He is recorded as a witness or participant of political events in Medina during the reigns of caliphs Sulayman, Hisham and al-Mansur, including as a one-time supporter of the Alid revolt of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya against the Abbasids.
Ayyub was a member of the household of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, a rich and prominent family of the Banu Makhzum, a major clan of the Quraysh mainly present in Mecca and Medina.
[1] Al-Saffah's and Umm Salama's daughter, Rayta, married the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and gave birth to his sons Ubaydallah and Ali.
[4][5] He was a defendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's great-great-grandson, the Alid Zayd ibn Ali, against claims of financial impropriety by the Umayyad governor of Iraq Khalid al-Qasri (r. 724–738).
[6] Ayyub witnessed al-Mansur's punishment by lashing of a locally prominent ally of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Uthmani, a descendant of caliphs Uthman (r. 644–656) and Ali.