Suhayb ibn Sinan al-Rumi

Ibn Hajar gives him his own entry in al-Isaba, no. 4175: "Suhayb ibn Sinan ibn Malik — it is also said Khalid ibn Abd Amr ibn Uqayl, and it is said Tufayl ibn Amir ibn Jandala ibn Sa'd ibn Khuzayma ibn Ka'b ibn Sa'd ibn Aslam ibn Aws ibn Zayd Manat ibn al-Namir ibn Qasit, al-Namiri, Abu Yahya — and his mother was of Banu Malik ibn Amr ibn Tamim; he was called al-Rumi ('the Byzantine') because the Byzantines had taken him captive as a small child". ¹

Ibn Sa'd records that he and Ammar accepted Islam in the house of al-Arqam, that he was among the downtrodden who were tortured for God, and that he emigrated to Medina with Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) among the last of that year's emigrants, arriving in mid-Rabi al-Awwal; he witnessed Badr and the campaigns after it. ¹

Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Abi Khaythama relate from Hammad from Ali ibn Zayd from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab that when he emigrated a band of polytheists followed him, and he said: "Men of Quraysh, I am among your best archers, and you will not reach me until I have shot every arrow I have and then struck you with my sword; if you want my property, I will show you where it is." They made a pact, he directed them, they took his property and turned back; when he reached the Prophet ﷺ he said to him, "The sale profited," and God sent down "and of the people is he who sells himself seeking God's pleasure" (2:207). Ibn Sa'd also transmits it by another route from Abu Uthman al-Nahdi. ¹

Al-Humaydi and al-Tabarani transmit through his own family that he said: "The Prophet never witnessed an occasion but I was present at it, never gave a pledge but I was present at it … and I never put him between me and the enemy until he died." ¹

When Umar died he instructed that Suhayb pray over him and lead the people in prayer until the Muslims agreed on an imam, as al-Bukhari records in his Tarikh. Suhayb died in year thirty-eight; it was also said year nine. ²

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy names Suhayb al-Rumi among the non-Arab figures who advanced Islam ³.

He recounts that Suhayb left his wealth in Mecca when he wished to migrate, and that the Meccans told him in effect to take the wealth and let them go; Suhayb then set out for Medina ^{4 5}. He says Suhayb covered about five hundred kilometres barefoot on the journey and reached the Prophet after three days of hunger (needs_source) ⁵.

He recounts that the Prophet said to Suhayb, as he ate, "you have profited in the sale, Abu Yahya" ⁶, and presents this as the reward for giving up worldly wealth.