CD6-Time Preceding the Prophethood of Rasul Allah (saw)

CD6
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki

Time preceding the Prophethood of Rasul Allah (saw)

It was a time of darkness, however, there were some glimpses of light here and there. Humanity was in dire need of guidance. But there were some individuals who had a sense of right and wrong and their hearts directed them to the truths.

Zayd bin ‘Amr bin Nufayl – went out in search of truth and out of Makkah, he was from Quraish. So he went to the Jews and inquired about their religion, but decided not to follow it. He did the same to the Christians, and he also decided not to follow it. At the end, he came to learn about the way of Ibrahim (as), al-Hanifiyyah, worshipping Allah alone. He became a Hanifi, a follower of Ibrahim (as). He was a lone voice in the sea of darkness in Makkah. Asma’ bint Abi Bakr said that she saw Zayd leaning against the Ka’bah speaking to the people of Quraish that none of you is following the way of Ibrahim except myself. People at that time were claiming they were the inheritors of Ibrahim, but Zayd would tell them this. He would also say: “O God! If I only knew the way most favored by You, I would worship You by it.” He would not participate in the killing of girls that existed in Makkah, he would even go to the father who plans to kill his daughter and tell him to give him his daughter and that he would take care of her. He refused to eat the meat slaughtered in Makkah. He died prior to the prophethood of Rasul Allah. His son, Sa’eed (one of the ten who were given the glad tidings of Paradise), inquired about his father. Rasul Allah (saw) told him that “your father will come on the day of Judgement as a nation alone.” It is an honor for him to stand as a nation alone and Allah will grant him Jannah because he knew the truth and worshipped Allah the best he could.

Waraqah bin Nawfal – the cousin of Khadija (ra), he was a Christian, a lettered man and used to copy the scriptures of the Christians and studied from them. He was a believer in one God, and there were still some Christians who believe in Tawheed and would not attribute divinity to ‘Isa (as). He was one of them, and he was the one Khadija consulted when he first received the revelation. Immediately after that Waraqah passed away, and people wondered his fate. They said he would be in Hellfire but Rasul Allah (saw) said: “I have seen him in a dream and he was wearing white clothes. If he was a man in Hellfire, he wouldn’t be wearing white clothes.” Later on Rasul Allah (saw) saw another dream and saw that Waraqah had two gardens in Paradise. So he was in Jannah for he had the right belief.

Salman Al-Farisi – Ibn Abbas (ra) went to Salman Al-Farisi in his old age and requested Salman to tell his story. He said: “I was a Persian man from Isfahan (Iran), from a village called Jih. My father was the head man of the village and I was striving and taking pains in the religion of Magian (belief in good and evil and worship fire). He grew in the religion until he became the keeper of the fire, lighting it and never letting it die. My father owned a large farm, one day he was busy constructing a building of his and wanted me to go out and take care of business in the farm. My father loved me so much he closeted me in his house and would never let me leave. But he told me ‘O my son, you know how dear you are to me if you are late I would be so concerned about you and you are more important to me than my farm or my building. So please come early.’ I was kept in his house like a slave-girl, not letting me go anywhere. I passed by a church and I heard them pray, and I went in to investigate. I never knew much about people since I wasn’t allowed to leave home. So this was something new to me and that I came to realize there was a new religion. I was quite impressed by their method of praying and I ended up staying with them until sunset and I ended up neglecting my father’s work. He became so worried about me that he sent people to search for me. I came back late and my father said ‘O my son, didn’t I tell you not to be late, what happened?’ He related the events and told his father that their religion is better than Magian. His father got even more worried that his son would change his religion that he chained him in the house and imprisoned him. While in shackles, he was able to send a message to the church telling them to inform him if there was a caravan going to ash-sham.

He went with this caravan all the way to the Holy Land in search of the truth. He arrived in Syria and asked about the most learned man of Christianity. He went to the Bishop and told him he wanted to study with him. Salman said that this man used to ask the people to donate and keep it to himself. He was an evil man and he hated him so much but he stayed with him. When the bishop died, the Christians wanted to have a burial for him but Salman exposed his evil deeds and led them to where he used to keep the money he wrongfully took. This angered the people and they ended up crucifying him instead. They appointed someone in his place, and he said about this man “I have never seen a man who attended to the five daily prayers such as this man, nor more ascetic, nor more devoted to worship day and night. I loved him as I had never loved before.” Salman ended up studying under this man, worshipping, in the church but death was approaching this man. Salman went to him at his death bed, asking where he could seek knowledge next but the bishop told him he didn’t know anyone on the same path as he is now except for one man in Mosul. So Salman traveled from Ash-Sham to Mosul in Iraq in search of knowledge. When he went to this man, he was accepted to be his student. But he was also an old man, approaching death, so Salman asked him for a recommendation again. He told him to go to the bishop in Nasibi.

He traveled there and spent time with the bishop of Nasibi. After he died, Salman traveled to Turkey and started a business and accumulated enough to buy sheep and goat. When he was dying he told Salman that the time has come for a prophet to be sent with Ibrahim’s religion who will come forth in the land of the Arabs. He will move to refuge to somewhere with date palms growing between two scorched rocky plains. He will have signs that are unmistakable. He will eat things given to him as gifts but not alms, and between his shoulders there is a seal of prophethood. If you can go there, do so.

