Abu Dujana’s exact birth date and precise birthplace are not securely preserved in the strong early sources reviewed. His Ansari, Khazraji and Sa‘idi affiliations firmly connect him with Banu Sa‘ida of Madinah, but tribal affiliation has not been converted without evidence into an exact birthplace claim. Early biographical sources also preserve variants in his personal lineage, especially Simak ibn Kharasha and Simak ibn Aws ibn Kharasha. The early-life and family fields therefore retain only what can be supported without forcing a single uncertain genealogy.
Abu Dujana Simak ibn Kharasha al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him)
Abu Dujana is most commonly identified as Simak ibn Kharasha ibn Lawdhan ibn Abd Wudd ibn Zayd, of Banu Sa‘ida from al-Khazraj, al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Sa‘idi. Some early sources transmit the variant Simak ibn Aws ibn Kharasha, so a separate structural father relation has not been asserted with false certainty. His kunyah Abu Dujana is the dominant form of identification, while Dhu al-Mashhara is a reported title connected with his red battle headband. He attended Badr, distinguished himself at Uhud and, under the dominant early biographical view, was martyred at Yamama/Aqraba. Ibn Sa‘d is quoted as reporting descendants in Madinah and Baghdad, but the reviewed evidence did not securely enumerate a spouse, parents or named children for registry relationships.
PER-001688
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Abu Dujana Simak ibn Kharasha al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Sa‘idi was a well-known Companion from Banu Sa‘ida and a participant at Badr. Sahih Muslim preserves the soundly authenticated Uhud episode in which he accepted the Prophet’s sword with its full right and responsibility and fought vigorously. The red headband, distinctive battlefield gait and reports of shielding the Prophet with his back belong to early sira and biographical memory, but they are not presented at the same evidentiary level as the Sahih Muslim report.
Under the dominant early biographical view, Abu Dujana later fought at Yamama/Aqraba against Musaylima and was martyred there; a minority notice says he survived longer, but it is not equal to the main tradition. The Aqraba battlefield and collective cemetery of the Yamama martyrs are institutionally recognized today, yet no explicit early person-specific evidence securely identifies Abu Dujana’s exact individual grave.
The dominant early biographical view is that Abu Dujana was martyred in the Battle of Yamama/Aqraba against Musaylima. Al-Tabarani’s lists of the Yamama martyrs and the biographical notices of Ibn Abd al-Barr, Ibn Hibban, al-Dhahabi and Ibn Kathir support this conclusion. Reports that he entered the fortified garden, continued fighting after his leg was broken and participated in the attack in which Musaylima was killed belong to the historical and biographical tradition. The chronology of Yamama is transmitted under both 11 AH and 12 AH. Ibn Kathir notes the possibility that the fighting began late in 11 AH and concluded early in 12 AH. A minority report says Abu Dujana survived until Siffin, but the Yamama martyrdom tradition is the stronger and dominant account.
Abu Dujana’s final battle and, under the dominant account, his martyrdom occurred at Yamama/Aqraba. Current Saudi institutional documentation identifies the Aqraba battlefield, the collective cemetery of the Yamama martyrs and Shuaib al-Dam / Old Jubaylah Cemetery as features of the historical site. The reviewed early and institutional material, however, does not provide a person-specific statement or reliable inscription securely linking Abu Dujana to an identified grave within that cemetery. The general final-location context at Aqraba/Jubaylah is therefore retained, while the individual grave remains unidentified and no raw GPS point has been added.
Biography and historical profile
Abu Dujana Simak ibn Kharasha al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Sa‘idi (may Allah be pleased with him) was a Companion from Banu Sa‘ida, a branch of the Khazraj of Madinah. He is overwhelmingly known by his kunyah, Abu Dujana. Early biographical works usually give his name as Simak ibn Kharasha ibn Lawdhan ibn Abd Wudd ibn Zayd, while some transmit the variant Simak ibn Aws ibn Kharasha. These variations belong to the recorded lineage and do not justify treating the well-known warrior of Badr, Uhud and Yamama as separate people. Later sources also call him Dhu al-Mashhara, a title associated with the red headband by which he was recognized in battle.
The surviving material is much fuller about Abu Dujana’s public service than about his private household. He belonged to the Ansar and is named among the men of Banu Sa‘ida who took part in the Battle of Badr in 2 AH. His presence at Badr places him among the earliest Medinan defenders of the Muslim community. Biographical works also report that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) established a bond of brotherhood between him and Utba ibn Ghazwan. That report is useful for understanding his place in the early community, although it comes through biographical tradition rather than the strongest hadith collections.
His best-attested individual episode occurred at Uhud in 3 AH. Anas ibn Malik reported in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet held out a sword and asked who would take it. Several Companions wished to receive it, but when he asked who would take it with its full right and responsibility, they drew back. Abu Dujana answered that he would take it with its right; he then used it vigorously against the opposing fighters. The sound report establishes both his identity as Simak ibn Kharasha and the central meaning of the episode: he accepted a demanding trust, not merely an honored object.
Early sira and biographical narratives add the memorable image of Abu Dujana tying on his red headband before combat. The headband functioned as a recognizable sign that he was preparing for determined fighting, and the reports describe his confident stride between the ranks. These details explain why the headband became inseparable from his later public memory. They should, however, be presented as sira and biographical material, while the core sword episode rests independently on the authentic report in Sahih Muslim.
When the Muslim formation at Uhud was disrupted, Ibn Ishaq's sira account portrays Abu Dujana bending over the Prophet and using his back as a shield while arrows struck him. Concerning a related report transmitted by al-Tabarani, al-Haythami stated that its chain contained narrators he did not recognize. Al-Dhahabi and other biographers also preserve the report that Abu Dujana remained with the Prophet and pledged himself to death in his defense, but the detailed chains are not equal to the Sahih Muslim sword narration. His protective steadfastness should therefore be presented as famous sira and biographical transmission, not as an undisputed sahih report.
Abu Dujana is not chiefly known as a prolific narrator or jurist. His historical profile is instead formed by participation, discipline and courage in the major struggles of the first Muslim community. The sources do not preserve a sufficiently detailed list of every expedition, office or family relationship to justify filling those gaps with assumptions. Ibn Sa‘d is quoted as saying that he left descendants in Madinah and Baghdad, but the available material consulted for this record does not securely establish the names of a wife, children or parents in a way suitable for creating registry relationships.
A short ethical report transmitted through Zayd ibn Aslam says that, during illness, Abu Dujana regarded two practices as especially dependable for himself: avoiding speech that did not concern him and keeping his heart free of ill will toward Muslims. This is not a Prophetic hadith but his own saying preserved in biographical and adab literature. At that level, it complements the battlefield accounts with an image of restraint in speech and inward goodwill.
After the Prophet's death, Abu Dujana joined the Muslim army against Musaylima and Banu Hanifa. The Battle of Yamama or Aqraba is dated differently in the chronicles: some place it in 11 AH, while the more famous chronology places it in the opening months of 12 AH. Most major biographical authorities report Abu Dujana's martyrdom in that battle. A minority and less reliable notice says that he survived and later attended Siffin; it should not be treated as equal to the dominant Yamama account.
Biographical histories report that Abu Dujana entered, or was cast into, the fortified garden during the final phase of the battle. His leg was broken in the entry, yet he continued to fight until he was killed. This account is transmitted in the biographical and historical literature and is widely repeated in notices devoted to him. It illustrates the extreme conditions of the assault, but it should be cited as historical report rather than described with the evidential certainty of the authentic sword narration.
The same historical tradition counts Abu Dujana among those who participated in killing Musaylima. Reports about the final moments name more than one combatant, and the secure claim is that Abu Dujana took part in the assault in which Musaylima was killed, not that every source assigns the exclusive final blow to him. Abu Dujana himself was martyred in the battle. His death at Yamama therefore completed a life remembered across three defining fields: Badr, the defense at Uhud and the struggle at Aqraba.
The present Aqraba archaeological area lies near Jubaylah. Saudipedia, citing the Saudi Heritage Commission, identifies the battlefield, a collective cemetery of the battle's martyrs and Shuaib al-Dam or Old Jubaylah Cemetery among the site's features, describing hundreds of battle martyrs as buried there. The same institutional account also names Abu Dujana among those who participated in the assault against Musaylima. It does not, however, provide an early person-specific burial statement or inscription explicitly placing Abu Dujana in that named cemetery.
The dominant and well-supported biographical conclusion is therefore that Abu Dujana was martyred at Yamama/Aqraba, but his burial in a particular Aqraba cemetery has not been established by an explicit person-specific historical source. The documented battlefield and collective cemeteries provide the geographical setting of his final campaign; they cannot be converted into proof of burial in a named cemetery or a surviving identifiable grave. The burial location consequently remains under review, the coordinate fields remain blank and the individual grave remains unknown. His enduring importance rests on responsible courage, loyal defense at Uhud and, under the dominant view, sacrifice at Yamama.
The surviving material is much fuller about Abu Dujana’s public service than about his private household. He belonged to the Ansar and is named among the men of Banu Sa‘ida who took part in the Battle of Badr in 2 AH. His presence at Badr places him among the earliest Medinan defenders of the Muslim community. Biographical works also report that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) established a bond of brotherhood between him and Utba ibn Ghazwan. That report is useful for understanding his place in the early community, although it comes through biographical tradition rather than the strongest hadith collections.
His best-attested individual episode occurred at Uhud in 3 AH. Anas ibn Malik reported in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet held out a sword and asked who would take it. Several Companions wished to receive it, but when he asked who would take it with its full right and responsibility, they drew back. Abu Dujana answered that he would take it with its right; he then used it vigorously against the opposing fighters. The sound report establishes both his identity as Simak ibn Kharasha and the central meaning of the episode: he accepted a demanding trust, not merely an honored object.
Early sira and biographical narratives add the memorable image of Abu Dujana tying on his red headband before combat. The headband functioned as a recognizable sign that he was preparing for determined fighting, and the reports describe his confident stride between the ranks. These details explain why the headband became inseparable from his later public memory. They should, however, be presented as sira and biographical material, while the core sword episode rests independently on the authentic report in Sahih Muslim.
When the Muslim formation at Uhud was disrupted, Ibn Ishaq's sira account portrays Abu Dujana bending over the Prophet and using his back as a shield while arrows struck him. Concerning a related report transmitted by al-Tabarani, al-Haythami stated that its chain contained narrators he did not recognize. Al-Dhahabi and other biographers also preserve the report that Abu Dujana remained with the Prophet and pledged himself to death in his defense, but the detailed chains are not equal to the Sahih Muslim sword narration. His protective steadfastness should therefore be presented as famous sira and biographical transmission, not as an undisputed sahih report.
Abu Dujana is not chiefly known as a prolific narrator or jurist. His historical profile is instead formed by participation, discipline and courage in the major struggles of the first Muslim community. The sources do not preserve a sufficiently detailed list of every expedition, office or family relationship to justify filling those gaps with assumptions. Ibn Sa‘d is quoted as saying that he left descendants in Madinah and Baghdad, but the available material consulted for this record does not securely establish the names of a wife, children or parents in a way suitable for creating registry relationships.
A short ethical report transmitted through Zayd ibn Aslam says that, during illness, Abu Dujana regarded two practices as especially dependable for himself: avoiding speech that did not concern him and keeping his heart free of ill will toward Muslims. This is not a Prophetic hadith but his own saying preserved in biographical and adab literature. At that level, it complements the battlefield accounts with an image of restraint in speech and inward goodwill.
After the Prophet's death, Abu Dujana joined the Muslim army against Musaylima and Banu Hanifa. The Battle of Yamama or Aqraba is dated differently in the chronicles: some place it in 11 AH, while the more famous chronology places it in the opening months of 12 AH. Most major biographical authorities report Abu Dujana's martyrdom in that battle. A minority and less reliable notice says that he survived and later attended Siffin; it should not be treated as equal to the dominant Yamama account.
Biographical histories report that Abu Dujana entered, or was cast into, the fortified garden during the final phase of the battle. His leg was broken in the entry, yet he continued to fight until he was killed. This account is transmitted in the biographical and historical literature and is widely repeated in notices devoted to him. It illustrates the extreme conditions of the assault, but it should be cited as historical report rather than described with the evidential certainty of the authentic sword narration.
The same historical tradition counts Abu Dujana among those who participated in killing Musaylima. Reports about the final moments name more than one combatant, and the secure claim is that Abu Dujana took part in the assault in which Musaylima was killed, not that every source assigns the exclusive final blow to him. Abu Dujana himself was martyred in the battle. His death at Yamama therefore completed a life remembered across three defining fields: Badr, the defense at Uhud and the struggle at Aqraba.
The present Aqraba archaeological area lies near Jubaylah. Saudipedia, citing the Saudi Heritage Commission, identifies the battlefield, a collective cemetery of the battle's martyrs and Shuaib al-Dam or Old Jubaylah Cemetery among the site's features, describing hundreds of battle martyrs as buried there. The same institutional account also names Abu Dujana among those who participated in the assault against Musaylima. It does not, however, provide an early person-specific burial statement or inscription explicitly placing Abu Dujana in that named cemetery.
The dominant and well-supported biographical conclusion is therefore that Abu Dujana was martyred at Yamama/Aqraba, but his burial in a particular Aqraba cemetery has not been established by an explicit person-specific historical source. The documented battlefield and collective cemeteries provide the geographical setting of his final campaign; they cannot be converted into proof of burial in a named cemetery or a surviving identifiable grave. The burial location consequently remains under review, the coordinate fields remain blank and the individual grave remains unknown. His enduring importance rests on responsible courage, loyal defense at Uhud and, under the dominant view, sacrifice at Yamama.
Historical importance and legacy
Abu Dujana’s clearest historical importance is the model of responsible courage preserved in Sahih Muslim. The sword was offered publicly, but the decisive question concerned its right and obligation. His response joined bravery to accountability, making the episode more than a story of physical strength.
His memory at Uhud also combines attack and protection. The authentic sword report establishes his determined combat, while early sira and biographical narratives remember the red headband, his steadfastness and his shielding of the Prophet. Keeping these sources at their proper evidential levels preserves both the force and the honesty of the account.
At Yamama, Abu Dujana represented the continuity of the earliest Companions in the crisis after the Prophet’s death. Historical reports place him in the assault on the fortified garden and among the participants in the defeat of Musaylima, where he was martyred. His death belongs to the wider cost of the battle, not to a sectarian claim or an embellished shrine narrative.
His place tradition is also a useful example of evidential restraint. Aqraba is a documented battlefield with collective cemeteries, but no explicit person-specific evidence identifies Abu Dujana's burial in a particular cemetery or his exact grave. The accurate conclusion preserves the dominant martyrdom report while leaving the burial location under review and the individual grave unidentified.
His memory at Uhud also combines attack and protection. The authentic sword report establishes his determined combat, while early sira and biographical narratives remember the red headband, his steadfastness and his shielding of the Prophet. Keeping these sources at their proper evidential levels preserves both the force and the honesty of the account.
At Yamama, Abu Dujana represented the continuity of the earliest Companions in the crisis after the Prophet’s death. Historical reports place him in the assault on the fortified garden and among the participants in the defeat of Musaylima, where he was martyred. His death belongs to the wider cost of the battle, not to a sectarian claim or an embellished shrine narrative.
His place tradition is also a useful example of evidential restraint. Aqraba is a documented battlefield with collective cemeteries, but no explicit person-specific evidence identifies Abu Dujana's burial in a particular cemetery or his exact grave. The accurate conclusion preserves the dominant martyrdom report while leaving the burial location under review and the individual grave unidentified.
Family relationships
Sources
Sahih Muslim | Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj | Hadith 2470 (Book 44, Hadith 183) | https://sunnah.com/muslim:2470 | Sound report naming Simak ibn Kharasha Abu Dujana and the sword episode at Uhud.Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir | al-Tabarani | vol. 7, p. 104, nos. 6502, 6505, 6506 | https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/84/6450/ | Badr identification, Banu Sa'ida lineage form and naming among the martyrs of Yamama.
Siyar A'lam al-Nubala | Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi | vol. 1, p. 244 and following | https://islamweb.net/ar/library/content/60/50/ | Lineage variants, red headband, reported brotherhood, Yamama, descendants report and ethical saying.
Al-Isti'ab fi Ma'rifat al-Ashab | Ibn Abd al-Barr | vol. 2, Abu Dujana/Simak entry, displayed p. 652 | https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/1080/1081/ | Badr, valor, Yamama martyrdom and minority Siffin report.
Al-Thiqat | Ibn Hibban | vol. 3, Abu Dujana entry; pagination varies by edition | https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/1079/807/ | Banu Sa'ida identity, Yamama martyrdom, participation against Musaylima and descendants in Madinah/Iraq.
Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya | Ibn Kathir | vol. 9, Abu Dujana notice around p. 498; Yamama chronology around p. 511 in the web edition | https://islamweb.net/ar/library/content/59/718/ ; https://www.islamweb.com/ar/library/content/59/719/ | Uhud and Yamama biography; 11/12 AH chronology reconciliation.
Hadith Encyclopedia / Majma al-Zawa'id grading | al-Durar al-Saniyya / al-Haythami | 6/112 and 6/227 | https://dorar.net/h/Nb2x0gaa ; https://dorar.net/hadith-category/cat/1f91b7260117448f6de4564b61f4fa07 | Red-headband report has unknown narrators; Yamama-martyr naming route has trustworthy narrators.
Aqraba Site | Saudipedia citing the Heritage Commission | article dated 2022; no page numbering | https://saudipedia.com/موقع-عقرباء | Modern institutional identification of the Aqraba battlefield, collective martyrs cemetery, Shuaib al-Dam/Old Jubaylah Cemetery and participation in the attack on Musaylima.
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