5 of 5 · 8 AH / 629 CE · Mu'tah, on the edge of al-Sham
Zayd ibn Harithah رضي الله عنه
The Banner at Mu'tah
Zayd took part in many expeditions, and 'A'ishah is reported to have said that the Prophet ﷺ never sent him with an army without making him its commander. In the eighth year he was named commander of the army sent toward the Byzantine border, with Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah to take over in turn if he fell (Sahih al-Bukhari 4261).
At Mu'tah the Muslims, a few thousand, faced a vast army. Zayd carried the banner into the fighting and was killed. Ja'far took it and fell, then Ibn Rawahah, until Khalid ibn al-Walid gathered the army and brought it back safely.
In Madinah the Prophet ﷺ described the battle to the people before any messenger had arrived, announcing the fall of the three commanders while his eyes were filled with tears (Sahih al-Bukhari 1246). The one who had been taken as a boy from his family died as an amir of the believers.
In Islam, rank is given for faith and service, not for birth.
What kinds of leadership do we assume only certain people are entitled to?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4261 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1246 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Musnad Ahmad (report of 'A'ishah on Zayd's command)Grade not recorded here
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa'l-NihayahHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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