Abstract
Idolatry was widespread in Mecca and most of Arabia just before the Prophet Muḥammad’s prophecy. However, there was a small group that was committed to the Prophet Abraham’s belief in monotheism. These people, who are called Ḥanīf, tried to stay away from idolatry, Christianity and Judaism and continue the religion of the Prophet Abraham as much as they could reach his knowledge. Even though the intervening years had caused them to forget the sharia of the Prophet Abraham, they were at least trying to stay away from the bad habits of Jāhiliyya, such as drinking and adultery. Also, they did not accept any god other than Allah.
One of the Ḥanīfs was Zayd b. ‘Amr who lived and died during the Jāhiliyya. He is a remarkable person because of his characteristics such as criticizing the Meccans for their beliefs, not eating the meat of animals slaughtered on behalf of idols, and saving baby girls who were wanted to be killed by their families. Since there is not any independent study on Zayd b. ‘Amr in Turkey, we thought that it would be appropriate to examine this precious person, who was ahead of his contemporaries in terms of both mentality and behavior.
It is not known that when he was born and how old he was when he died. He is a makti person because his mother married her step-son and Zayd b. ‘Amr was born by this marriage. Both his explanations and the testimony of other people show that he was the only person who was Ḥanīf in Mecca during his lifetime.
As he pointed out in some of his poems, he had shown respect to idols like his fellow citizens at one time. There is not any information on whether he went through an experience that dissuaded him from this opinion or whether he started believing in the unity of Allāh through his own intellectual deductions. When he realized that it was wrong to worship idols, he visited many towns and sought a right religion. As far as we understand from the narrations, these trips were made more than once to find a right religion. It is understood that he visited many regions such as Yathrib, Khaybar, Fadak, Ayla, Shām, al-Mawṣil, al-Jazīra, Balḳāʾ and Ḥirāʾ to find the right religion. Zayd b. ‘Amr could not find a religion that made him satisfied during these trips and decided to become committed to the religion of his ancestors, the Prophet Abraham and the Prophet Ismāʿīl, as far as he could access the information on it. Because the intervening years had caused this religion to be forgotten, he tried to worship Allāh with the very limited knowledge that he had. According to the sources, he made some rituals such as performing prayer and making pilgrimage. In addition, like a person who can think clearly, he tried to stay away from bad customs and habits such as drinking, adultery and usury.
After Zayd b. Amr began to criticize his fellow citizens because of wrong practices and beliefs, he was exposed to hostility of Meccans, especially his uncle and his paternal half-sibling called K̲h̲aṭṭāb b. Nufayl. Moreover, he had to live in a cave on Ḥirāʾ Mountain or to set up in a tent because he was not allowed to enter Mecca.
Zayd b. Amr had one of the most beautiful behaviors that conducted was to save the baby girls who were wanted to be buried by their families and to give these families money to dissuade them from this idea. This behavior is sufficient to show that he was a person to be ahead of his age in terms of mentality and behavior.
After his death, the way of Islam chosen by his wife Fāṭima bint Baʿd̲j̲a, and his children, Saʿīd b. Zayd and ʿĀtika bint Zayd shows that he affected his family members positively.
Before the prophecy, Prophet Muḥammad met with Zayd b. Amr and helped him to start questioning the customs of Jāhiliyya.
Although there are different narrations on the subject, it is thought that Zayd b. Amr probably died in Mecca when the Prophet Muḥammad was around thirty five years old and buried at the foot of Ḥirā Mountain. In many narrations coming from the Prophet Muḥammad, it is stated that he will be resurrected as a single ummah. There are also narrations that he deserves heaven.