In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
The Ten Promised Paradise
Sa'id ibn Zayd ibn Nufayl,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl,
the father of Sa'id, was
a monotheist (*hanif*) following the religion of the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him,
as he did not worship idols,
nor did he eat meat sacrificed to pagan altars.
He was awaiting the advent of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
in order to believe in him and follow him.
Narratives have been transmitted
stating that this Zayd traveled to the Levant
searching for the true religion.
He met a scholar from among the Jews
and asked him about their religion,
saying to him,
"I might well adopt your religion."
The Jewish scholar replied,
"You cannot join our religion until you take your share of Allah's wrath."
Zayd said,
"I am only fleeing from the wrath of Allah,
and I will never bear any of Allah's wrath,
nor could I endure it.
Can you direct me to something else?"
He said,
"I know of nothing except that you be a *hanif*."
Zayd asked,
"And what is a *hanif*?"
He replied,
"The religion of Abraham.
He was neither a Jew nor a Christian,
and he worshipped none but Allah."
So Zayd left
and met a scholar from among the Christians,
mentioning the same to him.
The Christian scholar said,
"You will never be upon our religion
until you take your share of Allah's curse."
Zayd said,
"I am only fleeing from Allah's curse,
and I will never bear any of Allah's curse,
nor any of His wrath,
nor could I endure it.
Can you direct me to something else?"
He said,
"I know of nothing except that you be a *hanif*."
Zayd asked, "And what is a *hanif*?"
He replied,
"The religion of Abraham.
He was neither a Jew nor a Christian,
and he worshipped none but Allah."
When Zayd saw their consensus regarding Abraham, peace be upon him,
he raised his hands to the sky and said,
"O Allah, I call You to witness that I am upon the religion of Abraham."
Zayd used to lean his back against the Ka'bah and say,
"O tribe of Quraysh,
by Allah, none among you follows the religion of Abraham except me."
And Zayd, may Allah have mercy on him,
used to rescue newborn girls buried alive.
He would say to a man when he intended to kill his daughter,
"Do not kill her;
I will bear the burden of her upbringing."
So he would take her from him
and care for her until she grew up.
Then he would say to her father,
"If you wish, I will hand her over to you;
and if you wish, I will continue to bear the cost of her upbringing."
Zayd met Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
before his prophetic mission.
A dining cloth was presented to the Prophet, peace be upon him, but he refused to eat from it.
Then it was offered to Zayd,
and he too refused to eat from it, saying,
"I do not eat that which you slaughter upon your pagan altars."
He used to say,
“How should ye not eat of that over which the name of Allah hath been mentioned, when He hath explained unto you that which is forbidden unto you unless ye are compelled thereto. But lo! many are led astray by their own lusts through ignorance. Lo! thy Lord, He is Best Aware of the transgressors.” (6:119)
and He sent down rain for it from the sky,
and brought forth vegetation for it from the earth,
yet you slaughter it under a name other than Allah's."
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was once asked
about Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl,
and he said,
"He will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection as a nation unto himself."
He also said,
"I entered Paradise
and saw two lush gardens belonging to Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl."
Zayd ibn 'Amr, the father of Sa'id, passed away
five years before the Prophet's mission began,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
In this household,
and within this monotheistic environment,
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was born and raised.
So when the Prophet, peace be upon him, was sent,
it was no surprise that Sa'id was among the foremost converts to Islam,
as he embraced Islam after thirteen men,
before the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, entered
the house of Al-Arqam.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, married
his cousin Fatimah bint al-Khattab,
the sister of 'Umar,
and she too embraced Islam.
Their conversion to Islam occurred before that of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him.
Initially, they concealed their Islam from 'Umar out of fear of him.
When 'Umar learned of his cousin Sa'id's conversion,
he began to mistreat him and tie him up to turn him back from this religion.
Sa'id would later say,
"By Allah, I remember
when 'Umar had me bound for accepting Islam, before he himself embraced it."
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was among the prominent Companions
and the early Emigrants.
Sa'id was overjoyed with his conversion to Islam,
as the very religion his father had sought was now manifest.
Ever since he embraced Islam, may Allah be pleased with him,
he remained close to the Messenger, peace be upon him, most of the time,
and participated with him in all his military expeditions,
except for the Battle of Badr, the first battle in Islam,
because the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had sent him
alongside Talhah ibn 'Ubaydullah, may Allah be pleased with them both,
to gather intelligence on Quraysh.
When he returned, he found that the Muslims had already set out for Badr,
so he prepared to join them.
However, he met the Prophet, peace be upon him, returning from the battle.
This grieved both of them deeply,
but the Prophet, peace be upon him,
counted them among those who had witnessed it,
assigning them a share of the spoils and reward,
so it was as if they had participated in the battle alongside the Companions.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, described
his participation in the Battle of Yarmouk
during the reign of the Caliph 'Umar al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him.
