al-Barāʾ b. Maʿrūr - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Görke, Andreas
Leiden
Brill
(539 words)
Al-Barāʾ b. Maʿrūr (d. 622 C.E.) was one of the leaders of the Anṣār, the Medinan helpers of the prophet Muḥammad. His fame mainly rests on two episodes: he is said to have been the first to pray in the direction of the Kaʿba when Muḥammad still favoured Jerusalem as the qibla , and, according to some traditions, he was the first to pledge allegiance to Muḥammad at al-ʿAqaba. Both episodes are said to have taken place shortly before the hijra of the Prophet. Al-Barāʾ was at