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Zayd the son of Amr stood
away from the Quraysh crowd as they
celebrated one of their festivals. Men
were dressed in rich turbans of brocade
and expensive Yemeni burdabs. Women and
children were also exquisitely turned
out in their fine clothes and glittering
jewelry. Zayd watched as sacrificial
animals, gaily caparisoned were led out
to slaughter before the Quraysh idols.
It was difficult for him to remain
silent. Leaning against a wall of the
Kabah, he shouted:
"O people of
Quraysh! It is God Who has created the
sheep. He it is Who has sent down rain
from the skies of which they drink and
He has caused fodder to grow from the
earth with which they are fed. Then even
so you slaughter them in names other
than His. Indeed, I see that you are an
ignorant folk."
Zayd's uncle al-Khattab,
the father of Umar ibn al-Khattab,
seethed with anger. He strode up to Zayd,
slapped him on the race and shouted:
"Damn you! We still hear from you
such stupidity. We have borne it until
our patience is exhausted."
Al-Khattab then
incited a number of violent people to
harass and persecute Zayd and make life
extremely uncomfortable for him. These
incidents which took place before
Muhammad's call to Prophethood gave a
foretaste of the bitter conflict that
was to take place between the upholders
of truth and the stubborn adherents of
idolatrous practices. Zayd was one of
the few men, known as hanifs, who saw
these idolatrous practices for what they
were. Not only did he refuse to take
part in them himself but he refused to
eat anything that was sacrificed to
idols. He proclaimed that he worshipped
the God of Ibrahim and, as the above
incident showed, was not afraid to
challenge his people in public.
On the other hand, his
uncle al-Khattab was a staunch follower
of the old pagan ways of the Quraysh and
he was shocked by Zayd's public
disregard for the gods and goddesses
they worshipped. So he had him hounded
and persecuted to the point where he was
forced to leave the valley of Makkah and
seek refuge in the surrounding
mountains. He even appointed a band of
young men whom he instructed not to
allow Zayd to approach Makkah and enter
the Sanctuary.
Zayd only managed to
enter Makkah in secret. There unknown to
the Quraysh he met with people like
Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Abdullah ibn Jahsh,
Uthman ibn al-Harith and Umaymah bint
Abdul Muttalib, the paternal aunt of
Muhammad ibn Abdullah. They discussed
how deeply immersed the Arabs were in
their misguided ways. To his friends,
Zayd spoke thus: "Certainly, by
God, you know that your people have no
valid grounds for their beliefs and that
they have distorted and transgressed
from the religion of Ibrahim. Adopt a
religion which you can follow and which
can bring you salvation."
Zayd and his
companions then went to Jewish rabbis
and Christian scholars and people of
other communities in an attempt to learn
more and go back to the pure religion of
Ibrahim.
Of the four persons
mentioned, Waraqah ibn Nawfal became a
Christian. Abdullah ibn Jahsh and Uthman
ibn al-Harith did not arrive at any
definite conclusion. Zayd ibn Amr
however had quite a different story.
Finding it impossible to stay in Makkah,
he left the Hijaz and went as far as
Mosul in the north of Iraq and from
there southwest into Syria. Throughout
his journeys, he always questioned monks
and rabbis about the religion of Ibrahim.
He found no satisfaction until he came
upon a monk in Syria who told him that
the religion he was seeking did not
exist any longer but the time was now
near when God would send forth, from his
own people whom he had left, a Prophet
who would revive the religion of Ibrahim.
The monk advised him that should he see
this Prophet he should have no
hesitation in recognizing and following
him.
Zayd retraced his
steps and headed for Makkah intending to
meet the expected Prophet. As he was
passing through the territory of Lakhm
on the southern border of Syria he was
attacked by a group of nomad Arabs and
killed before he could set eyes on the
Messenger of God, may God bless him and
grant him peace. However, before he
breathed his last, he raised his eyes to
the heavens and said:
"O Lord, if You
have prevented me from attaining this
good, do not prevent my son from doing
so."
When Waraqah heard of
Zayd's death, he is said to have written
an elegy in praise of him. The Prophet
also commended him and said that on the
day of Resurrection "he will be
raised as having, in himself alone, the
worth of a whole people".
God, may He be
glorified, heard the prayer of Zayd.
When Muhammad the Messenger of God rose
up inviting people to Islam, his son
Said was in the forefront of those who
believed in the oneness of God and who
affirmed their faith in the prophethood
of Muhammad. This is not strange for
Said grew up in a household which
repudiated the idolatrous ways of the
Quraysh and he was instructed by a
father who spent his life searching for
Truth and who died in its pursuit.
Said was not yet
twenty when he embraced Islam. His young
and steadfast wife Fatimah, daughter of
al-Khattab and sister of Umar, also
accepted Islam early. Evidently both
Said and Fatimah managed to conceal
their acceptance of Islam from the
Quraysh and especially from Fatimah's
family for some time. She had cause to
fear not only her father but her brother
Umar who was brought up to venerate the
Kabah and to cherish the unity of the
Quraysh and their religion.
Umar was a headstrong
young man of great determination. He saw
Islam as a threat to the Quraysh and
became most violent and unrestrained in
his attacks on Muslims. He finally
decided that the only way to put an end
to the trouble was to eliminate the man
who was its cause. Goaded on by blind
fury he took up his sword and headed for
the Prophet's house. On his way he came
face to face with a secret believer in
the Prophet who seeing Umar's grim
expression asked him where he was going.