Sa'id said:
"On the day of Yarmouk,
we were around twenty-four thousand or thereabouts,
while the Byzantines advanced against us with one hundred and twenty thousand.
They approached us with heavy, measured steps,
as if they were mountains moved by invisible hands.
Ahead of them marched bishops, patriarchs, and priests,
bearing crosses
and chanting prayers aloud,
which the army repeated after them,
producing a roar like the rumbling of thunder.
When the Muslims saw them in this state,
they were awed by their immense numbers,
and a measure of fear entered their hearts.
At that moment, Abu 'Ubaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up,
addressed the people, and urged them to fight.
Then a man stepped out from the Muslim ranks
and said to Abu 'Ubaydah,
'I have resolved to fulfill my destiny this hour;
do you have a message you wish to send to the Messenger of Allah?'
Abu 'Ubaydah replied, 'Yes,
convey my greetings of peace to him and those of the Muslims,
and say to him:
"O Messenger of Allah,
we have indeed found true what our Lord promised us."'
Sa'id said:
'No sooner had I heard his words
and seen him unsheathe his sword
and march forth to confront the enemies of Allah,
than I threw myself to the ground,
knelt down,
leveled my spear,
and struck down the first horseman who charged at us.
Then I leaped toward the enemy,
for Allah had stripped every trace of fear from my heart.
The men then surged against the Byzantines
and continued fighting them
until Allah decreed victory for the believers.'
When death approached the Rightly-Guided Caliph
'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
he selected six Companions to form a consultative council (*shura*)
to choose the next caliph from among themselves.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was not included among them,
despite being one of the most eminent Companions,
so that 'Umar would leave no suspicion of favoritism,
as Sa'id was his brother-in-law and cousin.
Had he included him among the consultative council,
some might have thought he favored him due to his kinship,
or that someone might show deference to Sa'id
and grant him the caliphate because of his relation to 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.
So 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, wished
to close this door completely,
and thus did not mention him among them.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was
one whose supplications were readily answered,
and there are well-known accounts regarding this.
Among them is that Arwa bint Uways
falsely claimed that he had taken a piece of her land,
bringing her grievance to the governor of Medina at that time.
Sa'id, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
'How could I take her land
when I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say:
"Whoever usurps a handspan of land unjustly,
Allah will encircle his neck with it on the Day of Resurrection from seven earths"?
Let her come and take whatever right she claims.'
Then he raised his hands and said,
'O Allah, if she is lying,
Then he raised his hands and said,
"O Allah, if she is lying,
do not let her die until You blind her sight
and make her death occur in that very plot of land."
So they returned and informed her of that.
She came and took what she claimed was her right,
and built a structure upon it.
But shortly thereafter, she became blind.
One day, while walking on her land,
she fell into a well
and died.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was
a devout, pure, and humble servant of Allah,
just as Allah Almighty loves.
He did not seek prominence,
nor did he desire or strive for positions of authority.
He once related a hadith to a group of his companions, saying:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Ten are in Paradise:
Abu Bakr is in Paradise,
'Umar is in Paradise,
'Uthman, 'Ali,
Al-Zubayr, Talhah,
'Abd al-Rahman, Abu 'Ubaydah,
and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas—
all of them are in Paradise."
Thus he counted these nine,
and remained silent regarding the tenth.
The people said,
"We adjure you by Allah, O Abu al-A'war,
who is the tenth?"
He replied,
"Since you adjure me by Allah,
Abu al-A'war is in Paradise."
He meant himself,
as his agnomen (kunya) was Abu al-A'war.
Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, passed away in Al-'Aqiq,
and he was carried to Medina where he was buried.
That was in the year 51 AH,
when he was seventy-some years old.
Ibn 'Umar rode out to him,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas washed his body,
and they descended into his grave—may Allah be pleased with them all.
That was Sa'id ibn Zayd,
and those were some of his virtues.
And with him, may Allah be pleased with him,
we conclude the biographies of the ten
who were given the glad tidings of Paradise—
who are the best of Quraysh,
the best of the foremost Muhajirun,
the best of the veterans of Badr,
the best of the Companions of the Tree,
and the masters of this Ummah in this world and the Hereafter.
We have presented their virtues that demonstrate their stature and high status;
thus, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to firmly believe
that they are individually among the people of Paradise,
just as the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed us—
he who does not speak from his own desire.
“It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired,” (53:4)
May Allah be pleased with them and make them pleased,
and forgive those who praise and honor them
in the Gardens of Eternity.
These two verses increase their honor:
"They are Talhah,
Ibn 'Auf,
Al-Zubayr, along with
Abu 'Ubaydah,
the two Sa'ds,
and the Caliphs."