Abdullah ibn Jahsh

Abdullah ibn Jahsh was a close relative of the Prophet ﷺ: his mother, Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib, was the Prophet's ﷺ paternal aunt. His father's people, Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah, were allied with Quraysh.

He accepted Islam early and emigrated to Abyssinia with the first Muslims to escape the pressure in Makkah, and later made his way to Madinah with the rest of the community.

In Madinah he was given command of a small band of Muhajirun and handed a sealed letter, with instructions not to open it until two days into the journey, and then to act on what it said without compelling any of his men. When he opened it, it told him where to go and what to watch for.

The expedition met a Quraysh party on the road, and a clash followed in which one of the Quraysh party was killed and others were taken. It happened at a time close enough to a sacred month that the outcome raised real questions in Makkah and among the Muslims about the timing — a controversy the sources record without settling in detail.

Two years later, at Uhud, Abdullah ibn Jahsh was killed. He was buried in one grave with his maternal uncle Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who fell in the same battle.