Sawad ibn Ghaziyya
سواد بن غزية
An Ansari Companion at Badr who, when the Prophet's arrow nicked him while straightening the ranks, bared his own belly for retaliation; the Prophet embraced him instead — the best-known of the 'wonders of faith' vignettes from the battle.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Place in the story
- CompanionTradition
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Summary
The story of the stick
While the Prophet was straightening the ranks before the armies met, a qadah — a stick — in his hand, he saw Sawad standing ahead of the line and said: "stand level, Sawad", jabbing him in the belly with the stick. Sawad said: you have hurt me, Messenger of God, and God sent you with truth and justice — so give me retaliation 1.
The Prophet bared his belly and said: "retaliate" — and Sawad embraced him and kissed his belly. He asked: what made you do this? He said: Messenger of God, you see what has come — I wanted my last moment with you to be my skin touching your skin 1.
Connections
- Member of
- The Ansar
- Participated in
- The Battle of Badr
People and things also explored
Awf ibn al-Harith (Ibn Afra')· al-Hubab ibn al-Mundhir· Mu'adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jamuh· Mu'awwidh ibn Afra· Sa'd ibn Khaythama· Sa'd ibn Mu'adh· Umayr ibn al-Humam· Abbad ibn Bishr
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, p. 215
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Sawad ibn Ghaziyya”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/sawad-ibn-ghaziyya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.