The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khawla Bint Hakim & Uthman Ibn Madhun: The Righteous Couple | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Al-Shifa bint Abdullah (ra): The Healer and Scholar | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Shurahbil Ibn Hasana (ra): The Scribe and Commander | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra): The Legendary Military General | The Firsts
126
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Amr ibn al-As (ra): His Wicked Father and “Better” Brother | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid (ra): From False Prophet to Shaheed | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Zayd ibn al-Khattab (ra): The Quiet Brother of Omar (ra) | The Firsts
Zaid Ibn Amr (ra): A One Man Ummah
Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nufaid (ra) is an absolutely remarkable figure in the history of Islam and has a story unlike any other from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Aside from being a monotheist before the coming of Islam, he would guide people to what pleased Allah based on intuition and fitrah (natural disposition).
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, the accursed in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. No aggression is allowed against the wrongdoers. The right path is for the righteous. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon Your servant and Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions. And peace and blessings be upon you. And peace and blessings be upon you. I decided to go to a man that I've spoken about quite a bit within khutbas and different classes and lectures. But I've never really gotten to highlight his biography in full. And he's a companion of Waraka and he's just a remarkable figure all around. And he deserves this level of attention and he deserves to be the first. And of course I thought about doing Khadijah first, but then people would have accused me of being biased because of my daughter. So I decided that we'll do Khadijah third for a reason. The man is Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayr. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayr.
An absolutely remarkable figure in the history of Islam. Has a story unlike any other person from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. There is truly nothing like him. And he belongs to this group of people that were called the Hunafa or the Hanifin. Not the Hanafis. I know that the followers of the Madhab of Imam Hanif would want this to be that the first Muslims were Hanafi. But it's a different type. They're Hanif. Meaning they were monotheists. A group of four monotheists that decided that they wanted to follow the religion of Ibrahim ﷺ. They wanted to follow the way of Abraham. They looked at their context in Mecca. And they were deeply troubled by the paganism and the idol worship. And so they decided that something is wrong about this. And they couldn't quite figure out what the right path would be. But at least these four men decided amongst themselves that we're not going to follow the dominant pagan culture in Mecca. And we're going to look for something else. Now they were four. They were Uthman ibn al-Huwaytath. I'm only going to do two of them in detail. Uthman ibn al-Huwaytath was one of them. He became a Christian. And he went to Rome. And he actually took up a position amongst the Romans. So he kind of disappears from the story of Islam very early on. Because he moved out of Mecca very early on. Accepted the religion of Christianity as a result of his rejection of paganism. And became a minister amongst the Romans. And kind of disappears and falls off. There's Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh. Whose story is very interesting. Because he becomes Christian as well. In this context, in this climate. Then when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam brings Islam. He accepts Islam. And he makes the migration to Abyssinia. The Hijrah to Habesha. Which is a Christian land. And then the sources seem to indicate that he became Christian again.
And died as a Christian. However, the narration that states that has some issues with it. So though it's prominent in literature that Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh left Islam. And became Christian again in Abyssinia. And died that way. It's not a confirmed fact. Because there is some issue with the narration. But that's his story. Now the two that we're really going to concern ourselves with. And go into detail with. Are Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufayl. And Waraka ibn Nufal. Waraka ibn Nufal who we'll talk about in depth next week. And to be honest with you. I'm excited to talk about Waraka ibn Nufal. Because I learned a lot going in depth. And researching his life in the last week in particular. Waraka became Christian too. But Waraka would become a very specific type of Christian. He would become a Nestorian priest. Which was the Christianity that Salman al-Farisi would follow. And we'll talk about that next week. When we get into the story of Waraka ibn Nufal. So out of the four Hanifs. Out of the four monotheists in Mecca. Three of them became Christian. Or joined some iteration of Christianity. Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufal is never really satisfied. With Christianity or Judaism as he sees it in his time. Instead he insists on being a follower of the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam. He's a follower of Abraham. He's not convinced by Judaism and Christianity as they exist. We're talking about before the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam has come along as a prophet. But he insists he's a monotheist. And he will challenge his society in very unique ways. So let's talk about this man. Who is an incredibly remarkable man. Subhanallah it's hard not to fall in love with this man when you study him. And it's only fitting that we study him first in this series of the first. Just because of how unique his story is. So his name is Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufal. Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufal is from the Adi clan. Banu Adi of Quraysh.
