SALMAAN AL- FAARISIY

 

In the far lands of Persia, lived this son of a wealthy man. Salmaan was so beloved to his father that he was not usually allowed to go outside the house. In his tribe, they were fire worshippers and Salmaan was so devoted to this religion that they made him a custodian of the fire.One day,on an errand for his father, he passed by a church and felt that Christianity was a better religion than his own. When this news reached his father, he locked Salmaan up until a day when news reached Salmaan that a caravan was going to Syria which he was told was the land from which Christianity originated from. He escaped his father’s prison and joined the caravan.

On getting to Syria, he asked for the most knowledgeable person and he stayed, learning from the monk until he passed away and he kept looking for and learning from knowledgeable men as they pass away until one of these men informed him of an upcoming Prophet in the Arabian land who would possess three signs: he would not eat of charity but accepts gift and he will bear the seal of prophethood between his shoulders. Salmaan then made a deal with a caravan going to the Arabian land in exchange for his property. However, on getting there, the caravan sold Salmaan out in slavery and he was still in slavery when he heard about Prophet Muhammad [S.A.W]. He went to the Prophet where he verified the proposed three signs. He accepted Islam and later on he gained his freedom with the help of the Prophet(SAW) and other companions.

He missed the battles of Badr and Uhud because he was still in slavery at that time but he was the originator of the idea of digging a trench in the battle of the trench. He was a humble man who lived to see the conquest of Persia by the Islamic state. He died during Uthman’s caliphacy. May Allah be pleased with him.