Abu al-Darda

When Muhammad designated brotherhoods between the Ansar and Muhajirun, Abu al-Darda was made a 'brother' of Salman al-Farisi.

[1] A claim traced to Abu al-Darda holds that he was a merchant before his conversion, but afterwards he abandoned commercial pursuits as they detracted from his devotion to religious duties.

He died in Damascus in 652 and was buried alongside his wife, Umm al-Darda, at the city's Bab al-Saghir gate.

[2] According to the historian Steven Judd, "for nearly a century, Abu al-Darda and his students dominated the office of qadi in Damascus".

His son, Bilal, was the qadi between 679 and 684, while two other students, Abu Idris al-Khawlani and Numayr ibn Aws al-Ash'ari, served in the same office from 684 to 699 and from c. 718 to c. 738, respectively.