So it's a higher clan. And he is the first cousin of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Al-Khattab ibn Nufal. So it's always good to connect these things from a historical perspective. There's Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufal. Umar ibn al-Khattab ibn Nufal. Okay. Umar ibn al-Khattab ibn Nufal. So that would make al-Khattab the paternal uncle of Zayd. Alright. So Zayd ibn Amir Nufal is the first cousin of Umar. He would only have two children. One of them is Sa'eed ibn Zayd. Who would become one of the ten promised paradise. And the other is Atika bint Zayd. Atika with a kaf, not a qaf. Atika bint Zayd. So he only has two children. One son and one daughter and we'll get back to her as well. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam saw Zayd growing up. And he was fascinated by him. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam never worshipped idols. Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu never worshipped idols. But at the same time they were not challenging idol worship in society. Because the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam had not been called to do that. He had not been called to do that. And perhaps that's the wisdom of Allah. That the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam for 40 years would establish such credibility. And he would call people to that credibility. Had he challenged them he might face the same repercussions. That Zayd would have faced at this time. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam has no calling from Allah to reject idol worship actively and publicly. But he doesn't worship idols. Abu Bakr does not worship idols radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Abu Bakr says I was sitting in my room as a kid. And my father brought an idol put him in front of me. And he said worship him and ask him for your sustenance. Abu Bakr said I started talking to him. I said what's your name? He said the idol didn't answer me. He said can you do this this this and that. I asked the idol a few questions.
He said this makes no sense whatsoever. You can't even help yourself. I could tip you over and you'll break. So Abu Bakr said I'm not worshipping idols. Right. Zayd on the other hand says idol worship is a rejection of the way of Ibrahim alayhi wa sallam. And Zayd will challenge his society in a very unique way. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam mentions him that he used to that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam remembered being in a gathering. And they served food. They served meat to the people there. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam simply passed. And then when it got to Zayd. Zayd said inni lastu aakulu mimma tathbahoona ala ansabikum. Wala aakulu illa ala ma thukir asmullahi alayhim. He said I will not eat that which was slaughtered in the name of your idols. And I will not eat except for that which was slaughtered in the name of Allah. So Zayd takes a very strong stand. In another instance Zayd even became more emboldened in challenging them. He said to them al shatu khalaqaha Allah wa anzala laha minas salaima wa anbata laha minal ard thumma tathbahoona ala ghayris min Allah. He said that this animal was provided by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah created the animal. And then Allah revealed the sustenance that was necessary for the animal to be suitable for slaughter. And then you go and you sacrifice in the name of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he's actually criticizing them at this point. And saying what is wrong with you people? How do you serve this meat? How do you slaughter this meat in the name of other than Allah? Dedicated to the idols. When if it was not for Allah neither the animal nor the sustenance of the animal exists. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam even remembered a very personal instance. And this is narrated by Zayd ibn Haritha.
