Ibn Umar

Abdullah ibn Umar (RA), son of the second Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and brother-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ, was born in Mecca around 610 CE. He embraced Islam as a young boy alongside his father, and though he was turned away from participating in the Battle of Badr for being too young, he was permitted to fight at Uhud at approximately fifteen years of age. He is counted among the most prolific companion narrators with over 2,630 hadiths, making him one of the Mukthirun. He was celebrated above all for his extraordinary meticulousness: he would follow the Prophet's Sunnah in the smallest details of life, including the exact spots where the Prophet ﷺ would dismount during travel, pray, or rest. Imam al-Shafi'i said: 'No one among the companions preserved the Sunnah more completely than Ibn Umar.' He deliberately avoided political involvement during the period of civil strife and was widely respected across all factions for his piety and impartiality. He lived in Medina until shortly before his death in 73 or 74 AH — reportedly killed by a poisoned arrow during the siege of Mecca — making him among the last surviving senior companions. His narrations are transmitted extensively through his son Salim and his freed slave Nafi', both of whom are themselves leading authorities in hadith.