Editing Companions of the Prophet (section)

== Types ==
In Islam, companions of Muhammad are classified into categories including the [[Muhajirun]] who accompanied Muhammad from [[Mecca]] to [[Medina]], the [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]] who lived in Medina, and the Badriyyun who fought at the [[Battle of Badr]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |entry=Companions of the Prophet |entry-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Companions-of-the-Prophet}}</ref>{{efn|[http://tanzil.net/#3:103 Qur'an, 3:103]}}{{efn|[http://tanzil.net/#48:29 Qur'an, 48:29]}}{{efn|[http://tanzil.net/#8:72 Qur'an, 8:72]}}

Two important groups among the companions are the '''Muhajirun''' "migrants", those who had faith in Muhammad when he began to preach in Mecca and who departed with him when he was persecuted there, and the '''Ansar''', the people of [[Medina]] who welcomed Muhammad and his companions and stood as their protectors.{{efn|[http://tanzil.net/#9:100 Qur'an, 9: 100]}}{{efn|[http://tanzil.net/#9:117 Qur'an, 9: 117]}}

[[List of Sahabah|Lists of prominent companions]] usually include 50 or 60 names of the people thought to be most closely associated with Muhammad. However, there were clearly many others who had some contact with Muhammad, and many of those names and biographies were recorded in religious reference texts such as [[ibn Sa'd]]'s early ''Book of the Major Classes''. [[Al-Qurtubi]]'s ''Istīʻāb fī maʻrifat al-Aṣhāb'' (d. 1071 CE) consists of 2770 biographies of male and 381 biographies of female ṣaḥābah.

According to an observation in [[al-Qastallani]]'s ''[[Al-Muwahib al-Ladunniyyah]]'', an untold number of persons had already converted to Islam by the time Muhammad died. There were 10,000 by the time of the [[Conquest of Mecca]] and 70,000 during the [[Expedition of Tabuk]] in 630. Some Muslims assert that they were more than 200,000 in number: it is believed that 124,000 pilgrims witnessed the [[Farewell Sermon]] Muhammad delivered after making [[Farewell Pilgrimage]] to Mecca.{{who|date=June 2023}}