بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Al-Salihin — The Righteous

The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, the Tabi'een, and the righteous scholars who lit the path of Islam for generations — lives that illuminate the way for every believer.

Lives of the Righteous

Those Who Walked the Path of Allah

Profile 01 of 08

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه

عُمَر بْن ٱلْخَطَّاب

Born: c. 584 CE, Mecca  |  Martyred: 3 November 644 CE, Madinah  |  Caliphate: 634–644 CE

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) was one of the most powerful and beloved Companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the second Caliph of Islam. Born into the Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh in Mecca, he was initially one of the fiercest opponents of Islam. His conversion in 616 CE — upon hearing the Quranic verses recited at his sister's home — was a turning point that strengthened the Muslim community profoundly. The Prophet ﷺ had prayed for the conversion of either Umar or Amr ibn Hisham, and Allah answered that prayer.

Known by the title Al-Farooq (The Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood), Hazrat Umar was among the ten Companions promised Paradise by the Prophet ﷺ. As the second Caliph, he oversaw the great Islamic expansion — including the conquests of Persia, Syria, and Egypt — while maintaining extraordinary personal humility and simplicity. He established the Hijri Calendar, created the office of the Qadi (judge), built garrison cities, and was the first to institute regular night patrols to check on the needs of his people personally. He entered Jerusalem in 637 CE wearing simple patched clothes — a servant to his camel by turns — as a symbol of the justice and humility that defined his rule. He was assassinated in the mosque while leading Fajr prayer in 644 CE and was buried beside the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah.

"Do not be misled by one's reputation. Be careful of a person who people say is better than he actually is, and do not underestimate one whose worth people underestimate." — Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه

Profile 02 of 08

Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh رضي الله عنه

سعد بن معاذ الأنصاري

Born: c. 590 CE, Madinah  |  Martyred: 627 CE, Madinah (5th year of Hijrah)

Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh (RA) was the chief of the Aws tribe of Madinah and one of the most honoured Companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He accepted Islam at the hands of Mus'ab ibn Umayr (RA) — and such was his authority among his people that his entire tribe immediately followed him into the fold of Islam, making the Banu Abdul-Ashhal the first clan to embrace Islam collectively. The Prophet ﷺ bestowed upon him the title Siddiq al-Ansar (the truthful one of the Ansar).

He fought in the Battles of Badr and Uhud with extraordinary bravery and served as a key strategic leader in the Battle of the Trench (Al-Khandaq) in 627 CE. During that battle, he was struck by an arrow that severed a major blood vessel. He prayed to Allah to keep him alive until he had witnessed the outcome of the Banu Qurayza affair — and Allah granted his wish. He passed away from his wounds shortly after. The Prophet ﷺ himself led his funeral prayer, and it is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that the Prophet ﷺ declared: "The Throne of the Most Merciful shook at the death of Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh." Over a thousand angels are said to have attended his funeral.

"O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we believe in you and bear witness that what you have brought is the truth. We give you our firm pledge of obedience. Go forward to what you desire, for we are with you." — Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh رضي الله عنه, before the Battle of Badr (Sahih Muslim)

Profile 03 of 08

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رحمه الله

عُمَر بْن عَبْد الْعَزِيز

Born: c. 682 CE (61 AH), Madinah  |  Died: February 720 CE (101 AH)  |  Caliphate: 717–720 CE

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz — widely revered as Umar II and considered by scholars the fifth of the rightly guided Caliphs — was the eighth Umayyad Caliph. His mother was a granddaughter of Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), and he was educated in Madinah under the great Tabi'i scholars. Before becoming Caliph, he had served as the just and beloved governor of Madinah. When Caliph Sulayman ibn Abdul Malik lay dying, he nominated Umar as his successor — an appointment Umar accepted only reluctantly, considering the enormous weight of the trust.

Upon assuming the Caliphate, he returned all the wealth he had accumulated to the public treasury, rode his own modest mule instead of the royal horses, and immediately dismissed corrupt and oppressive governors. He was the first Caliph to order the official collection and documentation of Hadith, fearing it might be lost. He abolished the cursing of Hazrat Ali (RA) that had become customary in Umayyad Friday sermons. Under his three-year reign, the wealth of the empire was so equitably distributed that it became difficult to find recipients of Zakat. He was poisoned — it is widely held by members of the Umayyad royal family who resented his reforms — and died at approximately 39 years of age. Historians and scholars unanimously regard his brief reign as the closest return to the spirit of the Rashidun Caliphate.

"If you wish to do something, consider its consequences. If it leads to good, proceed — and if it leads to evil, refrain." — Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رحمه الله

Profile 04 of 08

Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali رحمه الله

أبو حامد محمد الغزالي

Born: 1058 CE (450 AH), Tus, Khorasan (Iran)  |  Died: 18 December 1111 CE (505 AH)

Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali — honoured with the title Hujjat ul-Islam (The Proof of Islam) — is one of the greatest theologians, jurists, Sufi scholars, and philosophers in all of Islamic history. He studied under the eminent Imam al-Juwayni (Imam al-Haramayn) in Nishapur and rose to become the Chief Professor of the Nizamiyyah Academy in Baghdad at only 33 years of age — the most prestigious academic position in the Islamic world at the time. A Shafi'i jurist and Ash'ari theologian, his mastery of every Islamic science — fiqh, kalam, philosophy, and Sufism — was unmatched in his era.

At the height of his fame and worldly success, he underwent a profound spiritual crisis — recognising that external knowledge and status were insufficient for true certainty and nearness to Allah. He left Baghdad in 1095 CE, abandoning wealth, fame, and position, and spent over ten years in spiritual retreat, travelling through Damascus, Jerusalem, and Mecca, devoting himself to worship and inner purification. It was during this period that he composed his masterwork Ihya' Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Religious Sciences) — a comprehensive guide to Islamic belief, practice, and spiritual development that scholars have described as the most important Islamic text after the Quran and Hadith. Imam Nawawi said of it: "Were the books of Islam all to be lost, excepting only the Ihya', it would suffice to replace them all."

"Knowledge without action is vanity, and action without knowledge is insanity." — Imam al-Ghazali رحمه الله, Ihya' Ulum al-Din

Profile 05 of 08

Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi رحمه الله

الجنيد البغدادي

Born: c. 830 CE (215 AH), Baghdad  |  Died: c. 910 CE (297–298 AH), Baghdad

Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd al-Baghdadi is among the most celebrated and authoritative figures in all of Islamic spiritual history. Honoured with the title Sayyid al-Ta'ifah (Master of the Sufi Order), he is widely regarded as one of the founding architects of the "sober" school of Sufism — a path firmly grounded in the Quran and Sunnah, far removed from any deviation or excess. He famously said: "Our knowledge is controlled by the Book and the Sunnah. Whoever does not memorise the Quran and write Hadith is not fit to be followed in this matter."

Born in Baghdad to a family originally from Nahavand, he studied Islamic jurisprudence under Abu Thawr — a distinguished student of Imam al-Shafi'i. He received his spiritual training from his maternal uncle, the great Sufi master Sirri al-Saqti, and from Imam al-Harith al-Muhasibi. At only seven years of age, he gave such a profound definition of shukr (gratitude) before four hundred scholars in Madinah that they unanimously declared no one could define it better. He began his public teaching circles in Baghdad after witnessing the Prophet ﷺ in a dream commanding him to speak to the people. About sixty thousand people attended his funeral prayer, and his mosque in Baghdad remains a site of reverence to this day. Imam Ibrahim ibn Adham called him "the key of the mystical sciences."

"Sufism is that Allah causes you to die to yourself and gives you life in Him." — Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi رحمه الله

Profile 06 of 08

Ibrahim ibn Adham al-Balkhi رحمه الله

إبراهيم بن أدهم

Born: c. 718 CE (100 AH), Balkh (present-day Afghanistan)  |  Died: c. 782 CE (165 AH), Syria

Ibrahim ibn Adham al-Balkhi is one of the most celebrated early Sufi saints in Islamic history, renowned above all for his extraordinary zuhd (asceticism) and complete renunciation of the world for the sake of Allah. He was born into the noble Arab community of Balkh as its prince and ruler, commanding a life of great wealth and power. According to Islamic historical accounts, his spiritual awakening came during a hunting expedition when he heard a divine voice reproach him for his heedlessness — an experience that shook him to his core and set him on an entirely different path.

He abandoned his throne, his wealth, and his kingdom, distributing everything he owned, and set out on a life of wandering asceticism — earning his livelihood through honest manual labour such as farming, gardening, and grain-grinding, never once accepting charity. He travelled to Mecca, where he associated with the great early ascetics Sufyan al-Thawri and Fudayl ibn Iyad. He settled eventually in Syria, devoting the remainder of his life entirely to worship, remembrance of Allah, and guiding those who sought truth. He is reported to have participated in military expeditions on the Byzantine frontier and is believed to have died on one such campaign. Imam Abu Hanifah would call him Sayyiduna (Our Master), and Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi praised him as "the key of the mystical sciences." His life is a classic of Islamic spiritual literature, widely narrated in the works of Imam al-Ghazali and Maulana Rumi.

"The heart has three states: happiness, sadness, and contentedness. If you are content with what Allah has decreed, you have found the greatest treasure." — Ibrahim ibn Adham رحمه الله (as recorded in classical Sufi sources)

Profile 07 of 08

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi رحمه الله

مولانا جلال الدين محمد الرومي

Born: 30 September 1207 CE (604 AH), Balkh, Afghanistan  |  Died: 17 December 1273 CE (672 AH), Konya, Turkey

Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi — honoured as Mawlana (Our Master) throughout the Muslim world — was a devout Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, and Sufi mystic of the 13th century CE. He followed the Hanafi school of Islamic law and was deeply rooted in the Quran, Hadith, and the Shari'ah throughout his life. Born in Balkh to a distinguished family of Islamic scholars — his father Baha'uddin Walad was known as "Sultan of the Scholars" — Rumi received a comprehensive Islamic education in the religious sciences of fiqh, theology, and Arabic literature, studying in Aleppo and Damascus before settling in Konya, Anatolia (present-day Turkey), which was known then as "Rum."

His transformative encounter with the wandering Sufi dervish Shams al-Din al-Tabrizi in 1244 CE — a meeting Rumi considered among the greatest gifts of his life — gave birth to an extraordinary outpouring of mystical poetry. His masterwork, the Masnavi-ye Ma'navi (Spiritual Couplets) — nearly 26,000 verses — has been described by Islamic scholars as "a Quran in Persian," so saturated is it with Quranic verses, Hadith, and Islamic teachings. Rumi himself described it as "the roots of the roots of the roots of the Islamic Religion." He also composed the vast Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, containing over 40,000 verses. His teachings on divine love, spiritual purification, and nearness to Allah have inspired generations of Muslims and continue to do so. He founded the Mevlevi Sufi Order, whose tradition of spiritual practice has been continuous for over 750 years.

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." — Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi رحمه الله, Masnavi

Profile 08 of 08

Zubaidah bint Ja'far رحمها الله

زبيدة بنت جعفر بن المنصور

Born: c. 762 CE (145 AH), Baghdad  |  Died: 10 July 831 CE (216 AH), Baghdad

Zubaidah bint Ja'far — whose given name was Sukhainah, the affectionate nickname Zubaidah (meaning "little butter ball") having been bestowed upon her by her grandfather, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur — was the most celebrated and beloved of the Abbasid princesses. She was the granddaughter of Caliph al-Mansur and the wife and double cousin of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, whom she married in 782 CE. A woman of exceptional intelligence, piety, generosity, and wisdom, she is described by contemporaries as courageous and deeply devoted to her faith. Her palace was renowned for housing one hundred women who had memorised the entire Quran — their constant recitation giving her home the sound of a beehive of remembrance.

Her greatest and most enduring legacy was her colossal philanthropic project in service of the Ummah. Upon visiting Mecca for the fifth time on Hajj, she witnessed the severity of the water shortage devastating both the residents and the pilgrims. She commissioned an extraordinary engineering feat entirely from her personal wealth — a vast network of wells, reservoirs, aqueducts, and canals stretching over 1,400 kilometres from Kufa to Mecca, providing water to pilgrims for over a thousand years. When her engineers warned her the cost would be enormous, she famously replied: "Proceed with the work, even if each blow of the spade costs a dinar." She reportedly spent over two million dinars on this project alone. She also paved and cleared the pilgrim route, built rest houses, and personally funded the reconstruction of Tabriz after a devastating earthquake in 791 CE. The route was renamed Darb Zubaidah in her eternal honour. The great traveller Ibn Battuta later wrote: "Every reservoir, pool or well on this road is due to her magnificent generosity — had it not been for her, this road would not be usable by anyone."

"Proceed with the work, even if each blow of the spade costs a dinar." — Zubaidah bint Ja'far رحمها الله, upon being warned of the enormous cost of building water canals for Hajj pilgrims (Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A'yan)

أُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ

"Those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favour — of the Prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous."

— Surah An-Nisa, 4:69