Zayd Manāh ibn Tamīm, the Tamīmī al-Mujāshiʿī. Ibn Durayd (1) says that his personal name was Firās ibn Ḥābis and that he was nick-named al-Aqraʿ (“the Bald-headed”) because of a bald spot on his head. He was one of the tribal chieftains who came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the delegation of Banū Tamīm. It was he who called out from behind the apartments, “O Muḥammad, my praise is an adornment and my blame a disgrace!” He is also the man who, on seeing the Prophet kiss al-Ḥasan, exclaimed, “Do you kiss him? By Allah, I have ten children and I have never kissed a single one of them.” The Prophet replied, “Whoever shows no mercy will be shown no mercy” (2); in another wording he said, “What can I do if Allah has stripped mercy from your heart?”
He was among those whom the Prophet ﷺ sought to win over, so on the Day of Ḥunayn he gave him one hundred camels, the same amount he gave to ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn al-Fazārī. To ʿAbbās ibn Mirdās he gave fifty camels, whereupon ʿAbbās recited (3):
Do you share out my spoil—and the slaves’ as well—
Between ʿUyaynah and al-Aqraʿ?
No Ḥiṣn nor Ḥābis surpasses Mirdās
When the people gather;
Nor am I beneath either of them,
And whoever is humbled today shall never be raised.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “Are you the one who recited:
Do you share out my spoil—and the slaves’ as well—
Between al-Aqraʿ and ʿUyaynah?”
This is narrated by al-Bukhārī (4). Al-Suhaylī (5) remarks that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned al-Aqraʿ before ʿUyaynah because al-Aqraʿ was the better of the two; for that reason he did not apostatize after the Prophet ﷺ, whereas ʿUyaynah did, pledging allegiance to Ṭulayḥah, believing him, and later returning.
In short, al-Aqraʿ was a respected and obeyed leader. He fought alongside Khālid ibn al-Walīd in his campaigns in Iraq and commanded the vanguard on the day of al-Anbār.
Our teacher lists him among those who died during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. Ibn al-Athīr, however, records in al-Ghābah (6) that ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿĀmir appointed him over an army and dispatched him to Jūzjān, where he and all his men were killed; this took place during the caliphate of ʿUthmān, as will be mentioned, Allah willing.