I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And there is no doubt about the wrongdoers. And the end is for the righteous. O Allah, bless and bless your servant and messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him.
And on his family and companions, peace be upon them. So, last week I said that we weren't going to go in any chronological order and that we would take one set from before the Prophet's time and then we'd kind of mix it up. And I changed my mind.
we're going to take a very heavy emphasis from the seerah to start this off. And we're going to really look at this from the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ and focus on that for some time. And then we'll go after, before, and jump around. But what compelled me to this was that I kept on thinking, who do we start this series with?
And I got drawn into the story of Waraqa ibn Nufayl because Waraqa is a very interesting character because Waraqa, radiallahu ta'ala, was he the first Muslim? Was he not a Muslim? Did he? Did he accept the Prophet?
Did he live long enough? What's the story of Waraka before those moments? Did the Prophet ever have a conversation with Waraka before?
All of these questions about Waraka. And so I decided to go to a man that I've spoken about quite a bit within khutbahs and different classes and lectures, but I've never really gotten to highlight his biography in full. And he's a companion of Waraka.
He's just a remarkable figure all around and he deserves this level of attention and he deserves to be the first. And of course I thought about doing Khadija first but then people would have accused me of being biased because of my daughter. So I decided that we'll do Khadija third for a reason.
The man is Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl. An absolutely remarkable figure in the history of Islam has a story unlike any other person from the Companionate. of the Prophet.
There is truly nothing like him. And he belongs to this group of people that were called the Hunafa or the Hanifeen. Not the Hanif. I know that the followers of the madhhab of Imam al-Hanif rahimahullah would want this to be that the first Muslims were Hanafi, but it's a different type. They're Hanif, meaning they were monotheists.
A group of four monotheists that decided that they wanted to follow the religion of Ibrahim. They wanted to follow the way of Ibrahim. They looked at their context in Mecca and they were deeply troubled by the paganism and the idol worship. And so they decided that something is wrong about this. And they couldn't quite figure out what the right path would be.
But at least these four men decided amongst themselves that we're not going to follow the dominant pagan culture in Mecca. And we're going to look for something else. Now, they were four.
They were Uthman ibn al-Huwaydith. I'm only going to do two of them in detail. Uthman ibn al-Huwayrit was one of them. He became a Christian and he went to Rome and he actually took up a position amongst the Romans.
So he kind of disappears from the story of Islam very early on because he moved out of Mecca very early on, accepted the religion of Christianity as a result of his rejection of paganism and became, you know, a minister amongst the Romans and kind of disappears and falls off. There is Abdullah ibn Jahsh, who's... whose story is very interesting because he becomes Christian as well in this context, in this climate. Then when the Prophet brings Islam, he accepts Islam and he makes the migration to Abyssinia, the Hijrah to Habesha, which is a Christian land.
And then the sources seem to indicate that he became Christian again and died as a Christian. However, the narration that states that has some issues with it. So though it's prominent in literature that Abdullah bin Jahsh, left Islam and became Christian again in Abyssinia and died that way.
It's not a confirmed fact because there is some issue with the narration, but that's his story. Now, the two that we're really going to concern ourselves with and go into detail with are Zayd ibn Amir ibn Nufayl and Waraqaa ibn Nufayl. Waraqaa ibn Nufayl, who we'll talk about in depth next week.
And to be honest with you, I'm excited to talk about Waraqaa ibn Nufayl because I learned a lot going in depth and research in his life in the last week in particular. particular, Waraka became Christian too. But Waraka would become a very specific type of Christian. He would become a Nestorian priest, which was the Christianity that Salman al-Farisi would follow. And we'll talk about that next week when we get into the story of Waraka ibn Nufayl.
So out of the four Hanifs, out of the four monotheists in Mecca, three of them became Christian or joined some of Christianity. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl is never really satisfied with Christianity or Judaism as he sees it in his time. Instead, he insists on being a follower of the way of Ibrahim a.s. He's a follower of Ibrahim. Ibrahim.
He's not convinced by Judaism and Christianity as they exist. We're talking about before the Prophet Sallallahu Allah Wasallam has come along as a prophet, but he insists he's a monotheist and he will challenge his society in very unique ways. So let's talk about this man. man who is an incredibly remarkable man.
SubhanAllah, it's hard not to fall in love with this man when you study him. And it's only fitting that we study him first in this series of the firsts, just because of how unique his story is. So his name is Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl.
Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl is from the Adi clan, Banu Adi of Quraysh. So it's a higher clan. And he is the first cousin of Umar ibn Al-Khattab.
رضي الله تعالى عنه الخطاب ابن نفيل So it's always good to connect these things From a historical perspective There's Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail Umar ibn Al-Al-Khattab Ibn Nufail Umar ibn Al-Al-Khattab ibn Nufail So that would make Al-Al-Khattab The paternal uncle Of Zayd Alright, so Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail Is the first cousin of Umar He would only have Two children One of them One of them is Saeed ibn Zayd who would become one of the 10 promised paradise and the other is Aatika bint Zayd. So he only has two children, one son and one daughter and we'll get back to her as well. The Prophet saw Zayd growing up and he was fascinated by him.
The Prophet never worshipped idols. Abu Bakr never worshipped idols. idols.
But at the same time, they were not challenging idol worship in society because the Prophet Sallallahu Allah Wasallam had not been called to do that. He had not been called to do that. And perhaps that's the wisdom of Allah that the Prophet Sallallahu Allah Wasallam for 40 years would establish such credibility and he would call people to that credibility.
Had he challenged them, he might face the same repercussions that Zayd would have faced at this time. So the Prophet Sallallahu Allah Wasallam has no calling from Allah to reject idol worship actively and publicly. But he doesn't worship idols. Abu Bakr does not worship idols. Abu Bakr says, I was sitting in my room as a kid and my father brought an idol, put him in front of me and he said, worship him and ask him for your sustenance.
Abu Bakr said, I started talking to him, I said, what's your name? He said, the idol didn't answer me. He said, can you do this, this, this and that? He asked the idol a few questions. He said, this makes no sense whatsoever.
You can't even help yourself. I could tip you over and you'll break. So Abu Bakr said, I'm not worshiping idols. Zayd, on the other hand, says idol worship is a rejection of the way of Ibrahim and Zayd will challenge his society in a very unique way.
The Prophet mentions him that he used to, that the Prophet remembered being in a gathering and they served food, they served meat to the people there and the Prophet simply passed and then when it got to Zayd said إِنِّي لَسْتُ آكُلُ مِمَّا تَذْبَحُونَ عَلَىٰ أَنصَابِكُمْ وَلَا آكُلُ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ مَا ذُكِرَ اسْمُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ He said, I will not eat that which was slaughtered in the name of your idols And I will not eat except for that which was slaughtered in the name of Allah So Zayd takes a very strong stand In another instance, Zayd even became more emboldened in challenging them He said to them Al-Shatu, خَلَقَهَا اللَّهُ وَأَنزَلَ لَهَا مِنْهِمٍ He said that this animal was provided by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah created the animal. And then Allah revealed the sustenance that was necessary for the animal to be suitable for slaughter.
And then you go and you sacrifice it in the name of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he's actually criticizing them at this point. and saying, what is wrong with you people?
How do you serve this meat? How do you slaughter this meat in the name of other than Allah? Dedicated to the idols. When if it was not for Allah, neither the animal nor the sustenance of the animal exists. The Prophet ﷺ even remembered a very personal instance and this is narrated by Zayd ibn al-Harithah.
One thing about the Sahaba is that when you read in their biographies, you find there were a lot of Zayd and a lot of Fatima. A lot of Zayd and a lot of Fatima. that existed back then. There was only one Muhammad. But the names, like Hind was a very common name.
Zayd was a very common name. Fatima was a very common name. Khadija is unique. So Muhammad and Khadija are very unique names.
So the Prophet ﷺ was with Zayd ibn al-Harithah And Zayd ibn al-Harithah narrates He says that the Prophet ﷺ met Zayd ibn Amr In a place near Tan'im Which is close to Mecca And the Prophet ﷺ was the one serving the food in the gathering. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is passing out the food in the gathering. So Zayd obviously likes the Prophet ﷺ as a person. He's a noble young man.
And he sees some good characteristics in the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. So while the Prophet ﷺ comes to him, Zayd does not respond aggressively to him. Zayd says to him, يَبْنَ أَخِي لَا تَأْكُلْ مِنْ هَذَا He says to him, O son of my brother, O son of my brother, do not eat from this.
It was slaughtered in the name of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he's even speaking to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and advising the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, don't eat from this, don't serve it, don't participate in any of this. Zayd ibn Harithah says, from that day onwards, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam never ate from the meat of Quraysh or served it.
So this is the position that Zayd ibn Amr is taking in this society of Mecca. He's significantly older than the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Then comes again Zayd now breaking off from this group of four even, to be the only one that doesn't become a Christian, but at the same time obviously he's still considered amongst that group of people because their Christianity was still one of Tawheed and so he still relates to them, he's still considered amongst the group, but Zayd's insistence.
Zayd would raise his hands in front of the Kaaba and he would say, Allah inni أَنِّي أَشْهَدُ أَنِّي عَلَىٰ دِينِ إِبْرَاهِيمِ Oh Allah, I bear witness that I am on the religion of Ibrahim. I am on the religion of Ibrahim. So imagine walking around the Ka'bah and you got all the idols around.
You have this one man standing in front of the Ka'bah and he's holding his hands in dua towards the Ka'bah and he's saying, Oh Allah, bear witness. I bear witness that I am on the religion of Ibrahim a.s. Isma'a r.a says that when the time of Hajj would come around, Now their Hajj was a Hajj of idols And it was a festival to where these people would make a lot of money Hajj was their commerce It was their money It was their corruption It was everything to them Because that's where they got the idols prepared And they prepared the poetry And the festivals And everything that would take place around the Hajj at that time And Asma'A'a radiallahu ta'ala anha says I remember that strange sight of Zayd Zayd as the festival is carrying out Goes and and he puts his hands on the Kaaba with his back on it. I really, subhanAllah, when you read these stories, imagine the sight. And he calls out to the people and he says, Ya Ma'shar Quraish, O Quraish, O assembly of Quraish, Wallahi ma minkum ala dini Ibrahim ghayri.
He said, I swear that not one of you is on the religion of Ibrahim except for me. Why? Because Quraish would admit that this home was built by Ibrahim Asma.
They would say it was built by Ibrahim. They had murals inside the Kaaba of Ibrahim. and Mary and Jesus alayhimussalam, they had pictures of them and they had sculptures of them and idols and they still took pride in being descendants of Ibrahim alayhimussalam and Zayd is calling out to them and saying no one of you is on the religion of Ibrahim alayhimussalam except for me so he did this and what do you think people did?
they treated him like he was a madman Right, people ignored him, they mocked him, they continued to go along with their way. It's not like Zayd was walking around breaking idols. or being aggressive towards them. He simply was calling out and saying, this is not the religion of Ibrahim alayhi salam.
And then Asma'A'just relays this very beautiful and touching moment, where she says that Zayd would make sujood towards the Ka'bah. He prostrate to the Ka'bah. And the whole story of Zayd is amazing, because he has no revelation to guide him.
He doesn't know what ruku'is, what bowing is, and what sujood, and what prostration is. But he just, subhanAllah, his intuition, He's guided towards good. There's rushd. There's guidance in his actions. He knows to make sajdah, to prostrate towards the Kaaba.
And she said he would start to cry. And he said to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he said this dua. The was curious. Asma'A was a curious young woman.
The said, I heard him say, Allah, lau anni a'lamu ayyul wujuhi ahabbu ilayk. Abattuka bihi walakini laa a'lam. O Allah, if only I knew which of these two of the ways was most pleasing to you. I would worship you in accordance with that way, but I don't know. I don't know.
And then he says, out of an excuse to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, وَلَكِنِّي أَعْبُدَكَ أَعْبُدُكَ هَكَذَا يَرَبُ But I worship you like this, O Allah. So I'm going to do sujood and hope that I'm right. I'm going to prostrate to you and hope that I'm right.
Now what's significant is that the post-council of Nicaea Christians were not doing sujood. Prostration was no longer part of their prayer. prayer. So Zayd is exerting himself to think what would Ibrahim alayhi salam do? What was the religion of Ibrahim?
