Kharijah ibn Zayd

An Ansari companion from the Khazraj tribe of Madinah, described by the Prophet ﷺ's biographers as one of the noblemen of the Anṣār. He is most prominently known for being the Mu'akhah partner of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, the first Caliph and the Prophet's closest companion.

When the Prophet ﷺ instituted the Mu'akhah (the formal brotherhood pairings between the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār), he paired Abū Bakr with Khārijah ibn Zayd. Scholars note that these pairings were done with extraordinary wisdom, for every pairing that is recorded in history, we find genuine shared qualities, common interests, or complementary strengths between the two men. In the case of Abū Bakr and Khārijah, both were noblemen of their respective communities, and both had a seriousness and depth of character that matched one another.

We find in the Seerah numerous subsequent incidents that mention the two of them together, indicating that their brotherhood was not merely symbolic but was lived and sustained throughout the Madani period.