Abdullah ibn Salam

A Jewish Rabbi of Madinah who was one of the greatest scholars of the Jewish community in Arabia, and one of the very few prominent Jewish figures to accept Islam. Born with the name al-Ḥuṣayn ibn Salām, he took the name ʿAbdullāh upon embracing Islam.

He narrates directly the story of the first time he saw the Prophet ﷺ, an account recorded in the Musnad of Imām Aḥmad:

"When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, the people rushed to see him. I was among the first to come close. When his face became clear to me, falammā tabayyanat wajhahu, I recognized that this face was not the face of a liar. ʿAraftu anna wajhahu laysa bi-wajhi kadh-dhāb. Just by looking at his face, I knew."

This act of discernment, recognizing truth from the quality of a face, is called Firāsah (فِرَاسَة) in Arabic. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Ittaqū firāsat al-muʾmin fa-inna firāsatahu ḥaqq", "Beware of the believer's insight, for his insight is true." People of deep piety and sincerity can recognize piety and sincerity in others.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām then narrates: "The first thing I heard him say was: Afshū al-salām, wa aṭʿimū al-ṭaʿām, wa ṣilū al-arḥām, wa ṣallū bi-l-layl wa al-nāsu niyām, tadkhulū al-jannata bi-salām." This is now known as the Ḥadīth al-Salām, the Hadith of Peace, and it is considered the first hadith formally narrated from Madinah.

He remained among the most respected scholars among the Companions and outlived the Prophet ﷺ. He is one of a small number of people the Prophet ﷺ stated would enter Paradise while still alive. ʿUmar once said to him after the Prophet's death: "O ʿAbdullāh, I wish you had been one of us", meaning born Muslim, acknowledging the depth of his scholarship and character.