Abd Allah ibn Rawaha
عبد الله بن رواحة
c. September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH
Companion from the Ansar and poet of early Islam; appointed third commander of the Mu'tah expedition. After both of his comrades Zayd and Ja'far were killed he hesitated briefly then charged and was martyred. The Prophet announced his death while still in Medina, reporting in a vision that his throne was slightly tilted beside his companions' because of his hesitation before pressing on.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Poet
- Tradition
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia · Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
- Companion · c. 622 CE · c. 1 BH† – c. September 629 CE · c. Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
- Commander · c. September 629 CE · c. Jumada I 8 AH† – c. September 629 CE · c. Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
- Martyr (as regarded) · c. September 629 CE · c. Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
- PoetTradition
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
The long-form text for this entry has not been written yet. The facts and connections below come from the museum's data.
Connections
- Member of
- The AnsarThe early Muslim community
- Participated in
- The Battle of Mu'tahDispatch of the Mu'tah armyThe army's halt at Ma'an and Ibn Rawaha's speechMartyrdom of Abd Allah ibn Rawaha after his hesitation
- Died in
- Mu'tah
- Mentioned in
- Hassan ibn Thabit's elegies for the Mu'tah martyrsKa'b ibn Malik's elegy for the Mu'tah martyrs
People and things also explored
Ja'far ibn Abi TalibZayd ibn HarithaThe Battle of Mu'tahAbbad ibn Qaysal-Harith ibn al-Nu'man ibn UsafSuraqa ibn Amr ibn AtiyyaMedinaMartyrdom of Abd Allah ibn Rawaha after his hesitation
Sources
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Abd Allah ibn Rawaha”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abd-allah-ibn-rawaha/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.