ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Thaqafī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from Abū Salamah (1) and Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Usāmah ibn Zayd, from his father, who said:
I once went out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on an intensely hot Makkan day. He had me ride behind him while we headed toward one of the stone idols. We slaughtered a sheep for it and cooked it thoroughly. On the way we were met by Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl.
The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Zayd, why do I see that your people have become so hostile toward you?”
He replied, “By Allah, O Muhammad, it is not because I have wronged them in any way (2). Rather, I left home in search of the true religion. I first went to the rabbis of Fadak and found them worshipping Allah but also associating partners with Him; then to the rabbis of Khaybar and found the same; finally to the rabbis of Syria, and again it was the same.
“So I said, ‘This is not the religion I am seeking.’
“One of their elders told me, ‘You are asking about a faith by which we know of no one who worships Allah except an old man in al-Ḥīrah.’
“So I travelled until I reached him. When he saw me he asked, ‘Where are you from?’
“I answered, ‘From the people of the Sacred House.’
“He said, ‘What you seek has already appeared in your own land. A prophet has been raised, his star has risen, and everyone you have met is in error.’”
Zayd continued: I felt nothing at that moment.
Then the Prophet ﷺ brought the food-tray close and asked, “What is this, O Muhammad?”
I replied, “A sheep we slaughtered in front of an idol.”
He said, “I never eat anything over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned.”
We parted company. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then went to the Kaʿbah, circumambulated it with me beside him, and likewise walked between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwah. Beside the two hills stood two copper idols, Isāf and Nāʾilah; whenever the polytheists performed ṭawāf they would wipe themselves against them.
The Prophet said, “Do not touch them, for they are filth.”
I thought to myself, “I will touch them and see what he says.”
So I touched them, and he said, “Zayd! Were you not forbidden?”
Zayd ibn ʿAmr died, and revelation then came down upon the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said to Zayd: