Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal

ProfileSafwan ibn al-Mu'attal

Safwan (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of al-Mu'attal, of the Banu Sulaym, a large tribe of Mudar who lived in the country east of Madinah. Sahih al-Bukhari calls him as-Sulami adh-Dhakwani, of the clan of Dhakwan. The Prophet ﷺ prayed against Dhakwan for a month in the dawn prayer after the killing of his Companions at Bi'r Ma'unah (Sahih al-Bukhari), but nothing in the reports connects Safwan with it. According to the early biographies, it is not recorded when he accepted Islam or came to Madinah.

Aisha told that she lost her necklace, and the camel was driven on without her, and she sat where she had been, thinking they would come back for her, and fell asleep. Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal as-Sulami adh-Dhakwani, who was behind the army, reached her place in the morning. He saw the figure of a sleeping person, came to her, and knew her, for he had seen her before the veil was ordered. She woke when he said, "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un," and covered her face with her garment. By Allah, he said not a word to her but that, until he made his camel kneel and stepped on its foreleg, and she mounted it. He walked on, leading the camel, until they overtook the army at midday rest (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, he had been put at the rear of the army to pick up what it left behind.

The leader of those who spread the slander was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul (Sahih al-Bukhari). The Prophet ﷺ stood on the pulpit and said that he knew nothing of his family but good, and that they had named a man of whom he knew nothing but good, who had never visited his family except with him (Sahih al-Bukhari). When the slander came to the man who had been accused, he said, "Glory be to Allah! By Him in whose hand is my soul, I have never lifted the veil of any woman." He was later killed in Allah's cause (Sahih al-Bukhari).

According to the early biographies, when Safwan found out that Hassan ibn Thabit was one of those who had spread it, he met him and struck him with his sword, saying that he was a man who did not answer verses with verses. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ told Hassan to let it go. According to the early biographies, he went on to fight in the campaigns, and was killed in the north, in Armenia according to some, and at Sumaysat according to others, where he is said to have broken his leg and gone on fighting.

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