Anas b. Mālik, Abū Ḥamza (d. 93/712), was a Companion of the Prophet Muḥammad. He was one of the Anṣār (‘Helpers’), belonging to the Banū Najjār of Khazraj (Ibn al-Kalbī, 2/49; Ibn Saʿd, 7/17). Following Muḥammad’s migration to Medina, Anas was taken at the age of ten to the Prophet by his mother (and, according to one account, his step-father Abū Ṭalḥa), who asked if Anas could be taken on as his servant (Ibn Saʿd, 7/19; al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 3/398). He served the Prophet Muḥammad from then until the Prophet’s death. He is reported to have said that he was present at the b…