It is narrated from Khalifah bin Khayyat that: Among the allies of Banu Hashim (who were not among the people of Badr) was Shaddad bin al-Had (and the name of al-Had was Usamah) bin Amr bin Abdullah bin Jabir bin Bishr bin Itwarah bin Amir bin Malik bin al-Layth bin Bakr bin Abd Manat bin Ali bin Kinanah. He is the father of Abdullah bin Shaddad bin al-Had. Shaddad was the brother-in-law (silf) of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Salma bint Umays (may Allah be pleased with her) was married to him, having come into his marriage after (the martyrdom of) Sayyiduna Hamzah bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin al-Had (may Allah be pleased with him) that a Bedouin believed in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and followed him, and said: I will emigrate with you. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed his Companions concerning him (to look after him). When the Battle of Khaybar (or Hunayn) took place, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) obtained some spoils of war. He (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed them and set aside that man's share too, and handed that share over to his Companions. The man was at that time grazing their mounts. When he returned, they gave that share to him. He asked: What is this? They said: This is the share which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set aside for you. So he took it and came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! What is this? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is your share which I set aside for you." He said: I did not follow you for this (wealth); rather, I followed you so that I would be struck here (and he pointed to his throat) by an arrow, and die, and enter Paradise. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you are true to Allah, He will be true to you (He will fulfil your wish)." Then they waited a little while, then they rose to fight the enemy. He was brought, being carried, having been struck by an arrow exactly where he had pointed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Is it him?" The people said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He was true to Allah, so Allah was true to him." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) shrouded him, placed him in front and offered the funeral prayer over him. Among the words of his (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer over him that became audible were these: "O Allah, this is Your servant who went out as an emigrant in Your path and was killed as a martyr, and I am a witness over him."

It is narrated from Urwah that: Usamah bin Zayd bin Harithah bin Sharahil bin Ka'b bin Abd al-Uzza bin Yazid bin Imri' al-Qays al-Kalbi; Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) bestowed favour upon him.

Ahmad bin Ya'qub transmits this same lineage from his teachers, and added to it that his mother was Sayyidah Umm Ayman (may Allah be pleased with her), the freed slave-woman of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He died in Madinah in the last part of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), when he was sixty years old, and his kunyah was Abu Muhammad.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The most beloved to me of my family is the one upon whom Allah has bestowed favour and upon whom I too have bestowed favour, that is, Usamah."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Usamah is the most beloved of people to me." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Sirin that during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), the price of a single date palm reached a thousand dirhams. During that time, Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) went to a palm tree, cut it open, took out its pith (jummar) and fed it to his mother. He was asked: Why did you do this, when you can see that the price of a single palm tree has reached a thousand dirhams? He replied: "My mother asked me for it, and she does not ask me for anything that is within my power except that I give it to her."

It is narrated from Abu Bakr bin Shu'ayb bin al-Habhab that he said: I heard our teachers saying that the engraving on the ring-stone of Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) was: "Hibb Rasulillah" (the beloved of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)).

It is narrated from Imam al-Zuhri that Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) continued to be addressed as "Amir" until his death; people used to say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had sent him out (as commander of an army).

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I was riding behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as his companion rider (one seated behind him) on the occasion of Arafat.