Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (ra)

A leading young chief of the Aws in Yathrib whose conversion — with his friend Usayd ibn Hudayr — brought his whole clan (Banu Abd al-Ashhal) into Islam, the largest mass conversion to that point.

Role in the Seerah (EP 025)

• He sent Usayd to expel Mus’ab ibn Umayr; when Usayd returned a Muslim, Sa’d went himself, angry — but on hearing Mus’ab recite Surah al-Zukhruf he accepted Islam, and Banu Abd al-Ashhal converted with him.
• A pillar of the Ansar and of the coming Muslim state in Madinah.

The speech at Badr (EP 037–038)

When the Muslims realised at Badr they faced the Quraysh army (not the caravan), the Prophet ﷺ sought the Ansar’s word — they had pledged only to protect, not to fight offensively. Sensing this, Sa’d rose: “Perhaps you are waiting for us, O Messenger of Allah?” and gave the famous pledge — invoking the spirit of their oath (“we will obey you”) over its letter: “By the One who sent you with the Truth, were you to plunge into the sea we would plunge in behind you.” The Prophet’s ﷺ face “lit up like the moon.” He also suggested building the command post (khayma) for the Prophet ﷺ, and led the Ansar on the army’s left flank.

Character & later life

Famed for his devotion; the Prophet ﷺ said the Throne of the Merciful shook at his death. He was wounded at Khandaq (5 AH) and later delivered the judgment on Banu Qurayza, dying of his wound (detailed below).

The Slander, Khandaq, and his death (EP 051–060)

• At the Slander. When the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people over the rumour, Sa’d rose on behalf of the Aws and offered to deal with whoever was responsible — since the chief slanderer, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, was of the Khazraj. This reopened old Aws–Khazraj tensions and nearly sparked a flare-up in the mosque before the Prophet ﷺ calmed them.
• Wounded at Khandaq. He was struck in the arm by an arrow from Hiban ibn al-Ariqah (who boasted as he fired). Sa’d made du’a that Allah let him live long enough to see the treacherous Banu Qurayza brought to account — a prayer that was answered.
• His death. Weeks later the wound reopened and he died of it. At his death the Throne of the Merciful shook, angels descended to pray his janazah, and the Prophet ﷺ said the handkerchief of Sa’d in Jannah surpasses the finest robe of this world.

The verdict on Banu Qurayza and his death (EP 061)

• The arbitrator. After Khandaq, when the Aws pleaded for their old allies the Banu Qurayza, the Prophet ﷺ made Sa’d — their own chief — the judge. Carried in wounded from Rufayda’s tent, pressed by the Aws to be merciful, he answered, “Now is the time for Sa’d not to care about the criticism of any critic” — and ruled that the fighting men be executed, the property distributed, and the women and children taken captive. The Prophet ﷺ: “You have decreed the judgment of Allah from above the seven heavens.” (He is the only person the Prophet ﷺ ever bade the people stand to greet.)
• His death. His Khandaq wound reopened and he died (~37). His du’a — to live to see Qurayza brought to account, then to be taken as a martyr — was answered. 70,000 angels who had never before descended carried his light body; the Throne of the Merciful shook; and he was momentarily “squeezed in the grave” then released — a mercy-lesson for every believer. Buried at al-Baqi’.

Cross-references

Usayd ibn Hudayr (ra) · Mus'ab ibn Umayr (ra) · The Second Pledge of Aqabah (Bay'at al-Aqaba al-Thaniya) · The Ansar (the Helpers of Madinah) · Madinah (Yathrib) · Muhammad ﷺ · The Battle of Badr · Shura (Consultation) · The Slander of Aisha (rha) · The Battle of Khandaq (al-Ahzab) · Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul · The Judgment of Banu Qurayza · Baqi al-Gharqad (Jannat al-Baqi)

Sources

• S005 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 025 (conversion).
• S006 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 037–038 (the Badr speech; the command post; the left flank).
• S008 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 051–060 (the Slander; the Khandaq wound and du’a; his death and the shaking of the Throne).
• S009 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 061 (the verdict on Banu Qurayza; the standing-to-greet; his death and burial). Bukhari & Muslim.