Abdullah Ibn Salam

1. Abdullah Ibn Salam By: Labibah Hassan

2. Abdullah Ibn-Salam • Al-Husain ibn Salam • Born in Yathrib (present day Madinah) to a Jewish family. • He was from a Jewish tribe called Banu Qaynuqa. • Wealthy and a good scholar of the Torah.

3. Background In Madinah, there were numerous Jewish tribes. These tribes were very wealthy in terms of land and belongings. Some of the Jewish were genuine believers and some were not. One of the sincere believers was a educated man named Al-Husain Ibn Salam. Al-Husain Ibn Salam lived a easy-going, serious, and productive life. He managed his time very well. He divided his time into three parts; in the temple to preach and worship, in his garden taking care of his palm trees, and with the Torah to expand his knowledge of religion.

4. Meeting Rasulullah • Al-Husain Ibn Salam heard news from Makkah that there was a new prophet who was going to complete the messages of the previous prophets. Al-Husain Ibn Salam wanted to make sure this news was true so he took the current information about Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and compared it to the information in the Torah. Al-Husain Ibn Salam became convinced that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had come to conclude the messages of the past prophets. Every time Al-Husain Ibn Salam heard of this news he prayed to Allah (SWT) that his life could be elongated so he had a chance to meet Rasulullah (SAW). Allah (SWT) replied to Al-Husain Ibn Salam’s du'a' and let him live to meet Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

5. Islam “He looked at the Prophet closely and was convinced with his prophethood. He went closer to him and repeated the Shahada. The Prophet turned to him and asked: “What is your name?” He replied, “Al-Husain ibn Salam.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “From now on, you are Abdullah ibn Salam.” Abdullah returned home and introduced Islam to his family, including his aunt, Khalidah, who was an old lady. They all willingly accepted their new faith and kept it secret. Abdullah ibn Salam was a very intelligent person who knew the nature of his community. He devised a plan to declare his new faith. He went to the Holy Prophet and told him about it.The Prophet agreed and invited prominent Jews to visit him. He kept Abdullah hidden in one of his rooms. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) introduced Islam to them and asked them to accept it but they did not respond positively.Then he asked them, “What is the status of Al-Husain ibn Salam among you?” They replied, “He is our leader and our rabbi.”The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, “If you come to know that he has accepted Islam, would you accept Islam also?” They said unanimously, “God forbid! He would not accept Islam. May God protect him from accepting Islam.”At this point, Abdullah ibn Salam came out from the room and announced: “O, The assembly of Jews! Be conscious of God and accept what Muhammad has brought. By God, you certainly know that he is the Messenger of God and you can find prophecies about him and mention of his name and characteristics in your Torah. I for my part declare that he is the true Messenger of God...”They shouted, “You are a liar. By God, you are evil and ignorant, the son of an evil and ignorant person.” Abdullah, however, succeeded in declaring his Islam to the elite of his community.Abdullah ibn Salam had a very high position among the Muslims. It is reported in a Hadith, that one day while the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sitting with his companions, he said, “Do you want to see a man walking on Earth and in Paradise?” Each one of the companions looked in silence toward the Prophet. The Prophet pointed toward Abdullah ibn Salam.” Citation from-http://www.arabnews.com/islam-perspective/news/662946

6. Recourses Those Promised Paradise http://www.arabnews.com/islam-perspective/news/662946