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Companions · The Disciple · Ten promised Paradise

الزبير بن العوام

Zubayr ibn al-Awwam

First sword drawn for Islam; the Prophet ﷺ said every prophet has a disciple, and mine is az-Zubayr.

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Az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, son of the Prophet's ﷺ aunt Safiyyah and husband of Asma, believed as a youth. When a rumor flew through Makkah that the Prophet had been seized, the boy came down the streets with a drawn blade, the first sword unsheathed for Islam. He emigrated to Abyssinia and then Madinah, fought at Badr in a yellow turban that the reports say the angels matched that day, and stood at the Trench where the Prophet said three times: "Every prophet has a disciple (hawari), and my disciple is az-Zubayr," after Zubayr alone volunteered thrice to scout Banu Qurayza.

One of the ten promised Paradise and one of the six of the shura, his body was a map of the battles; his son counted the scars. In the fitnah he marched toward the Camel, then withdrew from the field when Ali reminded him of a word from the Prophet; he was murdered while praying by a man who thought he had done a service, and Ali told the killer to expect the Fire. His estate paid its debts and still overflowed: the trader of Paradise trusted with the trusts of Madinah.

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Every prophet has a disciple, and my disciple is az-Zubayr.

Bukhari 3719 · Muslim 2415

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