A Young Man at al-'Aqabah

Mu'adh ibn Jabal belonged to the Banu Salimah of the Khazraj in Yathrib. He was still a young man when the Muslims of Madinah travelled to Makkah for the season of pilgrimage and met the Prophet ﷺ by night at al-'Aqabah to pledge to protect him as they would protect their own families. The classical biographers list Mu'adh among those who gave that pledge.

When the Prophet ﷺ reached Madinah, Mu'adh was among those who gathered around him, and he went on to take part in Badr and the battles after it. What marked him out, however, was not the sword but the Book: he became one of the Companions who learned the Qur'an and the rulings of religion most closely from the Prophet ﷺ.