Usama ibn Zayd

Usāma ibn Zayd was an early Muslim and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Zayd ibn Harithah, Muhammad's freed slave and adopted son, and Umm Ayman (Barakah), a servant of Muhammad. Muhammad appointed Usama ibn Zayd as the commander of an expeditionary force which was to invade the region of Balqa in the Byzantine Empire to avenge the Muslim defeat at the Battle of Mu'tah, in which Usama's father and Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah, had been killed. This campaign was known as the Expedition of Usama bin Zayd. Usama's campaign was successful and his army was the first Muslim force to successfully invade and raid Byzantine territory, thus paving the way for the subsequent Muslim conquest of the Levant and Muslim conquest of Egypt. Background and early life Usama was the son of Barakah (Umm Ayman), an Abyssinian, and her second husband, Zayd ibn Haritha. His parents were married "after Islam" and Usama was born before Hijrah.