Ibn Mandah (395 H) said in his book At-Tawheed:
Chapter: Regarding the reasoning of those whom the call [of Islam] did not reach and to whom no messenger came: Allah the Almighty, speaking of the faith in Allah—Mighty and Majestic—held by Abraham (peace be upon him) prior to his prophethood, said:
﴾”Verily, I have turned my face towards Him Who has created the heavens and the earth Hanîfa (Islâmic Monotheism, i.e. worshipping none but Allâh Alone), and I am not of the polytheists.﴿ [Al-An‘ām: 79]
148 – Abdur-Rahman ibn Yahya narrated to us, saying: Abu Mas’ud narrated to us, saying: Abu Usamah Hammad ibn Usamah informed us, from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah, from Abi Salamah ibn Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, and Yahya ibn Abdur-Rahman ibn Hatib, from Usamah ibn Zayd, from his father Zayd ibn Harithah, who said:
“The Prophet ﷺ went out and had me ride behind him [on his mount]. We slaughtered a sheep for him and prepared it. When it was cooked, I took it out and we placed it in our travel food-bag. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ proceeded to ride while I was behind him on a hot day from among the days of Makkah, until we reached the upper part of the valley.
There, Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl met him. The two of them greeted one another with the greeting of the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah).
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Why is it that I see your people have taken a dislike to you (shunned you)?’
Zayd replied: ‘By Allah, this is not because of any harm or offense I committed against them. Rather, I see them following misguidance.
So, I set out seeking this true religion until I came upon the scholars (Ahbar) of Yathrib (Madinah). I found them worshipping Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, yet associating partners (shirk) with Him. I said: “This is not the religion I am seeking.”
Then I set out until I came upon the scholars of Fadak, and I found them worshipping Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, yet associating partners with Him. I said: “This is not the religion I am seeking.”
Then I set out until I came upon the scholars of Ayla, and I found them worshipping Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, yet associating partners with Him. I said: “This is not the religion I am seeking.”
Then a scholar from the scholars of the people of Sham (the Levant) said to me: “You are asking about a religion that we do not know anyone worshipping Allah by, except for an old man in Al-Jazirah.”
So I set out until I reached him, and I informed him of the purpose for which I had left. The old man said: “Indeed, everyone you have seen is in misguidance. You are asking about a religion which is the religion of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, and the religion of His angels. A Prophet has emerged from your own land—or is about to emerge—who calls to it. Return to it, believe in him, follow him, and believe in what he brings.” So, I returned.'”
[The narrator] said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then knelt the camel down—and I did not perceive him to be a Prophet yet—and then we parted ways.
There were two brass idols named Isaf and Na’ilah, which the polytheists would wipe/touch for blessings when they performed circumambulation (Tawaf). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed Tawaf and I performed Tawaf with him. When I passed by [the idol], I wiped it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Do not touch it.’ We continued our Tawaf, and I said to myself: ‘I will surely touch it just to see what he will say.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Were you not forbidden?’
Zayd [ibn Harithah, i.e. the narrator] said: ‘By the One Who honored him and revealed the Book to him, he (i.e. Muhammad ﷺ) never touched an idol until Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, honored him with that which He honored him with and revealed the Book to him.’
And Zayd ibn Amr died before the Prophet ﷺ was formally commissioned as a Prophet.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘He will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment as a nation by himself.’
This is a well-known (Mashhur) Hadith. It was also narrated by Al-Qa’nabi from Yahya ibn Umayr, from Abdullah ibn Yazid, from Zayd ibn Harithah in its full length with a similar meaning.
It was also narrated by Musa ibn Uqbah, from Salim ibn Abdullah, that Zayd ibn Amr said—and I think he [Salim] heard it from his father in its full length.
It was narrated by Ibrahim ibn al-Hajjaj from Wuhaib ibn Khalid, and by Abu Mus’ab from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Dinar, all of them from Musa.
It was also narrated by Ibn Abi Az-Zinad, from Musa ibn Uqbah, from Salim ibn Abdullah, from his father in its full length, without any doubt from Musa.
It was also narrated by Ibn Abi Az-Zinad, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from Asma bint Abi Bakr, who said: ‘I saw Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl during the Jahiliyyah near the Ka’bah…’ [narrating] the story in its full length, which also includes lines of poetry.
It was also narrated by Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Umawi, from Mujalid, from Ash-Sha’bi, from Jabir ibn Abdillah in its full length. And it was narrated from the Hadith of Ikrimah and Ad-Dahhak, from Ibn Abbas in its full length.
All of these chains of narration (Asaneed) contain some criticism regarding their reliability, except for the Hadith of Yahya ibn Abdur-Rahman and the Hadith of Musa ibn Uqbah from Salim.”