A touching incident

This incident occurred before Prophet Mohammed was commissioned with Prophethood. He was a man of exemplary character and was highly respected and looked up to by the people. This Incident gives us a glimpse of his magnanimity and his love towards all.

This was the time when the practice of slavery was rampant in the world and Arabia was no exception. After the marriage of the Prophet to Khadija, a young slave named Zaid bin Harithah came into the service of the Prophet. Zaid bin Harithah was from the area between Syria and Iraq and was from a prominent tribe but was stolen from his family and sold into slavery at a young age and in this way he had finally landed in Arabia.

After being in the service of the Prophet for several months, during the pilgrimage season, as Makkah was the centre for pilgrimage for centuries, a few men from the tribe of Zaid saw him and recognised him and found out his whereabouts. On their return they informed his father. He immediately set forth to Makkah with his brother to redeem his son and take him back with him.

Going to the Prophet he begged him to allow him to ransom Zaid at any price that he might ask. Prophet Mohammed replied “let him choose, and if he chooses you, he is yours without ransom; and if he chooses me, I am not the man to set any other above him who chooses me. When Zaid was called he recognised his father and his uncle and when asked to choose he replied “I will not choose any man in preference to you. You are to me as my father and my mother.” His father was shocked to hear this from his son who choose another instead of his own father and slavery to freedom. The Prophet was moved to hear this from Zaid and without any further talk he took them to the ‘Kabah' and announced to all that he had adopted him as his son with these words “ All ye present, bear witness that Zaid is my son; I am his heir and he is my mine.”

From that day onwards Zaid came to be known as Zaid bin Mohammed. (Zaid son of Mohammed)