The genealogy of this figure is as follows: "ʿĀmir b. ʿAbdullāh b. al-Jarrāḥ b. Hilāl b. Uḥayd b. Dabba b. Ḥāris b. Fihr al-Qurashī. Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ al-Fihrī." He was the trustworthy and reliable man of this umma (community). He is one of the ten Companions (ṣaḥāba) who were given the glad tidings of Paradise. He was one of the five people who became Muslim on the same day. Along with him, ʿUthmān b. Maẓʿūn, ʿUbayda b. al-Ḥāriṯ, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, and Abū Salama b. ʿAbd al-Asad also became Muslim on the same day, entering Islam through Abū Bakr. When they emigrated, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) made him the brother of Saʿd b. Muʿādh. According to another narration, he was made the brother of Muḥammad b. Maslama. This figure participated in the Battle of Badr and subsequent expeditions. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said about him:
"Indeed, every community has a trustworthy person. The trustworthy person of this community is Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ." This hadith is established in the authentic collections of Bukhārī and Muslim. Again, according to what is established in the authentic collections of Bukhārī and Muslim, when Abū Bakr was discussing the matter of allegiance (bayʿa) with the Anṣār in the shade of Banū Sāʿida, he said: "I am pleased for you with one of these two men. Give allegiance to one of them." (By this, Abū Bakr meant ʿUmar, son of al-Khaṭṭāb, and Abū ʿUbayda.) Abū Bakr sent him to Syria, appointing him as commander of a quarter of the army there. He summoned Khālid b. al-Walīd from Iraq, due to his knowledge of warfare, and made him and the others commanders under Abū ʿUbayda.
When ʿUmar became caliph, he dismissed Khālid and appointed Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ in his place, ordering him to consult Khālid. Thus, Abū ʿUbayda's trustworthiness and reliability were combined with Khālid's valor and heroism, to the benefit of the Muslim umma. Ibn ʿAsākir stated that Abū ʿUbayda was the first person in Syria to be called amīr al-umarāʾ (commander of commanders).
It was said that Abū ʿUbayda was tall, slender, with prominent cheekbones, a lean face, a light beard, and broken front teeth. The reason for his broken front teeth was this: during the Battle of Uḥud, when removing the rings of armor that had become embedded in the cheeks of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), he feared causing him pain and was compelled to pull them out with his teeth. As a result, his teeth fell out. Yet, from the breakage of his teeth, such a beautiful appearance emerged that it could not be seen in anyone else. He died in the year of the Amwās plague, which occurred in the eighteenth year after the Hijra. Due to this illness, he died in the village of Fiḥl, or according to another narration, in Jābiya. In Syria, near ʿAqaba, a grave has been seen in these centuries that has become well-known and is said to be that of Abū ʿUbayda. Allah knows best. When Abū ʿUbayda died, he was fifty-eight years old.