The Beloved, The Son Of The Beloved

’Usâmah Ibn Zaid

The Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, entered Makkah victoriously, riding his camel Al-Qaswâ’[1], looking down humbly to Allah’s, Praise and Glory be to Him, power. He was surrounded by ten thousand fighters. On the camel behind him, rode a black young boy, snub-nosed, whose age would not exceed 18 years old… And when the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, entered the Ka‘bah, he entered with him and closed the door… When he came out, he came out with him… The people gathered around him and asked: Did the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, pray inside the Ka‘bah, and how many Rak‘ahs did he pray?.   

That young boy is ’Usâmah Ibn Zaid that the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, said about him (as related by ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar): “’Usâmah Ibn Zaid is the most beloved of people to me, or from the most beloved to me, and I do hope he will be from the good men amongst you, so be good to him”[2].

‘Âishah, ’Um Al-Mu’minûn (the mother to all believers), may Allah be pleased with her, says: ’Usâmah stumbled at the edge of the door, and was cut in his face… So, the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, said: “Remove from him the traces of the damage”. I was somewhat disgusted of him, so the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, kept sucking and spitting his blood and said: “If ’Usâmah was a slave girl, I would have clothed him and taken care of him till he completely recovered”[3].

That was when he was still a young boy. He was loved by the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, and enjoyed his tenderness towards him… He was the son of a marriage between Zaid Ibn  Hârithah the man loved by the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, and ’Um ’Ayman (named Barakah) an Ethiopian woman who was one of the women who helped in the bringing up of the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,… So, he was the beloved, the son of the beloved…

The people knew how much the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, loved ’Usâmah, so when they needed anything from the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, they would go to ’Usâmah…

One day, a woman called Fâtimah Al Makhzûmiyah committed a theft, her family feared that the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, might order her hand to be cut off, so they discussed the matter amongst them saying: Who can intercede with the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, for her?… And who will try to ask for her mercy of him for her sake?… For she has confessed of her sin and repented… But they could not find anyone daring to do this task, so they said: Nobody dared to do that but the beloved, the son of the beloved, ’Usâmah Ibn Zaid.. But, when ’Usâmah went to the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, trying to ask for his mercy upon her -he was still a young boy- then, he could not appreciate the seriousness of the situation.. The Prophet’s, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, reply was: “In one of Allah’s rules ’Usâmah?!!… In one of Allah’s rules ’Usâmah?!!”. Then, he spoke to the public saying: “By Allah, I would cut even the hand of Fâtimah (i.e. the daughter of the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,) if she committed a theft”[4].

Then the people understood there was no mercy concerning Allah’s rules. If the matter reaches the ruler, then there is no mercy concerning the punishment. But, if the matter had not yet reached the ruler, then the person attacked could then have mercy on the guilty one, if he pleased.

When Zaid Ibn Hârithah (’Usâmah’s father) was killed during the battle of Mu’tah, and he was a leader to the army, the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, grieved to a great extent…  

After some time, the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, ordered that an army goes out to teach Al-Rûm (Romans) a lesson, and he made ’Usâmah Ibn Zaid its leader. At that time, he had not yet reached the age of twenty, and in the army were older people like ’Abû Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmân, and ‘Alî… So, some of the hypocrites and the weak believers started grumbling about that amongst themselves till the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, heard about the matter, so he gave a speech saying: “If you are criticising ’Usâmah’s leadership, you used to criticise his father’s leadership before. By Allah! He was worthy of leadership and was one of the dearest persons to me, and (now) this (i.e.’Usâmah) is one of the dearest to me after him (i.e. Zaid)”[5]…

The Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, faces his death illness, so the army is delayed in starting off, and the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, demands before his death: “Let ’Usâmah go out as I ordered”[6]…

’Abû Bakr As-Siddîq became khalifah (caliph) and carries out the Prophet’s, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, will. When he goes to bid the army farewell, he goes walking while ’Usâmah is riding on his horse, so ’Usâmah says: O khalîfah (successor) to Allah’s Prophet, either you ride, or I come down from my horse… But ’Abû Bakr refuses to ride, or that ’Usâmah gets off his horse and says: It wouldn’t do me any harm if my feet were dusted while I took some steps in Allah’s Cause… Then he takes ’Usâmah’s permission that ‘Umar Ibn Al Khattâb would stay (behind from the battle) to help him carry out the Khilâfah (ruling) matters together.. ’Usâmah grants him that permission.. ’Usâmah’s army returns after fulfilling his target successfully, and without victims…The people then commented: We have not seen an army more peaceful than that of ’Usâmah.

‘Umar Ibn Al Khattâb became khalifah (caliph) and he loves ’Usâmah and keeps him close to him. He is more generous to him than to his own son ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar and when  ‘Abdullah complains about it by telling his father: O leader of the believers, you have preferred ’Usâmah to me and I have gone through difficulty with you that he had not witnessed?… 

‘Umar said: ’Usâmah was more beloved to the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, than you, and his father was more beloved to the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, than your father…

Days pass by, and ‘Alî Ibn ’Abî Tâlib became khalifah (caliph), and the clash takes place between him and Mu‘âwiyah Ibn ’Abî Sufyân. ’Usâmah stays away from that, and does not join either of them… and when ‘Alî blames him for that he says: By Allah, if you put your hand in the mouth of a monster, I would put mine also, but you heard what the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, said when I killed that man who declared the Shahâdah (I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah)… For I was in the battle and I saw a non believer (in field) killing the Muslims, so I and one of Ansâr (Supporters) attacked him. We pointed our weapons to kill him, he said: (I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah). And we still killed him. When we went to the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, we told him about it, so he said: “O ’Usâmah…Why did you not regard the words (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah?!)”…So I said: O Prophet of Allah, he just said it to save himself from our killing him…So the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, said: “O ’Usâmah, why did you not regard the words (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah?!)”… And By Him Who sent him with the Truth, he kept repeating these words until I wished that I would become a Muslim once more, and that what had passed from my days as a Muslim were not worth considering…So I said: I make a vow to Allah never to kill a man who says (I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah)…’Usâmah stayed away from the sedition. He never put up his sword against any Muslim until he died, may Allah be pleased with him, which was during the later part of Mu‘âwiyah Ibn ’Abî Sufyân’s ruling period. He was buried in Baqî‘ beside the Prophet’s, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him, companions from the immigrants and supporters.

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