61. MENTION OF ZAID IBN ‘AMR IBN NUFAIL (MAY ALLAH BE PLEASED WITH HIM)
It is reported on the authority of Asma’ Bint Abu Bakr (may Allah be Pleased with them both) that she said, “I saw Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail leaning his back against the Ka‘bah and he was saying, “O, assembly of Quraish! By Him in Whose Hand is Zaid’s soul, none of you is following the Religion of Ibraheem but I.” Then he said, “O, Allah! If I knew the most beloved way to You, I would worship You thereby, but I do not know.” Then he prostrated on his camel.” This is how it was narrated also by Abu Usamah, on the authority of Hisham. He added, “He used to pray toward the Ka‘bah and he would say, “My God is the God of Ibraheem and my Religion is the Religion of Ibraheem.” And he used to save girls from being buried alive, saying to the man who intended to kill his daughter, “Do not kill her. Give her to me and I will be her guardian. Then, when she had grown up, he would say, “If you wish, take her and if you wish, leave her.” This was narrated by An-Nasa’i by way of Usamah and Al-Bukhari included it in a mu‘allaq form.
And Abu Dawood At-Tayalisi said, “I was informed by Al-Mas‘oodi on the authority of Nufail Ibn Hisham Ibn Sa‘eed Ibn Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail Al-‘Adawi, on the authority of his father, who in turn reported on the authority of his grandfather, that Zaid Ibn ‘Amr and Waraqah Ibn Nawfal set out in search of the (true) Religion and they traveled until they reached a monk in Al-Mawsil. The monk said to Zaid Ibn ‘Amr, “From where have you come, O, owner of the camel?” He replied, “From the sons of Ibraheem.” He asked, “And for what are you searching?” He said, “I am searching for the (true) Religion.” He said, “Return, for it is about to appear in your land.” He said, “As for Waraqah, he became a Christian, and as for myself, I decided to follow Christianity, but it did not suit me.” So he returned, reciting:
Here I am, at Your service in truth,
Worshipping and as a slave,
It is piety that I desire and I seek not to beguile,
So should I migrate, like the one who said,
“I have believed in that in which Ibraheem believed,”
O, Allah I shall remain obedient to You,
No matter what hardships I may undergo,
I shall certainly bear them.
Then he fell down and prostrated. The narrator said, “Then his son, i.e. Sa‘eed Ibn Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him), one of the ten who were promised Paradise came and said, “O, Messenger of Allah! If my father was as I have seen and as you have been informed, then ask forgiveness for him.” He said, “Yes, for he will be sent forth on the Day of Resurrection as a nation of one.”
Zaid Ibn ‘Amr came to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), and with him was Zaid Ibn Harithah (May Allah be pleased with him) and they were eating from a table belonging to them. They invited him to eat their food, but Zaid Ibn ‘Amr said, “O, my nephew! I do not eat of that which has been slaughtered on stone altars.”
And Al-Bukhari narrated in his Saheeh on the authority of ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) met Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail at the bottom of (the valley of) Baldah before any Divine Inspiration came to the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). A meal was presented to the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) but he refused to eat from it. (Then it was presented to Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him)) who said, “I do not eat anything which you slaughter in the name of your stone idols. I eat none but those things on which Allah’s Name has been mentioned at the time of slaughtering.” Zaid Ibn ‘Amr used to criticize the way Quraish slaughtered their animals, and he used to say, “Allah has created the sheep and He has sent the water for it from the sky, and He has grown the grass for it from the earth, yet you slaughter it in other than the Name of Allah.” He used to say this because he rejected that practice and considered it as something abominable.”
And Ibn ‘Asakir cited here a number of ahadeeth which are very strange and in some of them there are extremely objectionable things. Then he related from numerous sources from the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said, “He will be sent forth on the Day of Resurrection as a nation of one.” Among them was the narration of Muhammad Ibn ‘Uthman Ibn Abi Shaibah: on the authority of Jabir that he said, “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked if Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail used to face the Qiblah in the Jahiliyyah and he said, “That man will be brought forth as a nation of one, between me and ‘Eesa, the son of Maryam.” Its isnad is jayyid, (good) hasan (sound).
And Al-Baghandi narrated on the authority of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be Pleased with her) that she said, “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) I entered Paradise and I saw two tall trees with many branches for Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail.” Its isnad is jayyid and it is not in any of the books.
And from the poetry of Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail is the following:
To Allah my praise and extolment are directed,
And pleasing words which time does naught to diminish,
To the Highest King, above Whom there is no god,
Nor any lord that approximates Him.
Also from his poetry affirming Allah’s Oneness are the following verses related by Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, Az-Zubair Ibn Bakkar and others:
I have submitted my countenance to the One to Whom,
The earth, which bears heavy rocks, has submitted,
He spread it and when it was leveled,
He made it firm and anchored the mountains,
And I have submitted my countenance to the One to Whom,
The clouds, which bear sweet, cold water, have submitted,
If they are sent to a land, they obey and pour abundant rain on it,
And I have submitted my countenance to the One to Whom,
The wind has submitted, when it is directed hither and thither.
By Ibn Katheer
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