During his lifetime and especially during his prophetic mission, the prophet Muhammad was surrounded by a number of followers or "Companions" [Arabic "Sahabah"]. Muslim scholars have different criteria for determining who qualifies as one of these followers. In some cases, a Companion is a person who was alive during the time of the prophet Muhammad. Others state that a Companion is someone who actually followed the prophet Muhammad during his lifetime as a Muslim.

Muslim scholars have compiled massive biographical dictionaries devoted to the lives of these Companions, their followers, and the followers of their followers. There are also biographical dictionaries devoted to those who transmitted hadith reports on the authority of these Companions.

Bibliography of Arabic reference works