At a glance
Companions- Dates
- Died in Madinah, after the death of Zaynab in 20 AH (year not recorded firmly)
- Who
- A blind early Muslim of the family of Jahsh, brother of Abdullah ibn Jahsh and Zaynab, who migrated to Abyssinia and Madinah and lost his house in Makkah
- Stages
- The Call in Makkah
ProfileAbu Ahmad ibn Jahsh
Abu Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him) was named Abd, the son of Jahsh, and the brother of Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Ubaydullah, Zaynab and Hamnah. According to the early biographies, the family were allies of the clan of Abd Shams, and accepted Islam early. According to the early biographies, he lost his sight early in life, and did not fight in the battles because of it. According to the early biographies, he was known for walking all over Makkah, up its hills and through its valleys, with no guide at all, and said in a verse that he loved the valley for his family were in it and he walked it without a guide.
According to the early biographies, the family migrated to Abyssinia with their women and children, and Abu Ahmad's wife was al-Fari'ah bint Abi Sufyan, the sister of Umm Habibah. According to the early biographies, the family's house in Makkah was taken after they left, and Abu Sufyan sold it, and kept the price. According to the early biographies, when the Prophet ﷺ heard of it, he asked Abdullah ibn Jahsh whether he would not be pleased with a house in Paradise in place of the one they had lost. According to the early biographies, the loss weighed on Abu Ahmad all his life, and at the Conquest he cried out in complaint at the Ka'bah to the clan of Abd Manaf, and the Prophet ﷺ told him that what had been taken would be made up to him with Allah.
Zaynab told that she used to boast to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ that they were married by their families, while she was married by Allah from above the seven heavens (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, he outlived his brothers and sisters, and at the funeral of Zaynab in 20 AH he insisted on helping to carry her body, saying that she was the woman through whom they had received every blessing.
Some commentators name him together with Ibn Umm Maktum among those the verse excusing the blind and the sick was understood to cover.
WatchA lecture about Abu Ahmad ibn Jahsh
Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah
SourcesSources for this profile
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