science

Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt

Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt rather than just read about it. In short: Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt (Arabic: عقبة بن أبي معيط, romanized: ʿUqbah ibn ʾAbī Muʿayṭ; d. 624) was one of the principal adversaries of Islam. He was a Quraysh leader and a member of the Banu 'Abdu Shams clan of Quraish tribe.

Key takeaways

Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt (Arabic: عقبة بن أبي معيط, romanized: ʿUqbah ibn ʾAbī Muʿayṭ; d. 624) was one of the principal adversaries of Islam. He was a Quraysh leader and a member of the Banu 'Abdu Shams clan of Quraish tribe.

Family

Family lineage He was 'Uqba, son of Abu Mu'ayt, son of Abu 'Amr, son of Umayyah ibn Abd Shams, son of Abd Shams, son of Abd Manaf, son of Qusayy, son of Kilab, son of Murrah, son of Ka'b, son of Lu'ayy, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr, son of Malik, son of Al-Nadr, son of Kinanah, son of Khuzaymah, son of Mudrikah, son of Ilyas, son of Mudar, son of Nizar, son of Ma'ad ibn Adnan, son of Adnan. ‘Uqbah was the son of Abu Mu‘ayṭ ibn Abu ‘Amr ibn Umayyah ibn ‘Abd Shams and of Shayma bint Abd-al-Uzza from the Banu Amir. Abu Mu'ayt's mother was Kabsha bint Abd al-Manat from Banu Amir. Uqbah's aunt, Safiyya bint Abi ‘Amr, married Abu Sufyan.

Family marriage He married Arwa bint Kurayz, a member of the Banu Abd-Shams and the widow of ‘Affān ibn Abu al-‘Āṣ, making Uqba the stepfather of the future Caliph Uthman and Amina. Uqba and Arwa had six children: Walid, Umara, Khalid, Umm Kulthum, Umm Hakim and Hind.

Role of 'Uqbah in opposing Muhammad Uqbah was one of the neighbors of Muhammad. Yet he assaulted Muhammad verbally and physically as he was preaching Islam. He also constantly ridiculed Muhammad when the latter was preaching in Mecca. On one occasion, when Muhammad was praying in the courtyard of the Ka'ba, Uqba brought the waste of a slaughtered camel (intestines, blood, dung, etc.) upon the suggestion of other Quraysh leaders who were gathered there, and placed it upon Muhammad's back while he was in prostration. They laughed so much that they fell on each other. He remained in that position due to the weight, unable to lift his head from prostration until his daughter came and removed it. On another occasion, Uqba spat on Muhammad's face at the incitement of his friend Ubay ibn Khalaf and so, a Quranic verse [Quran 25:29] was revealed at that moment to Muhammad regarding Uqba and Ubay. Uqbah was also one of those enemies of Muhammad who rejoiced at the news of the death of Muhammad's second son 'Abdullah. Ubayy ibn Khalaf ibn Safwan was a close friend of ‘Uqbah. When Ubayy learned that ‘Uqba had sat and listened to the apostle, he told ‘Uqbah, ‘Do I hear that you have sat with Muhammad and listened to him? I swear I will never see you or speak to you again if you do the same again, or if you do not go and spit in his face.’ ‘Uqba indeed did this so that Allah sent down concerning the pair of them: “On the day that the sinner bites his hands, saying, would that I had chosen a path with the apostle.” (Sura 25: 27)

Death According to numerous authentic and trustworthy sources such as a number of narrations in Sahih Bukhari, and Ibn Sa'd's biographical compendium, the Tabaqat Al-Kubra, Uqba was killed in the field during the Battle of Badr and was among those Quraysh leaders whose corpses were buried in a pit. According to Muslim scholar Safiur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, after the Battle of Badr two captives – Nadr bin Harith and ‘Uqbah ibn Abū Mu‘ayṭ were beheaded by Ali. Mubarakpuri mentions that this incident about the beheading is also mentioned in the Sunan Abu Dawud no 2686 and Anwal Ma'bud 3/12.

See also Non-Muslims who interacted with Muslims during Muhammad's era Persons related to Qur'anic verses

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt

In research: Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 624 deaths, 7th-century executions, Banu Umayya, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt in simple terms?

Why does Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt.