Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman

A Companion known as the confidant of the Prophet. His full name is Abu 'Abd Allah Hudhayfa b. Husayl (Hisl) b. Jabir al-'Absi. He took command of the army at the Battle of Nahawand and served as governor of al-Mada'in under 'Umar.

He was born in Medina. His father, having fled Mecca for Medina because of a blood feud, settled there and made a pact with the Banu 'Abd al-Ashhal, who were of Yemeni origin, and was therefore called al-Yaman (according to some reports the name was given to his great-grandfather Jirwa b. al-Harith); Hudhayfa thus became known as Ibn al-Yaman. His mother, al-Rabab bint Ka'b of the 'Abd al-Ashhal clan of the Aws, was among the Ansari women who pledged allegiance to the Prophet.

He embraced Islam together with his father before the Battle of Badr. Setting out to join the Messenger of God in that battle, father and son were seized by the polytheists on the way and released after promising not to join the Prophet; when they told the Messenger of God, he told them to keep their word and not take part in the fighting. Hudhayfa took part in every campaign thereafter. At Uhud, because the Muslims had covered their faces so as not to be recognised by the enemy, his father Husayl was killed in error, taken for a polytheist; Hudhayfa sought consolation in the thought that it had been a mistake, and when the Prophet wished to pay him his father's blood money he declined it and gave it to poor Muslims. At the Battle of the Trench the Messenger of God charged him with gathering intelligence on the polytheist army; slipping in among them after receiving the Prophet's prayer, Hudhayfa reported that a violent storm had routed them and that they had therefore abandoned Medina.

In the brotherhood pact between the Emigrants and the Ansar, the Prophet declared him the brother of 'Ammar b. Yasir. He was among the Prophet's scribes responsible for alms matters; the Prophet sent him as alms collector to the Azd tribe living at Daba and gave him a letter setting out the rules of zakat.

His most important distinction is that he was the Prophet's confidant. It is reported that the Messenger of God entrusted him with knowledge he gave to no other Companion, so that no one else knew the names of the hypocrites among the Companions or the seditions that would arise; 'Umar and 'Ali stated this distinction openly. It is related that during his caliphate 'Umar asked him whether there was a hypocrite among his governors; Hudhayfa said there was one but gave no name, and the caliph at once dismissed a governor whom he guessed, from what he had learned, to be that man.

Under 'Umar he was appointed governor of al-Mada'in and rebuilt the city. At the Battle of Nahawand (21/642), when the army commander al-Nu'man b. Muqarrin was killed, he took command and forced the enemy to surrender; Dinawar, Hamadan and Rayy were also conquered by him. On the Azerbaijan and Armenia campaign, seeing that Iraqi and Syrian soldiers recited the Qur'an in differing readings, he warned 'Uthman and brought about the copying of the Mushaf. He was also known as a judge able to resolve the most intricate cases; the Messenger of God referred to him people disputing over a house made of reeds and said that his ruling was sound.

He was known for his asceticism and piety: he entered al-Mada'in as governor riding his donkey, and when the city's notables asked what salary he wanted, he asked only for enough food for himself and some fodder for his donkey. 'Umar once summoned him and, seeing that his simple life had not changed, rejoiced and sent him back as governor of al-Mada'in. The source also quotes his words of wisdom: “The best of you are not those who abandon this world for the Hereafter, or the Hereafter for this world, but those who work for both.”

He died at al-Mada'in in 36 (656), forty days after the killing of 'Uthman and the pledge of allegiance to 'Ali. He had pledged allegiance to 'Ali right after 'Uthman's death, counselled his sons on his deathbed to obey him, and asked that no costly shroud be bought for him. The source lists as his children his sons Abu 'Ubayda, Safwan, Sa'd, Sa'id and Simak and his daughter Umm Salama; Safwan and Sa'id were martyred at Siffin on 'Ali's side. According to the article MEDÂİN, his son Sa'd, the qadi of al-Mada'in, joined the Tawwabun led by Sulayman b. Surad in 65 (684) together with 170 men of al-Mada'in.

His Circle of Influence — Companions such as 'Umar, 'Ali and Jabir b. 'Abd Allah, and Successor scholars such as Abu Wa'il, Zirr b. Hubaysh, Zayd b. Wahb, 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Layla and Abu Idris al-Khawlani transmitted hadith from him; his sons Abu 'Ubayda, Simak and Sa'd and his daughter also transmitted from him. The hadith collections contain 225 hadiths narrated by him; twelve appear in both Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, eight in al-Bukhari alone and seventeen in Muslim alone. He himself learned from 'Umar some hadiths he had not heard directly from the Prophet.

His Tomb and Complex — The article MEDÂİN, where it relates the complete demolition of the White Palace under al-Muktafi bi-llah (902-908), records that in the meantime the tombs of Salman al-Farisi and Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman were built at Aspanbur. The same article notes that in the Ottoman period the town of Salman Pak grew up over time around the tomb of Salman al-Farisi, and that it is today a stopping place for visitors to the holy sites of Iraq.