(part 1 of 2): What is your name?
In 622 AD the Prophet Muhammad, God’s blessings and peace, and the majority of the Muslim community emigrated from Mecca to Medina. At that time, Medina was known as Yathrib. It was not a real city, rather a series of fortresses and castles, where various political groups were held together by poor alliances. Medina was ruled by two large Arab tribes: the Khazraj and the Aws.
A group of influential leaders invited Prophet Muhammad and his followers to Medina. When the Prophet Muhammad got there, some of the Jewish clans were worried, to say the least. In these first troubled years, the Prophet Muhammad established the first Islamic state. During this time, some of the Jews of Medina accepted Islam, the most famous of which is Abdullah Ibn Salam, a recognized and popular religious man and rabbi.
Husain Ibn Salam, was known as a religious man who devoted himself to study and reflection. He also worked on his small fruit / date plantation, but organized his time so that his religious studies and submission always took precedence. He studied the Torah in great detail, although historical reports show that the studies of the Talmud played a very minor role in Judaism on the Arabian Peninsula at that time. Nevertheless, thanks to his studies, Husain was aware of the Torah verses that mentioned a prophet who would come and perfect the message of all previous prophets. When he heard the reports from a man in Mecca who claimed to be such a man – the Messenger of God – he became immediately interested.
In authentic traditions and the translation of Husain’s / Abdullah’s own words, we find the following passage: “When I heard about the appearance of the Messenger of God, I started to inquire about his name, his genealogy, his characteristics, time and place and I started to do it to compare with the information in our books. Through these inquiries, I was convinced of the credibility of his prophecy and I confirmed the truth of his message. ”
For some time, possibly years, Husain Ibn Salam continued to read his scripture and hear the news about the Prophet Muhammad. continued to study his scripture and listen to news of Prophet Muhammad. Then in 622 AD messengers hurried through the streets of Medina and announced that the Messenger of God was in Quba, not far from Medina. Husain was in his palm plantation, on top of a date palm. When he heard the news, he cried out according to Allahu Akbar – God is great. His older aunt could hear the excitement in his voice and made reservations by saying that he couldn’t be more excited if Moses himself entered the city.
These words were correct because Husain Ibn Abdullah believed that Muhammad was the brother of Moses, whom they were both prophets. Without hesitation, Husain joined the crowd that crowded the streets, waiting to meet and greet Prophet Muhammad. Husain reports that he pushed ahead in the crowd, hoping to be close to the man he had been waiting for. The first words that Husain heard from Muhammad’s lips were: “O people. Spread Peace … Share the food …. Pray at night when the others are sleeping … and you will enter paradise in peace … [1]
Husain looked into the prophet’s eyes, examined his face and said with complete certainty: “No one has the right to be worshiped except God and Muhammad is God’s Messenger. When he heard these words come so spontaneously from the lips of this man, he turned to him and asked in a friendly but strong voice: „What is your name?“ Husain replied: „My name is Husain Ibn Salam“. The Prophet said, „From today on, you will be known as Abdullah Ibn Salam.“
Footnotes:
[1] At-Tirmidi & Ibn Majah
(part 2 of 2): A man from the people of paradise
In the new city of Medina, relations between all political affiliations were tense. The fabric of society was held together by political and tribal alliances and any change threatened to plunge the area into chaos. The arrival of Islam was such a change. Prophet Muhammad and his followers had been invited to come to Yathrib (now known as Medina) so that Prophet Muhammad, God’s blessing and peace, would be able to take charge of the immediate area. The prophet’s diplomatic skill and trustworthiness were well known and admired, although some groups, particularly Jewish ones, did not approve of a change in their poor yet profitable alliances. This was the political landscape in Medina;
In the first part, we learned that Husain Ibn Salam was a Jewish scholar who was respected and trusted in his company. Based on his studies, Ibn Salam was convinced that the Prophet Muhammad was the Prophet announced in the Torah. When Prophet Muhammad arrived in Medina, ibn Salam hurried to him and explained his belief in the teachings of Islam and Muhammad’s prophecy. The Prophet Muhammad changed his name Husain to Abdullah (the servant of God).
Abdullah Ibn Salam was excited to be in the company of the Prophet. He spent as much time as possible with him and asked questions, he spoke about both Islam and Judaism, and he enjoyed being in the company of the man whom the Torah had announced so long ago. Abdullah Ibn Salam wanted his people to accept Islam as their religion and accept Prophet Muhammad as a prophet, but he feared their reaction if he informed them of his conversion. Ibn Salam was known among the Jews as a righteous, well-educated man, and he discussed his problem with the Prophet Muhammad; they decided on a plan.
One day when he was in the company of the respected Jewish elders of Medina, the Prophet Muhammad asked her about her thoughts and opinions about the character of Ibn Salam. They replied that he was “the best of us, the most knowledgeable, and the son of the most knowledgeable”. [1] The Prophet Muhammad continued to question them and wanted to know what their opinion would be if Ibn Salam learned and adopted Islam. The Jews reacted with horror. He would never do something like that, they shouted! At that very moment Ibn Salam entered the room and declared his conversion to Islam. The Jews reacted angrily, but Ibn Salam knew that the Jewish revelation books had predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad.
Although the covenants were weak, all political factions in Medina – at least initially – accepted the leadership of Prophet Muhammad. They even approached him in religious matters. Once when a group of Jews asked Prophet Muhammad to pass judgment on a marriage-breaking couple, he asked them about the regulation that the Torah prescribes. They replied, „We’ll let their wrong action known and we will whip them.“
Ibn Salam knew that the correct punishment was stoning, and he insisted that they prove their words using the Torah. A copy of the Torah was brought before them, and so we can discover that a wrong answer was deliberately given to mislead the Prophet. Abdullah Ibn Salam showed the correct passages that were cleverly hidden under the hands of the Jewish man holding the parchment. The punishment in the Torah was stoning, ibn Salam read the correct passage, and the Prophet Muhammad ordered that this rule be carried out.
Abdullah Ibn Salam loved being in the company of the Prophet Muhammad. He spent as much time with him as possible, enjoying their conversations and company. He devoted himself to the Quran and was often in the mosque, praying, learning and teaching. He was known among the Muslims as a skilled and dedicated teacher and his study groups were well known and well attended. Abdullah Ibn Salam was known by the Muslims in Medina for being a man who was prescribed paradise. Among the authentic traditions of the Prophet Muhammad is a story that explains exactly why Abdullah Ibn Salam is believed to be one of the people of Paradise.
Qays bin ‚Abbad said: “I was in the mosque when a man entered, whose face showed humility, and I prayed. People said, „This is a man from the people of Paradise.“ When he left, I followed him and spoke to him. I said to him: ‚When you came in, people said you were one of the people of paradise.‘ He said: ‚Praise be to God! Nobody should say anything about which he has no knowledge. I’ll explain to you why they said that. I had a dream during the time of God’s Messenger and I told him about it. I saw that I was in a green garden, ´ and he described the garden with its plants and its large area, ´and there was an iron pole fixed in the middle in the ground and its tip reached up into the sky. There was a handle at the top and I was told to climb the stake. I said: „I can’t.“ Then a helper came and held up my clothes from behind and said: „Climb!“ I climbed until I reached the handle and he said to me: „Hold the handle.“ I woke up out of the dream and held the handle in my hand. I went to the Messenger of God and told him about this dream and he said: “The garden represents Islam, the stake represents the pillars of Islam and the handle represents the most trustworthy handle. You will remain Muslim until you die. ”[2] ´ I woke up from the dream and held the handle in my hand. I went to the Messenger of God and told him about this dream and he said: “The garden represents Islam, the stake represents the pillars of Islam and the handle represents the most trustworthy handle. You will remain Muslim until you die. ”[2] ´ I woke up from the dream and held the handle in my hand. I went to the Messenger of God and told him about this dream and he said: “The garden represents Islam, the stake represents the pillars of Islam and the handle represents the most trustworthy handle. You will remain Muslim until you die. ”[2]
Footnotes:
[1] Sahieh Al-Bukhari
[2] Imam Ahmad
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/-abd-allah-ibn-salam—