"I am going to kill
Muhammad..."
There was no mistaking
his bitterness and murderous resolve.
The believer sought to dissuade him from
his intent but Umar was deaf to any
arguments. He then thought of diverting
Umar in order to at least warn the
Prophet of his intentions.
"O Umar," he
said, "Why not first go back to the
people of your own house and set them to
rights?" "What people of my
house?" asked Umar.
"Your sister
Fatimah and your brother-in-law Said.
They have both forsaken your religion
and are followers of Muhammad in his
religion..."
Umar turned and made
straight for his sister's house. There
he called out to her angrily as he
approached. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt who
often came to recite the Quran to Said
and Fatimah was with them then. When
they heard Umar's voice, Khabbab hid in
a corner of the house and Fatimah
concealed the manuscript. But 'Umar had
heard the sound of their reading and
when he came in, he said to them:
"What is this haynamah (gibbering)
I heard?"
They tried to assure
him that it was only normal conversation
that he had heard but he insisted:
"Hear it I did," he said,
"and it is possible that you have
both become renegades."
"Have you not
considered whether the Truth is not to
be found in your religion?" said
Said to Umar trying to reason with him.
Instead, Umar set upon his
brother-in-law hitting and kicking him
as hard as he could and when Fatimah
went to the defence of her husband, Umar
struck her a blow on her face which drew
blood.
"O Umar,"
said Fatimah, and she was angry.
"What if the Truth is not in your
religion! I bear witness that there is
no god but Allah and I bear witness that
Muhammad is the Messenger of God."
Fatimah's wound was
bleeding, and when Umar saw the blood he
was sorry for what he had done. A change
came over him and he said to his sister:
"Give me that
script which you have that I may read
it." Like them Umar could read, but
when he asked for the script, Fatimah
said to him:
"You are impure
and only the pure may touch it. Go and
wash yourself or make ablutions."
Thereupon Umar went
and washed himself, and she gave him the
page on which was written the opening
verses of Surah Ta-Ha. He began to read
it and when he reached the verse,
'Verily, I alone am God, there no deity
but me. So, worship Me alone, and be
constant in Prayer so as to remember Me,
'he said: "Show me where Muhammad
is."
Umar then made his way
to the house of al-Arqam and declared
his acceptance of Islam and the Prophet
and all his companions rejoiced.
Said and his wife
Fatimah were thus the immediate cause
which led to the conversion of the
strong and determined Umar and this
added substantially to the power and
prestige of the emerging faith.
Said ibn Zayd was
totally devoted to the Prophet and the
service of Islam. He witnessed all the
major campaigns and encounters in which
the Prophet engaged with the exception
of Badr. Before Badr, he and Talhah were
sent by the Prophet as scouts to Hawra
on the Red Sea coast due west of Madinah
to bring him news of a Quraysh caravan
returning from Syria. When Talhah and
Said returned to Madinah the Prophet had
already set out for Badr with the first
Muslim army of just over three hundred
men.
After the passing away
of the Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him peace, Said continued to play
a major role in the Muslim community. He
was one of those whom Abu Bakr consulted
on his succession and his name is often
linked with such companions as Uthman,
Abu Ubaydah and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas in
the campaigns that were waged. He was
known for his courage and heroism, a
glimpse of which we can get from his
account of the Battle of Yarmuk. He
said:
"For the Battle
of Yarmuk, we were twenty four thousand
or thereabout. Against us, the
Byzantines mobilized one hundred and
twenty thousand men. They advanced
towards us with a heavy and thunderous
movement as if mountains were being
moved. Bishops and priests strode before
them bearing crosses and chanting
litanies which were repeated by the
soldiers behind them.
When the Muslims saw
them mobilized thus, they became worried
by their vast numbers and something of
anxiety and fear entered theft hearts.
Thereupon,
Abu Ubaydah stood
before the Muslims and urged them to
fight. "Worshippers of God" he
said, "help God and God will help
you and make your feet firm."
"Worshippers of
God, be patient and steadfast for indeed
patience and steadfastness (sabr) is a
salvation from unbelief, a means of
attaining the pleasure of God and a
defence against ignominy and
disgrace."
"Draw out your
spears and protect yourselves with your
shields. Don't utter anything among
yourselves but the remembrance of God
Almighty until I give you the command,
if God wills."
"Thereupon a man
emerged from the ranks of the Muslims
and said: "I have resolved to die
this very hour. Have you a message to
send to the Messenger of God, may God
bless him and grant him peace?"
"Yes"
replied Abu Ubaydah, "convey salaam
to him from me and from the Muslims and
say to him: O Messenger of God, we have
found true what our Lord has promised
us."
"As soon as I
heard the man speak and saw him
unsheathe his sword and go out to meet
the enemy, I threw myself on the ground
and crept on all fours and with my spear
I felled the first enemy horseman racing
towards us. Then I fell upon the enemy
and God removed from my heart all traces
of fear. The Muslims engaged the
advancing Byzantines and continued
fighting until they were blessed with
victory."
Said was ranked by the
Prophet as one of the outstanding
members of his generation. He was among
ten of the companions whom the Prophet
visited one day and promised Paradise.
These were Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali,
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl, Abu Ubaydah,
Talhah, az-Zubayr, Sad of Zuhrah, and
Said the son of Zayd the Hanif. The
books of the Prophet's sayings have
recorded his great praises of the
Promised Ten (al-'asharatu-l
mubashshirun) and indeed of others whom
on other occasions he also gave good
tidings of Paradise.
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