Before the prophet hood of Prophet Muhammad, the world was in a dark age. There was no clear way to prove the truth or lies. However, there were a few people who had the wisdom to distinguish truth from falsehood. These people were called Hanif. In the Holy Quran, the word Hunafa is mentioned in Surah Al Bayinah. Now, we will listen to the story of the Hunafa.
In ancient times, very few people in that society believed in Tawheed. Most of them worshipped false gods. Despite the cruelty of society, the first name that came to attention among the Hunafas was Qus ibn Sa’idah. He was not from the Quraysh, but from Banu Iyad. It is said that he lived for many years, 80 or 90, and some say 100 or 150 years. When the Prophet was about 20 years old, he saw Qus.
Qus ibn Sa’idah came to Hajj and said to his people, “Where are the people of Iyad today? Where are the tribe of Aad today? Where are the tribe of Thamud? Where are your forefathers? I swear by the name of Allah, the religion you follow, there is certainly a better religion than that.”
Qus ibn Sa’idah did not like the traditional religion of his tribe. He understood that they were on the wrong path. As he believed in one God, he would understand that his tribe was following the wrong path. However, As the Prophet Muhammad didn’t come in that time, so he did not accept Islam formally
In the pre-Islamic era, the four most popular Hunafas were Zaid ibn Amr ibn Nufail, Waraka ibn Nawfal, Ubaidullah ibn Jahash, and Osman ibn al-Huwaris.
First, let’s talk about Zaid ibn Amr ibn Nufail. Zaid was from the Quraish, but in search of the truth, he travelled outside Makkah. He went to the Jews to learn about their religion. After learning everything, he decided not to follow their religion.
Then he went to the Christians. Even after learning about the Christian religion, he was not completely satisfied. That is why he did not accept the Christian religion. Finally, he got to know the story of the religion of the Prophet Abraham, which was called Hanifiyah or the religion of worshipping only Allah SWT. He decided to follow the religion of Prophet Ibrahim. As a result, as a Hanifi, only he started to worship Allah alone there. Zaid bin Nufail went against the practices of shirk in Makkah. There was no one else to talk about worshipping Allah alone except him. Asma bint Abu Bakr said, “I saw Zaid bin Nufail standing with his back against the Kaaba and shouting at people.”
He said, “Hey Quraysh, I swear by Allah, none of you are following the religion of Abraham accept me.” Although, the people of Quraysh were very proud saying that only they were following the religion of Abraham. Zaid also said, “Oh Allah, if I could know which path you like the most, I would worship you on that path. But I don’t know that.” Zaid bin Nufail understood the truth. He believed in Allah. But how to use this truth in life? How to worship Allah? He didn’t know that. He didn’t have any books or resources to follow the religion. In every century, some people like Zaid can recognize the truth. They understand that the Creator or Allah is one and only.
They believe in Allah. They want to worship Allah. But they do not know the correct method of worship. When we see reverted Muslims, we hear the same story from them that many of them could understand from the beginning that God is only one. He has no partner. They could understand on their own what is right and what is wrong. Zaid came to understand many things only through his natural instinct, such as he never supported murdering daughter which was a common custom there. He was away from this practice all the time. If he heard that any father was going to kill his daughter, Zaid would come to that father right away. He would say, “Give her to me, I will take care of her. After she grows up, you can take her back if you want. If not, she can stay with me.” In this way, he took care of many daughters.
Even he objected to eat the meat of animals slaughtered in Makkah. Once, someone placed meat in front of Prophet Muhammad, he gave it to the person next to him. When the same meat was given to Zaid, he said, “I will not eat this. I will not eat anything from the animal that you have slaughtered in the name of your Gods.” Zaid criticized the people of Quraysh for offering animals to their gods. He said that all creation is from Allah. Allah sends rain from the sky, which makes crops grow in the land. Then why do you disobey the law of Allah? How do you deprive Him and attribute His gifts to another deity?
Five years before the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad, Zaid ibn Amr Ibn Nufail died. His son Said ibn Zaid was Ashara Mubashara (The Ten Companions of Prophet Muhammad Promised Jannah)
One day, he went to the Prophet and asked about his father. His father had died before the Prophet began preaching, so what was his fate? The Prophet said, “On the Day of Qiyamah (Judgement day), your father will appear as a single Ummah alone.” This means the Prophet had promised Jannah for Zaid ibn Nufail. On the Day of Judgment, people will be divided into different groups. Every group will have a prophet. Moses, Jesus, Noah, Abraham, and Muhammad (SW) will be present with their followers. But as Zaid bin Nufail was not part of any prophet’s group, he will stand alone like a nation. Being alone, he will have the dignity to stand as a nation on his own.
Allah will give him Jannah (Heaven) for his efforts to find the truth. After knowing the truth, he worshipped Allah as best as he could.
