Zayd ibn Haritha
زيد بن حارثة
c. 580 (approx.) CE – September 629 CE · Jumada I 8 AH
A freedman of the Prophet, once adopted by him, who became one of the earliest Muslims and commanded the expedition to Mu'ta, where he was killed; the only Companion named in the Qur'an.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion
- Tradition
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
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.
Brief
Zayd ibn Haritha was a freedman of the Prophet, once adopted by him, and one of the earliest Muslims. He is the only Companion named in the Qur'an, and he died commanding the expedition to Mu'ta in 629 CE.
Life
Captive in a tribal raid as a boy, Zayd was sold in Mecca and given to Muhammad in the household of Khadija bint Khuwaylid. When his own father traced him and came to take him home, tradition tells that Zayd chose to stay — whereupon the Prophet freed him and adopted him publicly, so that he was called Zayd ibn Muhammad 1.
Among the earliest believers, he married, divorced, and remained in the Prophet's closest circle; the Qur'an's reference to "Zayd" (33:37) — the only Companion named — is bound up with the ending of that adoption 2. At The Battle of Mu'tah in September 629 he held the army's first command and was killed, followed in command by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and Abd Allah ibn Rawaha 1.
Legacy
His life touches big themes: slavery and freedom, chosen family, and how the early community changed its own customs. The tradition remembers him simply: "the beloved freedman."
For young visitors
Zayd was a slave whom the Prophet set free, then loved like a son. He could have gone home, but he chose his new family — and his name is in the Qur'an.
Connections
- Spouse of
- Umm Kulthum bint UqbaZaynab bint Jahsh
- Parent of
- Usama ibn Zayd
- Died in
- Mu'tah
- Member of
- The early Muslim community
- Participated in
- The Battle of BadrThe Battle of Mu'tahThe three years of the secret callExpedition of al-QaradaExpedition of Safwan (First Badr)The Prophet's journey to al-Ta'ifDispatch of the Mu'tah armyMartyrdom of Zayd ibn Haritha as first commander
- Revealed in
- Qur'an 33:37
- Mentioned in
- Hassan ibn Thabit's elegies for the Mu'tah martyrsKa'b ibn Malik's elegy for the Mu'tah martyrs
People and things also explored
Abd Allah ibn RawahaJa'far ibn Abi TalibThe Prophetic EraMuhammadal-Zubayr ibn al-AwwamThe Battle of Mu'tahQurayshBilal ibn Rabah
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Lings, Muhammad (1983)
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Zayd ibn Haritha”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/zayd-ibn-haritha/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.