Zayd ibn al-Arqam

ProfileZayd ibn al-Arqam

Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the Khazraj, one of the two great tribes of the Ansar. According to the early biographies, his father died when he was small, and he was brought up by Abdullah ibn Rawahah, one of the first Ansar to pledge to the Prophet ﷺ, and a scribe, a poet and a commander, who took him in. Zayd learned to read and write, and shared Abdullah's courage and his love of knowledge. According to the early biographies, he was among those who accepted Islam in Madinah as part of that household. He was too young to fight at Badr, and the Prophet ﷺ sent him back. Later he said that the Prophet ﷺ went out in nineteen campaigns, and that he joined him in seventeen, the first being al-Ushayrah (Sahih al-Bukhari).

His best-known story is of the campaign of the Banu al-Mustaliq. Zayd told that on that expedition he heard Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the leader of the hypocrites of Madinah, say that they should not spend on those who were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until they dispersed, and that when they returned to Madinah the stronger would drive out the weaker. According to the early biographies, this was said after two men had quarrelled at the well, one of the Emigrants and one of the Ansar. Zayd told his uncle, or Umar, who told the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ called Zayd, and he told him, and sent for Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions, who swore that they had not said it. The Prophet ﷺ accepted their statement and rejected Zayd's, and Zayd said that he was more distressed than he had ever been, and stayed at home. His uncle said that he had only wanted the Prophet ﷺ to think him a liar and to hate him. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ met him, took him by the ear and smiled in his face, and Zayd said that nothing in the world pleased him more. Abu Bakr and Umar asked what the Prophet ﷺ had said, and he said only that he had pinched his ear and laughed. Then Allah revealed the chapter that begins with the hypocrites coming to the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ sent for Zayd, recited it to him, and said that Allah had confirmed his word (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, Abdullah ibn Ubayy was left in disgrace in Madinah after this.

Zayd told that the Companions used to speak to each other during prayer, until a verse came down telling them to stand before Allah with devotion, and they were told to be silent and forbidden to speak (Sahih Muslim). He told the Prophet's ﷺ words on entering the toilet, asking Allah's refuge from the male and female devils (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih). He told that the Prophet ﷺ used to teach them a supplication for refuge from incapacity, laziness, cowardice, miserliness, old age and the torment of the grave, and asking Allah to give his soul its righteousness and purify it, for He is the best to purify it, and for refuge from knowledge that does not benefit, a heart that is not humble, a soul that is not satisfied and a prayer that is not answered (Sahih Muslim). He told that the Prophet ﷺ asked Allah to forgive the Ansar, their children and the children of their children. When Madinah was ravaged in 63 AH at al-Harrah and Anas ibn Malik grieved for his family, Zayd wrote to console him with this prayer of the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). He told how the Prophet ﷺ stood to speak at Khumm, between Makkah and Madinah, and told the people to hold fast to the Book of Allah and to the people of his house (Sahih Muslim). The Prophet ﷺ visited him when his eyes hurt (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan). According to the early biographies, he had been with Abdullah ibn Rawahah at Mu'tah and saw him die. Al-Bara ibn Azib told that he and his partner Zayd ibn al-Arqam once did business partly in cash and partly on credit, and asked the Prophet ﷺ, who told them to take what was hand to hand and to leave what was on credit (Sahih al-Bukhari).

According to the early biographies, he left Madinah for Kufa, in Iraq, where he taught. When the people came to ask him for hadith, he said that he had grown old and forgotten some of it, and would only tell what he was sure of (Sahih Muslim). According to the early biographies, he died in Kufa, and the reports differ whether before or after the killing of al-Husayn.

WatchA lecture about Zayd ibn al-Arqam

Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah

SourcesSources for this profile