Miqdad ibn Aswad

Al-Miqdad ibn 'Amr ibn Tha'laba (Arabic: المقداد بن عمرو بن ثعلبة, romanized: Miqdād ibn ʿAmr ibn Thaʿlaba), better known as Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi (Arabic: المقداد بن الأسود ٱلْكِنْدِيّ, romanized: al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad al-Kindī) or simply Miqdad, was one of the famous and early companions (saḥābī) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His kunya was Abu Ma'bad (Arabic: أبو معبد). Miqdad was born in Yemen, and after becoming a fugitive in his hometown he fled to Mecca, where he served al-Aswad al-Kindi. Miqdad managed to gain favor of his master, who in turn adopted him as his son. Al-Miqdad later embraced Islam and became one of the early converts of Islam, and per Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, one of the first seven to publicly announce their conversion to Islam. He was one of the Muhajirun, the Muslims who migrated to Medina due to the persecution they faced by Meccan polytheists. In Medina, Miqdad was known in history as the first Muslim horseman, and he participated in all military campaigns under Muhammad.

After the death of the prophet Muhammad, as before, Miqdad was a close associate of Ali, the Prophet's cousin, and continued to serve Islam under the Rashidun, where he was involved heavily in the Muslim conquest of the Levant and later Muslim conquest of Egypt. In Shia Islam, it is believed that he was a member of Shurṭat al-Khamīs, a group of six thousand fighters who swore absolute loyalty to Ali.

Al-Miqdad's appearance was recorded as dark and hairy, with a dyed beard, wide eyes and a hooked nose. He was known as an excellent archer. Miqdad was known to have had a very large stomach, to the point that once he sat near a huge golden chest, and people remarked that the build of Miqdad was larger than the goldsmith's chest. In Medina, al-Miqdad stopped using "Ibn al-Aswad" as his name and used his real bloodline nisba (patronymic) going back to his father ("Ibn 'Amr"), after a Qur'anic verse was revealed forbidding the abolishment of one's bloodline.