[Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

People are made up of basic "metals" or qualities. The
best of them in JahilEyyah are the best of them in Islam,
according to a hadith of the Prophet.

Here are two pictures of a noble companionرone
during his life in Jahiliyyah and the other after he became a
Muslim.

In Jahiliyyah, this Sahabi was known as Zayd al-Khayl.
When he became a Muslim, the Prophet renamed him
Zayd al-Khayr.

The tribe of Aamir were afflicted one year by a severe
drought which destroyed crops and vegetation and caused
livestock to perish. So bad was it that one man left the tribe
with his family and went to Hira. There he left his family
with the words, "Wait for me here till I return to you." He
swore to himself not to return to them until he earned some
money for them or died in the process.

The man took some provisions with him and walked all
day in search of something for his family. At nightfall, he
found himself in front of a tent. Nearby a horse was
tethered and he said to himself:

"This is the first booty." He went to the horse, untied it
and was about to mount it when a voice called out to him:

"Leave it and take your life as booty." He hastily
abandoned the horse.

For seven days he walked until he reached a place where
there was a pasture for camels. Nearby was an enormous
tent with a leather dome, signs of great riches and wealth.

The man said to himself:

"Doubtless this pasture has camels and doubtless this
tent has occupants." The sun was about to set. The man
looked inside the tent and saw a very old man in the centre.
He sat down behind the old man without the latter
realizing his presence.

The sun soon set. A horseman, imposing and well built,
approached. He rode his mount erect and tall. Two male
servants accompanied him, one on his right and the other
on his left. With him were almost a hundred she-camels
and in front of them a huge male camel. Clearly he was a
well-endowed man. To one of the servants he said, pointing
to a fat camel:

"Milk this and give the old man a drink."-The shaykh
drank one or two mouthfuls from the full vessel which was
brought to him and left it. The wanderer went up to it
stealthily and drank all the milk in it. The servant returned,
took the vessel and said:

"Master, he has drunk it all." The horseman was happy
and ordered another camel to be milked. The old man
drank only one mouthful and the wanderer drank hall ol
what was left so as not to arouse the suspicion of the
horseman. The horseman then ordered his second servant
to kill a sheep. Some of it was grilled and the horseman fed
the shaykh until he was satisfied. He and the two servants
then ate. After this, they all slept soundly; their snoring
filled the tent.

The wanderer then went to the he-camel, untied and
mounted it. He rode off and the she camels followed. He
rode throughout the night. At daybreak he looked around
in every direction but did not see anyone following him. He
pushed on until the sun was high in the sky. He looked
around and suddenly saw something like an eagle or a big
bird in the distance coming towards him. It quickly gained
on him and soon he saw that it was the horseman on his
horse .

The wanderer dismounted and tied the he-camel. He
took out an arrow and placed it in his bow and stood in
front of the other camels. The horseman stopped at a
distance and shouted:

"Untie the camel." The man refused saying how he had
left behind him a hungry family in Hira and how he had
sworn not to return unless he had money or died in the
process.

"You are dead if you do not untie the camel," said the
horseman. The wanderer again refused to do so. The
horseman threatened him once more and said:

"Hold out the reins of the camel. There are three knots
in it. Tell me in which of them you want me to place my
arrow." The man pointed to the middle knot and the
horseman lodged an arrow right in the centre as if he had
neatly placed it there with his hand. He did the same with
the second and third knots. At that, the man quietly
returned his own arrow to his quiver and gave himself up.
The horseman took away his sword and his bow and said
to him:

"Ride behind me." The man expected the worst fate to
befall him now. He was at the complete mercy of the
horseman who said:

"Do you think I will cause you harm when you have
shared with Muhalhil (the old man, his father) his drink
and his food last night?"

When the man heard the name Muhalhil, he was
astonished and asked:

"Are you Zayd al-Khayl?"

"Yes," said the horseman.

"Be the best captor," pleaded the man.

"Don't worry," replied Zayd al-Khayl calmly. "If these
camels were mine, I would give them to you. But they
belong to one of my sisters. But stay some days with me. I
am about to make a raid."

Three days later he raided the Banu Numayr and
captured about a hundred camels, as booty. He gave them
all to the man and sent some men with him as guards until
he reached his family in Hira.

The above is a story of Zayd al-Khayl as he was in
Jahiliyyah recounted by the historian ash-Shaybani. The
books of Siyar give another picture of Zayd al-Khayl as
he was in Islam . . .

When Zayd al-Khayl heard the news of the Prophet,
peace be upon him, he made some of his own enquiries
and then decided to go to Madinah to meet the Prophet.
With him was a big delegation of his people among whom
were Zurr ibn Sudoos, Malik ibn Jubayr, Aamir ibn
Duwayn and others.

When they reached Madinah, they went straight to the
Prophet's Mosque and tethered their mounts at its door. It
happened that as they entered, the Prophet was on the
mimbar addressing the Muslims. His speech aroused Zayd
and his delegation and they were also astonished by the
rapt attention of the Muslims and the effect of the
Prophet's words on them. The Prophet was saying:

"I am better for you than al-Uzza (one of the main idols
of the Arabs in Jahiliyyah) and everything else that you
worship. I am better for you than the black camel which
you worship besides God."

The Prophet's words had two different effects on Zayd
al-Khayl and those with him. Some of them responded
positively to the Truth and accepted it. Some turned away
and rejected it. One of the latter was Zurr ibn Sudoos.
When he saw the devotion of the believers to Muhammad,
both envy and fear filled his heart and he said to those
with him:

"I see a man who shall certainly captivate all Arabs and
bring them under his sway. I shall not let him control me
ever." He then headed towards Syria where it is said he
shaved his head (as was the practice of some monks) and
became a Christian.

The reaction of Zayd and others was different. When
the Prophet had finished speaking, Zayd stood up, tall and
impressive-looking in the midst of the Muslims and said
in a loud and clear voice:

"O Muhammad, I testify that there is no god but Allah
and that you are the messenger of Allah."
The Prophet came up to him and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Zayd al-Khayl the son of Muhalhil."

"From now on you are Zayd al-Khayr instead, not Zayd
al-Khayl," said the Prophet. "Praise be to God Who has
brought you from the hills and dales of your native land
and softened your heart towards Islam." Thereafter he was
known as Zayd al-Khayr (Zayd the Good).

The Prophet then took him to his house. With them
were Umar ibn al-Khattab and some other Companions.
The Prophet gave him a cushion to sit on but he felt very
uncomfortable to recline thus in the presence of the
Prophet and he returned the cushion. The Prophet handed
it back to him and he returned it to him. This happened
three times. Eventually, when they were all seated, the
Prophet said to Zayd al-Khayr:

"O Zayd, no man has ever been described to me and
when I see him he does not fit the description at all except
you. You have two characteristics which are pleasing to
God and His Prophet."

"What are they?" asked Zayd.

"Perseverance and sagacity," replied the Prophet.

"Praise be to God," said Zayd, "Who has given me what
He and His Prophet like." He then turned directly to the
Prophet and said:

"Give me, O rnessenger of God, three hundred
horsemen and I promise you that I will secure Byzantine
territory with them."

The Prophet praised his fervour and said, "What manner
of man are you!"

During this visit, all those who stayed with Zayd became
Muslims. They then desired to return to their homes in
Najd and the Prophet bade them farewell. The great desire
of Zayd al-Khayr to work and fight for the cause of Islam,
however, was not to be realised.

In Madinah al-Munawwarah at that time there was an
epidemic of fever and Zayd al-Khayr succumbed to it and said to those
with him: "Take me away from the land of
Qays. I have the fever of small pox. By God, I shall not
fight as a Muslim before I meet Allah, the Mighty the
Great."

Zayd took the road to his people in Najd in spite of the
fact that the fever became more and more intense and
slowed him down. He hoped at least to get back to his
people and that they would become Muslims, through
God's grace, at his hands. He struggled to overcome the
fever but it got the better of him and he breathed his last
on the way before reaching Najd. Between his acceptance
of Islam and his death, however, there was no time for him
to have fallen into sin.

Scanned from: "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.