'Abdullaah Ibn Salaam: From Judaism to Islam

Al-Hussein Ibn Salaam was one of the scholars of the Jews who lived in
Yathrib, now known as Madeenah. All the people of the town had the
greatest respect for him. Everyone, no matter what his religion was,
treated him with reverence. He had a high reputation for piety,
righteousness, and straightforwardness.
Al-Hussein lived a tranquil and peaceful, yetserious and purposeful
life. He divided his time evenly between four separate activities:
worshiping and preaching at the synagogue, working in his palm grove,
irrigatingand cultivating his trees, and studying the Torah. Whenever
Al-Hussein read the Torah he would spend long periods of time
reflecting on the passages that prophesiedabout the appearance of the
Seal of the Prophets, a Prophet who would arise out of Makkah to
complete the message of all of the Prophets who came prior to him.
Al-Hussein would search for details concerning the awaited Prophet,
such as details about what he would look like, how he could be known,
and other many signs. He would tremble with joy when reading that the
Prophet would leave the town in which he received his call and migrate
to Yathrib wherehe would make his new home. Every time Al-Hussein read
this or thought about it, he would pray that Allaah would let him live
long enough to have the pleasure of meeting the Prophet, and be one of
the first to declare his belief in him.
It was the way of Allaah Almighty to answer the prayer of Al-Hussein
and allow him to live to a very advanced age, even beyond lifetime of
the Prophet . He had the good fortune to meet him and spend time
learning from him, and he believed in the revelation that had been
sent to the Prophet . Let us listen to A-Hussein as he tells his own
story of how he became a Muslim, for his words are the most accurate
reflection of what he wasfeeling.
He narrated from his memory as follows:"When I first heard stories of
the appearanceof a Prophet, I sought outfurther information about his
name, his genealogy, characteristics, and where and how he had started
calling others to Islam. I compared what I heard about him with what
was written in our scriptures, and came to a conclusion that he was
truly a Prophet. I kept this information to myself and did not share
it with the other rabbis or scholars.
The day came when the Prophet left Makkah and headed for Madeenah.
When he reached the town and ended his journey at Qubaa, a man came
through the town announcing his arrival. I was at the top of a palm
tree at that moment caring for it, and my auntKhaalidah Bint
Al-Haarith was seated beneath the tree. When I heard the news, I cried
out:"Allaahu Akbar! Allaahu Akbar!" When my aunt heard this, she
said,"What a disappointment you are! By Allaah if it had been the
Prophet Moses himself coming to us, you could not have been more
excited.""Listen Auntie, I swear by Allaah, he is the brother of
Moses, for he brings the same religion and teaches the same beliefs."
I answered. She fell silent for a moment,"Is he the one of whom you
used to tell us who would be sent to fulfill what was taught before
him as a completion for the messages of his Lord?" she asked. "Yes," I
said. "So be it," she agreed.
I immediately went and sought out the Messenger of Allaah and found
people crowding with each other to get to his door. I squeezed myself
between them till I came close to him. The first thing that I could
hear him saying was: "O people! Greet each other with peace and feed
the hungry, perform the Prayer at night when others are sleeping and
you will be sure to enter paradise."
I scrutinized him until I was satisfied, and knew that his was not the
face of an untruthful man. I drew closer to him and pronounced the
declaration of faith that there is no god but Allaah, and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah. Muhammad then turned to me and
asked, "What isyour name?" I said quickly, "Al-Hussein ibn Salaam." He
looked at meand replied, "No, your name will be Abdullaah ibn Salaam."
"Yes, Abdullaah Ibn Salaam," I responded. "I swear by the one who sent
you with the truth, I do not wish to use any other name from this day
forward."
Then I left the Messenger of Allaah and went home.I called my wife,
children and relatives to believe in Islam, and they all became
Muslims, even myaunt, who was quite elderly, accepted Islam. Then, I
asked them to keep our conversation secret from the other Jewish
people until I told them the time was right. They consented.
Then I returned to the Prophet and said to him, "Messenger of Allaah,
many of my people prefer lies to the truth. However, I want you to
summon their leaders, and to conceal me from them in one of your
rooms. Ask their opinion about my character without informing them
that I have become Muslim. Then invite them to accept Islam. If they
wereto know that I have become a Muslim, they would criticize me,
accuse me of having every defect, and slander me."
