At a glance
Companions- Dates
- Died in Madinah, in the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (the year is not recorded)
- Who
- An Ansari of Badr, who asked to be paid back for a poke in the battle line, and who was governor of Khaybar
- Stages
- Building Madinah
ProfileSawad ibn Ghaziyyah
Sawad (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Ghaziyyah, an Ansari. According to the early biographies, he was of the Banu Adi ibn an-Najjar of the Khazraj, the clan related to the Prophet ﷺ through his grandfather's mother, though some say his family only joined it. According to the early biographies, he fought at Badr, Uhud and the Trench and the other campaigns.
According to the early biographies, on the morning of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ was straightening the lines with an arrow, or a stick, in his hand, and he prodded Sawad in the stomach, since Sawad was standing out in front of the line, and told him to stand straight. Sawad said that he had hurt him, and that Allah had sent him with truth and justice, and he asked to take his payback. The Prophet ﷺ bared his stomach and told him to take it. Sawad threw his arms round him and kissed his stomach. The Prophet ﷺ asked what had made him do this, and Sawad said that he saw what was in front of them, and wanted his last touch in this life to be his skin on the Prophet's ﷺ skin. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for good for him.
According to the early biographies, in the battle he took prisoner Khalid ibn Hisham, a brother of Abu Jahl, one of the leaders of the Banu Makhzum.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah told that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed a man of the Banu Adi of the Ansar as governor of Khaybar. He came back to Madinah with Janib dates, the best of its kind, and the Prophet ﷺ asked whether all the dates of Khaybar were like that. He said no, by Allah, but that they took a sa' of these for two or three sa's of other dates. The Prophet ﷺ told him not to do so, but to sell the inferior dates for money, and to buy Janib with the money (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the commentators on Sahih al-Bukhari, the man was Sawad ibn Ghaziyyah. He is not named in the hadith itself.
According to the early biographies, he lived in Madinah through the time of the first caliphs, and died a natural death, and was buried in al-Baqi. According to the early biographies, his son Amr ibn Sawad was among the Successors who taught in Madinah.
WatchA lecture about Sawad ibn Ghaziyyah
Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah
SourcesSources for this profile
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