Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan

Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan (may God be pleased with him) — his given name Malik — ibn Malik ibn Utayk ibn Amr ibn Abd al-A'lam ibn Amir ibn Za'ura', al-Ansari al-Awsi; Za'ura' was the brother of Abd al-Ashhal. A Companion who fought at Badr and is known by his kunya ¹.

Ibn Hajar gives his nasab: Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan — with fatha on the geminate ta' and kasra on the ya' — and it is said that "al-Tayyihan" is a nickname; his name was Malik and he is famous by his kunya, while in Abd al-Razzaq's Musannaf his name appears as Abdallah ¹. Ibn Ishaq lists him among the men of Badr: "Abu al-Haytham — his name Malik — and his brother Utayk, the two sons of al-Tayyihan" ¹.

Abu Ahmad al-Hakim reports the variants: he died in the Prophet ﷺ's lifetime; or in year twenty; or in year twenty-one; or he witnessed Siffin — and the soundest seems the report of those who say year twenty or twenty-one ¹. Abu Bishr al-Dawlabi transmits through Salih ibn Kaysan: "Among those killed at Siffin were Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan, Abd al-Rahman ibn Badil and others," and Abu Umar chains through Abu Nu'aym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn that he was wounded fighting with Ali at Siffin ¹. Al-Waqidi says he found no one who knew or could verify the claim that he was killed at Siffin; the report that he died in year twenty is transmitted by Ibn Abi Khaythama from Salih ibn Kaysan from al-Zuhri, and Abu al-Rabi' ibn Salim al-Kila'i recited for him an elegy of Abu al-Haytham for the Prophet: "Our ears and noses were cut off on the morning we were stricken by the Prophet Muhammad" ².

Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan was an Ansari Companion named Malik who fought at Badr with his brother Utayk; he left verses mourning the Prophet, and the scholars disagree whether he died some years after the Prophet or was killed at Siffin.

• Al-Isaba entry no. 10735 (al-Maktaba al-Asriyya scan, pp. 1795–1796, the kunya section).
• The nasab in the text runs: ibn Malik ibn Utayk ibn Amr ibn Abd al-A'lam ibn Amir ibn Za'ura'.
• The "killed at Siffin" report was carried by al-Dawlabi and rejected by al-Waqidi; al-Hakim's preference for death in 20 or 21 AH is preserved in the text.