One thing about the Sahaba is that when you read in their biographies you find there were a lot of Zayd's and a lot of Fatimah's. A lot of Zayd's and a lot of Fatimah's that existed back then. But there was only one Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. But the names like Hind was a very common name. Zayd was a very common name. Fatimah was a very common name. Khadijah is unique. So Muhammad and Khadijah are very unique names. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was with Zayd ibn Haritha. And Zayd ibn Haritha narrates he says that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam met Zayd ibn Amir in a place near Tan'im. Which is close to Mecca. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was the one serving the food in the gathering. So the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam is passing out the food in the gathering. So Zayd obviously likes the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam as a person. He's a noble young man. And he sees some good characteristics in the Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So while the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam comes to him, Zayd does not respond aggressively to him. Zayd says to him, يَبْنَ أَخِي لَا تَأْكُلْ مِنْ هَذَا He says to him, O son of my brother, O son of my brother, do not eat from this. It was slaughtered in the name of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he's even speaking to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and advising the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Don't eat from this, don't serve it, don't participate in any of this. Zayd ibn Haritha says from that day onwards the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam never ate from the meat of Quraysh or served it. So it's, this is the position that Zayd ibn Amr is taking in this society of Mecca. He's significantly older than the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Then comes again, Zayd now breaking off from this group of four even, to be the only one that doesn't become a Christian, but at the same time, obviously he's still considered amongst that group of people because their Christianity was still one of Tawheed,
and so he still relates to them. He's still considered amongst the group, but Zayd's insistence. Zayd would raise his hands in front of the Ka'bah, and he would say, Allahumma inni ashhadu anni ala deeni Ibrahim. Oh Allah, I bear witness that I am on the religion of Abraham. I am on the religion of Abraham. So imagine walking around the Ka'bah and you got all the idols around, you have this one man standing in front of the Ka'bah, and he's holding his hands in dua towards the Ka'bah, and he's saying, Oh Allah, bear witness, I bear witness that I am on the religion of Ibrahim alayhi salam. Isma' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha says that when the time of Hajj would come around, now their Hajj was a Hajj of idols, and it was a festival to where these people would make a lot of money. Hajj was their commerce, it was their money, it was their corruption, it was everything to them, right? Because that's where they got the idols prepared, and they prepared the poetry and the festivals and everything that would take place around the Hajj at that time. And Isma' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha says, I remember that strange sight of Zayd. Zayd, as the festival is carrying out, goes and he puts his hands on the Ka'bah with his back on it. I really, subhanAllah, when you read these stories, imagine the sight. And he calls out to the people and he says, Ya ma'shar Quraish, Oh Quraish, Oh assembly of Quraish, Wallahi ma minkum ala dini Ibrahim alayhi. He said, I swear that not one of you is on the religion of Abraham except for me. Why? Because Quraish would admit that this home was built by Ibrahim alayhi salam. They would say it was built by Abraham. They had murals inside the Ka'bah of Abraham and Mary and Jesus alayhimu's salam. They had pictures of them and they had sculptures of them and idols. And they still took pride in being descendants of Ibrahim alayhi salam.
And Zayd is calling out to them and saying, no, one of you is on the religion of Ibrahim alayhi salam, except for me. So he did this. And what do you think people did? They treated him like he was a madman. People ignored him. They mocked him. They continued to go along with their way. It's not like Zayd was walking around breaking idols or being aggressive towards them. He simply was calling out and saying, this is not the religion of Ibrahim alayhi salam. And then Isma' just relays this very beautiful and touching moment where she says that Zayd would make sujood towards the Ka'bah. He prostrates to the Ka'bah. And the whole story of Zayd is amazing because he has no revelation to guide him. He doesn't know what ruku' is, what bowing is and what sujood and what prostration is. But he just, subhanAllah, his intuition, he's guided towards good. There's rushd, there's guidance in his actions. He knows to make sajda, to prostrate towards the Ka'bah. And she said he would start to cry. And he said to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he said this dua. She was curious. Isma' was a curious young woman. She said, I heard him say, Allahumma law anni a'lamu ayyu al wujuhi ahabbu ilayk. Abattuka bihi walakinni laa a'alam. Oh Allah, if only I knew which of the ways was most pleasing to you, I would worship you in accordance with that way. But I don't know. I don't know. And then he says, out of an excuse to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, walakinni a'abudaka haakadha ya Rabb. But I worship you like this, oh Allah. So I'm going to do sujood and hope that I'm right. I'm going to prostrate to you and hope that I'm right. Now what's significant is that the post-council of Nicaea Christians were not doing sujood as part of prostration, prostration was no longer part of their prayer. So Zayd is exerting himself to think, what would Ibrahim alayhi salam do?
What was the religion of Abraham? What was the way of Abraham? What is Ibrahim alayhi salam's life about? And you know, he's focusing, he's really honing in on, he's distinguishing himself with what? His worship and his sacrifice. Which is a part of the ritual of worship. Now think about what's happening in Mecca right now. They've taken the rituals of Ibrahim alayhi salam, which were made for Marathiism, made for Tawheed, and they've turned all of them into pagan rituals. The Ka'bah was built for the worship of Allah. Tawaf was supposed to be an exclusive remembrance of God and the centering of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as the one God. And now they put idols around the Ka'bah. Ibrahim alayhi salam who preached modesty, now they do tawaf with no clothes around these idols. And they sing all sorts of poetry of ignorance. The animals were supposed to be slaughtered as a means of glorifying Allah. قُلْ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةِ وَنُسُكِيۦ Say verily my prayer and my sacrifice وَمَحْيَا يَوْمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ My life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And now the sacrifice is being done in the name of idols. And there's all sorts of, you know, some idols are more valuable than others. So Zayd is seeing this and Zayd is naturally exerting himself, you know, away from this. Now as Zayd becomes more annoying, the person that would walk up to him and torture him was none other than his uncle Al-Khattab, the father of Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala al'anhu. First Al-Khattab started to curse him. Then he would spit at him. Then he would beat him. Then Al-Khattab would call for the other people to beat him as well. And he made Zayd's life so difficult that Zayd could no longer enter into Mecca except in secrecy. When Zayd would leave Mecca, he could only come back in secrecy because Al-Khattab would release the sufaha, he'd release the, you know, the thugs to beat on him.
Anytime, he said if you see this man come back into Mecca, I want you to beat him and I want you to teach him a lesson. Because Al-Khattab was a proud man. And so even though Zayd was not harming anybody, but the fact that he was challenging these rituals, that was the way of Al-Khattab. Now you know where Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala al'anhu was acting out of before he became Muslim, right? You've got a problem, this is how you solve it. He went to the Ka'bah to kill the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam the first time, right? He said, okay, I'm confused now, I'm going to go to the Ka'bah and just kill him in front of the Ka'bah. Because that's how his father dealt with the challenge of Tawheed. Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala al'anhu said, well let me think of that way too. Even the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was amazed, and you think about what would be told to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam later on, that your people will run you out. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam went up to him and asked him one day, he said, Zayd, ya Zayd, ma li araa qawmaka qad shanafu alayk? Why is it that your people hate you so much? Imagine the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam has no idea what his future holds. And he's talking to this older man who's challenging paganism all by himself and declaring the way of Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. And he says, why is it that your people hate you so much? And Zayd responds and he says, ya ibn aqee, oh son of my brother, it's because I have left their religion and their idols for the religion and the God of Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. And his motto became, ilahi ilahu Ibrahim, wadeeni deenu Ibrahim. My Lord is the Lord of Abraham, my religion is the religion of Abraham. People would tell him to become a Christian, become a Jew, he would not do it. You know, they took him to rabbis, they took him to priests, he won't do it. He's certainly not reverting to paganism, but he's still very curious, right? But at the same time, he has a love and an attachment to Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. He sees it as a mission to maintain the way of Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam.
So if you put Zayd in front of a Jew or a Christian, he would hold that rabbi or that priest up to the litmus test of what he viewed as Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. When he criticizes the people, he criticizes them in the name of Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So he just has a love for Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam and wants to preserve the way of Abraham and sees that as his sacrifice. Now here's where it gets very interesting about Zayd. Asma radiyaAllahu anha, she says, wakana yuhyi al maw'uda. He used to give life to the young girls that would be buried alive. Now obviously yuhyi al maw'uda doesn't mean he raised them. He raises them from the dead. What is she referring to? He would stop the men from burying their daughters alive. With no guidance from the Quran, no wa'idha al maw'uda su'ilat bi-ayyi dhan bin qutilat, when the young girl that was buried alive asks for what crime was I killed, Zayd abhorred this practice and he didn't just say this is not the way of Ibrahim radiyaAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Zayd would actually go, and this is powerful language, wakana yuhyi al maw'uda. Asma says he would give life to them because it's like he was saving their lives because otherwise he would have all of these girls that would be killed. So what she says is that Zayd used to go out. There was a particular area in Mecca, and I visited that area, subhanAllah, where they actually buried the girls alive. They put out ditches and they would bury the girls alive. And this is what Allah talks about in the Quran, wa'idha bushira ahaduhum bil untha, that when they were given the glad tidings of a girl, that they would hang their heads in shame and sadness. And they would try to hide from the people because they saw a girl as poverty, they saw a girl as shame. That's the level that these people had reached. And so they would take their young girls in the middle of the night and they would bury them alive. SubhanAllah, think about how nasty that crime is.