What was the way of Ibrahim? What is Ibrahim alayhi salam's life about? And you know he's focused, he's really honing in on, he's distinguishing himself with what? His worship and his sacrifice, which is a part of the ritual of worship. Now think about what's happening in Mecca right now.
They've taken the rituals of Ibrahim alayhi salam which were made for monotheism, made for tawhid. and they've turned all of them into pagan rituals. The Ka'bah was built for the worship of Allah. Tawaf was supposed to be an exclusive remembrance of God and the centering of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as the one God.
And now they put idols around the Ka'bah. Ibrahim alayhi salam who preached modesty, now they do tawaf with no clothes around these idols. And they sing all sorts of poetry of ignorance.
The animals were supposed to be slaughtered as a means of glorifying Allah. قُلْ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةِ وَنُسُكِي So, Say verily my prayer and my sacrifice. وَمَحْيَا يَوْمَاتِ لِلَّهِ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ My life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
And now the sacrifice is being done in the name of idols. And there's all sorts of, you know, some idols are more valuable than others. So Zayd is seeing this and Zayd is naturally exerting himself, you know, away from this. Now as Zayd becomes more annoying, the person that would walk up to him and torture him was none other.
than his uncle Al-Al-Khattab, the father of Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه. First Al-Al-Khattab started to curse him. Then he would spit at him. Then he would beat him.
Then Al-Al-Khattab would call for the other people to beat him as well. And he made Zayd's life so difficult that Zayd could no longer enter into Mecca except in secrecy. When Zayd would leave Mecca, he could only come back in secrecy because Al-Al-Khattab would release him. release the suffahat, he'd release the thugs to beat on him anytime. He said, if you see this man come back into Mecca, I want you to beat him and I want you to teach him a lesson.
Because Al-Al-Khattab was a proud man. And so even though Zayd was not harming anybody, but the fact that he was challenging these rituals, that was the way of Al-Al-Khattab. Now you know where Umar radiallahu anhu was acting out of before he became Muslim, right?
You've got a problem, this is how you solve it. He went to the Kaaba to kill the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam the first time, right? He said, okay, I'm confused now, I'm going to go to the Kaaba.
and just kill him in front of the Kaaba. Because that's how his father dealt with the challenge of Tawheed. Umar radiallahu anhu said, well, let me think of that way too.
And even the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was amazed. And you think about what would be told to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam later on that your people will run you out. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went up to him and asked him one day, he said, Zayd, ya Zayd, ma li ara qawmaka qad shanafu alayk?
Why is it that your people hate you so much? Imagine the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has no idea what his future holds. and he's talking to this older man who's challenging paganism all by himself and declaring the way of Ibrahim a.s.
He says why is it that your people hate you so much? And Zayd responds and he says, oh son of my brother, it's because I have left their religion and their idols for the religion and the God of Ibrahim a.s. and his mother.
His motto became, إِلَهِ إِلَهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ وَدِينِي دِينُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ My Lord is the Lord of Ibrahim. My religion is the religion of Ibrahim. People would tell him to become a Christian, become a Jew.
He would not do it. You know, they took him to rabbi. They took him to priests.
He won't do it. He's certainly not reverting to paganism, but he's still very Curious right but at the same time he has a love and an attachment to Ibrahim alayhi salam. He sees it as a mission to maintain the way of Ibrahim a.s.
So if you put Zayd in front of a Jew or a Christian, he would hold that rabbi or that priest up to the litmus test of what he viewed as Ibrahim a.s. When he criticizes the people, he criticizes them in the name of Ibrahim a.s. So he just has a love for Ibrahim a.s.
and wants to preserve the way of Ibrahim and sees that as his sacrifice. Now here's where it gets very interesting about Zayd. Asma'A'a r.a, she says, وَكَانَ يُحْيِي الْمَوْؤُودَ And she says, He used to give life to the young girls that would be buried alive.
Now obviously, يُحِي المَؤُودة doesn't mean he raises them from the dead. What is she referring to? He would stop the men from burying their daughters alive. With no guidance from the Qur'an, نَوْوَ إِذَا الْمَؤُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ When the young girl that was buried alive asked, for what crime was I killed?
