Amr ibn al-Jamuh al-Ansari

Amr ibn al-Jamuh al-Ansari (died 3 AH / 625 CE) was a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ from the Banu Salama clan of the Khazraj tribe in Medina who became famous for his insistence on fighting at the Battle of Uhud despite having a lame leg. His sons attempted to prevent him from fighting, considering him too old and disabled for combat, but he went to the Prophet ﷺ and made his case.

He said to the Prophet ﷺ: "My sons want to prevent me from going out with you to fight. By Allah, I hope to step with this lame leg into Paradise." The Prophet ﷺ, moved by his sincere desire for martyrdom, told his sons to leave him — there was nothing preventing him from fighting, and perhaps Allah would grant him martyrdom. Amr ibn al-Jamuh fought at Uhud and was killed in the battle.

Before the battle he had been one of the great converts of Medina — he had been the keeper of the main idol of the Banu Salama tribe, a large wooden figure called Manat. When the young men of the tribe began converting and would repeatedly move the idol and mock it, Amr eventually recognized the absurdity of worshipping a piece of wood and publicly embraced Islam.

He and Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn Haram, his son-in-law, were buried together in a single grave at Uhud — placed in the same pit by the Prophet's instruction because of their closeness to each other in life. When the grave was opened decades later during Muawiyah's caliphate for a canal project, the two bodies were found perfectly preserved. Amr's hand was placed over the wound in his side, and it was moved — whereupon blood flowed.