The complete name of this companion of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) is Abu Thumaamah Anas bin Maalik bin An-Nadr bin Dumadam Al-Najaari Al-Khazraji Al-Ansaari. He was born in Madinah and entered Islam as a youth. Until the death of the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him), he personally attended to him.

It has been related by Muslim that Anas said, “My mother, Umm Saleem, took me with her to the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him). She covered me with half of her veil, and I retreated with it. She said, “O Messenger of Allah, this gentle companion is my son, I grant you him in your service”. He supplicated to Allah for him, by saying: “O Lord, increase his wealth and his sons”. Anas said: “By Allah, truly my wealth increased, and truly the number of my sons and my grandsons is more than one hundred, today”.

He was not present at the Battle of Badr, or that of Uhud, due to his young age at the time they occurred. He served the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) for ten years. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) never admonished Anas RA for the thing that he started, nor did he say anything about what he completed or did not complete, nor for the thing that he was not doing in order that he do it. It has been reported that suffering arose on Anas’ land from thirst, so he prayed and supplicated. The clouds stirred until his land became dark and it rained until his cistern became full. He sent his servant to look at the extant of the reach of the clouds. He responded that they did not exceed the boundaries of his land.

Anas bin Maalik (Allah be pleased with him) reported two thousand two hundred and eighty-six Hadith (traditions) about the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him). He had travelled to Damascus and from there to Basra, where he died in the year 93 A.H. He was the last of the companions (Allah be pleased with all of them) of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to die in Basra.