In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions,
by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Zayd ibn Harithah,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Sa'dah bint Tha'labah set out to visit her kin among the Banu Ma'n.
She was accompanied by her young son, Zayd ibn Harithah al-Ka'bi.
No sooner had she arrived in the lands of her people
than the cavalry of the Banu al-Qayn raided them.
They seized their wealth, drove off their camels,
and took their children captive.
Among those they carried off with them
was her son, Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd was at that time a young boy,
barely eight years of age.
They brought him to the market of 'Ukaz
and offered him for sale.
He was purchased by a wealthy man among the notables of Quraysh,
Hakim ibn Hizam ibn Khuwaylid,
for four hundred dirhams.
He also bought a group of other boys with him
and returned with them to Makkah.
When his aunt, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, learned of his arrival,
she visited him, greeting him and welcoming him.
He said to her, "O Aunt,
I have purchased a group of boys from the market of 'Ukaz.
Choose whichever of them you wish,
for he is a gift for you."
Lady Khadijah examined the faces of the boys
and chose Zayd ibn Harithah,
due to the signs of nobility she saw in him.
She took him away.
It was only a short time later
that Khadijah bint Khuwaylid married
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah.
She wished to honor him and present him with a gift,
and she found nothing better than her cherished boy, Zayd ibn Harithah,
so she gifted him to him.
While this fortunate boy
was being raised under the care of Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah,
enjoying his noble companionship,
and benefiting from his beautiful character,
his mother, devastated by his loss, could not stem her tears,
nor could her anguish be calmed,
nor could she find rest.
What added to her grief upon grief
was that she did not know if he was alive, so that she might hope for him,
or dead, so that she might despair of him.
As for his father,
he began to search for him in every land,
asking every caravan about him,
and pouring his longing for him into sad poetry
that would break hearts,
as he said:
"I wept for Zayd, not knowing what became of him;
is he alive to be hoped for, or has his time come?
By Allah, I do not know, and I am ever asking:
Did the plains consume him, or did the mountains?
The sun reminds me of him at its rising,
and his memory returns when it sets and fades.
I shall drive my camels hard across the earth,
and I will not tire of wandering, nor shall the camels tire.
My life may end, or my fate may overtake me,
for every person is mortal, even if hope deceives him."
During one of the Hajj seasons,
a group from Zayd's tribe set out for the Sacred House.
While they were circumambulating the Ancient House,
they suddenly came face to face with Zayd.
They recognized him, he recognized them, and they questioned one another.
When they had completed their rites and returned to their lands,
they informed Harithah of what they had seen
and told him what they had heard.
Harithah lost no time in preparing his mount,
and he carried enough wealth to ransom the apple of his eye,
the joy of his heart, and he took his brother Ka'b with him.
They set off together, hastening their journey toward Makkah.
When they reached it, they entered upon Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah
and said to him, "O son of 'Abd al-Muttalib,
you are the neighbors of Allah;
you free the captive, feed the hungry,
and aid the distressed.
We have come to you regarding our son who is with you.
We have brought you wealth to ransom him,
so show us favor and ransom him for us as you wish."
Muhammad said, "And who is the son you mean?"
They replied, "Your boy, Zayd ibn Harithah."
He said, "Would you like something better than the ransom?"
They asked, "And what is that?"
He said, "I will call him for you,
and let him choose between me and you.
If he chooses you, he is yours without any payment,
and if he chooses me, then by Allah,
I am not one to turn away from one who chooses me."
They said, "You have been fair,
and you have exceeded in fairness."
Muhammad called Zayd and said, "Who are these?"
He said, "This is my father,
Harithah ibn Sharahil, and this is my uncle, Ka'b."
He said, "I have given you the choice:
if you wish, go with them,
and if you wish, stay with me."
He said without delay or hesitation,
"Rather, I will stay with you."
His father said, "Woe to you, Zayd!
Do you choose slavery over your father and mother?"
He replied, "I have seen from this man
something that makes me unable to ever leave him."
When Muhammad saw from Zayd
what he saw, he took him by the hand,
led him out to the Sacred House
before the assembly of Quraysh,
and said, "O assembly of Quraysh,
bear witness that this is my son; he inherits from me and I inherit from him."
His father and uncle were satisfied,
left him with Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah,
and returned to their people with peaceful hearts
and easy minds. From that day on,
Zayd ibn Harithah began to be called Zayd ibn Muhammad.
He continued to be called that
until the Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, was sent,
and Islam abolished adoption,
as the words of the Almighty were revealed:
"Call them by their fathers."
So he became known as Zayd ibn Harithah.
