Ubay ibn Ka'b

Ubayy ibn Ka'b (, ) (died 649), also known as Abu Mundhir, was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim community. He was short, skinny, and gray haired.

He is notable for the Quran codex he compiled.

Biography Ubayy was born in Medina (then known as Yathrib), into the tribe of the Banu Khazraj.

Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Quran. One day, the Prophet said: "O Ubayy ibn Ka'b! I have been commanded to show or lay open the Quran to you."

Ubayy was elated. He knew of course that the Prophet only received commands from on high. Unable to control his excitement, he asked:

"O Messenger of God...Have I been mentioned to you by name?" "Yes," replied the Prophet, "By your own name and by your genealogy (nasab) in the highest heavens."

Following Muhammad's death, he was one of the twenty-five Hafiz, people who knew the Qur'an completely by heart.

He was part of the consultative group (mushawarah) to which the caliph Abu Bakr referred many problems. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abd-al-Rahman ibn Awf, Muadh ibn Jabal, and Zayd ibn Thabit.

Umar later consulted the same group when he was caliph. Specifically for fatwas (legal judgments) he referred to Ali ibn Abi Talib, Uthman, Ubayy, and Zayd ibn Thabit.