al-Mustadrak (al-Hakim) 4956

Translation

✧ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out, with me riding behind him, toward one of the stone idols. We slaughtered a sheep for him and placed it in the oven. When it was cooked, we took it out and put it in our provision basket. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ proceeded riding with me behind him during the hot days of Makkah, until we reached the upper part of the valley. There he met Zayd b. Amr b. Nufayl. One of them greeted the other with the greeting of the Jahiliyyah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, "Why do I see your people have rejected you?" He replied, "By Allah, that is because of a change in a matter between me and them, but I see them are upon misguidance." He said, "So I went out seeking this religion until I came to the rabbis of Yathrib. I found them worshipping Allah and associating partners with Him. I said to myself, 'This is not the religion I seek.' Then I went out until I came to the rabbis of Ayla. I found them worshipping Allah and associating partners with Him. I said to myself, 'This is not the religion I seek.' Then a rabbi among the rabbis of Syria said to me, 'You are asking about a religion in which we know no one who worships Allah by it except an old man in al-Jazirah.' So I went out until I came to him and told him what I had set out for. He said, 'Everyone you have seen is upon misguidance. You are asking about a religion which is the religion of Allah and the religion of His angels. A prophet has emerged in your land, or is about to emerge, calling to it. Return to him, believe him, follow him, and have faith in what he brings.' So I returned, but I did not comprehend anything after that. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ made the camel he was riding kneel down. Then we presented to him the provision basket containing the roasted meat. He said, 'What is this?' We said, 'This is a sheep we slaughtered for such-and-such an idol.' He said, 'I do not eat what is slaughtered for other than Allah.' It was an idol made of brass called Isaf and Na'ilah, which the polytheists would touch when they performed tawaf. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed tawaf and I performed tawaf with him. When I passed by it, I touched it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Do not touch it.' Zayd said, 'We performed tawaf. I said to myself, "I will certainly touch it to see what he says." So I touched it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Were you not forbidden?" Zayd said, 'By the One who honored him and revealed the Book to him, I did not touch an idol after that, until Allah honored him with what He honored him and revealed the Book to him.' Zayd b. Amr b. Nufayl died before the Prophet ﷺ was sent. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'He will come on the Day of Resurrection as a nation by himself.' It is authentic according to the condition of Muslim, but they did not include it. Whoever reflects on this hadith will recognize the virtue of Zayd and his preceding in Islam before the call. According to the condition of Muslim.

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