Then there was Waraka ibn Nawfal, the cousin of Khadija (R.A.). He was a Christian. He was a learned person and studied a lot about Christianity. But even though he was a Christian, he believed in Allah alone. That is, he believed in Tawhid. From this, it can be understood that at that time, there were some Christians who believed in Allah alone. They did not worship Jesus exclusively. When the Prophet received his first revelation, Khadija discussed it with Waraka ibn Nawfal. That incident will be discussed later. After this incident, Waraka died. He died before accepting Islam. People kept talking, wondering what would happen to Waraka. He was not a Muslim. They said he would definitely go to hell.
When Prophet Muhammad (SW) started receiving revelation, he was not allowed to spread that publicly.
The Prophet said about Waraqa, “I saw him in a dream. His dress was white. If he had been a resident of hell, he would not have been wearing white clothes.” Later, the Prophet had another dream. He saw that Waraka was in Jannah and he has two guardians. This dream interpreted that Waraka will go to Jannah because her faith was correct.
Among the four Hunafas, Ubaidullah ibn Jahash and Uthman ibn al-Huwaris both followed the religion of Christen. The story of Ubaidullah ibn Jahash is particularly sad. He was one of the first Muslims and believed in the Prophet, adopting Islam and migrating to Abyssinia. There was no doubt about the high rank of those first Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia due to the persecution by the Maccan Mushrik. However, in Abyssinia, he left Islam and adopted Christianity, spending the rest of his life in that faith. His wife was Umme Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan.
It is uncertain whether Uthman ibn al-Huwaris knew about the Prophet Muhammad’s revelation. He went to Rome, worked in Caesar’s palace as an interpreter, earned a lot of money and respect but became a Christian, and died in that faith.
The last Hunafa we will discuss is Salman al-Farisi. His story is very interesting. Before the advent of Islam, he believed in the oneness of God. When he heard about the Prophet, he set out in search of him. Eventually, he met the Prophet and became his companion. After the Prophet’s death, Salman lived a few more years, and his end was miraculous. His story was preserved by his own word.
There was an incident in his old age. One day, Ibn Abbas visited him and asked about his life. Salman began to tell his story. “I was a Persian from Isfahan. Our village was Zayyan. My father was the leader of the village. We followed the Zoroastrian religion, and I worked hard to be a good Zoroastrian. I was in charge of maintaining the fire, a significant duty in our religion. Zoroastrians would worship fire, which was considered Shirk. His duty was to keep an eye on the fire to ensure it never extinguished. In every village, there was a temple where a fire was kept burning constantly. The fire had to be kept lit all the time
He continued, “My father had a big business. Once, he was very busy building his house and told me to look after his business.” “He loved me so much that he usually kept me inside the home. One day, my father sent me out for business work. He told me, ‘You know how much I love you. If you delay your return, I will become restless with worry. He kept me inside in such a way that I felt like I was a captive slave. One day, he sent me out for work, I passed a Christian church and heard their prayers. I was curious and went inside. Their prayers surprised me, and I stayed until sunset. My father was worried and sent people to look for me. When I returned home, he asked what had happened. I told him about the church and their prayers. He was very upset and told me that our religion was better. I disagreed, saying their religion seemed better.
My father was too distressed and locked me up. I asked someone in the church where their religion originated, and they said the Holy Land, Palestine. Remembering this, I planned to escape. One day, I sent a message to the priest of the church asking him to inform me if they found any caravan heading to Palestine. Eventually, I received news from the church that a caravan was indeed going to Palestine. I managed to break free from my captivity and fled to the Holy Land, beginning my journey to seek the truth.” I wanted to learn from the most knowledgeable person in the religion. When I reached Syria, I was asking the people who are the most religious people in this religion.”
Everyone advised me, “Go to the bishop; the main person in the Church.” I went to the bishop and recounted all my experiences openly. I said, “I want to learn everything about this religion from you.” The bishop replied, “Certainly, come to the church with me.” I spent the day at the church.
We can understand what that bishop was like from his comment. He said about the bishop, “This man is very unfair. He encourages people to donate, but he keeps all the donated money for himself.”
I disliked him greatly. Despite this, I stayed with the bishop because of my deep love for knowledge.” I remained silent about all this for a long time. After the bishop’s death, when the Christians planned to arrange a funeral, I spoke up and said, “This bishop was evil and corrupt.” They became angry and said, “How dare you say this about the bishop?” I took them to where the bishop had stored all his wealth and donations from his followers. He filled seven boxes with gold and silver. Seeing this, people were so angry that they crucified his dead body and stoned him. Then they invited another person to the bishop’s place. I have never seen such a devout person worshipping God with such passion. He was not interested in worldly life, rather he always cared about the afterlife. He used to pray very hard day and night. I spent a lot of time with this Bishop. I learned a lot about this religion and prayer from him and started praying regularly. When he became close to death I went to him and said, “You all know my story, how I acquired everything and came to learn this religion. May Allah bless you. Who should I follow now?” he replied, “Son, I don’t know who else has done what I did. But there is someone in Mosul like me, deeply engrossed in worship. Go to him. I then travelled alone from Sham to Mosul. I met the priest of Mosul and told him my story and said the priest of Sham sent me to you. May I stay with you?” The priest replied, “Of course, you can be my disciple.” This is how I stayed with him. However, he was also very old, and I feared losing him as well. I asked the priest, “I came to learn Christianity from you. But your time is almost up. Who should I go to after your death?” The priest said, “According to our path, only one person knows as much as I do. Go to the bishop of Nisibin.” When I reached Nisibin, I told him everything about me. Thus, my new life began in Nisibis. But even this man didn’t have much time left. All of my teachers were dying one by one. After his death, there was no one left to teach the religion. At the time of his death, he said, “Go to the priest of Ammoria. I then moved to Ammoria, which is now Byzantine. While learning about religion and praying, I started a business at the same time. By this profit, I bought a few sheep and cows. As my priest was about to pass away, I asked for advice for my future Priest. The disciple replied, “Son, I don’t know anyone who can teach you more than I have. But the time has come for the awaiting Prophet. He will come from the Arab. From there, he will travel to such a place where it will be full of date trees. And there will be a stone field surrounding that land. He will have some specific sign. He will accept the gift but will return the donation. In between his two arms, there will be the symbol of the Prophet hood. If you can, go there. He told Salman clearly that there is no one left according to his path. Those who followed Jesus correctly, all of them have died. It is time for a new revelation to come from Allah. The earth is now waiting for a new direction.
The three signs of the Prophet were also told to Salman Al-Farsi. First, he would travel to a place with full of dates tree, surrounded by a stone land on both sides. Second, the Prophet would not accept charity from people, but he wouldn’t reject a gift. Third, there would be a mark, a sign, between his shoulder blades. This is the symbol of the Prophet.
Salman said, “I was looking for a way to go to Arabia. Suddenly, I met one of the leaders of the Kalb tribe. I told him, ‘Take me with you. In exchange, take all my wealth, my cattle, everything. Just take me to Arabia.’ Subhanallah, an extraordinary youth with an extraordinary story of his journey in search of the truth.”
The people agreed to take him, but once in Arabia, they betrayed him. They sold him as a slave to a Jew in Wadi al-Qura. Wadi means valley. At that time, the slave trade was so severe that if someone became a slave, there was no way to escape. No one listened to or believed the words of a slave. So, no one would believe him, no matter what he said. The Jew took Salman to Wadi al-Qura. Salman said, “I looked at the place and thought that the priest had told me about this place.”
Eventually, a friend of his master came and bought Salman. This new master belonged to the Banu Quraiza tribe, who lived in Madinah. Salman went to Madinah with his new master and realized that this was the place he had been looking for, with full of dates tree and stones on both sides. One side was named Al-Hara Al Garbiya, and the other side was named Al-Hara Al Shakya. These two boarder of Medina were naturally protected, with the south side full of trees.
Prophet Muhammed SW came but I didn’t hear anything about that for years for my hard slavery. Salman knew nothing about Islam at that time. He said, “One day, I was working on top of a date tree. My master was sitting under the tree. His cousin came and said angrily, ‘Ya Mabud, Curse to the tribe of Kaila. One man is claiming to be a prophet, and many people are following him.’ The people of Aus and Khazraj (Two main tribes in Medina) were known as the Kaela tribe.”
Salman said, “The moment I heard this, my heart started beating fast. I started shivering so much that I felt like I would fall from the tree. This was the moment I had waited for years. I left home, my family, and wandered to unknown places, only to find the truth. Finally, I heard the message. I came down from the tree and started asking questions to the man. My master pulled me by holding my neck and said, ‘You don’t need to know so much. Go back to work.'”
“That evening, after preparing some food, I went to Kuba. Kuba was outside Madinah. It was late at night. I went to the Prophet and said, ‘I have heard you are very honest. You have made the ignorant and helpless people your companions. I want to donate you some food as charity. I think it is suitable for you.’ Saying this, I gave the food to him. The Prophet took the food and asked his companions to eat, but he did not eat with them.”
This was the first sign: the Prophet did not eat food from the charity. The next day, I went there again. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had started his journey to Madinah. I went to him and said, “I offered you food the other day, but you did not eat it. Now, I want to give you this food as a gift.” So, I gave him more food. He accepted it and gave it to his friends and he also ate from it.
Then, I went to see him again. He was in the city of Madinah and he just finished the Janaza (Funeral Prayer) prayer. I went to the Prophet and greeted him. I tried to see the mark on his back by looking around him. The Prophet might understand that I was trying to find the mark. He uncovered his back, and I saw the seal of prophet hood in front of my eyes. In front of Prophet, I bow down on the ground and started kissing his feet and cried badly. The Messenger of Allah quickly told me to stand up as he didn’t allow anyone to bow down to him. Then he asked Salman to tell his story.
Salman told the Messenger of Allah everything openly. The Messenger of Allah then told me, “Tell your story to my companions as well.” Salman Al-Farisi said, ” O Ibn Abbas, I have told my story exactly as I am telling it to you today. Because I was a slave, I couldn’t participate in the battles of Badr or Uhud.”
Then one day, the Prophet said to me, “Salman, free yourself from being a slave.” To be free, a slave could make an agreement with his master to work for a certain amount of time and earn a specific amount of money. Salman Al-Farisi went to his master and asked for his freedom. His master said, “I want 300 dates tree from you, and none of these saplings should be damaged. Additionally, you must give me 40 ounces of gold. Then you can be free.”
Salman spoke to the Prophet about this difficult condition. Rasulallah said, “Don’t worry.” He then asked his companions to help Salman. Salman Al-Farisi said, “After that, some companions brought 30 date saplings, some brought 20, and some brought 10. Whatever they could, they brought date seeds. In this way, we gathered 300 saplings.”
The Prophet said, “When you have 300 saplings, show them to me before planting them.” Salman gathered the 300 saplings and showed them to the Prophet. Following the Prophet’s instructions, they planted the saplings together.
Salman said, “The Messenger of Allah, planted those 300 seeds one by one with his own blessing hands. Not a single one of those seeds died before bearing fruit. Then the remaining 40 ounces of gold were needed. I didn’t know how I would get the gold. One day, Rasulullah was given some gold. He asked, ‘Where is that Persian brother of yours?’ The companions went out to find me. When I came, the Prophet said to me, ‘Take this gold and use it to free yourself.’
I saw the amount of gold and said, ‘O Rasulullah, what can I do with so little gold?’ He said, ‘Take it and free yourself’. The amount seemed insufficient. But when I measured it, the gold weighed exactly 40 ounces. With that, I was free from the burden of slavery. After that, I participated in all the battles with the Prophet.”
Salman Al-Farisi, with his brilliant intellect, contributed significantly during the Battle of Khandaq (Battle of Trench). He devised the strategy to dig the trench, which helped the Muslims defend against the enemy.
His determination to find the truth was so strong that he never gave up, even after facing numerous hardships.
The first priest he met was so pious from outside but inside he was a liar. He use to take all the charity money and kept it for himself.
Today, we see that some people are turned away from Islam because of the actions of certain Muslims. People often say that it’s because of Muslims that others don’t accept Islam. While this may be partly true, it’s not entirely accurate. Those who truly seek the right path will find it, regardless of the actions of some individuals.
Despite the challenges he faced, Salman Farisi never considered Christianity to be completely false for that individual priest. He continued his search for truth and was guided by Allah. Allah granted him the opportunity to learn from the best scholars of Christianity. People began to respect him greatly
Allah says in the Quran, “And those who have found the right path, Allah increases their strength to walk the right path” (Surah Muhammad, Ayat 17).
From Salman’s story, we learn that those seeking guidance must be provided with it. However, to receive Allah’s guidance, one must work hard.
When someone works hard for Allah, their reward will be immense. If someone is walking towards Allah, Allah will run to reach out him, but humans have to take the first step. Salman Al-Farisi found Islam even though he initially lived far from it. Despite the challenges, he embraced the faith wholeheartedly.
Secondly, if someone wrongs us, it’s important not to judge the entire religion based on that person. Salman Al-Farisi understood this, and his commitment to the truth remained strong. If a priest is wronged, he does not lose hope. By reacting negatively to the actions of a person, we can also stray from the path of truth. This understanding is crucial.
Third, Muslims should support new Muslims. Their convenience and well-being are the responsibility of the Muslim community. The Prophet always helped Salman and asked his companions to do the same. Often, new Muslims need financial assistance. Helping them is a duty. This responsibility extends to those who have accepted Islam.
If you look at the lives of the companions, new Muslims needed a lot of help. Bilal was a slave, and Abu Bakr freed him. Many early Muslims were slaves, requiring significant support from the community. Without such help, the early period of their new faith could be so difficult that they might suffer greatly.
A survey in America shows that many new Muslims leave Islam after some time. After converting, they might be kicked out of their homes, and their social status changes. Therefore, they need a lot of patience and support. The Messenger of Allah said, “Do good work before some difficulties come.” When someone’s stomach is empty, spirituality and wisdom might not be their focus during that time. Thus, taking care of a person’s needs is an essential part of preaching Islam.
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