Zayd abhorred this practice. And he didn't just say, this is not the way of Ibrahim. Zayd would actually go and this is powerful language Asma'A'at says he would give life to them because it's like he was saving their lives because otherwise he would have all of these girls that would be killed so what she says is that Zayd used to go out there was a particular area in Mecca and I visited that area subhanAllah where they actually buried the girls alive they put out ditches and they would bury the girls alive and this is This is what Allah talks about in the Quran. وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالْأُنثَةِ That when they were given the glad tidings of a girl, that they would hang their heads in shame and sadness. And they would try to hide from the people because they saw a girl as poverty.
They saw a girl as shame. That's the level that these people had reached. And so they would take their young girls in the middle of the night and they would bury them alive.
SubhanAllah, think about how nasty that crime is. And Zayd... knowing that, was disgusted by it.
So Zayd would go out at the time in which they would take their girls out to bury them. And this is what he would say to them. يَقُولُوا لِلرَّجُلِ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَن يَقْتُلُ أَبْنَتَهُ He would say to the person as they were taking their girls to bury them alive, he would say, لَا تَقْتُلْهَا إِنِّي أَكْفِكَ مُؤْنَتَهَا He said, don't kill her, I will take care of her and I'll take care of all of her expenses.
So Zayd would take the young girl, he would spend on the girls, girl, he would raise the girl, and then once, this is subhanAllah, you know, this shows you the type of character the man has. Once she grew up and she became older, he would go back to the parents and he would say, Look, now if you want, I can return her back to you. Or, If you want, I'll take care of marrying her off as well.
So the man was raising all these young, abandoned girls. in Mecca. And then when they reached an age, he would act as their wadi.
He would act as their guardian. He would find them the right suitor, and then he would marry them off. SubhanAllah, like where does that come from?
Where is that fitrah from? How is the guy making sujood, saving young girls from being buried alive? And SubhanAllah, even, it's narrated about him, he never committed adultery and he never drank alcohol. And in fact, he has a saying, He said, إِيَاكُمْ وَالزِّنَةَ فَإِنَّهُ يُورِثُ الْفَقْرِ He said, Beware of committing adultery because it bears poverty in your life. So he even would say that he's opposed to zina, he's opposed to adultery and fornication, he's opposed to alcohol.
So basically, I mean, he's living this life in accordance with the religion that would come after him, and that was the sincerity of his pursuit of the way. of Ibrahim. Now, he travels the world to try to find guidance.
Okay? He's on the way of Ibrahim. He says, I want the way of Ibrahim. Again, he would adopt from Christianity whatever he felt matched up to the way of Ibrahim.
He'd adopt from Judaism. whatever he felt matched up to the way of Ibrahim, but he says, I am on the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam. And him and Waraka went to a Sham together. So Sham is greater Syria, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan. He goes there with Waraka.
Waraka, of course, immerses himself in the literature of the Old Testament and the New Testament and the Injil, the Gospel and the Torah, Waraqaah immerses himself. He learns Hebrew, he gets very deep into this and this sort of becomes his life to the point that Waraqaah becomes a priest. Okay, Waraqaah would become a priest. Zayd on the other hand continues to travel, is never really satisfied with the answers that he's getting and he doesn't have the support of his family so his uncle tortured him.
him al-Al-Khattab and says, don't come around. If you come around, then you'll be beaten. And he actually tells people to beat him if they see him entering into Mecca again. And his wife would become stressed anytime he would say, I'm going to Al-Sham.
Because while the people went out to Al-Sham for trade, Zayd would go out to learn more and to try to answer these questions that were nagging at him about revelation and about the oneness of God and Ibrahim alayhi salam. So his wife is trying to stop him from leaving. His uncle saying, don't come back. And he's torn and he's going around. And he goes to two places that are noteworthy.
He goes to Mosul, which if you remember in Iraq, the story of Salman al-Farisi, Salman also went to Mosul in Iraq. So he went to Mosul to study their Christianity in Mosul. And then he went to Al-Sham. And when he went to Al-Sham, he did what Salman did.
He said, take me to the most knowledgeable. Rahib, I want the most knowledgeable scholar amongst you so they take him to the most knowledgeable scholar amongst you and after Zayd has argued with rabbis and priests about religion he comes to this man and he tells this man what he's looking for and what he wants and this Rahib says to Zayd he says that the one that you're looking for is due to come out from the land that you left go back to Mecca, go back to where you come from and this Rabi'Ah, this prophet, is there, is going to be sent now. And subhanAllah, he tells him what was told to Salman.
