Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah

Abū ʿUbaydah ʿĀmir ibn al-Jarrāḥ (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) was one of the earliest converts to Islām and one of the ten Companions promised Jannah by name (al-ʿasharah al-mubashsharūn bi-l-jannah). The Prophet ﷺ called him 'Amīn hādhihi al-ummah', the Trustworthy One of this nation. He was a Muhājir from the Quraysh.

At the Battle of Badr (17 Ramaḍān 2 AH), his father al-Jarrāḥ fought on the side of the Quraysh, consumed by a hatred of his son's conversion. Throughout the battle, whenever his father saw him, al-Jarrāḥ would push through the fighting to get to Abū ʿUbaydah. Each time, out of respect and filial love, Abū ʿUbaydah would simply move away rather than fight his own father. But finally his father surprised him with a sudden attack. In pure self-defense, Abū ʿUbaydah drew his sword and his father died at his hand.

The people began murmuring: 'He has killed his own father.' Abū ʿUbaydah felt deep grief, not regret for his Islamic loyalty, but the weight of what had happened. Allāh then revealed the last verse of Sūrat al-Mujādilah (Q 58:22), specifically in his honor:

'Lā tajidu qawman yuʾminūna billāhi wa-l-yawmi-l-ākhiri yuwāddūna man ḥādda-llāha wa rasūlahu walaw kānū ābāʾahum aw abnāʾahum aw ikhwānahum aw ʿashīratahum ulāʾika kataba fī qulūbihimu-l-īmān', You will not find a people who believe in Allāh and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allāh and His Messenger, even if they be their own fathers, sons, brothers, or kinsmen. Those are the ones in whose hearts Allāh has inscribed faith.

After the battle, he went on to become the commander of the Muslim armies during the conquests of Syria (Shām) and died during the plague of Amwās (639 CE) as a shahīd, having refused to flee the epidemic.