So he looked for someone to transport him and found a caravan going there and told them that he would give them all his money and possessions if they would just bring him with them. They agreed and carried him and when they reached a place called Wadi-al-Qura, they betrayed him and sold him as a slave to a Jewish man. He was purchased by a relative of his master who live in Madinah. He relates: “I was taken from Wadi-al-Qura to Bani Quraydah and as soon as we saw Madinah I knew this was the place. One day, I was working on top of a palm tree and my master was sitting and said that one of his cousins came to him while being angry, cursing the children of Qayla (name attributed to Al-Aws and Khazraj) they have assembled in Quba in support of a man who came from Makkah who claims to be a prophet.

When I heard that a chill came down my spine and I started to tremble and I almost fell from the palm tree and land on my master.” Now he has heard the news he has been waiting years for. He said: “I came down the tree and I went to the man and I asked him questions. My master grabbed me and punched me in the face and me told me that it was none of my business and to get back to work. Later on that evening, I prepared some food, and I traveled to Quba and went to visit Rasul Allah at night. I went in and I told him ‘I heard that you are a very good man and that you have companions who are strangers and needy. So I have brought you this food as charity and I think that you are the one who deserves it most.’ Rasul Allah (saw) received the food from me and then he told his companions to go ahead and eat but he didn’t join in with them.

(Sign #1) I went back and later on I prepared some food to bring to Rasul Allah (saw) and he was on his way back to Madinah. I went up to him and greeted him and told him ‘Last night I presented you with food and told you that it was charity, and you refused to eat from it. So I want to honor you with this gift.’ I handed the food to Rasul Allah (saw) and he invited the companions to come in and eat and he joined with them.

(Sign #2) And then I went to him and visited him when he was at Baqi’ (cemetery of Madinah) and he was following a Janaazah. I went up to him and greeted him and then I went around him to see the sign on his back. Rasul Allah (saw) sensed I was trying to look for something that was described for me. So he uncovered his back, throwing off the cloak that was covering his shoulders. And right there in front of my eyes was the seal of the prophethood.

(Sign #3) When I saw the seal of the prophethood on his back, I fell down and prostrated myself to Prophet Muhammad (saw) and I started kissing his feet and I was crying. Rasul Allah (saw) immediately told me to stand up and he told me to tell him my story. And Rasul Allah told me to narrate the same story to his companions. I narrated my story to them just like I am narrating it to you now, Ibn Abbas. Because I was a slave, I ended up missing the Battle of Badr and Uhud, and the Prophet (saw) told me one day ‘O Salman, free yourself from slavery.’ Slaves can ransom themselves from slavery by making a contract with their masters to fulfill a certain amount of obligation.

His master told him to plant 300 palm trees that must survive, and you pay me 40 ounces of gold. So I went back to Rasul Allah (saw) and told him that this is a huge amount for me to pay. And Rasul Allah (saw) told him ‘Don’t worry’ and he gathered the Sahaba and told them to help their brother. Some of them would bring seedlings of palm trees until I had 300 seedlings. Rasul Allah told me that when I have collected 300 seedlings I should dig the hole for them but not to plant them and to go to him and tell him first. When he did so, he informed the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet (saw) would carry the seedlings and would plant them one by one with his own blessed hands. None of those 300 palm trees died and they all grew and survived. Now he had to pay 40 ounces of gold, and later on a small amount of gold was given to Rasul Allah (saw) and asked for Salman. He therefore told him to take this gold and free himself from slavery.

When he saw the gold, it seemed insufficient but when he took it to his master it weighed 40 ounces exactly. And he said: “And then I was free and I never missed anything with Rasul Allah (saw) after that. The first battle he participated in was the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq) and he was the one who came up with the idea of digging the trench.

The first man Salman studied under was evil and corrupt, and these are characteristics that could have made him turn away from seeking knowledge. Nowadays, we say that our actions are a reason why people are turning away from Islam. It’s true to a certain extent but if someone is sincere in their search for the truth, the truth is one thing and people’s actions are another. Salman did not reject Christianity due to the character of this man, he stuck with him and remained and rewarded him later on, by letting him by the side of the best man he had ever known.

We learn two things from this:
Allah states in the Qur’an that the ones who searches for guidance, Allah will give it to them but you have to look for it. If you walk towards Allah, Allah will run towards you, if you take one step towards Allah, He will take many steps towards you, but you have to take that first step. Salman was searching for it and got it. We shouldn’t be let down when we see someone not doing the right thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the message itself. There were remnants of true believers before Rasul Allah (saw) but they were dying and didn’t leave anyone behind them.

The Muslim community must be supportive of their own brothers as the Sahaba freed Salman. We should take care of the needs of the new reverts, for this is part of Da’wah, being responsible for the people who joined your ranks. The risk is that if they don’t get help during those critical periods, they could apostate. These reasons are:

Many of them are stripped from social belongings, neglected by their families, and rejected by their friends. They are in need of a social belonging and a new association.
Some of them come with dire financial needs and if they don’t get them, they get sidetracked and instead focus on fulfilling these needs than learning about Islam.