He came to be taught
Makkah, while the Prophet ﷺ was speaking with a group of Quraysh leaders.
Moment 1 of 1MakkahThe Makkan years1 min read
Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum was blind, and had already accepted Islam. One day he came to the Prophet ﷺ asking to be taught and recited to, at a moment when the Prophet ﷺ was engaged in conversation with a group of leading men of Quraysh.
He could not see who else was present, or that the conversation was already underway with people the Prophet ﷺ hoped might accept Islam. He asked again more than once.
Classical exegesis connects the opening of Surah Abasa to this meeting. The record does not quote or number those verses, and it does not characterise what anyone in the meeting was thinking or feeling — establishing that is a matter for tafsir, not for a biographical record.
What can be said plainly is what came after: the Prophet ﷺ continued to teach Ibn Umm Maktum, and in Madinah gave him one of the most public roles in the daily life of the community — calling the adhan alongside Bilal — and trusted him more than once with charge of the city itself.
In this moment: The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
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The Qur'anالقرآن الكريم
Qur'an
Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz as-Sahabahالإصابة في تمييز الصحابة
Classical biography · Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani
Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabirالطبقات الكبرى
Classical biography · Ibn Sa'd
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