In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you portraits from the lives of the Companions
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Usamah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him.
We are now in the seventh year before the Hijrah in Mecca,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was enduring relentless persecution from Quraysh against himself and his Companions,
bearing from them and from the burdens of the call
what turned his life into an unbroken succession of sorrows and afflictions.
Amidst all of this,
a gleaming ray of joy illuminated his life:
a bearer of good tidings came to him
with the news that Umm Ayman had given birth to a boy.
The features of his face, peace and blessings be upon him, beamed with delight,
and his noble countenance glowed with joy.
So who was this fortunate boy
who brought so much happiness to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?
It was Usamah ibn Zayd.
None of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was surprised
by his profound joy over the newborn,
owing to the dear place his parents held with him and their esteemed standing in his heart.
The boy's mother
was Barakah the Abyssinian,
known by the kunyah Umm Ayman.
She had been the bondwoman of Aminah bint Wahb,
mother of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.
She had nurtured him during Aminah's lifetime
and took him into her maternal care after her death,
so that he opened his eyes to this world
knowing no other mother than her.
He loved her with the deepest and most sincere affection,
and he would often say:
"She is my mother after my mother,
and the last remaining member of my household."
Such was the mother of this blessed boy.
As for his father,
he was the beloved of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him:
Zayd ibn Harithah,
his adopted son before Islam,
his closest companion and confidant,
one of his household, and the most beloved of people to him in Islam.
The Muslims rejoiced at the birth of Usamah ibn Zayd
as they had never rejoiced at the birth of any child,
for whatever brought joy to the Prophet brought joy to them,
and whatever pleased his heart delighted theirs.
Thus, they bestowed upon the fortunate boy the title:
"The Beloved, Son of the Beloved."
Nor were the Muslims exaggerating
when they gave this title to the young boy, Usamah,
for the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, loved him
with a love that the entire world would envy.
Usamah was close in age to his grandson, al-Hasan ibn Fatimah al-Zahra'.
Al-Hasan was fair-skinned, radiant, and strikingly handsome,
bearing a profound resemblance to his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah;
while Usamah was dark-skinned and flat-nosed,
closely resembling his Abyssinian mother.
Yet the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him,
made no distinction between the two in love.
He would take Usamah
and seat him on one of his thighs,
then take al-Hasan
and seat him on the other thigh,
then draw them both to his chest and say:
"O Allah, I love them both, so love them."
So great was the Prophet's love for Usamah
that once, when the boy tripped over the doorstep
and cut his forehead, causing blood to flow from his wound,
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, signaled
to 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
to wipe the blood from his wound.
When she felt reluctant to do so,
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, got up and went to him himself,
gently sucking the cut, spitting out the blood,
and comforting him with words overflowing with sweetness and tenderness.
Just as the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, loved
Usamah in his childhood,
he loved him equally in his youth.
Hakim ibn Hizam,
one of the notables of Quraysh, once presented
to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
a precious robe
he had purchased in Yemen for fifty gold dinars,
which had belonged to Dhu Yazan, one of their kings.
But the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, refused
to accept it as a gift,
because Hakim was an idolater at the time,
and instead purchased it from him for its price.
The noble Prophet wore it only once, on a Friday,
and then bestowed it upon Usamah ibn Zayd,
who would go out wearing it, walking proudly among his peers from the young men of the Muhajirun and the Ansar.
When Usamah ibn Zayd reached maturity,
he displayed such noble characteristics and splendid traits
as made him truly worthy of the love of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
He was exceptionally intelligent and sharp-witted,
remarkably courageous,
wise and discerning in putting things in their proper place,
chaste, despising all baseness,
sociable and easy to love, endeared to the people,
and pious and devout, beloved to Allah.
On the day of Uhud,
Usamah ibn Zayd came along with a group of young boys from among the Companions,
wishing to fight in the cause of Allah.
The Messenger accepted some of them
and turned back others because of their tender age,
and among those turned back was Usamah ibn Zayd.
He departed with his young eyes brimming with tears of sorrow
that he could not fight beneath the banner of the Messenger of Allah.
At the Battle of the Trench,
Usamah ibn Zayd came once again,
accompanied by a group of youths from among the Companions,
and he began stretching himself upward
so that the Messenger of Allah would accept him.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, took pity on him and allowed him,
so he bore the sword in jihad for the cause of Allah
when he was only fifteen years old.
On the day of Hunayn, when the Muslims were thrown into disarray,
Usamah ibn Zayd stood firm alongside al-'Abbas, the Prophet's uncle,
Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith, his cousin,
and six other noble Companions.
With this small, faithful, and valiant band,
the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, was able
to turn the defeat of his companions into victory,
and to shield the retreating Muslims
from being slaughtered by the polytheists.
