Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman

Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman (died 36 AH / 656 CE) was a Companion (sahabi, an associate of the Prophet Muhammad) and an early military and administrative figure of the nascent Muslim state. By tradition his father al-Yaman was of the Arabian tribe of Abs who settled in Yathrib (later Medina), and Hudhayfa is counted among the Helpers (Ansar) by confederacy though of Najdi origin; this lineage framing rests on the biographical-dictionary and sira tradition rather than a documented record. His birth date is not recorded.

He accepted Islam early. At the Battle of Uhud (3 AH) his father was killed in error by fellow Muslims, and reports hold that Hudhayfa forgave them. He is best remembered for being sent at night to scout the enemy camp during the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq). A popular tradition that the Prophet privately confided to him the names of the "hypocrites" (munafiqun) is widely repeated but is graded weak by hadith critics and is in tension with the Qur'an (9:101); it should be treated as devotional lore, not established fact.

Under the caliphs Umar and Uthman he served in the conquest of Sasanian Persia, reportedly taking command at the Battle of Nahavand (c. 21 AH / 642 CE) after the commander al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin fell, and governing al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) with a reputation for austerity. Tradition credits him with alerting the caliph Uthman to differences in Qur'anic recitation among the troops, prompting the standardized codex; the historicity of that codification narrative is debated in modern scholarship, while the tradition is unanimous in assigning him the catalytic role. He died at al-Mada'in shortly after Uthman's killing. He is honored in both Sunni and Twelver Shia tradition.