Zayd ibn al-Khattab

Brother of Umar, Martyr of Yamamah

Zayd ibn al-Khattab was the elder brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab, of Banu Adi, and an early Muslim. At the bitter Battle of Yamamah against Musaylama, he carried the Muslim banner; when the line wavered, he urged the Muslims not to retreat, disavowed those who fled, and pressed forward with the standard until he was martyred — after which Salim, the freedman of Abu Hudhayfa, took up the banner. 1 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 1 · pp. 517 — Kandhlawi — Zayd ibn al-Khattab bears the banner at Yamamah, urges the Muslims forward, and is martyred. Umar mourned him deeply, saying he thought of Zayd whenever the wind blew, and consoled himself in every grief by remembering his brother’s martyrdom. 2 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 2 · pp. 603 — Kandhlawi — Umar's lifelong grief for his brother Zayd; 'I think of him whenever the wind blows.'