So the Messenger of Allaah put me into oneof his rooms, summoned them
and invited them tojoin Islam. He made faith appealing to them and
reminded them that theirscriptures contained prophecies of his
coming.They began using specious arguments to make truth seem false,
and continued to do so until he despaired of their accepting the
faith. At that point he asked them, "What is your evaluation of
Al-Hussein Ibn Salaam?" They answered, "A chief of ours, and the son
of chiefof ours. He is an eminent scholar."
The Prophet questioned them further;"Do you think if he accepted Islam
that you would also accept Islam? Astound at the thought, they
replied, "Allaah forbids! He would never do that!" May Allaah protect
him from that!" So I came out and addressed them, "My people! Fear
Allaah, and accept what Muhammad has brought to you. I swear by Allaah
that you know that he is the Messenger of Allaah, and that you can
find his name and description in the copies of the Torah inyour
possession. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allaah. I
believe in him and in what he says and I recognize him for what he
is." They responded byaddressing the Prophet harshly, "You liar! He
(Al-Hussein) is a low person, born to a low family. He is one of our
ignorant people, and born of an ignorant family!!" and they went on
defaming me until I said to the Messenger of Allaah, "I told you so;
most of them are unfaithful. They are treacherous and shameful, do you
not see?"
Abdullaah Ibn Salaam turned to his new faith with the eagerness of a
thirsty man going to a cool spring of water. He loved the Quran so
deeply that he was constantly reciting versesfrom it. He became so
fond of the Prophet that became closer to him than his shadow. He
devoted himself to working to attain Paradise, until the Prophet
himself gave him the good tidings thathe would achieve it. The news
spread among the Companions until it was known amongst all of them.
The story of howthe Prophet gave Abdullaah this piece of news is a
story recorded by Qays ibn Ubaadah:
One day Qays was sitting in a study group in the Mosque of the Prophet
in Madeenah. In the group was an old man to whom everyone felt
closeand comfortable. He gavea beautiful talk to the group. When he
had finished and left everyone said, "if anyonewishes to look at one
of the inhabitants of Paradise, let him look at that man." Qays
asked,"Who is he?" They told him, "Abdullaah ibn Salaam." So Qays
swore to himself that he would follow him, and he did. He followed him
all the way on the outskirts of Madeenah. Then Qays went up to
Abdullaah IbnSalaam's house and requested permission to enter. He was
invited inside and Abdullaah Ibn Salaam asked him, "Whatdo you want,
son?""When you left the Mosque I heard people saying about you, 'If
anyone wishes to look at one of the inhabitants of Paradise let him
look at that man.' So I followed you so that I would find out how the
people knew that you are going to Paradise." said Qays.
"Only Allaah knows who is going to Paradise, my son," said Abdullaah
Ibn Salaam. "I know," said Qays, "but there must be a reason for them
to say that." Abdullaah Ibn Salaam turned to him and said, "I will
tell you the story." "Please do," said Qays, 'and may Allaah Almighty
grant yougreat reward."
Abdullaah Ibn Salaam began narrating his story: One night I had a
dream about a man who came to me and told me to get up. When I got up
he led me by the hand. There was a path on the left and I wanted to
take it, but the man said to me, "Take this path." So I followed that
path, which took me to a grassy, spacious garden. It was cool,
refreshing and full of vegetation. In the middle was an iron pole
reaching up to the sky and at the top of it was a loop of gold. The
man told me, "Climb on it." But I protested, 'I cannot!' Then out of
nowhere, a slave appeared! He lifted me up and I began climbing until
I reached the top of the pole. I grabbed the hoop with both hands and
remained hanging on it until I awakened from the dream. As soon as it
was morning, I wentto the Messenger of Allaah and told him about my
dream. He said, "The path which yousaw on your left side wasthat of
the companions of the left, and they will be the inhabitants of the
Fire. The path that you saw on your right side was the path of the
companions of the right and they will be the inhabitants of Paradise.
The garden that captivated you with its freshness and greenness was
the religion of Islam. The pole that you saw in the middle of the
garden was the Prayer, and the ring at the top of it was steadfast
faith. You will be one of the people who will hold fast to it the rest
of their lives."
And so Abdullaah Ibn Salaam did just that; he found what he had been
eagerly searching for andheld on to it unwaveringly for the remainder
of his life. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -