At a glance
Companions- Dates
- Died at as-Safra, on the way back from Badr, 2 AH (624 CE)
- Who
- A cousin of the Prophet ﷺ about ten years older than him, who led the first raid of the Muslims, fought in the opening duel at Badr and died of his wounds on the road home
- Stages
- Building Madinah
ProfileUbaydah ibn al-Harith
Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of al-Harith ibn al-Muttalib, a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, and about ten years older than him. According to the early biographies, he accepted Islam before the Prophet ﷺ entered the house of al-Arqam, when he was already about fifty, and stayed with the Prophet ﷺ through the boycott and then migrated. According to the early biographies, he was given the banner of the first raid the Prophet ﷺ sent out after Hamzah's, leading some sixty emigrants.
Ali told that at Badr Utbah ibn Rabi'ah came forward, followed by his son and his brother, and called out for single combat. Some young men of the Ansar answered, but he said that he wanted only their cousins. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Get up, Hamzah. Get up, Ali. Get up, Ubaydah ibn al-Harith." Hamzah went to Utbah, Ali to Shaybah, and Ubaydah and al-Walid struck one blow each and wounded one another severely, and they turned on al-Walid and killed him, and carried Ubaydah away (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih). Abu Dharr swore that the verse about the two opponents who dispute about their Lord was revealed about these six men, Hamzah, Ali, Ubaydah, Utbah, Shaybah and al-Walid (Sahih al-Bukhari).
According to the early biographies, he was carried back with the army, and died at as-Safra, a stage on the road to Madinah, and was buried there, not with the other martyrs of Badr. According to the early biographies, he was then about sixty-three.
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