Ibn ʿAsakir (1) states that Hujr came as a delegate to the Prophet ﷺ. He later heard hadith from ʿAli, ʿAmmar, and Shurahīl ibn Murrah—some say Shurahbīl ibn Murrah. Narrations from him are transmitted by his freedman Abū Layla, by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbbās, and by Abū al-Bakhtari al-Ṭāʾī. He took part in the Syrian campaign with the army that conquered ʿAdhraʾ (2), was present at Ṣiffīn on ʿAli’s side as a commander, and was killed at ʿAdhraʾ, a village near Damascus; the mosque over his grave there is still known. Ibn ʿAsakir then produced, through his chains of transmission back to Hujr, a considerable selection of hadith that Hujr related from ʿAli and others.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd lists him in the fourth generation of the Companions, records his visit to the Prophet ﷺ, and then includes him in the first tier of the Successors from Kūfah. He writes: “He was a well-known, trustworthy narrator, and he transmitted nothing from anyone other than (3) ʿAli.” Ibn ʿAsakir, however, maintains that he also reported from ʿAmmar and Shurahīl ibn Murrah.

Abū Aḥmad al-ʿAskarī remarks: “Most hadith scholars do not confirm that he was a Companion.” Hujr fought at al-Qādisiyyah, helped capture the plain of (4) ʿAdhraʾ, and was present at the Battles of the Camel and of Ṣiffīn. On ʿAli’s side there were “Hujr of virtue”—this Hujr ibn ʿAdiyy—and “Hujr of vice” (5)—Hujr ibn Yazīd ibn Salamah ibn Murrah.

Al-Marzubānī relates that Hujr ibn ʿAdiyy visited the Messenger of Allah ﷺ together with his brother Hāniʾ ibn ʿAdiyy. He adds that Hujr was among the most devout worshippers and ascetics, exceptionally dutiful to his mother, and abundant in prayer and fasting. Abū Maʿshar said: “He never broke minor purity without renewing his ablution, and whenever he performed ablution he offered two units of prayer.” Others have said the same.

Imām Aḥmad reported: “Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd told us, al-Aʿmash told me, from Abū Isḥāq, who said: Salmān said to Hujr, ‘O son of Umm Hujr, even if your limbs were severed one by one, you would still not have attained true faith.’”

Whenever al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah—then governor of Kūfah—mentioned ʿAli in his sermon and belittled him after praising ʿUthmān and his supporters, Hujr would grow angry and publicly object. Al-Mughīrah, however, was forbearing and patient; he would pardon him, advise him privately, and warn him about the consequences (6) of such conduct, for opposing one in authority brings grievous repercussions. Still, Hujr would not desist. Late in al-Mughīrah’s governorship Hujr rose during a sermon, censured him, shouted at him, and reproached him for delaying people’s stipends. Groups of people (7) stood with Hujr, and his tribesmen followed, railing against al-Mughīrah, whereupon he withdrew