Biography of Zayd ibn Harithah

No. 36: Zayd ibn Haritha al-Kalbi, ibn Sharahil, or Shurahbil, ibn Ka'b ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Yazid ibn Imri al-Qays ibn Amir ibn an-Nu'man.

The commander, the martyr, the man of the Prophet, named in Surah al-Ahzab, Abu Usama al-Kalbi, then al-Muhammadi, master of the freedmen, the first of them to Islam, the love of the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and the father of his love; and he loved none, peace and the salutation be upon him, but good people.

Allah, the Most High, named no Companion by his name in His book, except Zayd ibn Haritha, and Isa ibn Maryam, upon him be the salutation, who will descend as a just judge and join this well-favored community in its prayer, its fasting, its hajj, its marriage and all the rulings of the pure religion; just as Abu al-Qasim is the master of the prophets, the best of them and their seal, so Isa, after his descent, will be the best of this community without distinction, and will be their last; after him no one will come in whom there is good; rather the sun will rise from its setting, and Allah will permit the approach of the Hour.

Abu al-Fadl ibn Asakir informed us; Abd al-Mu'izz ibn Muhammad informed him; Tamim informed; Abu Sa'd informed; Ibn Hamdan informed; Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili informed; Bundar narrated;

Abd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi narrated; Muhammad ibn Amr narrated, from Abu Salama, and Yahya ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Usama ibn Zayd, from his father, who said:

The story of Zayd ibn Amr

I went out one day with the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, on a hot day of Mecca; he carried me behind him toward an altar among the altars; we had slaughtered a sheep for him and cooked it; Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl met us.

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said: "O Zayd! Why do I see your people detesting you?"

He said: "By Allah, O Muhammad, that is not on account of any favor I have obtained from them; but I went out seeking this religion, until I came to the rabbis of Fadak: I found them worshipping Allah and associating something with Him; I came to the rabbis of Khaybar and found them the same; I came to the rabbis of Syria and found them the same."

"I said: this is not the religion I seek."

"An old man among them said: you ask about a religion whose follower we know no one who worships Allah by it, except an old man at al-Hira."

"I went out until I came to him; when he saw me he said: of whom are you?"

"I said: of the people of the house of Allah."

"He said: what you seek has appeared in your land: a prophet has been sent, whose star has risen, and all those whom you saw are in error."

He said: I felt nothing.

He said: he drew the spread near to him and said: "What is this, O Muhammad?"

He said: "A sheep we slaughtered for an altar."

He said: "As for me, I do not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has not been pronounced."

We parted; the Messenger of Allah came to the Kaaba and made the circuits, with me, and also at Safa and Marwa, beside which were two idols of copper: Isaf and Na'ila.

The polytheists, when they made the circuits, would rub themselves against them.

The Prophet said: "Do not rub yourself against them: they are a defilement."

I said to myself: I shall certainly touch them, and see what he says.

I touched them, and he said: "O Zayd! Had I not forbidden you?"

He said: Zayd ibn Amr died, and [what follows] was revealed to the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him.

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said to Zayd:

"He will be raised as a community by himself."

In its isnad: a Muhammad whom one cannot invoke; and in a part of it a manifest anomaly.

From al-Hasan ibn Usama ibn Zayd, who said:

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, was older than Zayd by ten years.

He said: he was short, very dark of complexion, with a flat nose.

Ibn Sa'd narrated it, from al-Waqidi: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Usama narrated to us, from his father; then Ibn Sa'd said: such is his description in this narration.

There came also by another route that he was very fair, and that his son Usama was very dark; and for that the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, admired the saying of the augur Mujazziz, when he said: "These feet have in them a part belonging to each other."

Luwayn: Hudayj narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, who said:

Jabal ibn Haritha was present among the clan, and they said to him: who is older, you or Zayd?

He said: "Zayd is older than I, yet I was born before him; and I shall inform you:

our mother was of Tayyi'; she died, and we remained in the care of our grandfather; our paternal uncles said to our grandfather: we have more right to the two sons of our brother."

"He said: take Jabala, and left Zayd."

"They took me and went away with me; riders from Tihama came and took Zayd; he fell to Khadija, who made a gift of him to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him."

Abd al-Malik ibn Abi Sulayman: Abu Fazarah narrated to us, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, caught sight of Zayd ibn Haritha, a boy with a forelock, whom his people had set up at the Batha for sale; he came to Khadija.

She said: "What is his price?"

He said: "Seven hundred."

She said: "Take seven hundred."

He bought him and brought him to her, and said: "Truly, were he mine, I would free him."

She said: he is yours. He freed him.

And from Sulayman ibn Yasar and others, who said:

The first to embrace Islam: Zayd ibn Haritha.

