ZAID IBN HARITHAH

MAHA BARAKAT

Who is he?He is Zaid Ibn Haritha Ibn Shurahbeel Ibn Kaab Ibn Abd Elozza. He was among the first who embraced Islam

Zaid ibn Harithah belonged to the Kalb tribe. When he was only eight years old and a small shepherd, he had gone with his mother to one of their relative’s homes where he was captured as a slave during the raid of another tribe. He was purchased by Khadija’s nephew, Hakim, for 400 dirhams at the slave market and was brought to Mecca.  Khadija took him from her nephew and sheltered him in her home.

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) loved this child. For this reason, he wanted the child to be handed over to him. His venerable wife complied with our Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) wish.

As soon as he was given to our Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Prophet set him free

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was not late in rewarding Zaid for his incomparable devotion. He immediately took Zaid by the hand and directed him to the Hijir neighborhood where the Quraysh lived. He then addressed the crowd:

“Oh, those who are present! Bear witness that Zaid is my son; I am his heir and he is mine.”

Our Holy Prophet Adopts Zaid

After our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was assigned the duty of Prophethood, Zaid attained the glory of being the third person to have become a Muslim.

From time to time, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) would compliment him by saying, “Oh Zaid, you are our brother in faith and our freed slave

At a much later time, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) married this esteemed individual whom he loved dearly off to his nanny, Umm Ayman. Usama was the result of this union; our Holy Prophet (PBUH) loved him wholeheartedly and would carry him on his saddle most of the time.

Abu Hurairah

He was good in the art of listening and his memory was good in the art of storing. He used to listen, understand, and memorize; then he hardly forgot one word, no matter how long his life lasted. That is why his gift made him memorize and narrate the Prophetic traditions (Hadiths) more than any of the Companions of the Messenger (sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam).

He realized by his nature the need of the new society that Islam was building for those who would keep its legacy and teachings. There were scribes among the Companions who used to write, but they were few. Besides, some of them had no free time to be able to write every hadith that the Messenger uttered.

Abu Hurairah was not a scribe, but learned by heart, and he had this necessary free time, for he had no land to plant or commerce to take care of. Believing that he had embraced Islam late, he intended to compensate for what he had missed by accompanying and sitting with the Messenger (sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) .

Abu Hurairah had a strong memory that made him retain things in his mind very quickly. He had neither land to plant nor commerce to keep him busy; hence he used to not part from the presence of the Messenger, neither in travel nor at other times.

Abu Hurairah (RA) was an ever-and oft-returning worshiper who used to take turns with his wife and daughter in praying the whole night. He prayed one third of the night, his wife another third, and his daughter a third. Thus, not one hour of the night passed in Abu Hurairah’s house without prayers. In order to be free to accompany the Messenger of Allah (SAW), he suffered the cruelty of hunger like nobody else. He used to talk about the times when hunger was so cruel that he would put a stone on his stomach, press his liver with his hand, and fall in the mosque while twisting that stone such that some of his friends thought that he was epileptic, but he was not.

When he embraced Islam, he had only one continuously oppressing problem that would not let him sleep. That problem was his mother, for from that day onwards she refused to embrace Islam. Not only that, but she also used to hurt her son by speaking ill of the Messenger of Allah. One day she spoke to Abu Hurairah about the Messenger of Allah (SAW) in a way that he hated. So, he left her crying and sad and went to the Messenger’s mosque.

Abu Hurairah led the life of a worshiper and fighter. He did not miss a battle or a pious deed. During the caliphate of Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, he made him governor of Bahrain. Umar, as we know, used to call his rulers sternly to account.