“Not equal among you are those who spent (freely) and fought before the Victory, (with those who did so later). Those are higher in rank than those who spent (freely) and fought afterwards. But to all has God promised a goodly (reward). And God is well acquainted with all that ye do” (Al-Hadid, 57/10).
Certainly, there is proof of this verse in the history of Islam, where Allah, conferred Paradise on ten distinguished Companions of the Prophet individually, while still alive. There are many narrations in hadith regarding their virtues while alive, but they exhibited some common traits, such as: they became Muslims in the early years of Islam, made great service to the Prophet and the Islamic causes, migrated for sake of Islam, participated in the battle of Badr, swore allegiance to the Prophet at Hudaybiya and remain sources of sound hadiths with good narrations.
ABU BAKR AS-SIDDIQ: the first free man to accept the message of Islam and the first of the rightly-guided caliphs. He was known with the sobriquets of Jamiul Quran, as-Siddiq, and al-Atiq. He was light-skinned with a lean body, a thin face, a sparse beard, deep-set eyes and a prominent forehead.
UMAR IBN KHATTAB: The Second Righteous Caliph, he was one of the Companions closest to the Prophet. Umar’s sobriquet was “Faruq,” which means the one who distinguishes between right and wrong. He was tall with a big frame, light-skinned, a broad forehead, a long mustache and free-falling hair and a very good speaker.
UTHMAN IBN AFFAN: Uthman was handsome, very polite, of average height, with a thick beard and thick hair between his shoulders. A monument of modesty, he was the third Rightly-Guided Caliph. “His sobriquet was “Zinnurayn.” The compilation of the Quran to a book was completed in his time as the caliph.
ALI IBN ABU TALIB: Ali was the son of the Prophet’s uncle, his son-in-law and the fourth caliph. Ali was of short-medium height, with dark skin, large black eyes and a thick and broad beard; the sword of Islam.
ABDURRAHMAN IBN AWF: Abdurrahman b. Awf began trading in the Medina market and Allah gave him great wealth. Known as one of the most generous Companions, He made great contributions in Allah’s path to many military expeditions, particular the Tabuk expedition.
ABU UBAIDAH IBN JARRÂH: Mentioned with the sobriquet “Custodian of the Ummah,” He was always at the Prophet’s side. During the jihad activities in Umar’s time he participated in the conquests in the Syria region which began during Abu Bakr’s caliphate and he served as a commander.
SA’D IBN ABI WAQQAS: Sa’d was one of the first to accept the Islamic faith. He remained in Mecca until the migration to Medina. He participated in many battles of Islam along with the prophet and all other military expeditions. He performed great service, both military and political, during the caliphate periods.
SA’ID IBN ZAYD: He was quick to follow the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).With the exception of Badr, Said ibn Zayd participated in the battles at Uhud, the Ditch and all other battles.
TALHA IBN UBAYDULLAH: Talha was one of the first eight people to accept Islam. He was of medium height, dark complexioned, broad-chest and shouldered with large feet and thick hair. He had a smiling face with a thin nose. He walked quickly and would turn with his whole body towards the place he was headed. He did not fight at Badr, but he heroically defended the Prophet at Uhud.
ZUBAYR IBN AWWAM: His mother called him “Abu-t-Tahir.”.He was either the fourth or fifth Muslim and migrated to Abyssinia, as part of the first emigrants of Islam. He fought in all the battles of Islam and played important roles in the conquest of Egypt. After Umar’s death, he was one of the 6-member council established to make the election of the new caliph. His committee produced Uthman.