Abdullah ibn Umar

Abdullah ibn Umar (commonly "Ibn Umar") was a Companion (sahabi, a person who knew the Prophet Muhammad) and a son of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph (the head of the early Muslim community). Traditional accounts place his birth around 610-614 CE in Mecca; he is reported to have embraced Islam as a child and to have migrated (the Hijra) to Medina, which became his lifelong home. Reports hold that he was judged too young to fight at Uhud and was first admitted to the ranks at the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq, c. 627 CE).

He is best known as one of the most prolific transmitters of hadith — reports of the Prophet's words and deeds — with traditional collections crediting him with thousands of narrations (one widely cited tally is about 2,630). Tradition emphasises his scrupulous care in reporting and his close imitation of the Prophet's practice.

In the civil wars (fitan) that split the community after the caliph Uthman's death, Ibn Umar is remembered for strict neutrality: he is reported to have declined to fight, refused to be put forward as a compromise candidate for the caliphate, and would not take sides between rival claimants. After Ibn al-Zubayr's death he is reported to have given the oath of allegiance (bay'a) to the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik.

He died in Mecca; the year is disputed in the sources between 73 and 74 AH (c. 692-693 CE). A tradition reports that he was struck near the end of al-Hajjaj's siege of Mecca by a poisoned spear — in some reports deliberately, at al-Hajjaj's instigation — and that al-Hajjaj subsequently led or attended his funeral; the wounding, the circumstances, and the burial place (variously reported as Fakhkh, Dhi Tuwa, or the cemetery of the Muhajirun) are traditional reports of varying reliability rather than firmly established fact. In the Sunni tradition he is counted among the most revered early authorities; the Shia tradition, noting his refusal of allegiance to Ali and his later quietism, evaluates him differently. His exact dates and parts of his itinerary remain traditional estimates.