And Zayd, knowing that, was disgusted by it. So Zayd would go out at the time in which they would take their girls out to bury them. And this is what he would say to them. Yaqulu dhi alrajul, idha arada an yaqtul ibnatahu, he would say to the person as they were taking their girls to bury them alive, he would say la taqtulha, inni akfika mu'inataha. He said, don't kill her, I will take care of her and I'll take care of all of her expenses. So Zayd would take the young girl, he would spend on the girl, he would raise the girl. And then once, this is subhanAllah, this shows you the type of character the man has. Once she grew up and she became older, he would go back to the parents and he would say in shi'ta dafa'tuha ilayk, look, now if you want I can return her back to you. Or wa in shi'ta kafaytuka mu'inataha, if you want I'll take care of marrying her off as well. So the man was raising all these young abandoned girls in Mecca. And then when they reached an age, he would act as their wali, he would act as their guardian, he would find them the right suitor and then he would marry them off. SubhanAllah, like where does that come from? Where is that fitrah from? How is the guy making sujood, saving young girls from being buried alive? And subhanAllah, even, it's narrated about him, he never committed adultery and he never drank alcohol. And in fact he has a saying, he said, iyaakum waz-zina fa inna hu yurithu al-faqr. He said beware of committing adultery because it bears poverty in your life. So he even would say that he's opposed to zina, he's opposed to adultery and fornication, he's opposed to alcohol. So basically, I mean, he's living this life in accordance with the religion that would come after him and that was the sincerity of his pursuit of the way of Ibrahim alayhi as-salam.
Now, he travels the world to try to find guidance, okay? He's on the way of Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, he says I want the way of Abraham. Again, he would adopt from Christianity whatever he felt matched up to the way of Abraham, he'd adopt from Judaism whatever he felt matched up to the way of Abraham, but he says I am on the way of Ibrahim alayhi as-salam. And him and Waraka went to a Sham together. So Sham is greater Syria, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan. He goes there with Waraka. Waraka, of course, immerses himself in the literature of the Old Testament and the New Testament and the Injil, the Gospel and the Torah. Waraka immerses himself, he learns Hebrew, he gets very deep into this and this sort of becomes his life to the point that Waraka becomes a priest, okay? Waraka would become a priest. Zayd, on the other hand, continues to travel. He's never really satisfied with the answers that he's getting. And he doesn't have the support of his family. So his uncle tortures him al-Khattab and says don't come around. If you come around, then you'll be beaten. And he actually tells people to beat him if they see him entering into Mecca again. And his wife would become stressed anytime he would say I'm going to a Sham. Because while the people went out to a Sham for trade, Zayd would go out to learn more and to try to answer these questions that were nagging at him about revelation and about the oneness of God and Ibrahim alayhi salam. So his wife is trying to stop him from leaving. His uncle saying don't come back and he's torn and he's going around. And he goes to two places that are very, that are noteworthy. He goes to Mosul, which if you remember in Iraq, the story of Salman al-Farisi, Salman also went to Mosul in Iraq. So he went to Mosul to study their Christianity in Mosul. And then he went to a Sham. And when he went to a Sham, he did what Salman did. He said take me to the most knowledgeable rahib.
