Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (51) - Abdullah bin Salam, may God be pleased with him

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:15 The Mawaddah Association is pleased

0:18 to present to you portraits from the lives of the Companions,

0:22 by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

0:25 may Allah have mercy upon him.

0:27 Abdullah Ibn Salam,

0:31 may Allah be pleased with him.

0:45 Husayn Ibn Salam was one of the rabbis of the Jews in Yathrib.

0:51 The people of Medina, despite their diverse religions and sects, revered and honored him.

0:57 He was known among the people for his piety and righteousness,

1:01 and was described as upright and truthful.

1:04 Husayn lived a quiet and peaceful life,

1:08 yet it was, at the same time, serious and productive.

1:12 He divided his time into three parts:

1:15 one part in the synagogue for preaching and worship,

1:18 one part in the garden of Allah,

1:20 tending to his date palms by pruning and pollinating them,

1:24 and one part with the Torah to gain deep understanding of the religion.

1:28 Whenever he read the Torah, he would pause for a long time at the reports that foretold the appearance of a Prophet in Mecca,

1:36 who would complete the messages of the previous prophets and seal them.

1:40 He would investigate the descriptions and signs of this awaited Prophet,

1:45 and he would tremble with joy because he would leave the land in which he was sent,

1:49 and would take Yathrib as his place of migration and residence.

1:53 Whenever he read these reports or they crossed his mind,

1:58 he would pray to Allah to grant him a long life,

2:01 so that he might witness the appearance of this awaited Prophet,

2:04 rejoice in meeting him, and be the first to believe in him.

2:09 Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, answered the prayer of Husayn Ibn Salam,

2:13 and extended his life until the Prophet of guidance and mercy was sent,

2:18 and it was decreed for him to be blessed with meeting him and keeping his company,

2:21 and to believe in the truth that was revealed to him.

2:24 Let us leave the speech to Husayn so he may recount to us the story of his Islam,

2:29 for he is the best narrator of it and the most capable of presenting it well.

2:33 Husayn Ibn Salam said:

2:36 "When I heard of the appearance of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

2:40 I began to inquire about his name, his lineage,

2:43 his characteristics, his time, and his place,

2:46 and I compared them with what was written in our books,

2:50 until I was certain of his prophethood and confirmed the truth of his call.

2:55 Then I kept this hidden from the Jews and restrained my tongue from speaking of it,

3:01 until the day the Messenger, peace be upon him, left Mecca,

3:06 heading toward Medina.

3:08 When he reached Yathrib and stopped at Quba,

3:12 a man came to us and began calling out to the people, announcing his arrival.

3:17 At that moment, I was at the top of a palm tree of mine, working on it,

3:21 and my aunt, Khalidah bint al-Harith, was sitting under the tree.

3:26 As soon as I heard the news, I shouted,

3:29 'Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!'

3:32 My aunt said to me when she heard my takbir,

3:35 'May Allah disappoint you!

3:37 By Allah, if you had heard that Musa Ibn Imran was coming,

3:40 you would not have done anything more than that.'

3:43 I said to her, 'O aunt,

3:45 by Allah, he is the brother of Musa Ibn Imran,

3:48 and follows his religion,

3:50 and he has been sent with what he was sent with.'

3:52 She fell silent and said,

3:54 'Is he the Prophet whom you used to tell us

3:57 would be sent confirming those before him,

3:59 and completing the messages of his Lord?'

4:02 I said, 'Yes.'

4:04 She said,

4:05 'Then that is him.'

4:07 Then I went immediately to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

4:11 and I saw the people crowding at his door.

4:14 I pushed through them until I was close to him.

4:17 The first thing I heard from him was his saying:

4:20 'O people,

4:22 spread peace,

4:24 feed the hungry,

4:26 and pray at night while the people are sleeping,

4:28 you will enter Paradise in peace.'

4:31 I began to scrutinize him,

4:33 and gaze upon him,

4:35 and I became certain that his face was not the face of a liar.

4:38 Then I drew near to him,

4:40 and I testified that there is no god but Allah,

4:43 and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

4:45 He turned to me and said,

4:47 'What is your name?'

4:49 I said,

4:50 'Husayn Ibn Salam.'

4:52 He said,

4:53 'Rather, Abdullah Ibn Salam.'

4:56 I said, 'Yes, Abdullah Ibn Salam.

4:59 By the One who sent you with the truth,

5:01 I would not like to have any other name after today.'

5:04 Then I left the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, for my house,

5:09 and I invited my wife, my children, and my family to Islam,

5:13 and they all accepted Islam,

5:15 and my aunt Khalidah accepted Islam with them,

5:18 and she was an elderly woman.

5:20 Then I said to them,

5:22 'Keep my Islam and your Islam hidden from the Jews

5:26 until I give you permission.'

5:28 They said, 'Yes.'

5:30 Then I returned to the Messenger of Allah,

5:33 peace be upon him, and said to him,

5:35 'O Messenger of Allah,

5:37 the Jews are a people of slander and falsehood,

5:40 and I would like you to invite their leaders to you,

5:43 and hide me from them in one of your rooms,

5:47 then ask them about my status among them before they know of my Islam,

5:52 then invite them to Islam.

5:54 For if they know that I have accepted Islam, they will blame me,

5:58 accuse me of every deficiency, and slander me.'

6:01 So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, put me in one of his rooms,

6:06 then he invited them to him,

6:08 and began urging them toward Islam,

6:10 making faith beloved to them,

6:12 and reminding them of what they knew in their books about his affair.

6:16 They began to argue with him with falsehood,

6:19 and dispute the truth,

6:21 while I was listening.

6:23 When he despaired of their faith, he said to them,

6:26 'What is the status of Husayn Ibn Salam among you?'

6:29 They said, 'Our master and the son of our master,

6:32 our rabbi and our scholar,

6:35 and the son of our rabbi and our scholar.'

6:37 He said, 'What do you think if he accepts Islam?

6:40 Would you accept Islam?'

6:42 They said, 'Allah forbid!

6:44 He would never accept Islam.

6:46 May Allah protect him from accepting Islam.'

6:49 So I came out to them and said,

6:51 'O assembly of Jews,

6:53 fear Allah,

6:55 and accept what Muhammad has brought to you.

6:58 For by Allah, you know

7:00 that he is the Messenger of Allah,

7:02 and you find him written with you

7:04 in the Torah by his name and his description.

7:06 And I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah,

7:09 and I believe in him, confirm him, and know him.'

7:12 They said, 'You lie!

7:14 By Allah, you are the worst of us and the son of the worst of us,

7:17 and the most ignorant of us and the son of the most ignorant of us.'

7:20 And they did not leave any fault

7:22 without accusing me of it.

7:24 I said to the Messenger of Allah,

7:27 'Did I not tell you,

7:29 that the Jews are a people of slander and falsehood,

7:32 and that they are people of treachery and immorality?'

7:36 Abdullah Ibn Salam turned to Islam

7:39 with the eagerness of the thirsty who longs for the watering place,

7:42 and he was passionate about the Qur'an,

7:44 so his tongue never ceased to be moist with its clear verses.

7:49 He became attached to the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him,

7:53 until he became closer to him than his own shadow,

7:56 and he dedicated himself to working for Paradise,

7:59 until the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, gave him the glad tidings of it,

8:04 a glad tiding that spread and became known among the noble Companions.

8:08 This glad tiding had a story,

8:11 narrated by Qays Ibn Ubadah and others.

8:14 The narrator said:

8:16 "I was sitting in a circle of knowledge

8:19 in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in Medina.

8:23 In the circle was an elder whose presence brought comfort to the soul,

8:27 and whose company brought rest to the heart,

8:29 and he began to tell the people a sweet and moving hadith.

8:33 When he stood up, the people said,

8:36 'Whoever is pleased to look at a man from the people of Paradise,

8:40 let him look at this man.'

8:42 I said, 'Who is this?'

8:44 They said, 'Abdullah Ibn Salam.'

8:47 I said to myself,

8:49 'By Allah, I will follow him.'

8:51 So I followed him,

8:53 and he walked until he was about to leave Medina,

8:56 then he entered his house.

8:58 I asked permission to see him,

9:00 and he gave me permission.

9:01 He said,

9:02 'What is your need, O son of my brother?'

9:04 I said,

9:06 'I heard the people saying about you when you left the mosque:

9:10 "Whoever is pleased to look at a man from the people of Paradise,

9:13 let him look at this man."

9:15 So I followed in your footsteps,

9:17 to learn of your story,

9:19 and to know how the people knew that you are from the people of Paradise.'

9:23 He said,

9:25 'Allah knows best about the people of Paradise, my son.'

9:28 I said, 'Yes,

9:30 but there must be a reason for what they said.'

9:33 He said,

9:34 'I will tell you the reason for it.'

9:36 I said, 'Go ahead,

9:38 and may Allah reward you with good.'

9:40 He said,

9:42 'While I was sleeping one night during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

9:48 a man saw me and said to me, "Rise."

9:50 So I rose,

9:51 and he took my hand,

9:53 and suddenly I was on a path to my left.

9:56 I intended to walk on it,

9:58 but he said to me,

9:59 "Leave it, for it is not for you."

10:02 I looked, and there was a clear path to my right.

10:06 He said to me,

10:07 "Follow it."

10:09 So I followed it until I reached a lush, verdant garden,

10:12 vast in its expanse,

10:14 abundant in its greenery,

10:15 and magnificent to behold.

10:17 In its center stood a pillar of iron,

10:20 its base rooted in the earth,

10:21 and its top reaching into the sky.

10:23 At its summit was a ring of gold.

10:26 He said to me,

10:27 "Climb it."

10:29 I replied, "I cannot."

10:31 Then an attendant came to me and lifted me up.

10:34 I climbed until I reached the top of the pillar,

10:37 and I grasped the ring with my hands.

10:40 I remained clinging to it until morning came.

10:44 When the morning arrived,

10:46 I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

10:49 and recounted my dream to him.

10:52 He said,

10:53 "As for the path you saw to your left,

10:56 it is the path of the people of the left, the inhabitants of the Fire.

11:00 As for the path you saw to your right,

11:03 it is the path of the people of the right, the inhabitants of Paradise.

11:07 As for the garden that delighted you with its greenery and beauty,

11:11 it is Islam.

11:13 As for the pillar in its center,

11:16 it is the pillar of the religion.

11:18 As for the ring, it is the firmest bond.

11:22 You shall remain holding fast to it until you die."

11:26 Whoever wishes to look at a man from the people of Paradise,

11:33 let him look at 'Abdullah Ibn Salam.

11:48 Call them; are they listening?

Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (51) - Abdullah bin Salam, may God be pleased with him

Transcript