ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, d. 68 A.H./687 C.E., a Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him), was the most outstanding scholar of Qur’ānic exegesis in his time.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, d. 571 C.E., the last and most beloved son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and the Prophet’s father who died a few months before his birth. He was known for his noble character.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, d. 32 A.H./653 C.E., one of the most learned Companions of the Prophet (peace be on him) who was noted especially for his juristic calibre. He was held by the Iraqi school of law as one of its main authorities.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, d. 9 A.H./630 C.E., was the foremost enemy of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the ringleader of the hypocrites in Madīnah.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, d. 73 A.H./692 C.E., a famous Companion and son of the second Caliph, was famous for his piety and for transmitting many traditions from the Prophet (peace be on him).
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Umm Maktūm, d. 14 A.H./635 C.E., was a blind Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him). It was in regard to him that the first few verses of Sūrah ʿAbasa 80: 1 ff. were revealed. He was one of the mu’adhdhins who used to call the adhān in Madīnah.
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf, d. 579 C.E., was the grandfather of the Prophet (peace be on him). He was a leading figure of the Quraysh in pre-Islamic times and was highly respected in Makkah.
Abrahah, d. 570 C.E., was the Christian ruler of Yemen who tried to demolish the Kaʿbah but failed. Sūrah al-Fīl (Sūrah 105) relates how God dealt with him and his army.
Abū Bakr, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān, d. 13 A.H./634 C.E., was the most trusted companion of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the first Caliph of Islam. Abū Bakr’s wisdom and indomitable will ensured the survival of Islam after the death of the Prophet (peace be on him).
Abū Ḥanifah, al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit, d. 150 A.H./767 C.E., was a theologian and jurist who dominated the intellectual life of Iraq in the later part of his life and became the founder of a major school of law in Islam known after his name.
Abū Hurayrah, d. 59 A.H./679 C.E., was a Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him) who transmitted a very large number of traditions.
Abū Jahl, ʿAmr ibn Hishām ibn al-Mughīrah, d. 2 A.H./624 C.E., was an arch-enemy of Islam throughout his life. He was killed during the Battle of Badr in which he was the leading commander on the side of the Quraysh.
Abū Lahab, ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, d. 2 A.H./624 C.E., was an uncle of the Prophet (peace be on him). He was, however, one of the staunchest enemies of Islam and the Prophet.
Abū Sufyān, Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah, d. 31 A.H./652 C.E., was one of the foremost opponents of Islam and the Prophet (peace be on him) until the conquest of Makkah, when he embraced Islam. In subsequent military encounters, Abū Sufyān fought on the Muslim side.
Abū Ṭalḥah, Zayd ibn Sahl ibn al-Aswad, d. 34 A.H./654 C.E., was a Companion noted for his courage and skill as an archer. He participated in the battles of Badr, Uḥud, Khandaq, and in several other military expeditions.
Abū Ṭālib, ʿAbd Manāf ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, d. 620 C.E., was an uncle of the Prophet (peace be on him) and father of the fourth Caliph ʿAlī. He continued to provide effective protection and support to the Prophet (peace be on him) till his death.
ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim, d. 68 A.H./687 C.E., was a Companion who took a prominent part in the military expedition against the apostates during the caliphate of Abū Bakr.
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, d. 241 A.H./855 C.E., was the founder of one of the four Sunnī schools of law in Islam. He valiantly suffered persecution for the sake of his religious convictions.
ʿĀ’ishah, d. 58 A.H./678 C.E., daughter of Abū Bakr, was a wife of the Prophet (peace be on him). She has transmitted a wealth of traditions, especially those concerning the Prophet’s personal life. She was also highly regarded for her mature and sharp understanding of the teachings of Islam.
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, d. 40 A.H./661 C.E., was a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the fourth Caliph of Islam. He was known for his many qualities, especially piety and juristic acumen.
Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, d. 256 A.H./870 C.E., is regarded as the most famous traditionist of Islam whose work is recognised as one of the six most authentic collections of Ḥadīth. Bukhārī’s work is generally considered the ‘soundest book after the Book of Allah’.
Fāṭimah bint Muḥammad was the last daughter of the Prophet Muḥammad (peace be on him) from Khadījah. She was married to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and gave birth to al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, Umm Kulthūm and Zaynab. She died within a year after the death of the Prophet (peace be on him).
Ḥafṣah, d. 45 A.H./665 C.E., daughter of the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, was one of the wives of the Prophet (peace be on him).
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, d. 110 A.H./728 C.E., known primarily for his piety, was a major theologian of Baṣrah during the last decades of the first century of Hijrah/seventh century C.E.
Hāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿah, d. 30 A.H./650 C.E., embraced Islam quite early and was known for his bravery as well as poetic skills. The Prophet Muḥammad (peace be on him) sent him as his envoy to Muqawqis, the governor of Alexandria, inviting him to Islam.
Hilāl ibn Umayyah ibn ʿĀmir was one of the three Companions who stayed behind in Madīnah instead of joining the expedition to Tabūk. Like the other two Companions, Hilāl also repented and his repentance was accepted by God. (See Sūrah al-Tawbah 9: 118).
Hūd was an Arabian Prophet of the ʿĀd, a people who lived in al-Ahqāf in northern Ḥaḍramawt. Hūd has been mentioned in the Qur’ān several times. For the Qur’ānic references to Hūd see especially Sūrah al-Aʿrāf 7: 65-72.
Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar, d. 774 A.H./1373 C.E., was a famous traditionist, historian and jurist and the author of one of the best-known commentaries on the Qur’ān.
Ibn Mājah, Muḥammad ibn Yazīd, d. 273 A.H./887 C.E., was a famous traditionist whose collection of traditions, Kitāb al-Sunan is one of the six most authentic collections of Ḥadīth.
Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad, d. 230 A.H./845 C.E., historian, traditionist and the secretary of al-Wāqidī, is known for his al-Tabaqāt al-Kubrā, a major biographical dictionary of the early period of Islam.
Ibn Sīrīn, Muḥammad, d. 110 A.H./729 C.E., was a noted second generation scholar of Baṣrah, who was especially prominent as a traditionist.
Jābir ibn Zayd, d. 93 A.H./712 C.E., was a Successor and a leading jurist. He was a disciple of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and was highly respected for his knowledge.
Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, d. 148 A.H./765 C.E., is considered by the Twelver Shīʿites to be their sixth imām. He was a great scholar and a pious man. Noted scholars of his time such as Abū Ḥanīfah and Mālik ibn Anas benefited from his knowledge.
Kaʿb ibn Mālik al-Ansārī, d. 50 A.H./670 C.E., was a Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him) and a noted poet. He took part in many battles and was one of the strongest supporters of ʿUthmān when the latter faced opposition.
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid, d. 620 C.E., was the first woman whom the Prophet (peace be on him) married. She gave birth to several sons and daughters including Fāṭimah, Zaynab, Umm Kulthūm and Ruqayyah.
Al-Khudrī, Abū Saʿīd Saʿd ibn Mālik ibn Sinān al-Anṣārī, d. 74 A.H./693 C.E., was a Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him) who tried to keep the Prophet’s company to the maximum. He narrated a large number of traditions. As many as 1,170 traditions narrated by him are extant in the Ḥadīth collections.
Mālik ibn Anas, d. 179 A.H./795 C.E., was a famous second Islamic century/eighth century C.E. traditionist and jurist of Madīnah, and the founder of one of the four Sunnī schools of law. His al-Muwaṭṭa’, a collection of traditions as well as legal opinions of the jurists of Madīnah, is one of the earliest extant works of Ḥadīth and Fiqh.
Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn, d. 114 A.H./732 C.E., was the father of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq. He is considered the fifth imām by the Twelver Shīʿites.
Mujāhid ibn Jabr, d. 104 A.H./722 C.E., was a Successor and among the foremost Qur’ān commentators of Makkah in his time. His Tafsīr, which is now published, is one of the earliest extant works of that genre.
Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, d. 150 A.H./767 C.E., was one of the distinguished scholars in the field of Tafsīr. He has left behind a number of works in the field of Qur’ānic sciences.
Mūrārah ibn Rabīʿ al-Anṣārī, a Companion of the Aws tribe, was one of the three Companions who stayed behind in Madīnah instead of joining the expedition to Tabūk. He, like the other Companions, repented and his repentance was accepted by God. (See Sūrah al-Tawbah 9: 118.)
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Nisābūrī, d. 261 A.H./875 C.E., was one of the greatest scholars of Ḥadīth whose Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim is one of the six most authentic collections of Ḥadīth and ranks second in importance only to that of al-Bukhārī.
Al-Nasā’ī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, d. 303 A.H./915 C.E., was one of the foremost scholars of Ḥadīth whose Kitāb al-Sunan is one of the six most authentic collections of traditions.
Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah, d. 118 A.H./736 C.E., was an erudite scholar of Sīrah who was also known for his knowledge of Qur’ānic exegesis, Ḥadīth, Arabic language and Arabic genealogy.
Rabīʿ ibn Anas, d. 139 A.H./757 C.E., was a Successor who narrated aḥādīth from Umm Salamah and Anas ibn Mālik. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mubārak has reported from him quite a number of aḥādīth.
Ṣāliḥ was an Arabian Prophet of the Thamūd, a people who have been mentioned many a time in the Qur’ān. Ṣālih lived before the Prophets Moses and Shuʿayb. His mission was to direct his people to righteousness, but they refused to respond to his call whereupon they were destroyed.
Sawdah bint Zamʿah ibn Qays, d. 54 A.H./674 C.E., was the first woman whom the Prophet (peace be on him) married after the death of Khadījah. She was among the first converts and had migrated to Abyssinia before settling in Madīnah.
Al-Shāfiʿī, Muḥammad ibn Idrīs, d. 204 A.H./820 C.E., was the founder of one of the four Sunnī schools of law in Islam.
Shāh Walī Allāh, d. 1214 A.H./1762 C.E., was the most celebrated theologian, scholar and expounder of the Qur’ān produced in Muslim India. His greatest contribution was his popularising of Qur’ānic education. He was among the first translators of the Qur’ān into Persian. He stood for reform in social customs, beliefs and practices.
Shuʿayb, an Arabian Prophet of Madyan, was from the progeny of the Prophet Abraham. He lived in the period before Moses and after the Prophets Hūd and Ṣāliḥ. His tomb is said to be in Ḥiṭṭin in Palestine.
Al-Suddī, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, d. 128 A.H./745 C.E., was one of the early scholars of Tafsīr who has left behind a work in that field.
Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, d. 310 A.H./923 C.E., was a distinguished historian, jurist and Qur’ān commentator. His major extant works include his commentary Jāmiʿ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān and his Annals, viz. Ta’rīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk.
Al-Tirmidhī, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā, d. 279 A.H./ 892 C.E., was a famous traditionist whose collection of traditions, Kitāb al-Sunan, is one of the six most authentic collections of Ḥadīth.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, d. 23 A.H./644 C.E., was the second Caliph of Islam under whose Caliphate the Islamic state became increasingly organized and its frontiers vastly expanded.
Umm Jamīl, was Abū Lahab’s wife and as inveterate an enemy of Islam as her husband. She used to carry thorns and sharp wood and place them in the Prophet’s path and throw dirt on him.
Umm Salamah, Hind bint Abī Umayyah, d. 62 A.H./681 C.E., was one of the wives of the Prophet (peace be on him) who has reported several hundred traditions from him.
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, d. 35 A.H./656 C.E., was a son-in-law of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the third Caliph of Islam under whose reign vast areas were conquered and the Qur’ān’s present codex was prepared.
Walīd ibn Mughīrah, was the chief of the Banū Makhzūm clan of the Quraysh. His clan was responsible for warfare, and he was very well off. These two factors combined to make him proficient in warfare and fighting. Initially, he wanted to embrace Islam but didn’t do so out of arrogance. He was killed in the Battle of Badr. His vile characteristics have been mentioned in more than one chapter in the Qur’ān. (See Sūrah al-Najm 53: 33-35 and al-Muddaththir 74: 11-26.)
Zayd ibn Ḥārithah ibn Sharāḥāl (or Shuraḥbīl) al-Kalbī, was a Companion of the Prophet (peace be on him) and one of the earliest converts to Islam. The Prophet (peace be on him) adopted him as his son and held him in considerable affection. He also appointed him commander of different military expeditions. He was martyred in the battle of Mu’tah in 8 A.H./630 C.E.
Zaynab bint Jaḥsh al-Asadīyah, d. 20 A.H./641 C.E., was a cousin of the Prophet (peace be on him) who was first married to Zayd ibn Ḥārithah. This marriage, however, broke up whereafter the Prophet (peace be on him) married her.