Zayd did not know, when he chose Muhammad
over his mother and father, what a prize he had won,
nor did he know that his master,
whom he preferred over his family and kin,
was the master of the first and the last,
and the Messenger of Allah to all of His creation.
It never crossed his mind
that a heavenly state would rise upon the face of the earth,
filling the space between the East and the West
with righteousness and justice, and that he himself
would be the first brick in the construction
of this great state.
None of that was in Zayd's mind;
it was only the grace of Allah, which He gives to whom He wills,
and Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.
For not many years had passed
since this incident of choosing
when Allah sent His Prophet, Muhammad,
with the religion of guidance and truth,
and Zayd ibn Harithah was the first of the men to believe in him.
And is there any precedence above this precedence
for which the competitors compete?
Zayd ibn Harithah became the confidant
of the secret of the Messenger of Allah, a commander
of his expeditions and detachments,
and one of his deputies over Madinah whenever
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, departed.
And just as Zayd loved the Prophet
and preferred him over his mother and father,
the noble Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, loved him,
treated him as his own family and son,
rejoiced at his arrival when he returned to him,
and met him with a welcome that no one else
was privileged to receive.
Here is 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
depicting for us a scene of the
joy of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
at meeting Zayd:
"Zayd ibn Harithah arrived in Madinah
while the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was [at home],
and he knocked on the door.
The Messenger rose to meet him, unclothed,
wearing nothing but what covered between his navel and his knee,
and he went to the door, dragging his garment,
then embraced him and kissed him.
By Allah, I never saw the Messenger of Allah unclothed before or after that."
The news of the Prophet's love
for Zayd spread among the Muslims and became widely known,
so they called him "Zayd the Beloved,"
a title of the beloved of the Messenger of Allah,
and his son Usamah was called after him
"The Beloved of the Messenger of Allah and the son of his beloved."
In the eighth year of the Hijrah,
Allah, in His infinite wisdom, willed
to test the beloved with the loss of his beloved.
For the Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him,
had sent al-Harith ibn 'Umayr al-Azdi
with a letter to the King of Busra, inviting him [to Islam].
When al-Harith reached Mu'tah in eastern Jordan,
one of the Ghassanid princes,
Shurahbil ibn 'Amr, intercepted him,
seized him, and bound him tightly,
then brought him forward and struck off his head.
This weighed heavily upon the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him,
for no messenger of his had ever been killed before him.
He prepared an army of three thousand fighters
to invade Mu'tah,
an army [led by] his beloved Zayd ibn Harithah,
and he said, "If Zayd is struck down,
then the command is for Ja'far ibn Abi Talib;
if Ja'far is struck down,
it is for 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah;
If Abdullah is struck down,
then the Muslims shall choose a man from among them.
The army proceeded until it reached Ma'an,
in eastern Jordan,
to defend the Ghassanids.
And one hundred thousand polytheist Arabs joined him.
This massive army encamped not far
from the Muslims' positions.
The Muslims stayed in Ma'an for two nights,
consulting about what to do.
Then one said, "Shall we write to the Messenger of Allah,
inform him of the number of our enemy,
and await his command?"
"We do not fight by numbers, nor by strength, nor by multitude.
Rather, we fight by means of this religion."
"So go forth to what you set out for,
and Allah has guaranteed you victory in one of two good outcomes:
either triumph,
or martyrdom."
Then the two armies met on the battlefield of Mu'tah.
The Muslims fought a battle that astonished the Romans
and filled their hearts with awe for these three thousand
who stood against an army of two hundred thousand.
Zayd ibn Harithah fought valiantly
for the banner of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
a struggle for which the history of heroism
had no equal, until his body was pierced
by hundreds of spears, and he fell dead,
swimming in his blood.
Then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib took the banner from him,
and defended it with the noblest defense,
until he joined his companion.
Then Abdullah ibn Rawahah took the banner from him,
and fought for it with the most valiant struggle,
until he met the same fate as his two companions.
The people then appointed Khalid ibn al-Walid over them,
who had recently embraced Islam.
He then withdrew the army and saved it from certain annihilation.
News of Mu'tah reached the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and the martyrdom of the three commanders,
and he grieved for them with a grief he had never grieved before.
He went to their families to offer condolences.
When he reached the house of Zayd ibn Harithah,
his young daughter clung to him,
weeping profusely.
So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, wept
until he was overcome.
Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah said to him,
"O Messenger of Allah, what makes you weep?"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, replied,
"This is the weeping of a beloved for his beloved."
"By Allah,
Zayd ibn Harithah was indeed worthy of command,
and he was the most beloved of people to him,
Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah."