He was the mounted fighter from the Battle of Badr.
Yaqubi writes in his Tarikh:1 Some people became inclined to Ali Ibne Abi
Talib (a.s.) and they were very harsh upon Uthman. So some of them have
narrated that: I came to the Masjid of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) and saw a
man sitting on his hunches, as if he had lost everything in the world and he said:
“It is astonishing that Quraish removed this issue from Ahle Bayt of their
Prophet while among them was the first believer, cousin of Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.), most intelligent and knowledgeable about religion of God, most
needless of them in Islam, most perceptive of them, and most guided of them of
the right path. By God, they denied Caliphate to the guiding one and the guided
one. And they did not intend the welfare of Ummah and religion. They chose the
world over hereafter. So may these unjust people remain away from divine
mercy.”
So I went near and said: “May Allah have mercy on you, who are you? And
who is this man?”
He replied: “I am Miqdad bin Amr and this man is Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.).”
I asked: “Will you not stage an uprising against this man so that I may assist you?”
He replied: “O nephew, one or two men are not sufficient in this matter.”
Then I came out and saw Abu Zar and mentioned the issue to him. He said:
“My brother, Miqdad said the truth.” Then I came to Abdullah bin Masud and
explained the matter to him. He said: “Indeed, he informed us of this and we were
not shortcoming in this matter.”
It is mentioned in the words of Masudi in Muruj that:2 So Ammar rose up in
the Masjid and said:
“O people of Quraish, know that; when you turned away this matter from
Ahle Bayt of your Prophet once, I am not assured that God will take it from you
and place it for other than you as you have taken it from those deserving of it and
gave it to one, who is ineligible for it.”
Miqdad stood up and said: “I have not seen anyone like the folks of this
house, who had been harassed after the passing away of their Prophet.”
Abdur Rahman bin Auf said: “O Miqdad bin Amr, what concern do you
have with this?”
He replied: “Indeed, by Allah, due to being loyal to the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.) I am loyal to them as well, and truth is with them and among them. O
Abdur Rahman, I am amazed that they gave precedence to others over them after
the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) and they united to separate mastership from
Ahle Bayt (a.s.). O Abdur Rahman, know that, by God, if I find supporters
against Quraish, I would fight against them, as I fought them at the side of
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) in the Battle of Badr.”
And it was mentioned:3 Miqdad was one of those people, who wrote a letter
and enumerated the heresies of Uthman in that and warned him of Almighty
Allah and announced that if he did not desist, they would confront him.
Allamah Amini says: Perhaps you will know Miqdad and the extent of his
greatness and his rank with relation to religion and his excellence. Abu Umar has
written:
“He was among the distinguished, pious, righteous and holy men. He
performed Hijrat twice [to Habasha and then to Medina], and was present in the
Battle of Badr and all other battles. He was the first in Islam to fight mounted.”
In the Battle of Badr, he was mounted on a horse, and it was not proved
whether anyone else other than him was mounted in that battle. He was, in view
of Muslims, one of the seven persons who declared his Islam openly, and one of
the closet four confidants [senior] of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.).4 And Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.a.) named him as ‘the excessive repentant’, as mentioned in a tradition, which Abu Umar has narrated in Al-Istiab.
How can the investigator not discover the excellence of this great
companion or at least understand it fully, whereas before him is the statement of
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) in his praise, when he said:
“Indeed, Almighty Allah commanded me to love four persons and informed
me that He loves them: Ali, Miqdad, Abu Zar and Salman.”5
This religious man, whom Almighty Allah loved and commanded Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.a.) to love him and he criticized the Caliph and from the first day,
was angered on his Caliphate and he rued his being Caliph, as if he had owned
the world and lost it. He always forbid people supporting and helping Uthman,
and regarded his being the chief as a strange matter and regarded it to be injustice
on Ahle Bayt (a.s.).
As a consequence, he was in pursuit of those, who would support him to
fight against the usurpers as he had fought them in the Battle of Badr. This was
his viewpoint regarding Uthman right from the day of Shura.