The Prophet’s Love
The Prophet’s love for Usama is documented in multiple hadiths:
- He carried Usama and his grandson Hasan simultaneously on his shoulders as children, saying: “O God, love them, for I love them.”
- He called Usama hibb al-nabi wa ibn hibbihi (the beloved of the Prophet and son of his beloved — Zayd ibn Haritha was also deeply loved by the Prophet before his death at Mu’ta)
- When the Qurayshi woman was brought to the Prophet for stealing and her clan interceded through Usama to reduce her punishment, the Prophet responded: “Are you interceding in one of God’s prescribed penalties? The nations before you perished because they applied the law to the weak and waived it for the powerful. By God, if Fatima daughter of Muhammad had stolen, I would cut her hand.”
The Last Army
In the final weeks before his death, the Prophet appointed Usama ibn Zayd — approximately 18-19 years old — as commander of an expedition to the Syrian border region (where Zayd had been killed at Mu’ta). Some senior Companions objected to his youth; the Prophet reportedly became so angry at the criticism that he came out ill with his head wrapped in cloth to defend Usama’s appointment.
When the Prophet died before the army could depart, there were calls to cancel the expedition given the Ridda crisis throughout Arabia. Abu Bakr refused, reportedly saying: “I will not untie a banner that the Prophet tied.” The army went; the symbolic act of maintaining the Prophet’s last command was considered more important than the immediate military crisis at home.
Character and Legacy
Usama lived in Medina and later in Wadi al-Qura. He avoided the civil wars, refusing to fight on either side in the conflicts between Ali and his opponents. He died reportedly in Palestine during Mu’awiya’s reign.
See also: Seerah Zayd Ibn Haritha, Seerah Abu Bakr, Al Ridda, Seerah Uhud, Seerah Ammar Ibn Yasir