For instance...

For instance, Sa`d ibn Abi-Waqqas was either seventeen[^43] or nineteen[^44] years old; al-Zubayr ibn al-`Awwam was fifteen[^45] or sixteen;[^46] `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Awf was thirty; he was born ten years after the Elephant Year.[^47] Mus`ab ibn `Umayr was nearly twenty-five years old; at the time of his martyrdom at the Battle of Uhud that took place at the third year after Hegira, he was nearly forty years old.[^48] Arqam, who submitted his house to the Prophet, was between twenty and thirty years old; when he died in 55 AH, he was eighty years old.[^49] B) The Deprived and the Oppressed By these two expressions, so prevalent in the Islamic sources, is meant the freed slaved who, despite superficial freedom, had some relationships with their previous owners.

They were called mawla meaning made free. Another group of these oppressed ones was the strangers who had come to Mecca from other places to live. Since they lacked tribal associations, they had to be under the protection of a certain tribe in order for them to be secured. They did not enjoy the same rights that members of Quraysh had. They were socially disadvantaged.

This group, who had no tribe in Mecca to be affiliated with and who lacked power, represented the pioneers in the acceptance of Islam.[^50] Their conversion to Islam was not tolerated by the infidels, according to a narration; whenever the Holy Prophet (s) sat in the Holy Precinct with his oppressed followers—such as `Ammar ibn Yasir, Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, suhayb ibn Sinan, Bilal, Abu-Fukayhah and Amir ibn Fuhayrah—they were ridiculed by people of Quraysh who sarcastically remarked, “Look at his companions!

God has chosen from among us these bare-footed individuals who have adopted Islam!”[^51] The chiefs of Quraysh, once, passed by a gathering which the Holy Prophet had held with suhayb, Khabbab, Bilal, `Ammar and some others. Observing this, they addressed the Holy Prophet, saying, “Muhammad! Have you selected only this few from among your nation and you are happy with them? Should we follow this group? Has God only guided this group?

If you dismiss this group, we might then be your followers.” At this time, the following Qur'anic verses were revealed: And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only His favor; neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust.