Miqdad ibn Aswad (590–652)
Born 590 CE, died 652 CE.
Al-Miqdad ibn 'Amr ibn Tha'laba (Arabic: المقداد بن عمرو بن ثعلبة, romanized: Miqdād ibn ʿAmr ibn Thaʿlaba), better known as Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi (Arabic: المقداد بن الأسود ٱلْكِنْدِيّ, romanized: al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad al-Kindī) or simply Miqdad, was one of the famous and early companions (saḥābī) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His kunya was Abu Ma'bad (Arabic: أبو معبد). Miqdad was born in Yemen, and after becoming a fugitive in his hometown he fled to Mecca, where he served al-Aswad al-Kindi. Miqdad managed to gain favor of his master, who in turn adopted him as his son. Al-Miqdad later embraced Islam and became one of the early converts of Islam, and per Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, one of the first seven to publicly announce their conversion to Islam. He was one of the Muhajirun, the Muslims who migrated to Medina due to the persecution they faced by Meccan polytheists.
Text from the Wikipedia article Miqdad_ibn_Aswad, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.