Companion of the Prophet (SAW)
Hazrat Sa’d Ibn Zayd (RA)
Early life of Hazrat Zayd
The Qureshites were celebrating one of
their festivals, while Zayd ibn Amr stood away from them. Men were dressed in
rich turbans of brocade and expensive Yemeni bur dabs. Women and children were
also superbly turned out in their fine clothes and sparkling 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 Ka’bah, he shouted: "O
people of Quraysh! It is God Who has created the sheep. It is He 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, raged with anger. He slapped on Zayd’s face 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 (SAW) call to Prophet Hood
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
God of Ibrahim (AS) 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 devoted 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 harassed and persecuted him 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 of Makkah.
Zayd only managed to enter Makkah secretly
and met with people like
Waraqah ibn Nawfal,
Abdullah ibn Jahsh,
Uthman ibn
al-Harith and
Umaimah
bint Abdul Muttalib, the paternal aunt of Muhammad (SAW) 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 (AS). Adopt a religion which you can
follow and which can bring you salvation."
Foretelling
of a monk about the last prophet
Zayd and his companions then went to
Jewish and Christian scholars and people of other communities in an attempt to
learn more and go back to the pure religion of Ibrahim (AS). 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 (AS). 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 (AS). The monk advised him that should he see this Prophet
he should have no hesitation in recognizing and following him.
Zayd go back over to 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".
Son of Hazrat Zayd
Allah Almighty heard the prayer of Hazrat
Zayd (RA), When Muhammad (SAW) the Messenger of God rose up inviting people to
Islam, his son Sa’d was in the forefront of those who believed in the oneness
of God and who affirmed their faith in the prophet Hood of Muhammad (SAW). This
is not strange for Sa’d 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. Sa’d was not yet twenty when
he embraced Islam. His young and steadfast wife Hazrat Fatimah, daughter of
al-Khattab and sister of Hazrat Umar (RA), also accepted Islam early. Evidently
both Hazrat Sa’d and Hazrat 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 Ka’bah and to cherish the unity of the Quraysh and their
religion.
Hazrat 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. Motivated 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 deter 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 Sa’d. They have both forsaken your religion and are
followers of Muhammad (SAW) 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 Sa’d 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 craze? 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 Sa’d 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."
Hazrat Fatimah's wound was bleeding,
and when Hazrat 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
(SAW) is."
Hazrat Umar (RA) then made his way to
the house of al-Arqam and declared his acceptance of Islam and the Prophet
(SAW) and all his companions (RA) rejoiced. Sa’d and his wife Hazrat 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. Hazrat Sa’d ibn Zayd (RA) was totally devoted to the Prophet
(SAW) and the service of Islam. He witnessed all the major campaigns and
encounters in which the Prophet (SAW) engaged with the exception of Badr.
Before Badr, He (RA) and Talhah (RA) 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 Hazrat Talhah and Hazrat Sa’d returned to
Madinah the Prophet (SAW) had already set out for Badr with the first Muslim
army of just over three hundred men.
After the passing away of the Prophet
(SAW), Sa’d continued to play a major role in the Muslim community. He was one
of those whom Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) consulted on his succession and his name is
often linked with such companions as Hazrat Uthman (RA), Hazrat Abu Ubaydah
(RA) and Hazrat Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas (RA) in the campaigns that were waged.
Symbol of Courage and Bravery
Hazrat Zayd (RA) 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 their hearts. Thereupon, Hazrat Abu Ubaydah (RA) 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 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 Hazrat 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."
Included in Ashara Mubashara
Hazrat Sa’d (RA) was ranked by the
Prophet (SAW) 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
Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)
Hazrat
Umar (RA)
Hazrat
'Uthman (RA)
Hazrat
Ali (RA)
Hazrat
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl(RA)
Hazrat
Abu Ubaydah (RA)
Hazrat
Talhah (RA)
Hazrat Az-Zubayr
(RA)
Hazrat
Sa’d of Zuhrah (RA)
Hazrat
Sa’d the son of Zayd (RA)
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.
May God bless His soul!