Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh (Arabic: عبد الله بن جحش‎‎) (c. 586 – 625) was a cousin and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

He was the son of Jahsh ibn Riyab, an immigrant to Mecca from the Asad tribe,:116 and Umama bint Abdulmuttalib, a member of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. One of his sisters was Zaynab bint Jahsh, a wife of Muhammad.:33 The family had formed an alliance with Harb ibn Umayya and his son Abu Sufyan.:66

He is described as "neither tall nor short and had a lot of hair."

He married Fatima bint Abi Hubaysh,:173 who was a cousin of Khadija from the Asad clan of the Quraysh,:82,339 and they had one son, Muhammad.:215

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh converted to Islam under the influence of Abu Bakr.:116 He joined other Muslims in the second emigration to Abyssina in 616.:146 He returned to Mecca in late 619 and was one of the first to emigrate to Medina in 622.:215

Muhammad dispatched Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh on the Nakhla Raid in Rajab 2 A.H. (January 624), together with seven other Emigrants and six camels. Muhammad gave Abd-Allah a letter, with instructions not to read it until he had travelled for two days, but then to follow its instructions without putting pressure on his companions. After Abd-Allah had proceeded for two days, he duly opened the letter; it told him to proceed until he reached at Nakhla, between Mecca and Taif, lie in wait for the Quraysh and observe what they were doing. When the Quraysh caravan passed through Nakhlah, Abd-Allah urged his companions to attack the merchants despite the fact that it was still the sacred month of Rajab, when fighting was forbidden. In the battle, one of the Quraysh merchants was killed and two others were captured, along with all the merchandise. At first Muhammad rebuked Abd-Allah, saying, "I did not instruct you to fight in the sacred month." But later he announced a new revelation:

They ask you concerning fighting in the sacred months [i.e. 1st, 7th, 11th and 12th months of the Arabs' calendar]. Say, "Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression) with Allâh is to prevent mankind from following the way of Allâh, to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to Al-Masjid-Al-Harâm (at Makkah), and to drive out its inhabitants, and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing." [Quran 2:217]:286-289

Later Abd-Allah was among those who fought at the Battle of Badr.:328

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh was killed in the battle of Uhud by Akhnas ibn Shariq.:68 According to his family, his opponents mutilated his corpse by cutting off his nose and ears.:387-388,401.