Virtues of Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him): Zayd bin Harithah was the dearest of people to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)

Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out while I was riding behind him on his mount. We came to one of the idols of the polytheists, and we slaughtered a sheep for it and placed it in the oven. When it was cooked, we took it out and put it in our food cloth. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) proceeded, in the days of intense heat in Makkah, towards the upper part of the valley of Makkah, until he met Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl there, and the two of them greeted each other in the manner of the Jahiliyyah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Why is it that I see your people displeased with you and averse to you?" He said: "By Allah! I had no old quarrel or blood feud with them, but I see them upon misguidance." He further said: "I set out in search of this true religion until I came to the scholars of Yathrib. I found that they worship Allah and also associate partners with Him, so I said: This is not the religion that I am seeking. Then I went to the scholars of Khaybar and found the same there. Then I went to the scholars of Aylah and found them too associating partners with Allah alongside worshipping Him, so I said: This is not the religion that I am seeking. Then a scholar of al-Sham said to me: You are asking about a religion upon which, to our knowledge, no one worships Allah purely except an old man in al-Jazirah (of Arabia). So I went to him and explained my purpose. He said: All those you have seen are upon misguidance. The religion you are seeking is the religion of Allah and of His angels. A prophet has appeared in your own land, or is about to appear, who will call to it. Go back to him, affirm his truth, follow him and believe in him. So I came back, and I have not yet received any further news (of the sending of that prophet)." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made his camel kneel, and we presented to him the food cloth that had the roasted meat in it. He (Zayd bin Amr) asked: "What is this?" We said: "This is a sheep that we slaughtered in the name of such-and-such idol." So he (Zayd bin Amr) said: "I do not eat what has been slaughtered in the name of other than Allah." In Makkah there were two copper idols called Isaf and Na'ilah, which the polytheists would touch during tawaf. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed tawaf and I was with him. When I passed by them, I touched them, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not touch them." Zayd said: We then did tawaf again, and I said to myself: I will certainly touch them so that I may see what he says. So when I touched them, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Were you not forbidden?" Zayd said: By the One who honoured him and sent down the Book upon him! After that I never touched an idol until Allah honoured him (peace and blessings be upon him) with the station of prophethood with which He honoured him and sent down the Book upon him. And Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl had died before his (peace and blessings be upon him) being sent as a prophet, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said about him: "He will come on the Day of Resurrection as a nation by himself."
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it. Whoever reflects on this hadith will come to know the virtue of Zayd and his precedence in Islam even before the call (to Islam).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Ja'far, Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with them) gathered in one place. Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I am the most beloved of you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I am the most beloved of you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." And Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I am the most beloved of you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then they said (to one another): "Come, let us go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (so that we may ask him himself)." (Usamah said:) I went out, then came back and said: "Here are Ja'far, Ali and Zayd bin Harithah asking permission to enter." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give them permission." So they entered and said: "O Messenger of Allah! We have come to you to ask who is the most beloved of people to you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Fatimah." They said: "We are asking you about the men." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said (addressing each of them in turn): "O Ja'far! As for you, your physical form and your character and habits resemble mine, and you are part of me and a branch of my own tree. And O Ali! You are my brother and the father of my children (that is, the father of Hasan and Husayn); you are from me and I have a deep bond with you. And O Zayd! You are my freed slave; you are from me and I have a deep bond with you, and you are the most beloved to me of all these people."
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd narrates from his father (Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him), and he from the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that in the earliest period of revelation (Jibril, peace be upon him) came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and showed him (peace and blessings be upon him) how to perform ablution (wudu) and prayer, and taught him the teachings of Islam.