The First Arab Muslim who Embraced Christ in Faith

Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh (Arabic: عبيد الله بن جحش‎) was the brother of Zaynab bint Jahsh, Hammanah bint Jahsh and Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh. He is one of the four monotheistic hanifs mentioned by Ibn Ishaq. The others being Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Uthman ibn Huwarith and Zayd ibn Amr.

He was married to Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan (who was also known as Umm Habiba Ramla). They had a daughter named Habibah bint Ubayd-Allah.

He and his wife became Muslims and, in order to escape from the Meccan persecution, they emigrated to Abyssinia. At Axum, part of the Aksumite Empire the Christian king, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar, gave sanctuary to the Muslims. There Ubayd-Allah eventually converted to Christianity and testified his new faith to the other Muslim refugees. Ibn Ishaq relates:

“

'Ubaydullah went on searching until Islam came; then he migrated with the Muslims to Abyssinia taking with him his wife who was a Muslim, Umm Habiba b. Abu Sufyan. When he arrived there he adopted Christianity, parted from Islam, and died a Christian in Abyssinia. Muhammad bin Jafar al-Zubayr told me that when he had become a Christian 'Ubaydullah as he passed the prophet's companions who were there used to say: 'We see clearly, but your eyes are only half open', i.e. 'We see, but you are only trying to see and cannot see yet.'

”

Due to his conversion, he was divorced from his wife. He eventually died in Abyssinia.

Later on the Islamic prophet Muhammad married his former wife, Ramlah bint Abu Sufyan and later on his sister, Zaynab bint Jahsh.