Zayd ibn Harithah (ra)

The freed slave whom the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ loved as a son — among the very first believers, and the only Companion named by Allah in the Quran (33:37).

Story (EP 010)

• A boy of the Qahtani Arabs (Yemen), kidnapped and sold into slavery; bought for Khadijah, who gifted him to the Prophet ﷺ.
• When his father and uncle came to ransom him, the Prophet ﷺ let Zayd choose — and Zayd chose to stay: “I could never choose anyone over you.” The Prophet ﷺ freed and adopted him publicly; he became known as Zayd ibn Muhammad until Quran 33:5 restored fathers’ names (→ Zayd ibn Harithah again).

Role

• First mawla (freed-slave) to accept Islam (reconciling narrations: first adult male = Abu Bakr-era… first female Khadijah, first child Ali, first mawla Zayd).
• Married Umm Ayman; their son Usama ibn Zayd was raised in the Prophet’s ﷺ house and was deeply beloved.
• Sole companion of the Prophet ﷺ to Ta’if (EP 020) — injured head to toe shielding him from the mob; because Zayd died early, few details of the journey survive.
• After Badr (EP 041–050): he brought news of the Badr victory into Madinah riding the Prophet’s ﷺ own camel al-Qaswa; and the Prophet ﷺ sent him to lead the Sariyya of Qarada, intercepting a Quraysh caravan (led by Safwan) on the Iraq trade-route — over 50,000 dirhams taken without a fight.
• Repeatedly given command of expeditions. Martyred at the Battle of Mu’tah (8 AH) against the Romans, the first of three commanders to fall — then Ja’far, then Abdullah ibn Rawahah, then Khalid ibn al-Walid took the banner.

Between Khandaq and Hudaybiyyah (EP 062)

• The Sariyya to al-Is (Jumada al-Awwal 6 AH): the Prophet ﷺ sent Zayd with 170 men to intercept the returning Quraysh caravan from Syria — captured in full. Among the prisoners was the Prophet’s ﷺ son-in-law Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi’, freed under Zaynab’s grant of protection (Aman (Protection / Safe-Conduct)).
• Zaynab bint Jahsh: he was Zaynab’s first husband; after he divorced her, Allah married her to the Prophet ﷺ (Q 33:37), abolishing the taboo on the former wife of an adopted son (see Zaynab bint Jahsh (rha)). He later married Umm Kulthum bint Uqba, an emigrant kept in Madinah after Hudaybiyyah (Q 60:10).

Martyrdom at Mu’tah (EP 073)

Appointed first commander at Mu’tah (8 AH) — Aisha (rha) said “never did the Prophet ﷺ send Zayd on an expedition but as its leader; had he lived when the Prophet ﷺ died, none would have been set above him.” He fell first, holding the banner. The Prophet ﷺ narrated his death in Madinah as it happened, weeping; and thereafter, whenever he saw Zayd’s son Usama, he would tear up (Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq). His death was the seerah’s heaviest personal blow to the Prophet ﷺ — “for all intents his real son.”

Cross-references

Muhammad ﷺ · Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (rha) · The Beginning of Revelation (Iqra) · The Incident of Ta'if · Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (ra) · Abdullah ibn Rawaha (ra) · The Battle of Mu'tah · The Battle of Badr · Expeditions Between Badr and Uhud · Safwan ibn Umayya · Expeditions Between Khandaq and Hudaybiyyah · Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi' (ra) · Zaynab bint Jahsh (rha) · Aman (Protection / Safe-Conduct)

Sources

• S003 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 010. S004 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 020 (Ta’if).
• S007 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 041–050 (news of Badr on al-Qaswa; command of the Sariyya of Qarada).
• S009 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 062 (the al-Is raid & Abu al-As; Zaynab’s divorce; marriage to Umm Kulthum bint Uqba).
• S010 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 073 (first commander & first to fall at Mu’tah; the Prophet’s ﷺ grief).