Sahaba Trivia
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50 free Sahaba trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
The Sahaba, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, were merchants and shepherds, former slaves and clan chiefs, women who carried water to the battlefield and boys who served at his table. Their lives were recorded with unusual care, because the early Muslim community depended on their memories for the Quran, the hadith and the story of Islam's first years. These 50 questions move from Mecca to Medina and on to the caliphate: the first believers and the persecution they faced, the migration and the Medinan hosts who took the newcomers in, the battles of Badr and Uhud, the four caliphs who followed Muhammad, and the scribes, poets, envoys and governors who carried Islam beyond Arabia. Every question is drawn from the standard biographical sources and told plainly and with respect. It suits Islamic studies classes, madrasa quiz nights, Ramadan and Eid gatherings, and anyone revising the seerah. Play on your phone with instant answers and explanations, or print it for the classroom.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which companion did Muhammad choose as the first caller to prayer?
Bilal ibn Rabah
Bilal ibn Rabah climbed onto the Kaaba itself to give the call on the day Mecca fell to the Muslims.
Q 02What does Islamic tradition call 619, when Muhammad lost both his wife Khadijah and his protector Abu Talib?
Year of Sorrow
The Year of Sorrow took away Muhammad's closest supporter and his clan's protection at once, and the Quraysh treated him far more harshly once Abu Talib was gone.
Q 03Which tactic did Salman the Persian propose to defend Medina against 10,000 confederates in 627?
Digging a trench
Digging a trench was a Persian idea new to Arabian warfare; the ditch took six days to dig, and the besiegers broke up in wind and rain.
Q 04Caliph Umar was stabbed with a double-bladed dagger in 644 while doing what in the mosque of Medina?
Leading the congregational prayer
Leading the congregational prayer left Umar exposed to Abu Lu'lu'a, a Persian captive; before he died the caliph appointed a six-man council to choose his successor.
Q 05How did Ali ibn Abi Talib help Muhammad slip out of Mecca past the assassins?
Slept in the Prophet's bed
Ali slept in the Prophet's bed so the watchers saw a sleeping figure all night; the plotters had picked one warrior from every Meccan clan so that no single clan could be blamed.
Q 06Why was Caliph Uthman ibn Affan called Dhu al-Nurayn, 'possessor of two lights'?
Married two of Muhammad's daughters
He married two of Muhammad's daughters in turn, and when the first, Ruqayya, lay dying, he stayed behind from Badr to nurse her and was still granted a share of the spoils.
Q 07Which uncle of Muhammad, a hunter who converted after striking Abu Jahl with his bow, was killed at Uhud?
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib was brought down by a javelin thrown by Wahshi, an enslaved Abyssinian promised his freedom for the deed, and is honoured as Sayyid al-Shuhada, chief of the martyrs.
Q 08Which companion is credited with narrating the most hadiths despite spending only about three years with Muhammad?
Abu Hurayra
Abu Hurayra means 'father of the kitten', a name he got for the stray cat he carried in his sleeve; he is credited with at least 5,374 hadiths, having converted only in 629.
Q 09Which wife of Muhammad narrated over 2,000 hadiths and directed one side at the 656 Battle of the Camel?
Aisha bint Abi Bakr
Aisha bint Abi Bakr's side lost, yet Ali pardoned her and sent her back under her brother's escort.
Q 10Which Meccan cavalry commander at Uhud later converted and led the Muslim armies that took Damascus?
Khalid ibn al-Walid
Khalid ibn al-Walid was named Sayf Allah, 'the Sword of God', by Muhammad for saving the army at Mu'tah in 629, and went on to win Yarmouk, the battle that decided Syria in 636.
Q 11Which honorific did Muhammad give Abu Bakr for believing the Night Journey account at once, when others doubted?
Al-Siddiq
Al-Siddiq means 'the truthful', and Abu Bakr kept the title for the rest of his life, through his election as first caliph in 632 and the Ridda wars that filled most of his short reign.
Q 12The Quran's 'the second of the two' refers to Abu Bakr hiding with Muhammad where?
A cave on Mount Thawr
A cave on Mount Thawr, south of Mecca, hid the pair for three days while the Quraysh searched, until the road north was clear.
Q 13Caliph Umar established the Islamic calendar around 638; from which event does it count its years?
Hijra from Mecca
Q 21Which freed slave, adopted by Muhammad as a son, was appointed first commander of the 3,000 men sent to Mu'tah in 629?
Zayd ibn Harithah
Zayd ibn Harithah had chosen to stay with Muhammad when his own father and uncle came to ransom him, and Muhammad never sent him out with an army without putting him in command of it.
Q 22Which mother of Ammar ibn Yasir, speared by Abu Jahl in Mecca, is honoured as the first martyr of Islam?
Sumayya bint Khayyat
Sumayya bint Khayyat was tortured beside her husband Yasir for refusing to renounce her faith; tradition records Muhammad passing the family and telling them to be patient, for their meeting place was Paradise.
Q 23Which woman of Medina is remembered for defending Muhammad in person at Uhud?
The Hijra from Mecca to Yathrib in 622 became year one; Umar acted after a complaint from his governor Abu Musa al-Ash'ari.
Q 14Which scribe of Muhammad, turned away from Badr, led the committee behind Uthman's standard Quran?
Zayd ibn Thabit
Zayd ibn Thabit had already gathered the Quran once for Abu Bakr, from palm stalks and men's memories, and Muhammad had him learn Hebrew so he could read foreign letters.
Q 15Ali ibn Abi Talib was cut down by a poisoned sword in 661 in the mosque of which city, his capital?
Kufa
Kufa had become Ali's seat, and there the Kharijite Ibn Muljam struck him during the dawn prayer; Ali died of the head wound about two days later.
Q 16Which companion, remembered as the first Muslim archer, led the army that broke the Sasanians at al-Qadisiyyah?
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas outlived every other companion whom Muhammad had promised Paradise, dying around 674, and Chinese Muslim tradition even credits him with bringing Islam to Guangzhou.
Q 17Which companion lost two front teeth at Uhud while pulling links of Muhammad's armour from his cheek?
Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah
Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, whom Muhammad called 'the trustworthy one of this nation', went on to command the conquest of Syria and died in the plague of Amwas in 639.
Q 18Which companion spoke for the Muslim exiles before the Christian king of Abyssinia, quoting Surah Maryam?
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib chose the chapter on Mary and Jesus to show the king what Muslims believed; he died at Mu'tah in 629 after both his arms were cut off holding the standard.
Q 19Which once-wealthy young Meccan became Islam's first envoy to Yathrib and later died carrying the banner at Uhud?
Mus'ab ibn Umayr
Mus'ab ibn Umayr's preaching won over much of Medina before Muhammad arrived; at his burial the one cloth he owned could cover either his head or his feet, not both.
Q 20Which woman tore her belt in two to tie the provisions for Muhammad's flight from Mecca in 622?
Asma bint Abi Bakr
Asma bint Abi Bakr was given the title Dhat al-Nitaqayn, 'She of the Two Belts', by Muhammad himself, and lived to about a hundred, dying in 692 days after her son Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr was killed.
Nusaybah bint Ka'b
Nusaybah bint Ka'b, known as Umm Umarah, had come to the field to carry water and tend the wounded, and she later fought at Hunayn and in the wars after Muhammad's death, where she lost a hand.
Q 24Which ascetic companion, a critic of hoarded riches, died alone at al-Rabadha in 652 as Muhammad had foretold?
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari came from a tribe that lived by raiding caravans, preached that surplus riches should be given away, and sent back the money that the governor of Syria offered him.
Q 25Which companion made the final choice of Uthman as third caliph in 644?
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf reached Medina with nothing and built a fortune trading; at his death he owned a hundred horses and a thousand camels.
Q 26Which Medinan chief, dying of an arrow wound from the 627 siege, did Muhammad mourn with the words 'the Throne shook'?
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh had brought his whole clan into Islam on the day he converted.
Q 27What did Suhayb 'the Roman', raised in Byzantine captivity, surrender to the Quraysh to be allowed to leave for Medina?
All his wealth
All his wealth was the price, and when he reached Muhammad he was greeted with the words 'your transaction has been fruitful'; Quran 2:207, on the man who sells himself for God's pleasure, is held to honour the bargain.
Q 28Muhammad foretold that Ammar ibn Yasir would be killed by 'a wicked band'; at which battle of 657 did he die?
Siffin
Siffin, fought on the upper Euphrates between Ali and Mu'awiya, cost Ammar his life at about ninety, and both sides read the prophecy as marking which of them was in the right.
Q 29Talha ibn Ubayd Allah blocked an arrow aimed at Muhammad's face at Uhud; what did it cost him?
The use of his hand
The use of his hand was lost when the arrow struck it, and the defence earned Talha the byname 'the living martyr'; he died in 656 at the Battle of the Camel.
Q 30Umar burst in on which companion, his own brother-in-law, reading the Quran at home, and left a convert?
Sa'id ibn Zayd
Sa'id ibn Zayd later counted himself among the companions Muhammad promised Paradise, naming nine and hinting that the tenth was himself; he missed Badr only because Muhammad had sent him to scout the caravan.