Al-Miqdad ibn Amr ibn Tha’labah رضي الله عنه, before he was born, his father had committed a crime. He murdered someone, then fled fearing that he would be punished. He escaped to Hadramaut, where he stayed for some time, married a woman from Hadramaut, and had a son. That son was named Al-Miqdad.
Al-Miqdad was very dark in complexion and had a very hot-blooded, temperamental nature. As he grew older, he became involved in several disputes with people in Hadramaut. During one of these arguments, he struck an elderly man with his sword, cutting part of his leg.
Just like his father before him, Al-Miqdad fled Hadramaut and made his way to Makkah al-Mukarramah.
In Makkah, Al-Miqdad ibn Amr made an agreement with one of the respected men of Quraysh named Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth. They became so close that one day Al-Aswad publicly declared:
“This young man is my son from today. When I die, he will inherit from me, and if he dies, I will inherit from him.”
From that day onward, many people began calling him Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad.
During that period, Al-Miqdad began hearing from fortune-tellers that the time had come for a messenger to appear in Makkah. He hoped to meet that messenger one day.
When he heard about Muhammad ﷺ, he immediately knew:
“This has to be the man.”
Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad became one of the first ten people to accept Islam.
Like the early Muslims, he immediately faced persecution.
When the Prophet ﷺ made the Hijrah, Al-Miqdad was initially unable to migrate because of the persecution. Later, he carefully planned his escape and eventually made the Hijrah, just as Suhayb ibn Sinan رضي الله عنه had done.
When he arrived in Madinah Munawwarah, the Prophet ﷺ was extremely pleased with him because Al-Miqdad showed a deep eagerness to learn the religion. The Prophet ﷺ was delighted with him and allowed him to remain among those who stayed close to him.
Later, Al-Miqdad wanted to get married.
Abdur Rahman ibn Awf رضي الله عنه asked him,
“Why don’t you get married?”
Al-Miqdad replied,
“Why don’t you marry me to your daughter?”
Abdur Rahman ibn Awf رضي الله عنه declined, saying that he could not marry his daughter to him.
Al-Miqdad was upset and went to the Prophet ﷺ to mention what had happened.
The Prophet ﷺ then said to him,
“Wouldn’t you like me to become one of your in-laws?”
Al-Miqdad replied,
“Yes, O Messenger of Allah, why not?”
The Prophet ﷺ then married him to his cousin Duba’ah bint Az-Zubayr ibn Abdul Muttalib رضي الله عنها.
Al-Miqdad was overjoyed and would often say,
“No one was willing to marry me into their family, but Muhammad ﷺ married me to his own cousin. Now I have become part of his family through marriage.”
During the Battle of Badr, Al-Miqdad رضي الله عنه stood before the Prophet ﷺ and said:
“O Muhammad ﷺ, we will never say to you what the people of the Book said to Prophet Musa عليه السلام: ‘Go, you and your Lord, and fight. We are sitting here.’
Instead, we say to you: Go forward, and we are with you. Even if you command us to follow you across the sea, we will follow you into it.
There is nothing you command us today except that we will obey.”
His powerful words inspired all of the Companions, and the Prophet ﷺ was greatly pleased.
The Muslims then marched forward to the Battle of Badr, where Allah granted them victory.
Al-Miqdad رضي الله عنه passed away in 33 AH. Some narrations mention that he was killed by one of his own servants.
He was approximately 73 years old.
He passed away in an area called Al-Jurf, on the outskirts of Madinah Munawwarah, and was buried in Al-Baqi’.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 