Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
On one occasion, the Quriash placed some food before Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail was also present in this gathering. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) refused to partake of the food. Subsequently, Zaid also declined to eat this food saying, “I refuse to consume the meat of an animal slaughtered in the name of idols and food dedicated to idols. I will only consume food upon which the name of Allah Ta‘ala is taken exclusively.”
Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail would often say to the Quraish, “Allah Ta‘ala alone created the goats and Allah Ta‘ala Himself produced the grass for it to graze on. So why do you slaughter the goat in the name of someone other than Allah Ta‘ala?”
Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail was the cousin (father’s brother’s son) of Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), and the father of Hazrat Sa‘eed (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), one of the ‘Asharah Mubasharah (the ten Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) who were given the glad tidings of Jannah). He was averse to idolatry and was in perpetual pursuit of the true religion. He passed away five years prior to the prophethood of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) whilst the Ka‘bah was undergoing reconstruction.
(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/120)
