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SIAD
IBN ZAYD Radhia
Allahu Anaha
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 glitte ring 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 refuse d
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 fo rced 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.
Adop t 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 tol d
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 Pro phet 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 Mes senger 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 Muham mad. 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 e specially 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 M
uhammad..."
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 corne r 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 const ant 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 U thman, 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 p riests 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 r emoved 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
tid ings of Paradise.
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