I want the most knowledgeable scholar amongst you. So they take him to the most knowledgeable scholar amongst you. And after Zayd has argued with rabbis and priests about religion, he comes to this man and he tells this man what he's looking for and what he wants. And this rahib says to Zayd, he says that the one that you're looking for is due to come out from the land that you left. Go back to Mecca. Go back to where you come from. And this nabi, this prophet is there, is going to be sent now. And subhanAllah he tells him what was told to Salman. But the last part of the journey of Salman was back in a Sham and the scholar told him no one's on Millat Ibrahim anymore, but go back to, or he told him go to this land and he gave him the description. And he said that there's a prophet that will soon come out. So Zayd, this rahib tells him, listen, the one that you're waiting for, or the prophet that you're waiting for, is due to come out from the very same land. So Zayd gets excited. He turns back towards Mecca. He has no idea that that young man, Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wasalam, who he used to call Ibn Akhi, my cousin, you know, and saw such noble, he had no idea that that was going to be the one that was going to be the prophet or the messenger, but he's making his way back to Mecca so that he can await for this prophet. On his way back, he is captured by highway robbers. They steal everything he has. And he's so close. He's in a land called Balqa, very close to Mecca, very close. So he's made it out of a Sham. He's getting so close and he's captured. They steal everything that he has. And after they steal everything that he has, they decide to kill him and cast his body to the side. SubhanAllah, think of all this. And Zayd was around the age of 85 years old at this time.
So you've spent your whole life on the way of Ibrahim alayhi wasalam, trying to find the way of Ibrahim alayhi wasalam. You're told finally in the same land where you were the lone voice defending monotheism that the prophet is coming out there. And then you're going back there and now you're about to be killed. While Zayd was about to be killed, he made this beautiful dua, made this supplication as he was, you know, about to be killed. He said, Allahumma, in kuntah haramtani min sohbati nabiyyik, fala tahrimha min ibni sa'eet. He said, Oh Allah, if you have forbidden me from the companionship of your prophet, then do not forbid that companionship from my son Sa'eet. So if I'm going to die in this pathetic way, you know, on my way back to Mecca and not find guidance, then I'm content with that, but do not let my son Sa'eet be prevented from that guidance. So Sa'eet, he makes dua for him, a'tika, subhanAllah, you know, Zayd was saving other people's daughters, right? A'tika bint Zayd would go on to become the wife of five shuhada. Sounds crazy, right? And not just any shuhada. First she was married to Zayd ibn al-Khattab. Then after Zayd ibn al-Khattab, she was married to Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Then after Abdullah died, Umar ibn al-Khattab married her. Then after Umar died, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam married her. And then after she outlived Zubayr, after Zubayr died, al-Hassan ibn Ali married her. The same woman married Zayd ibn al-Khattab, the son of Abu Bakr, Umar himself, al-Zubayr,
and the son of Ali al-Hassan ibn Ali. The same woman, and subhanAllah she never had children from all five of them. So subhanAllah, the same woman would live long enough to marry five of the greatest men that would be martyred. So these were all shuhada at some point, and each time, subhanAllah, actually she died before al-Hassan radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu wa an-Abi. So Zayd, if he was one of the people of Mecca, he would have went and buried this girl. But look what his kids become. Sa'eed ibn Zayd, one of the first people to accept the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam. So his dua was answered that he would be at the service of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam. Sa'eed is one of the first people to accept the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam. So subhanAllah, in these moments, he makes dua, and he asks Allah that Sa'eed has the service that he's able to serve the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam, the way that he would not be able to serve the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam. Sa'eed, subhanAllah, as Allah's qadr would have it, Sa'eed would marry Fatima, the sister of Umar. Remember that story of Umar bin al-Khattab going to his sister's house and beating the husband of his sister? That was Sa'eed ibn Zayd. So just like al-Khattab beat Zayd for his tawheed, Umar would beat Sa'eed for his tawheed, the son, for his monotheism. But of course, that story instead ends with Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhum himself becoming a Muslim and being a very close confidant to Sa'eed ibn Zayd radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma. So where do we pick up with this story? What do you make of this man? I mean, what is his fate? Surely Allah would not punish this man and he died five years before the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam's ba'ithah. So he died around the year 605. Five years before the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam even knew that he was going to be
a prophet, that Allah would appoint him with prophethood. So it's not like Waraka who lives sometime, he died five years before, was murdered on his way back to Mecca. So Allah knows if he would have even lived, even naturally, to see the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam come out. So what do we make of this man? And this is where the narrations are just incredibly beautiful. In an authentic narration, Sa'eed and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, go to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam and they are conflicted. Sa'eed wants to ask the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam what happened to his father, Umar wants to know what happened to his uncle, and they're afraid of the answer. Like is it possible that this man spent his life on monotheism and striving for guidance and doing all these noble acts just from his natural akhlaq, noble character, and he's in hell? I mean what do we make of him? Can we say radiAllahu anhu, may Allah be pleased with him, can we make dua for him? So Sa'eed starts off and he says, Ya Rasulullah, you know my father and you know who he was. Like I don't even have to go, I don't have to make a case. O Messenger of God, you know who my father was. And they ask the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam, Ya Rasulullah, anastaghfiru lizaid? They didn't ask him is he in heaven or hell, because it would be too painful if the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam was to say he's in hell, right? That would have been too hard for them to hear. So instead they asked, can we seek forgiveness for him? Anastaghfiru lizaid? And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam said, istaghfiru lahu, seek forgiveness for him. He said, for by Allah I saw on the Day of Judgment, on the Day of Judgment as the Prophets line up with their umam behind them, with their nations behind them. 124,000 Prophets all line up on the Day of Judgment.
Behind them are their nations. Some Prophets have one person, some have 10, some have 10,000, some have 80. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam has the largest nation after him, the nation of Musa alayhi wa salam, of Moses peace be upon him. So these large nations line up behind their Prophets, right? And subhanAllah the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam said, innahu yuba'athu yawma alqiyamati ummatan wahda, that he will be resurrected all by himself as an ummah. The man is an ummah, he's a nation. And in an authentic narration, this is so touching because it gives you the vivid image. He says, bayni wa bayna Isa ibn Maryam, between me and Jesus the son of Mary. So while the lines of the Prophets are there, and may Allah make us amongst those standing behind Rasulullah salAllahu alayhi wa salam, Allahumma ameen, with his testimony for us. When you're lining up behind the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam and you're looking, and you see Jesus over there, Isa alayhi wa salam, and between the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa salam and Isa alayhi wa salam, there's this one man standing all by himself, and he is an ummah all by himself. He is a nation all by himself, and that is Zayd al-Mu'amr radiAllahu ta'ala anhum. And this is, you know, it's incredible because Allah says about Ibrahim alayhi wa salam what? Inna Ibrahima kana ummah. Ibrahim was a nation in and of himself in regards to the good that he used to do. What came out of Ibrahim alayhi wa salam was the good of an entire nation. From that one man of Abraham came a nation of good, right? And here you have Zayd who had this love for Ibrahim and the way of Ibrahim, standing by himself literally as an ummah. Literally as an ummah, no Prophet, he cannot be fit in any other way. He can't be fit in any other way except as a nation in and of itself. There's more to this. And it gets more beautiful as you dive into these narrations.
Amr ibn Rabi'a, he was a companion of Zayd. Amr ibn Rabi'a was one of the first to accept Islam. He came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in the fourth year after the call of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, which is relatively early if you consider the private and then public call of Islam. And he told, he was in tears telling the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam this story. He says that I was sitting with Zayd one day and Zayd says to me, Ya Amr, he says, Inni antadhiru nabiyyan min waladi Ismail. He said, listen, I'm waiting for a Prophet from the descendants of Ismail alayhi wa sallam. I want you to know I'm waiting for a Prophet from the descendants of Ismail alayhi wa sallam. He said that he will be on the way of Ibrahim, he will call to Ibrahim and he pointed to the Ka'bah and he said he will pray to this Qibla. He will pray in this direction. He has no idea it's Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. He says, but I'm waiting for this Prophet. And he said to him, should I live to see him, I will believe in him, u'minu bihi. I will believe in him and I will support him and I will testify that he is a Prophet of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but he said I have a feeling I'm not going to live long enough to see him. I just have a bad feeling that I'm going to die before he comes out. Amr was relatively younger. So he said to Amr, fa-itha ra'ayta, if you see him, aqri'hu minni as-salam. He said, give my salam to him. It's beautiful subhanAllah. He said, when you see him, give my salam to him and follow him. So Amr said when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam made the call, he said I went to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and I became Muslim and I gave him salam from me and I told him, I said, you know Zaid was sitting with me and Zaid said that I don't think I'm going to live long enough to see you but if I do see him I will believe in him and support him and testify that he's a Prophet.
And he told me if I live to see you, aqri'hu minni as-salam. So I'm giving salam to you from Zaid. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam gave salam back, wa tarahma alayhi, meaning he made dua that Allah have mercy on Zaid, which gives us the answer, saying radhiAllahu anhu wa rahimahu allan, doing the same prayers that we would do for any companion of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he said to him, to Amr, he said, wallahi qad ra'aytahu fil jannah yas'habu dhi yula. He said, I swear by Allah I saw Zaid in jannah dragging his garments. He has a long garment in paradise, carrying his garment walking through in jannah, walking through in paradise. And another authentic hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, dakhaltu aljannah fa ra'aytu li Zaid ibn Nufail darajatayn. He said I entered into jannah, I entered into paradise and I saw that Allah has reserved two levels of paradise for one man, for Zaid. That Allah gave him two levels of paradise all by himself. So the narrations go on and I think it's befitting that we end with the eulogy. The eulogy was given, or the one who heard of his death and said these beautiful words about him was none other than his close friend Waraka, who we'll talk about next week. And Waraka said these words of him in eulogy. He said, Rashatta wa an'amta ibn Amru wa innama tajannabta tannuran minan nari haamiya. Bideenika rabban laysa rabbun kamithlihi, watarkuka awthana tawaghiya kamahiya. Waqad tudrikul insana rahmatu rabbihi walaw kana tahtal ardi sittina wadiya. So I'll go through it. Rashatta wa an'amta ibn Amru wa inama. You were all together on the right path.
You were all together guided on the right path, O son of Amru, and gained the bounty. And he says, tajannabta tannuran minan nari haamiya. And you saved yourself from the oven of the blazing fire. And then he said, Bideenika rabban laysa rabbun kamithlihi, by choosing a Lord who has no equal to him. Watarkuka awthana tawaghiya kamahiya. And by your abandoning of the vain idols as they are. Waqad tudrikul insana rahmatu rabbihi. And verily the mercy of his Lord will reach a man. Walaw kana tahtal ardi sittina wadiya. Even if he was 60 layers beneath the earth. The mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reach him. Faradiya Allah ta'ala anhu wa rahimahu Allah. May Allah be pleased with him and have mercy on him. Really, you know, I think as far as lessons are concerned, the prophets of Islam. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam talks about this idea of intuition, of the righteousness of a Muslim. That a soul that is at peace with Allah is naturally guided to the things that are pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That when the fitrah is intact, when a person's natural disposition towards God is intact. That they will naturally find themselves in that worship and in that service. And even though Zayd had absolutely no idea of what was to come after him. But that's the sincerity. You see, what's very prevalent in many of these stories that we'll go through is a refusal to be complacent. A refusal to be complacent. And to look deeper into society around him. And Zayd thinking deeply and deeply and deeply about theology and becoming the person that he was. So we ask Allah to have mercy upon him and to be pleased with him. And bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, you know, we will continue next week insha'Allah with the story of Warqa. Which I'm really looking forward to because it's another, one of those fascinating stories.
And you can see the makings of that society. Those sparks of tawheed, those sparks of monotheism that exist before the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in that Meccan society. And also the fact that the tawheed of Ibrahim alayhi wasalam comes with far more implications than merely worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Zayd was guided to protect the young girls that were being buried alive. Guided away from zina and khamr. Guided away from adultery and from intoxication. Guided to all of these good things in a natural way. And that is the way of Ibrahim alayhi wasalam. Not merely the worship of Allah but the honouring of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with everything else.
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