Zayd ibn Harithah

BornZaid ibn haritha c. 581 Arabia Died629 (aged 48) Mu'tah, Byzantium Other namesZaid mawla MuhammadOccupation General, SahabiReligion IslamChildren Usama, Zayd, RuqayyaParent(s) Harithah Zayd ibn Harithah( Arabic:زيد بن حارثة‎) orZayd mawlaMuhammad(c. 581 – 629 CE) was a companionof Muhammadwho was at one stage regarded as his (adoptive) son. He is the only companion whose name appears in the Qur'an( 33:37). Childhood Zayd is said to have been ten years younger than Muhammad, suggesting a birth-year of c. 581. He is also said to have been 55 (lunar) years old at his death in 629, indicating a birthdate of 576. He is described as “a short, flat-nosed man, of a very dark brown skin.” [ 1 ] He was born into the Udhra branch of the Kalbtribe in the Najd(highlands) of central Arabia; he claimed a pedigree twelfth in descent from Udhra ibn Zayd al-Lat, who was in turn alleged to have been a great-great-grandson of Kalb ibn Wabara. Zayd's mother, Suda bint Thaalaba, was from the Maan branch of the Tayytribe. [ 2 ] When Zayd was a young boy of an age at which he could be a servant [ 3 ]he accompanied his mother on a visit to her family. While they were staying with the Maan tribe, horsemen from the Qayn tribe raided their tents and kidnapped Zayd. They took him to the market at Ukkaz and sold him as a slave for 400dirhams. [ 2 ] Zayd’s family searched for him, but without success. A lament is attributed to his father, Harithah ibn Sharahil: “I weep for Zayd, not knowing what became of him. Is he alive, is he to be expected, or has Death come over him? By God, I ask yet do not comprehend. Was it the plain or the mountain that brought about your end? I wish that I knew: Will you ever return? In this world only for your coming back I yearn. The sun reminds me of him when it dawns, evoking his memory as the dusk falls. When the winds blow, they stir up memories like dust. O how long my sorrow and fear for him last!” [ 4 ] Slavery in Mecca Zayd was purchased by a merchant of Mecca, Hakim ibn Hizam, who gave the boy as a present to his aunt, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. He remained in her possession until the day she married Muhammad, when she gave the slave as a wedding present to her bridegroom. Muhammad became very attached to Zayd, to whom he referred asal-Habib(“the beloved”). [ 2 ] Some years later, some members of Zayd’s tribe happened to arrive in Mecca on pilgrimage. They encountered Zayd and recognised each other, and he asked them to take a message home. Carry a message from me to my people, for I am far away, that close to the House and the places of pilgrimage I stay. Let go of the grief that has deeply saddened you, and do not hasten your camels all over the earth. I live with the best of families, may God be blessed; from father to son, of Ma’add they are the noblest. [ 5 ] On receiving this message, Zayd’s father and uncle immediately set out for Mecca. They found Muhammad at the Kaabaand promised him any ransom if he would return Zayd to them. Muhammad replied that Zayd should be allowed to choose his fate, but that if he wished to return to his family, Muhammad would release him without accepting any ransom in exchange. They called for Zayd, who easily recognised his father and uncle, but told them that he did not want to leave Muhammad, “for I have seen something in this man, and I am not the kind of person who would ever choose anyone in preference to him.” At this, Muhammad took Zayd to the steps of the Kaaba, where legal contracts were agreed and witnessed, and announced to the crowds: “Witness that Zayd becomes my son, with mutual rights of inheritance.” On seeing this, Zayd’s father and uncle “were satisfied,” and they returned home without him. [ 6 ] In accordance with the Arabic custom of adoption, Zayd was thereafter known as “Zayd ibn Muhammad” and was a freedman, regarded socially and legally as Muhammad’s son. [ 7 ] Conversion to Islam At an unknown date before 610, Zayd accompanied Muhammad to Ta'if. Near Baldah on their way back to Mecca, they met Zayd ibn Amrand offered him some of the cooked meat that Zayd was carrying in their bag. [ 8 ]Zayd ibn Amr, an outspoken monotheist, [ 9 ]replied, "I do not eat anything which you slaughter in the name of your stone idols. I eat none but those things on which Allah's Name has been mentioned at the time of slaughtering." [ 10 ]After this encounter, said Muhammad, "I never stroked an idol of theirs, nor did I sacrifice to them, until God honoured me with his apostleship." [ 8 ] When Muhammad reported in 610 that he had received a revelation from the angel Gabriel, Zayd was one of the first converts to Islam. While Khadijah was the first Muslimof all, [ 11 ]she was closely followed by her neighbour Lubaba bint al-Harith, [ 12 ]her four daughters, [ 13 ]and the first male converts, Ali, Zayd and Abu Bakr. [ 14 ]