Salman the son of Islam - Part 1

It was before noon. Some Muslims sat in Prophet's Mosque waiting for Azan (call to prayer) to say noon prayer.

Salman entered mosque and greeted his believing brothers.

The Muslims wanted to know the Persian man's tribe. They mentioned their tribes loudly to let Salman hear them.

One of them said: I belong to Tamim's tribe.

Another said: I belong to the Quraish.

A third said: I belong to al-Aus tribe.

And so on.

But Salman was silent. They wanted to know his tribe. So they asked him: Salman, where are you from?

To teach them the meaning of Islam, Salman answered: I'm the son on Islam! I was lost! So, Allah's guided me with Muhammad. I was poor! So, Allah's made me rich with Muhammad. I was a slave! So, Allah's released me with Muhammad. This is my tribe!

The Muslims in mosque kept silent because Salman taught them a lesson of Islam.

Who was Salman?

How did he believe in Islam?

His name was Roozbah. It means "Happy". He was born at a village in Isfahan. His father was the head of the village. He was a rich man.

At that time, the Persian people worshipped fire because it was the symbol of light. So, fire was sacred to them. Thus, they had temples where fire was made to blaze forever. And there were holy men. They continued its burning day and night.

When Roozbah grew up, his father wanted him to be of great importance. So, he asked him to manage the temple and to go on burning the fire.

Roozbah thought about fire. He refused it as a god, for man takes care of it so as not to put out.

One day, the young man roamed through the distant green fields. In the distance, he saw a pretty building. He headed for it.

The building was a church. The church was built by some monks to worship Allah.

At that time, Christianity was Allah's real religion. The young man talked with the monks. The love of

Allah's religion entered his heart. He asked them: Where's the religion from?

It's from Shaam.

The Migration

Roozbah decided to go to Shaam. He waited for a caravan The traders of the caravan accepted to take him to their homeland.

The young man lived in a priest's house. He wanted to learn the principles of the religion, good behaviour, and the teachings of the Bible.

After a time, the priest died. So, Roozbah immigrated to Mousal ( a city in the northern part of Iraq). There he lived in a church. From Mousal, he moved to Naseebeen. Then he moved to Ammuriyah.

Roozbah lived at Ammuriyah for a time. The priest of Ammuriyah was a good man. Before his death, he said to Roozbah:

During this time, Allah will send a Prophet. The Prophet will bring the religion of Ibrahim al-Khalil. And he'll immigrate to a land with a lot of date palms.

Roozbah asked him: What are his marks?

Some of his marks are:

He'll accept the gift but he won't accept the alms. And the mark of prophecy will be between his shoulders.

The good priest died and Roozbah was by himself. He thought of the immigration to the Arab Peninsula.

One day, a caravan passed by him. The caravan wanted to come back to Hejaz. He gave them all his money to travel to Makkah.

The traders took his money and deprived him of his freedom. They sold him to a Jew as a slave. Roozbah was sad because of that disloyalty, but he was patient. He sincerely began working on the Jewish man's farm.

Days passed. One morning a man belonged to Bani Quraidha came to visit his cousin. He saw Roozbah working very hard. The man said to his cousin: Please sell me that slave.

Roozbah became happy because Bani Quraidha lived in Yathrib full of date-palms. In the meantime, the priest of Ammuriyah told him that the promised Prophet would appear in it. Roozbah was always counting the days. He looked forward to the Prophet's appearance.

One day, while he was working on the farm, he heard his master saying to a friend of his:

Muhammad's arrived at Quba. And some people of Yathrib have received him.

Roozbah rejoiced at the news, for it was time to get his freedom. He waited till evening. When it became dark, he took some dates and left his master's house secretly.

The distance between Yathrib and Quba was about two miles. Roozbah covered them quickly. When he arrived at Quba, he went to our Master Muhammad [s] and said: These dates as alms.

Our Master Muhammad [s] distributed the dates to his companions, but he did not eat any. Roozbah said to himself: This is the first mark

On the following day, he came again. He had some dates, too. He said to our Master Muhammad [s]: These are gifts.

The Prophet [s] took the dates gratefully. He distributed them to his companions and ate some. Roozbah said to himself: And this is the second mark

For this reason, Roozbah was certain that Muhammad was the promised Prophet. He embraced him and believed in Islam. For this reason, our Master Muhammad [s] named him Salman.

Adapted from the book: "The Companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w)"