On the day of Mu'tah,
Usamah fought beneath the banner of his father, Zayd ibn Harithah,
while not yet eighteen years of age.
He saw with his own eyes the martyrdom of his father,
yet he neither faltered nor wavered;
rather, he fought on beneath the banner of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib
until Ja'far fell slain before his very eyes,
then beneath the banner of 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah
until he too joined his two companions,
and finally beneath the banner of Khalid ibn al-Walid,
until he rescued the small army from the clutches of the Byzantines.
Usamah returned to Medina,
surrendering his father to Allah's reward,
leaving his pure body on the frontiers of the Levant,
and riding the very steed upon which his father had been martyred.
In the eleventh year of the Hijrah,
the noble Messenger ordered the preparation of an army to invade the Byzantines,
enlisting in it Abu Bakr, 'Umar,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah,
and other senior Companions.
He placed Usamah ibn Zayd in command of the army,
though he had not yet reached twenty years of age,
and ordered him to lead the cavalry into the territory of al-Balqa'
and the fortress of al-Darum near Gaza,
in the lands of the Byzantines.
While the army was making ready,
the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, fell ill.
When his illness worsened, the army halted
waiting to see the outcome of the condition of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Usamah said:
"When the illness bore heavily upon the Prophet of Allah,
I went to him, and the people entered with me.
I walked in to see him
and found that he had fallen silent,
unable to speak under the weight of the affliction.
He began raising his hands to the sky
and then placing them upon me,
and I knew that he was supplicating for me."
Shortly thereafter, the Messenger departed this life,
and the oath of allegiance was given to Abu Bakr,
who immediately ordered the dispatch of Usamah's expedition.
However, a faction of the Ansar felt the expedition should be delayed,
and they asked 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to speak to Abu Bakr about it,
saying to him:
"If he insists on proceeding,
then convey to him on our behalf that he should appoint over us a man
older in years than Usamah."
No sooner had al-Siddiq heard the message of the Ansar from 'Umar
than he sprang to his feet from where he sat,
seized al-Faruq by his beard,
and said in anger:
"May your mother be bereft of you and lose you, O son of al-Khattab!
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, appointed him,
and you command me to dismiss him?!
By Allah, that shall never be!"
When 'Umar returned to the people,
they asked him what he had accomplished,
and he said:
"Move forward, may your mothers be bereft of you!
I have suffered what I suffered from the successor of the Messenger of Allah on your account!"
When the army set forth under the command of its youthful leader,
the successor of the Messenger of Allah walked alongside him to see him off, while Usamah rode.
Usamah said:
"O successor of the Messenger of Allah,
by Allah, you must ride or I shall dismount!"
Abu Bakr replied:
"By Allah, you shall not dismount,
and by Allah, I shall not ride!
What harm is there in dusting my feet in the cause of Allah for an hour?"
Then he said to Usamah:
"I entrust to Allah your religion, your trust, and the end of your deeds,
and I charge you to execute that which the Messenger of Allah commanded you."
Then he leaned toward him and said,
"If you see fit, assist me by letting ‘Umar stay."
So he permitted him to remain with me.
Thus, Usamah permitted ‘Umar to remain.
Usamah ibn Zayd proceeded with the army,
and he carried out everything the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had commanded him to do.
He led the Muslim cavalry to the borders of al-Balqa’,
and the fortress of al-Darum in the land of Palestine.
He stripped away the awe of the Romans from the hearts of the Muslims,
and paved the way before them for the conquest of the lands of the Levant, Egypt,
and the entire North African coast, all the way to the Sea of Darkness.
Then Usamah returned,
riding the very horse upon which his father had been martyred,
carrying spoils of war that exceeded the estimates of those who appraised them,
to the point that it was said no army had ever been safer or more laden with spoils than the army of Usamah ibn Zayd.
Usamah ibn Zayd lived on,
a figure held in high esteem and affection by the Muslims,
out of loyalty to the Messenger of Allah and in honor of his own person.
For the Faruq (the Caliph ‘Umar) had allotted him a stipend,
greater than what he had allotted to his own son, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar.
‘Abdullah said to his father, "O my father,
you have allotted four thousand to Usamah, while you allotted three thousand to me,
yet his father did not possess more merit than you,
nor does he possess more merit than I."
The Faruq replied, "Far from it!
His father was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah than your father,
and he himself was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah than you."
So ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar was satisfied with the stipend allotted to him.
Whenever ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab would meet Usamah ibn Zayd,
he would say, "Welcome, my commander."
And if he saw anyone expressing surprise at this, he would say,
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, appointed him as my commander."
May Allah have mercy on those great souls.
For history has never known anyone greater, more perfect, or more noble than the Companions of the Messenger of Allah.
Indeed, the father of Usamah was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah than your father,
and he himself was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah than you.
From the words of the Faruq to his son.