| Intro | Early convert from Islam | ||||||
| From | Ethiopia | ||||||
| Gender | male | ||||||
| Birth | 588, Mecca, Saudi Arabia | ||||||
| Death |
627, Ethiopia, Ethiopia |
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| Family |
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Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh (Arabic: عبيد الله بن جحش) (c.588-627) was one of the four monotheistic hanifs mentioned by Ibn Ishaq, the others being Waraka ibn Nawfal, Uthman ibn Huwairith and Zayd ibn Amr.
Biography
He was the son of Jahsh ibn Riyab and Umama bint Abdulmuttalib, hence a brother of Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Abu Ahmad ibn Jahsh, Habiba bint Jahsh and Hammanah bint Jahsh, a first cousin of Islamic prophet Muhammad and Ali, and a nephew of Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. He married Ramla bint Abi Sufyan (who was also known as Umm Habiba), and they had one daughter, Habibah bint Ubayd-Allah.
He and his wife became Muslims and, in order to escape from the Meccan persecution, they emigrated to Abyssinia. At Axum, part of the Aksumite Empire the Christian king, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar, gave sanctuary to the Muslims. There Ubayd-Allah eventually converted to Christianity and testified his new faith to the other Muslim refugees. Ibn Ishaq relates:
‘Ubaydullah went on searching until Islam came; then he migrated with the Muslims to Abyssinia taking with him his wife who was a Muslim, Umm Habiba bint Abu Sufyan. When he arrived there he adopted Christianity, parted from Islam, and died a Christian in Abyssinia. Muhammad bin Jafar al-Zubayr told me that when he had become a Christian ‘Ubaydullah as he passed the prophet’s companions who were there used to say: ‘We see clearly, but your eyes are only half open’, i.e. ‘We see, but you are only trying to see and cannot see yet.’
Due to his conversion, he separated from his wife. He eventually died in Abyssinia in 627.
Later on Muhammad married his widow, Ramlah. Muhammad also married Ubayd-Allah’s sister Zaynab.