Sa'id bin Zayd

Sa'īd bin Zayd, (Arabic: سعيد بن زيد) (c.593-c.671), also known by his kunya Abu'l-Aawar, was a companion (Arabic: الصحابة‎‎) of the Prophet Muhammad.

He was the son of Zayd bin Amr, from the Adi clan of the Quraysh in Mecca, and of Fatima bint Baaja of the Khuza'a tribe.:296 :301 His father was murdered in 605.:103:298

Sa'id had over thirty children by at least eleven different women.:298-299

1. Fatimah bint al-Khattab, also known as Ramla or as Umm Jamil, who was his cousin and a sister of Umar, the second Caliph.
   1. Abdulrahman the Elder, who left no male-line descendants.
2. Julaysa bint Suwayd.
   1. Zayd, who left no male-line descendants.
   2. Abdullah the Elder, who left no male-line descendants.
   3. Atiqa.
3. Umama bint al-Dujayj of the Ghassan tribe.
   1. Abdulrahman the Younger, who left no male-line descendants.
   2. Umar the Younger, who left no male-line descendants.
   3. Umm Musa.
   4. Umm al-Hasan.
4. Hamza bint Qays of the Muharib ibn Fihr clan of the Quraysh.
   1. Muhammad.
   2. Ibrahim the Younger.
   3. Abdullah the Younger..
   4. Umm Habib the Elder.
   5. Umm al-Hasan the Younger.
   6. Umm Zayd the Elder.
   7. Umm Salama.
   8. Umm Habib the Younger.
   9. Umm Sa'id the Elder, who died in her father's lifetime.
   10. Umm Zayd.
5. Umm al-Aswad from the Taghlib tribe.
   1. Amr the Younger.
   2. al-Aswad.
6. Dumkh bint al-Asbagh of the Kalb tribe.
   1. Amr the Elder.
   2. Talha, who died in his father's lifetime and who left no male-line descendants.
   3. Zujla.
7. Bint Qurba, also of the Taghlib tribe.
   1. Ibrahim.
   2. Hafsa
8. Umm Khalid, a concubine.
   1. Khalid.
   2. Umm Khalid, who died in her father's lifetime.
   3. Umm al-Numan.
9. Umm Bashir bint Abi Mas'ud al-Ansari.
   1. Umm Zayd the Younger.
10. A woman from the Tayy tribe.
    1. Umm Zayd the Younger, wife of al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd.
11. Another Concubine.
    1. Aisha.
    2. Zaynab.
    3. Umm Abdul-Hawla.
    4. Umm Salih.

Sa'id is described as a tall, hairy, dark-skinned man.

Sa'id became a Muslim not later than 614.:116:299 History records that he was a pious man who never did anything throughout his life against the teachings of Muhammad.

His wife Fatima was also an early convert.:116 At first they kept their faith secret because Fatima's brother Umar was a prominent persecutor of Muslims.:144,156 Khabbab ibn al-Aratt often visited their house and read the Qur'an to Fatima.:156

One day Umar entered their house while Khabbab was reading and demanded to know what the "balderdash" was. When they denied that anything had been read, Umar seized Sa'id and knocked him to the floor. Fatima stood up to defend her husband, and Umar hit her so hard that she bled. The couple admitted that they were Muslims. At the sight of the blood, Umar "was sorry for what he had done," and asked to see what they had been reading. It was Ta-Ha, later to become the twentieth Surah of the Qur'an. Apparently impressed by the beauty of the words, Umar decided to become a Muslim.:156-157:205-206

Sa'id joined the general emigration to Medina in 622 and at first lodged in the house of Rifa'a ibn Abdul-Mundhir. He was made the brother in Islam of Rafi ibn Malik of the Zurayq clan;:299 but an alternative tradition names his brother in Islam as Talha ibn Ubaydallah.:165

Sa'id and Talha missed the Battle of Badr because Muhammad sent them ahead as scouts to report on the movements of Abu Sufyan's caravan. When they heard that they had missed the caravan, they returned to Medina, only to find that Muhammad and his army had already reached Badr. They set out for Badr and met the returning victorious army at Turban. However, Muhammad gave them a share of the plunder as if they had been present.:329:299-300

Sa'id participated in all the other battles in which Muhammad personally fought.:300 It is said that he always covered Muhammad keeping himself ahead and in front of him in battle and always stood behind him in prayers.

He served as Muhammad's secretary and recorded the verses of the Quran.

Once he was appointed Governor of Damascus without his consent. He wrote to Abu ‘Ubayda, "I am unable to offer such a sacrifice. You will perform Jihad while I will be deprived of it. Please send someone else to replace me as soon as you receive this letter. I am coming to you soon." Later, he fought as an ordinary soldier in all the battles of the Islamic army.

In the time of Muawiyah I he was Governor of Kufa.:301

He is said to have passed the rest of his life in perfect peace and did not ever incline towards the mundane pleasures of life.

He disliked taking oaths. Once he had to attend a court of law in connection with a suit. The judge asked him to speak on oath. He withdrew his case and abandoned his claim.

He died in 671 AD (51 AH) during the reign of Muawiyah I at al-Aqiq. His corpse was carried back to Medina and buried there by Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas and Abdullah ibn Umar.:300-301

Sa'id said that Muhammad once guaranteed Paradise to ten men who were then present and named nine of them. Then he hinted that the tenth man had been himself.:300 This story of the Ten Promised Paradise was corroborated by another of the Ten, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf.