ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, Abū Muḥammad (d. 32/652), a prominent Companion of the Prophet and a famous figure in early Islam.

He was born ten years after the ‘Year of the Elephant’ (ʿām al-fīl). He was first known as ʿAbd ʿAmr (Ibn Saʿd, 3/124; al-Balādhurī, 10/30, 37; idem, 10/39, referring to his original name as ʿAbd al-Ḥārith), but after his conversion to Islam he changed his name to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, either on his own initiative or at the suggestion of the Prophet (Ibn Hishām, 2/283; al-Balādhurī, 10/30; for varied opinions about his name, see also al-Wāqidī, 1/82).

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān belonged …