Al-Zuhrī said, “We do not know of anyone who accepted Islam before him.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah related: Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us—on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar—who said, “We used to call Zayd nothing but ‘Zayd ibn Muḥammad,’ until the verse was revealed: ‘Call them after their fathers’ (33:5).”

Yazīd ibn Abī ʿUbayd reported from Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ: “I campaigned alongside Zayd ibn Ḥārithah in seven expeditions; on each occasion the Prophet ﷺ appointed him commander over us.” Al-Fasawī transmitted the same report from Abū ʿĀṣim on the authority of Yazīd.

Ibn ʿUyaynah said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār informed us—he heard Ibn ʿUmar say, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ put Usāmah in command of a detachment, and the people criticized his leadership. The Prophet ﷺ declared, ‘If you find fault with his command, you already found fault with his father’s command. By Allah, he was certainly worthy of leadership, and he was one of the dearest people to me; and this son of his is the dearest of people to me after him.’ ”

Ibn Isḥāq reported—through Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qusayṭ, from Muḥammad ibn Usāmah, from his father—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to my father, “O Zayd, you are my mawlā, you belong to me and are attached to me, and you are the most beloved of all people to me.”