Musab ibn Umayr
- Lived
- c. 585 - 625 CE
- Read next
- Meaning of the name Musab
Who was Musab ibn Umayr? The young dandy of Mecca who left his mother's wealth and became the first ambassador of the Prophet ﷺ to Madinah. Martyred at Uhud with the standard still in his hand.
The young dandy of Mecca who left his mother's wealth and became the first ambassador of the Prophet ﷺ to Madinah. Martyred at Uhud with the standard still in his hand.
Life
Musab ibn Umayr grew up as the most refined youth in Mecca, dressed in the finest Yemeni cloth, perfumed in the manner of the Hijaz aristocracy, walking the streets in a way that drew the eyes of every mother in the city as a match for her daughter. His mother, Khunas bint Malik, was among the richest and most protective women of Quraysh.
When the Prophet ﷺ began meeting Muslims in the house of al-Arqam at the foot of Safa, Musab slipped in to listen. He accepted Islam in secret. When his mother learned, she chained him in her house and starved him. Musab endured until he escaped to Abyssinia in the first migration.
On his return, the Prophet ﷺ chose him as the first ambassador of Islam to Yathrib (Madinah). He was sent alone. He taught the Quran to Sad ibn Muadh and Usayd ibn Hudayr, the chiefs of Aws, and through them Islam entered Madinah before the Prophet ﷺ himself arrived. He is called al-Muqri, the reciter, for what he taught there.
At Uhud he carried the standard of the Muslims. When his right hand was struck off he took the standard in his left. When his left was struck off he cradled the standard in the stumps of his arms until he was killed. When the battle was over, the Prophet ﷺ walked among the fallen and found Musab. There was not enough cloth left to cover his body. If his head was covered his feet showed; if his feet were covered his head showed. The Prophet ﷺ said: cover his head, and put lemon-grass on his feet.
Stories
Each story is drawn from the classical Islamic sources.