Hisham ibn al-As

Hisham ibn al-As al-Sahmi (died ca. 13 AH / 634 CE) was an early Companion of the Prophet ﷺ and the brother of the famous general Amr ibn al-As. He embraced Islam very early in Mecca, before the Hijra to Medina, and was among those who underwent severe persecution for their faith. He emigrated to Abyssinia as part of the group seeking refuge with the Negus.

He and his brother Amr ibn al-As represent one of the striking sibling contrasts in early Islam — Amr was among the latest of the major Qurayshi leaders to convert, holding out until just before the conquest of Mecca, while Hisham had been a believer for nearly twenty years by then. Their different choices subjected Hisham to trials while his brother lived in relative ease as a Meccan notable.

Hisham participated in the Prophet's campaigns after making the Hijra to Medina. After the Prophet's death, he served in the early Syrian campaigns under the command of Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah and later under his brother Amr ibn al-As. He was killed during the early conquests of Syria and Palestine, dying as a martyr in the path of Allah.

His death before the great victories of the Syrian conquest was mourned by his brother Amr, who composed verses of grief for him. Hisham's story illustrates the courage required of the earliest Muslims — years of persecution, exile, and hardship — and the ultimate sacrifice he made in defense of the religion he had embraced long before most of Quraysh would.