Musa ibn Uqba: from Salim, from his father, who said:

We used to call Zayd ibn Haritha only Zayd ibn Muhammad; then came down: "Call them by the names of their fathers: that is more just before Allah" (Surah al-Ahzab, verse 5).

Isma'il ibn Abi Khalid: from Abu Amr al-Shaybani, who said:

Jabal ibn Haritha informed me, who said:

I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and said: "Messenger of Allah! Send with me my brother Zayd."

He said: "Here he is: if he departs, I shall not withhold him."

Zayd said: "No, by Allah, I shall never choose anyone in your place."

He said: I saw that my brother's judgment was better than mine.

Ali ibn Mushir heard it from him.

Ibn Ishaq and others count him among those present at Badr.

Salama ibn al-Akwa' said: I campaigned with the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and I campaigned with Zayd ibn Haritha: he commanded us.

Al-Waqidi: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Usama narrated to us, from Abu al-Huwayrith, who said:

Zayd ibn Haritha went out as commander of seven expeditions.

Al-Waqidi: the nephew of the brother of al-Zuhri narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from Urwa, from Aisha, who said:

Zayd ibn Haritha was returning from his expedition, meaning that of Umm Qirfa, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, was in my house.

Zayd knocked at the door; the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, rose, dragging his garment, bare-skinned; I had not seen him bare-skinned before that, peace and the salutation be upon him; he embraced him and kissed him, then questioned him, and he told him what Allah had granted him to reach.

Ibn Ishaq: from Yazid ibn Abd Allah ibn Qusayt, from Muhammad ibn Usama, from his father, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said to Zayd ibn Haritha: "O Zayd! You are my freedman, from me and toward me, and the most beloved of the people to me."

Ahmad narrated it in the Musnad.

Isma'il ibn Ja'far and Ibn Uyayna: from Abd Allah ibn Din ar: Ibn Umar heard:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, had appointed Usama over a people, and the people criticized his command.

He said: "If you criticize his command, you have criticized the command of his father; by Allah, he was worthy of command, and he was among the most beloved of the people to me; and this son of his is among the most beloved of the people to me after him."

The wording of Isma'il: "and this son of his is among the most beloved."

Ibrahim ibn Tahman: from Musa ibn Uqba, from Salim, from his father: he mentioned its like.

In it: "and his father was worthy of command, and he was the most beloved of all the people to me."

Salim said: I never heard my father narrate this hadith without saying: "By Allah, never, O Fatima."

Ibrahim ibn Yahya ibn Hani' al-Shajari: my father narrated to me, from Ibn Ishaq, from al-Zuhri, from Urwa, from Aisha, who said:

Zayd ibn Haritha came to us; the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, rose to him, dragging his garment, and kissed his face.

Umm Qirfa had equipped forty riders, of her sons and the sons of her sons, against the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, to fight him; Zayd was sent to them, killed them, killed her, and sent her armor to the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, who raised it in Medina between two lances.

Al-Mahamili narrated it, from Abd Allah ibn Shibib, from him.

And al-Tirmidhi narrated it, from al-Bukhari, from this Ibrahim, and declared it good.

Mujalid: from al-Sha'bi, from Aisha, who said:

Had Zayd been alive, the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, would have appointed him successor.

Wa'il ibn Dawud: from al-Bahiyyi, from Aisha:

The Messenger of Allah never sent Zayd with an army without putting him at its head; and had he remained after him, he would have appointed him successor.

Al-Nasa'i reported it.

Ibn Umar said: Umar allotted to Usama ibn Zayd more than to me; I disputed that with him, and he said:

"He was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah than you, and his father was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, than your father."

The death of Zayd ibn Harithah

Al-Waqidi said: the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, bound the command to Zayd over the people in the campaign of Mu'tah, and set him before the commanders.

When the two hosts met, the commanders fought on their feet; Zayd took the banner, fought, and the people fought with him until he was slain by spear thrusts, may Allah be pleased with him.

He said: the Messenger of Allah prayed over him, meaning supplicated for him, and said: "Ask forgiveness for your brother: he has entered Paradise running."

Mu'tah took place in Jumada al-ula, in the year eight; he was fifty-five years old.

A group: from Isma'il ibn Abi Khalid, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Maysara, who said:

When the death of Zayd, Ja'far and ibn Rawaha reached the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, he rose, peace and the salutation be upon him, and mentioned their condition, beginning with Zayd; he said: "O Allah, forgive Zayd; O Allah, forgive Zayd," three times, "O Allah, forgive Ja'far and Abd Allah ibn Rawaha."

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Khalid ibn Salama al-Makhzumi, who said:

When the news of the calamity of Zayd and his companions came, the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, went afterward to his dwelling; the daughter of Zayd met him and burst out weeping before him.

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, saw her, he wept until he sobbed. He was told [...]