Mus'ab was one of the first young men in Mecca to enter the religion of God, when Muslims used to meet secretly in Dar al-Arqam in the early years of the message. He migrated to Abyssinia and then to Medina as an envoy to educate the Ansar, and became a symbol of sacrifice and the role of Muslim youth in defending the message of Islam.

Mus'ab gave an example of the believer holding on the embers adhering to his faith, and so abandoned the world's possessions and deceived to get out of his prison.