Pledge of Aqabah & Assignmenet as the Missionary to Medina
At the occasion of the first pledge at Aqabah, 12 individuals came from Medina to take the oath of allegiance at the hand of the Holy Prophet (sa). When they were preparing to return to Medina, the Holy Prophet (sa) also sent Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair with them in order to teach them the Holy Quran and about Islam. He was known in Medina by the titles of qari [Reciter] and muqri, i.e. he became known as ‘The Teacher’.
(Usdul Ghabah, Vol. 5, pp. 175-176, Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2003) (al-Isti‘ab, Vol. 4, p. 37, Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2010) (al-Sirat al-Nabawiyyah li Ibn Ishaq, p. 199, Bab irsaal al-Rasul Mus‘ab bin Umair ma‘a wafd al-Aqabah, Dar-Ibn Hizam, Beirut, 2009)
According to another tradition, the Aus and Khazraj tribes of the Ansar went to the Holy Prophet (sa) and requested for someone to teach them the Holy Quran. The Holy Prophet (sa) therefore sent Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair.
(al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 1, p. 171, bab Dhikr al- al-Aqabah al-Ula Itha al-Ashara, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)
Whilst in Medina, Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair stayed at the house of Hazrat As‘ad bin Zurarah (ra). He also carried out the duty of leading the prayers.
(al-Sirat al-Nabawiyyah li Ibn Ishaq, p. 199, Bab irsaal al-Rasul Mus‘ab bin Umair ma‘a wafd al-Aqabah, Dar-Ibn Hizam, Beirut, 2009)
Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair stayed at the house of Hazrat As‘ad bin Zurarah (ra) for a long period of time but later on, he moved to the house of Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Mu‘az.
(Siyar as-Sahaba, Vol. 2, Muhajireen part 1, p. 272, Darul Isha’at, Karachi, 2004)
Hazrat Bara (ra) bin Aazib relates:
“The very first Muhajir companions of the Holy Prophet (sa) to migrate to Medina were Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair and Hazrat Ibn Umm-e-Maktum (ra). When they arrived in Medina, they began teaching us the Holy Quran. Later, Hazrat, Ammar (ra), Hazrat Bilal (ra) and Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) also came. Then Hazrat Umar (ra) bin Khattab arrived along with a few other companions and eventually the Holy Prophet (sa) arrived.”
He further states, “I have never seen the people of Medina so happy as on the occasion when the Holy Prophet (sa) arrived and the girls and boys were proclaiming, ‘You are the Messenger (sa) of Allah! You have come to us.’”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Tafsir al-Quran, Bab Surah al-A‘la, Hadith 4941)
With regard to Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) writes in Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin:
“Those who accepted Islam in Dar-e-Arqam are included amongst the pioneers. Among these, the most renowned include Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair, who was from the Banu Abdid-Dar. He was very handsome and striking, and was held very dear among his family. This is the same noble young man who was sent as a missionary to Yathrab prior to the migration and through whom Islam spread in Medina.”
(Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), p. 129)
It is stated in a book on the life of the Holy Prophet (sa) that Hazrat Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair was the first person to lead the Friday prayers in Medina prior to the migration.