Az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam

ProfileAz-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam

Az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Safiyyah, the Prophet's ﷺ paternal aunt, and of al-Awwam, a brother of Khadijah. He accepted Islam as a very young man, and according to the early biographies he was among the first to do so, and his own uncle punished him for it. He migrated to Abyssinia and later to Madinah.

At the Trench, the Prophet ﷺ asked who would bring news of the enemy, and az-Zubayr volunteered twice. The Prophet ﷺ said that every prophet had a disciple, and that his disciple was az-Zubayr (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). He also went to bring news from Banu Qurayzah, and when he came back the Prophet ﷺ said that his own father and mother would be sacrificed for him (Sahih al-Bukhari). He was one of the three sent to catch the woman carrying Hatib's letter to Makkah (Sahih al-Bukhari). At Yarmouk he charged the enemy at his companions' request, and was left with two sword wounds on his shoulder (Sahih al-Bukhari).

Uthman said that az-Zubayr was the best of the men people were naming as his successor, and the dearest of them to the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari). Umar had also named him among the six (Sahih al-Bukhari). He was killed in 36 AH, after the Battle of the Camel. Before the battle he told his son Abdullah that he thought he would be killed as one who was wronged, and that his greatest worry was his debts (Sahih al-Bukhari).

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