al-Nu'man ibn Qawqal

Al-Nu'man ibn Qawqal, a Companion of the Ansar from the Banu Ghanm, known by Qawqal, which is a title for his grandfather Tha'laba. He witnessed Badr and Uhud according to one view, and according to some writers of biography he was killed at Uhud. A hadith is related from him about asking the Prophet ﷺ about entering Paradise. ¹

He belongs to the Banu Ghanm of the Khazraj. Ibn al-Kalbi gives his lineage: al-Nu'man al-A'raj ibn Malik ibn Tha'laba ibn Asram ibn Fihr ibn Tha'laba ibn Qawqal, whose name is Ghanm ibn Awf ibn Amr ibn Awf. ²

Ibn al-Athir says that Tha'laba ibn Da'd is the one called Qawqal, and that he was given that name for his honour and nobility; he used to say to one who came to him in fear: "Take refuge wherever you wish, for you are safe." So the Banu Ghanm and their brothers the sons of Awf were called the Qawaqila, and in the register they are called the Banu Qawqal. ³

Ibn Abi Hatim says on his father's authority that he was from Kufa and had companionship. Bilal ibn Yahya related from him, Jabir ibn Abd Allah related from him, and Abu Salih related from him without hearing it, so his report is mursal in Ibn Abi Hatim's view. ²

Ibn al-Athir relates from Musa ibn Uqba that he witnessed Badr, and from others that he witnessed Uhud. He relates that al-Nu'man was the speaker on the day of Uhud: "O God, I ask You that the sun should not set until I step with this lame leg into the green of Paradise." The Prophet said: "He thought well of God and God met him as he thought. I saw him stepping in its greenery, and he has no lameness." ²

Related through Jabir ibn Abd Allah from Abu al-Zubayr: al-Nu'man ibn Qawqal came to the Prophet and said: "What do you think if I pray the obligatory prayers, fast Ramadan, forbid the forbidden, allow the lawful, and add nothing else; shall I enter Paradise?" He said: "Yes." He said: "By God, I will not add anything to it." Muslim and Ahmad relate it. ⁴

Ibn al-Athir says that al-Nu'man ibn Qawqal is also called al-Nu'man ibn Tha'laba, and that the al-Nu'man ibn Malik who witnessed Badr and was killed at Uhud is, in his view, al-Nu'man al-A'raj, while some writers of biography say that the one killed at Uhud is al-Nu'man ibn Malik called Qawqal; the lineage is one. ⁵

Abu Umar said that al-Nu'man was martyred at Uhud, and that Safwan ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him) killed him, according to the view of al-Waqidi. ⁵

• The name and lineage are mixed in the books of biography: Qawqal is a title for Tha'laba ibn Da'd according to Ibn al-Athir, and the lineage of al-Nu'man has differing reports on "Da'd" and "Asram" and the addition of "Salim". Ibn al-Athir reported these differences; he preferred that al-Nu'man ibn Qawqal is al-Nu'man ibn Malik who was killed at Uhud, and we do not decide that here until the "Istiab" and "al-Isaba" are checked.
• The view that he was killed at Uhud by Safwan ibn Umayya is from al-Waqidi; it has not been checked in a second source.
• The first report of Muslim about the man asking about Paradise differs in some of its wording; the difference is not set out here and should be checked in Muslim's text.
• His biography in "al-Istiab" and "al-Isaba" and the books of the sira has not yet been read; it will be added when extracted.