The last part of the journey of Salman was back in Isa. And the scholar told him, no one's on millat Ibrahim anymore. But go back to, or he told him, go to this land. And he gave him the description. And he said that there's a prophet that will soon come out.
So Zayd, this rahib tells him, listen, the one that you're waiting for, or the prophet that you're waiting for, is due to come out from the very same land. So Zayd gets excited. He turns back towards Mecca.
He has no idea that that young man, Muhammad Sallallahu Allah Wasallam, who he used to call Ibn Allah, my cousin, and saw such noble... He had no idea that that was going to be the one that was going to be the prophet or the messenger, but he's making his way back to Mecca so that he can await for this prophet. On his way back, he is captured by highway robbers. They steal... steal everything he has, and he's so close.
He's in a land called Belqa, very close to Mecca, very close. So he's made it out of a sham. He's getting so close, and he's captured. They steal everything that he has, and after they steal everything that he has, they decide to kill him and cast his body to the side.
SubhanAllah, think of all this. And Zayd was around the age of 85 years old at this time. So you've spent your...
Your whole life on the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam, trying to find the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam, you're told finally in the same land where you were the lone voice defending monotheism, that the Prophet is coming out there. And then you're going back there and now you're about to be killed. While Zayd was about to be killed, he made this beautiful dua, made this supplication as he was about to be killed.
He said, Allah. In kunta haramtani min suhbati nabiyyik, fala tahrimha min ibni sa'it. He said, O Allah, if you have forbidden me from the companionship of your Prophet, then do not forbid that companionship from my son Sa'it.
So if I'm going to die in this pathetic way, you know, on my way back to Mecca and not find guidance, then I'm content with that. But do not let my son Saeed be prevented from that guidance. So Saeed, he makes dua for him. Aatika, and subhanAllah, you know, Zayd was saving other people's daughters, right?
Aatika bint Zayd would go on to become the wife of five shulahs. shuhada. Sounds crazy, right?
And not just any shuhada. First she was married to Zayd ibn al-Al-Khattab. Then after Zayd ibn al-Al-Khattab, she was married to Abdullah ibn Abu Bakr, the son of Zayd ibn al-Al-Khattab. of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Then after Abdullah died, Umar ibn al-Al-Khattab married her.
Then after Umar died, Az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam married her. And then after she outlived Zubayr, after Zubayr died, Al-Hassan ibn Alaihi married her. The same woman married Zayd ibn al-Al-Khattab, the son of Abu Bakr, Umar himself, Al-Zubair, and the son of Alaihi, Al-Hassan ibn Alaihi, the same woman, and subhanAllah she never had children from all five of them.
So subhanAllah the same woman would live long enough. to marry five of the greatest men that would be murdered. So these were all shuhada at some point and each time, SubhanAllah, actually she died before Hanafis radiyaAllahu ta'ala, anna wa an abiy.
So Zayd, you know, if he he was one of the people of Mecca, he would have went and buried this girl. But look what his kids become. Sa'id ibn Zayd, one of the first people to accept the Prophet ﷺ.
So his dua was answered that he would be at the service of the Prophet ﷺ. Sa'id is one of the first people to accept the Prophet ﷺ. So just, you know, subhanAllah, in these moments, he makes dua and he asks Allah that Sa'id has the suqah. service of that he's able to serve the Prophet the way that he would not be able to serve the Prophet.
Sa'id Subhanallah as Allah's Qadr would have it, Sa'id would marry Fatima the sister of Umar You remember that story of Umar ibn al-Al-Khattab going to his sister's house and beating the the husband of his sister? That was Sa'id ibn Zayd. So just like al-Al-Khattab beat Zayd for his Tawheed Umar would beat Sa'id for his Tawheed for his Tawheed, the son, for his monotheism.
But of course, that story instead ends with Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu himself becoming a Muslim and being a very close confidant to Saeed ibn Zayd radiallahu ta'ala anhumah. So where do we pick up with the story? What do you make of this man?
