At a glance
- Roles
- Companion
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Slavery and freedomFamily, marriage and kinshipBattles
Place in the story
- Convert to Islam · c. 610 CETradition
- Companion · c. 610 CE – September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
- Family of the Prophet · c. 627 CE · c. 6 AH†Tradition
- Commander · September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH† – September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
- Martyr (as regarded) · September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH†Tradition
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Zayd ibn Haritha (may God be pleased with him) was one of the people dearest to the Prophet ﷺ and among the first to believe in him. Taken as a small boy, he was bought by Khadija, given to the Prophet, freed and adopted for a time until the Qur'an ended adoption. When offered the choice, Zayd refused to return to his family and stayed with the Prophet; he was martyred at Mu'ta in 629 CE.
Zayd ibn Haritha (may God be pleased with him) al-Kalbi was captured as a child and bought by Khadija before her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ, who freed him and called him his son until the Qur'an ended adoptive naming. When his family finally found him and asked for him back, Zayd chose to stay with the Prophet. He was among the earliest Muslims and one of the Prophet's most trusted: the Prophet married him to Zaynab bint Jahsh (may God be pleased with her) and then to Umm Ayman, mother of his son Usama. He led expeditions and was the first of the three named commanders at Mu'ta in 8 AH (629 CE), where he fell. He is the only companion named in the Qur'an, in the story of Zaynab.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
Zayd ibn Haritha (may God be pleased with him) ibn Sharahil al-Kalbi, the Prophet ﷺ's freedman, was among the very first Muslims. Captured as a boy in a raid and sold in Mecca, he was bought by Khadija and given to the Prophet, who freed him; when his father and uncle came to ransom him, Zayd refused to leave, saying he would choose no one over the Prophet, who then proclaimed his adoption at the Ka'ba — he was known as Zayd ibn Muhammad until al-Ahzab restored lineage naming and ended the dai' adoption. The Prophet married him to Zaynab bint Jahsh (may God be pleased with her); they separated, and the Prophet married Zaynab in the verse that lifted the stigma of marrying an adopted son's former wife — Zayd is the only companion named in the Qur'an, in al-Ahzab 37. He then married Umm Ayman, mother of Usama ibn Zayd (may God be pleased with him), the Prophet's last army commander. Zayd led raids and was the first of the three commanders named for Mu'ta in 8 AH, where he was martyred; the sira treasures his childhood story and his loyalty when offered return.
Overview
Zayd ibn Haritha (may God be pleased with him), freedman of the Prophet, whom he adopted for a time, and one of the earliest to embrace Islam. He is the only Companion named in the Qur'an. He was killed as commander in the expedition of Mu'ta in 629 CE.
Life
Taken captive in childhood in a raid by a tribe, he was sold in Mecca and given as a gift to Muhammad in the house of Khadija. When his father found him and came to take him back, the tradition says Zayd chose to stay. The Prophet freed him and adopted him publicly, so that he was called Zayd ibn Muhammad 1.
He was among the first believers. He married and divorced, and remained in the Prophet's closest circle. The Qur'an mentions "Zayd", the only Companion so named, in the context of the end of that adoption 2. At Mu'ta in September 629 CE the Prophet first placed him in command, and he was killed. He was followed in command by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and then by Abdullah ibn Rawaha 1.
Legacy
His life touches great themes: slavery and freedom, the chosen family, and how the first community changed its customs. Tradition remembers him simply as "the beloved of the Messenger of God" and his freedman.
For young visitors
Zayd was a slave whom the Prophet freed and loved like a son. He could have returned to his family, but he chose his new one, and his name is in the Qur'an.
His expeditions in Ibn Hisham's Sira
Ibn Ishaq counts among his expeditions raids toward al-Qardah, al-Jumum and al-Taraf. He also counts the raid on Judham, in which the Prophet returned what had been taken to Rifa'a ibn Zayd and his people, and the raid on Banu Fazara at Wadi al-Qura. In that raid he was wounded and swore not to wash his head until he had attacked them again. He returned to them, and the Prophet ordered the killing of Umm Qirfa 3 4.
In the secret call (The Sealed Nectar, pp.75, 77)
The book counts him among the four who embraced Islam on the first day of the call, and names him as the Prophet's freedman Zayd ibn Haritha ibn Sharahbil al-Kalbi 5 6. The footnote notes that he had been captured and enslaved. Khadija owned him and gave him to the Prophet. When his father and uncle came to take him away, the Prophet chose to keep him over them. He was adopted in the Arab manner and was called Zayd ibn Muhammad until Islam abolished adoption 5. A report from him describes Gabriel teaching ablution at the first of what was revealed (the prayer before the Night Journey) 7 8.
In Ta'if (The Sealed Nectar, pp.125-126)
The expedition to Madyan
Ibn Hisham relates, on the authority of Fatima bint al-Husayn, that the Prophet sent Zayd toward Madyan with Dumayra, a freedman of Ali, and a brother of his. They took captives from the people of a settlement by the water. The captives were sold and separated from one another, and the Prophet said: "Do not sell them except together." See the sariyya 10.
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Connections
- Spouse of
- Umm Ayman (Baraka bint Tha'laba)· Umm Kulthum bint Uqba· Zaynab bint Jahsh
- Parent of
- Usama ibn Zayd
- Participated in
- Zayd ibn Haritha's detachment to Madyan and the captives· Zayd ibn Haritha's raid on Banu Fazara and the killing of Umm Qirfa· Zayd ibn Haritha's raid on Judham and the Prophet's restitution· The Battle of Badr· The Battle of Mu'tah· The three years of the secret call· After Badr: the dead, the captives, the spoils, and the news in Mecca and Medina· The custody of Hamza's daughter· Expedition of al-Qarada· Expedition of Safwan (First Badr)· The Prophet's journey to al-Ta'if· Dispatch of the Mu'tah army· Martyrdom of Zayd ibn Haritha as first commander· The road to al-Ta'if· The army's march to Mu'tah
- Died in
- Mu'tah
- Member of
- The early Muslim community
- Revealed in
- Qur'an 33:37
- Mentioned in
- Hassan ibn Thabit's elegies for the Mu'tah martyrs· Ka'b ibn Malik's elegy for the Mu'tah martyrs· Qur'an 33:37
People and things also explored
Muhammad· Ja'far ibn Abi Talib· The Prophetic Era· Abd Allah ibn Rawaha· Ali ibn Abi Talib· The Battle of Mu'tah· Mecca· al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/260
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/265
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.75
- Rahma lil-Alamin — al-Mansur Furi , 1/50
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.77
- Mukhtasar Sirat al-Rasul — al-Najdi , p.88
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.125
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/284
- Lings, Muhammad (1983)
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Zayd ibn Haritha”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/zayd-ibn-haritha/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.