Waʾil ibn Dāwūd relates: I heard al-Bahiyy (1) report that ʿĀʾishah used to say, “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Zayd ibn Ḥārithah with a detachment, he put him in command of it; and had he lived after the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah would have appointed him as his successor.”

Al-Nasāʾī also transmitted the report through Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān from Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṭanāfisī. Its chain is sound and strong, fulfilling the conditions of authenticity, though the report itself is exceedingly rare. Allah knows best.

Imām Aḥmad said: Sulaymān narrated to us, Ismāʿīl narrated to us, who said: Ibn Dīnār informed me, from Ibn ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched an army and placed Usāmah ibn Zayd over them. Some people found fault with his leadership, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose and said:

“If you criticize his command, you already used to criticize the command of his father before him. By Allah, he was indeed fit for leadership, and he was among the dearest of people to me; and this young man is, after him, among the dearest of people to me.”

The two Ṣaḥīḥs record the same ḥadīth—through Qutaybah, from Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr al-Madani, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār, from Ibn ʿUmar—at greater length.

Al-Bukhārī also reports it via Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Sālim, from his father. Al-Bazzār transmits it through ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-ʿUmari, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, and classifies this route as unusual.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār says: ʿUmar ibn Ismāʿīl [ibn Mujālid] narrated to us—my father told me—from Mujālid, from al-Shaʿbī, from Masrūq, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: “When Zayd ibn Ḥārithah was killed, Usāmah ibn Zayd was brought and made to stand before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The eyes of the Messenger of Allah filled with tears, so the boy was led away. The next day he was brought again to stand before him, and the Prophet said, ‘Will I meet from you today what I met from you yesterday?’” This ḥadīth is odd in its transmission; Allah knows best.

It has already been reported in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (7) that when the Prophet ﷺ, standing on the pulpit, spoke of their deaths he said:

“Zayd took the banner and was struck down; then Jaʿfar took it and was struck down; then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah took it and was struck down; then a sword from among the swords of Allah seized it, and Allah granted victory to them.”

The narrator added: his eyes were flowing with tears. He also said: “They would not wish to be back with us now.”