Who Was al-As ibn Wa'il? Who called the Prophet ﷺ cut off in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Shuayb

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Bani Israil and Romec. 1000 BCE – 250 CE

Arabia before IslamUp to 570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1000 CE

Crusades and conquests1090–1502 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

Isa ibn Maryam descends
A landslide in the east
A landslide in the west
A landslide in Arabia
The smoke
The sun rises from the west
The Beast of the earth
A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history38 / 76

العاص بن وائل

al-As ibn Wa'il

Who called the Prophet ﷺ cut off613–622 CE

Relied onHis wealth and his sons

Undone byThe surah that answered him

A chief of Quraysh who mocked the Prophet ﷺ when his sons died, calling him 'cut off', with no one to carry his name. He refused to pay Khabbab his wage, saying he would pay him in the next life.

How it ended

Surah al-Kawthar answered him: 'Your enemy is the one cut off' (108:3). He died a disbeliever in Makkah, while his son Amr became a Companion.

Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.
Quran 108:3

The lessonThe Prophet's ﷺ name is called in every adhan; few have heard of the man who called him cut off.

In the Quran

108:1-3 19:77-80

Stood against
Source: Authentic hadithKhabbab's story and the coming of 19:77 are in Sahih al-Bukhari. That 108:3 is about him comes from the commentators.Sahih al-Bukhari 2091 ↗

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.