Abdulla ibn Mas'ada ibn Hikma ibn Maalik ibn Hudhaafa ibn Badr Al-Fizaari
was a pure Arab from the tribe of Fizara.
Fizara is a well-known Arab tribe related to the tribe of 'Abs.
Ibn Kathir says that Al-Hafidh ibn Asaakir said that ‘Abdullah ibn Mas'ada AlFizaari was black-skinned’ ( shadeed ul'udma).
Ibn Hajar says in his book Al-Isaaba Fi Tamyeez Al-Sahaaba:
قال محمد بن الحكم األنصاري عن عوانة قال: حدثني خديج خصي
لمعاوية قال: قال لي معاوية: ادع لي عبد ﷲ بن مسعدة الفزاري
فدعوته وكان آدم شديد األدمة فقال :دونك ھذه الجارية لجارية رومية
بيض بھا ولدك
"Mohamed ibn Al-Hakm Al-Ansaari said relating from 'Awaana that he said:
'Khudaij the eunuch of Muawia said:
'Muawia told me to call Abdulla ibn Mas'ada Al-Fizaari to his presence and I did
so and he (Abdulla ibn Mas'ada Al-Fizaari) was shadeed al-udma (blackskinned). And he (Muawia) said (to Abdulla ibn Mas'ada Al-Fizaari) - speaking
about a Roman slave-girl that was with him:
'Take this slave-girl and lighten your offspring through her.'
Notice that the slave girl mentioned was of Roman origin. She was just one of a
significant number of white slaves that was a society norm at the time. This is
an issue which is very rarely mentioned when discussing slavery in the middle
east where for the most part whether Western, Muslim or Afro-centric
scholarship the sole concentration and focus is on Black or African slaves.
It is an issue that certain Arabic speaking people ( in particular Syrians,
Lebanese and Jordanians who are very European in appearance ) today will
shy away from discussing for the simple reason that they inherited their
Arabism through women slaves/servants whose custodians were originally
black skinned.