الرحلةThe Journey

عمار بن ياسر

'Ammar ibn Yasir (RA)

Also known as: Ammar, Ammar bin Yasir, Abu al-Yaqzan

c. 56 BH – 37 AH · c. 567–657 CE

Companions

Early Companion tortured in Makkah with his parents, later governor of Kufa, killed at Siffin.

'Ammar was the son of Yasir and Sumayyah, one of the first families in Makkah to accept Islam. He was tortured with his parents, and under torture he once spoke the words his tormentors demanded while his heart stayed firm. When he came to the Prophet ﷺ in distress, he was reassured, and commentators connect the verse excusing one who is forced while his heart is at rest in faith (16:106) with him.

He migrated to Madinah and helped build the Prophet's mosque. While they worked, the Prophet ﷺ said of him, as narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari, 'Alas for 'Ammar, the transgressing party will kill him.' He fought at Badr and in all the later battles, and 'Umar made him governor of Kufa. In the strife after the killing of 'Uthman he supported 'Ali, and he was killed at Siffin in 657 at over ninety. Sunni scholars cite the hadith as showing that 'Ali's side was in the right, while holding that the Companions on the other side acted on their own judgement.

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Life journey

  1. c. 567 CE Makkah مكة
    Born in Makkah to Yasir and Sumayyah, and tortured there with his parents for accepting Islam.
  2. 622 CE Madinah المدينة
    Migrated to Madinah and helped build the Prophet's mosque.
  3. 642 CE Kufa الكوفة
    Appointed governor of Kufa by 'Umar.
  4. 657 CE Siffin صفين
    Died 657 CE · 37 AH
    Killed at Siffin, fighting on the side of 'Ali, at over ninety years of age.

In the Quran

16:106

Places in their life

The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
Photo: Adli Wahid (minor modifications by Basile Morin), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the Prophet's Mosque, Madinah
al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the Prophet's Mosque, Madinah
Photo: TheHadiRahim, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Great Mosque of Kufa
The Great Mosque of Kufa
Photo: ن.عامری, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya
  • Sahih al-Bukhari (Book of Prayer, on helping to build the mosque)
  • Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
Sensitive because of Siffin; the bio states the hadith and the Sunni reading of it. Please check carefully. Birth year approximate, from his reported age of about ninety-three at his death.