Account of Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl

He is Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Riyāḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qurṭ ibn Razāḥ ibn ʿAdī ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy, of Quraysh, from the clan of ʿAdiyy.

Al-Khaṭṭāb, the father of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, was both Zayd’s paternal uncle and his brother through their mother. This was because ʿAmr ibn Nufayl, after his father’s death, married his father’s widow, who had previously borne al-Khaṭṭāb to Nufayl. This explanation is given by al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq.

Zayd ibn ʿAmr had abandoned idol worship and left his people’s religion; he would eat only that over which God’s name alone had been pronounced.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr relates, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq: Ḥishām ibn ʿUrwah told me, from his father, from Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, who said:

“I saw Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl leaning his back against the Kaʿbah, declaring, ‘People of Quraysh, by Him in whose hand Zayd’s soul rests, not one of you is upon the religion of Abraham except me.’

He would then say, ‘O Allah, if I knew the form of worship You love most, I would worship You in that manner, but I do not know.’ He would then prostrate on the saddle of his mount.”

The same report is transmitted by Abū Usāmah from Ḥishām with this chain, and he adds: “He used to pray facing the Kaʿbah and would say, ‘My God is the God of Abraham, and my religion is the religion of Abraham.’”

He would rescue infant girls who were to be buried alive. When a man intended to kill his daughter he would say, “Do not kill her; entrust her to me and I will care for her.” When she grew up he would tell the father, “If you wish, take her back; if you wish, leave her with me.”

Al-Nasāʾī recorded this through the route of Abū Usāmah. Al-Bukhārī cited it in suspended form, saying, “Al-Layth reported: Ḥishām ibn ʿUrwah wrote to me from his father with this narration.”

Yūnus ibn Bukayr, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, also said: “Among the men of Quraysh were: Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl …”