'Ammar

Ammar ibn Yasir al-Makhzumi, may Allah be pleased with him, was among the very earliest converts to Islam and endured some of the most severe persecution of the early Muslim community alongside his parents. His father Yasir and his mother Sumayya were tortured by the polytheists of Mecca; Sumayya became the first martyr in Islam when she was killed for refusing to renounce her faith. The Prophet ﷺ passed by the family while they were being tortured and told them: 'Be patient, O family of Yasir, for your appointment is Paradise.' Ammar himself was subjected to extreme coercion and uttered words of disbelief under duress while his heart remained firm in faith — a situation that led to the Quranic verse on coercion and the distinction between outward utterance and inner conviction. The Prophet ﷺ declared of him: 'Ammar is filled with faith from his head to his feet.' He is also the subject of the famous prophetic statement that a rebellious group would kill him — fulfilled at the Battle of Siffin where he was martyred fighting on the side of Ali ibn Abi Talib at approximately 90 years of age. His narrations appear in all major hadith collections.