22 AH, and this was also the view of Abū ʿUbayd, Ibn Numayr, and others. Al-Fallās and Khalīfah (4) said that his death occurred during the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him.
In the same year Khabbāb (5), the freedman of ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān and one of the Muhājirūn, who fought at Badr and afterward, died. He was among the earliest Companions, and ʿUmar led the funeral prayer for him.
Also, according to one opinion already mentioned, Ṣafwān ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal (6) died this year as well. Allah knows best.