Abu Hudhayfah ibn Utbah

Abu Hudhayfah ibn Utba ibn Rabi'a al-Makhzumi (died 12 AH / 633 CE) was among the earliest converts to Islam and one of the most committed companions, distinguished by the fact that he was the son of one of the leading Qurayshi opponents of Islam — Utba ibn Rabi'a, who was killed at the Battle of Badr fighting on the Meccan side.

He emigrated to Abyssinia with the first group of Muslim refugees and was among the most devoted of the early believers. He returned to Mecca and eventually made the Hijra to Medina. He participated in the Battle of Badr, which placed him in the painful position of fighting on the side opposite his father and other relatives. His father Utba ibn Rabi'a was among those killed at Badr. Abu Hudhayfah reportedly wept at his father's death, torn between grief for his father and the justice of the battle's outcome.

He was the guardian and master of Salim, the freed slave who became so renowned as a Quran reciter that the Prophet ﷺ named him among the four from whom the Quran should be learned. When Salim's legal status as a freed slave meant he could not simply be attached to Abu Hudhayfah's household as a son, the Prophet ﷺ allowed an exceptional arrangement.

Abu Hudhayfah was killed at the Battle of Yamama in 12 AH, fighting against Musaylima the false prophet during the Wars of Apostasy. He was one of the major figures lost in that battle, which also claimed Zayd ibn al-Khattab and many Quran memorizers — a loss that directly prompted Abu Bakr to undertake the first collection of the Quran.