The virtues of Suhayb bin Sinan (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)

Muhammad bin Umar states that Suhayb bin Sinan bin Malik bin Abd Amr bin Uqayl bin Amir; his father Sinan bin Malik was the governor of al-Ubullah on behalf of Chosroes (the king of Persia). Their homes were in the land of Mosul, in a village on the bank of the river Euphrates. Then the Romans raided that region and took Suhayb captive when he was a small child. His uncle said (in verse): "I ask Allah for the good of this Namiri boy whom the Romans carried off while my family were in the village called al-Thani." So Suhayb grew up among the Romans. Then a man from the tribe of Banu Kalb bought him and brought him to Makkah, and there Abdullah bin Jud'an al-Taymi bought him and set him free. He stayed with him in Makkah until Abdullah bin Jud'an died and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent (as a Messenger).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I met Suhayb bin Sinan at the door of Dar al-Arqam while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated inside. I asked him: "What do you want?" He asked me: "What do you want?" I said: "I want to go into the presence of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and listen to his words." He said: "That is my intention too." So we both went in, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) presented Islam to us and we became Muslims. Then we stayed there the whole day until evening came, and then we came out from there in secret.

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Umarah bin Khuzaymah bin Thabit that the very last people to come to Madinah in the emigration were Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Suhayb bin Sinan (may Allah be pleased with them both). This was in the middle of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet departed from the settlement of Quba. And according to all the people of knowledge, Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) took part in Badr, Uhud, al-Khandaq and all the battles alongside the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

A grandson of Suhayb narrates from his father, and he from his grandfather (Suhayb), that Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) died in Madinah in Shawwal of the year 38 AH. At that time he was seventy years old, and he was buried in al-Baqi'. His kunyah was Abu Yahya.

Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Numayr says that the kunyah of Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) was Abu Yahya. He is Suhayb bin Sinan al-Namari, who belonged to (the tribe of) al-Namir bin Qasit. In his childhood he was taken captive and ended up among the Romans, and that is why he is called Suhayb al-Rumi. He lived to seventy years, and he used to dye his hair with henna. He died in Madinah in Shawwal of the year 38 AH and is buried in al-Baqi'.