I mean, what is his fate? Surely Allah would not punish this man. And he died five years before the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam's bi'at.
So he died around the year 605. Five years. years before the Prophet even knew that he was going to be a Prophet, that Allah would appoint him with Prophethood. So it's not like Waraqaah who lives sometime, it's he died five years before, was murdered on his way back to Mecca.
So Allah knows if he would have even lived even naturally to see the Prophet come out. So what do we make of this man? And this is where the narrations are just incredibly beautiful. In an authentic narration, Sa'id and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, go to the Prophet and they are conflicted.
Sa'id wants to ask the Prophet what happened to his father, Umar wants to know what happened to his uncle and they're afraid of the answer. Like is it possible that this man spent his life on monotheism and striving for guidance and doing all these noble acts just from his natural akhlaq, noble character and he's in hell? I mean, what do we make of him?
Can we say, رضي الله عنه? May Allah be pleased with him. Can we make dua for him?
So, Saeed starts off and he says, يا رسول الله, you know my father, and you know who he was. I don't even have to go, I don't have to make a case. Oh, messenger of God, you know who my father was.
And they asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, يا رسول الله, أنا استغفر لذيذ They didn't ask him, is he in heaven or hell? Because it would be too painful Prophet was to say he's in hell, right? That would have been too hard for them to hear.
So instead they asked, can we seek forgiveness for him? And the Prophet said, seek forgiveness for him. He said, for by Allah I saw on the day of judgment as the Prophets line up with their Ummah behind them, with their nations behind them. 124,000 Prophets.
all line up on the Day of Judgment. Behind them are their nations. Some prophets have one person, some have ten, some have ten thousand, some have eighty. The Prophet ﷺ has the largest nation, after him the nation of Musa ﷺ, of Moses, peace be upon him.
So these large nations line up behind their prophets, right? And SubhanAllah the Prophet said, إِنَّهُ يُبْعَثُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أُمَّةً وَحْدًا That he will be resurrected all by himself as an Ummah. The man is an Ummah, he's a nation.
And in an authentic narration, this is so touching because it gives you the vivid image. He says, بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عِيسى بْنِ مَرْيَم Between the two nations, Jesus over there, Isa and between the Prophet and Isa there's this one man standing all by himself and he is an ummah all by himself. He is a nation all by himself and that is Zayd al-Mu'mar.
And this is, you know, it's incredible because Allah says about Ibrahim what? Ibrahim was a nation in and of himself in regards to the good that he used to do. What came out of Ibrahim, was the good of an entire nation. From that one man of Ibrahim came a nation of good, right? And here you have Zayd who had this love for Ibrahim and the way of Ibrahim, standing by himself literally as an ummah.
Literally as an ummah. No prophet. He cannot be fit in any other way. He can't be fit in any other way except as a nation in and of itself. There's more to this.
And it gets more beautiful as you dive into these narrations. I'm going to... Ibn Rahib, he was a companion of Zayd. Amr Ibn Rahib was one of the first to accept Islam. He came to the Prophet in the fourth year after the call of the Prophet, which is relatively early if you consider the private and then public call of Islam.
And he was in tears telling the Prophet this story. He says that I was sitting with Zayd one day. And Zayd says to me, Ya Amr, he says, إِنِّي أَنْتَظِرُ نَبِيًّا مِنْ وَلَدِ إِسْمَعِيلِ He said, listen, I'm waiting for a prophet from the descendants of Ismail a.s.
I want you to know I'm waiting for a prophet from the descendants of Ismail a.s. Ma'il alayhi salam. He said that he will be on the way of Ibrahim.
He will call to Ibrahim. And he pointed to the Ka'ba and he said, and he will pray to this Qibla. He will pray in this direction. He has no idea it's Muhammad salallahu alayhi salam. He says, but I'm with you.
waiting for this prophet. And he said to him, should I live to see him, I will believe in him. I will believe in him. And I will support him.
And I will testify that he is a prophet of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But he said, I have a feeling I'm not going to live long enough to see him. I just have a bad feeling that I'm going to die before he comes out.
Amr was relatively younger. So he said to Amr, إِذَا رَأَيْتَ If you see him, أَقْرِئْهُ مِنِّي السَّلَامُ He said, give my salam to him. It's beautiful, subhanAllah.
He said, when you see him, give my salam to him and follow him. So, عَبْنُ الرَّبِيعَ said, when the Prophet ﷺ made the call, he said, I went to the Prophet ﷺ and I became Muslim and I gave him salam from me and I told him, I said, you know, Zayd was sitting with me and Zayd said that, I don't think I'm going to live long enough to see you, but if I do see him, I will. I will believe in him and support him and testify that he's a prophet. And he told me, if I live to see you, أقرئه مني السلام.
So I'm giving salam to you from Zayd. So the Prophet ﷺ gave salam back. وَتَرَحَمَ عَلَيْهِ Meaning he made dua that Allah have mercy on Zayd.
Which gives us the answer about saying, رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَرَحِيمَهُ اللَّهُ Doing the same prayers that we would do for any companion of the Prophet ﷺ. And he said to him, تعامل. He said, وَاللَّهِ قَدْ رَأَيْتُهُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ يَسْحَبُ ذِيُولًا He said, I swear by Allah, I saw Zayd in Jannah dragging his garment.
He has a long garment in Paradise, carrying his garment, walking through in Jannah, walking through in Paradise. And another authentic hadith, the Prophet said, دَخَلْتُ الْجَنَّةِ فَرَأَيْتُ لِزَيْدِ بْنُ عَمْرُ بِنُ نُفَيْلِ دَرَجَتَيْنَ He said, I entered into Jannah, I entered into Paradise, and I saw Zayd in Paradise. saw that Allah has reserved two levels of paradise for one man, for Zayd.
That Allah gave him two levels of paradise all by himself. SubhanAllah. So, the narrations go on and I think it's befitting that we end with a eulogy.
The eulogy was given or the one who heard of his death and said these beautiful words about him was none other than his close friend Waraqaa who we'll talk about next week. And Waraqaa said these words. words of him in eulogy. He said, He said, So I'll go through it. on the right path.
You were all together guided on the right path, O son of Amr, and gained the bounty. And he says, تَجَنَّبْتَ تَنْ نُورًا مِنَ النَّارِ حَامِيًا And you saved yourself from the oven of the blazing fire. And then he said, بِدِينِكَ رَبًّا لَيْسَ رَبٌّ كَمِثْلِهِ By choosing a Lord who has no equal to Him وَتَرُكُكَ أَوْثَانَ التَّوَاغِيَ كَمَا هِيَ And by your abandoning of the vain idols as they are وَقَدْ تُدْرِكُ الْإِنسَانَ رَحْمَةُ رَبِّهِ And verily the mercy of His Lord will reach a man وَلَوْ كَانَ تَحْتَ الْأَرْضِ سِتِّينَ وَادِيَا Even if he was sixty layers beneath the earth The mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reach him. فَرَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَىٰ عَنْهُ وَرَحِيمَهُ اللَّهُ May Allah be pleased with him and have mercy on him.
Obviously, you know, I think as far as lessons are concerned, the Prophet ﷺ talks about this idea of intuition, of the righteousness of a Muslim, that a soul that is at peace with Allah is naturally guided to the things that are pleasing to Allah. That when the fitrah is intact, when a person's natural disposition towards God is... intact that they will naturally find themselves in that worship and in that service and even though Zayd had absolutely no idea of what was to come after him but that's the sincerity you see what's very prevalent in the and many of these stories that we'll go through is a refusal to be complacent, a refusal to be complacent and to look deeper into society around him and Zayd thinking deeply and deeply and deeply about theology and becoming the person that he was.
So we ask Allah to have mercy upon him and to be pleased with him. And bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, we will continue next week inshallah with the story of Waraqaah, which I'm really looking forward to because it's one of those fascinating stories you can see the makings of that society, those sparks of Tawheed, those sparks of monotheism that exist before the Prophet ﷺ in that Meccan society. And also the fact that the Tawheed of Ibrahim ﷺ comes with far more implications than merely worshipping Allah ﷻ.
Zayd was guided to protect the young girls that were being buried alive, guided away from zina and khamr, guided away from adultery and from intoxication, guided to all of these good things in a natural way. And that is the way of Ibrahim a.s. Not merely the worship of Allah But the honoring of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala With everything else