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SALMAN
AL-FARSI Radhia
Allahu Anaha
This
is a story of a seeker of Truth, the story of Salman the
Persian, gleaned, to begin with, from his own words:
I
grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia in the village of
Jayyan. My father was the Dihqan or chief of the village.
He was the richest person there and had the biggest house.
Since
I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any
other. As time went by his love for me became so strong
and overpowering that he feared to lose me or have
anything happen to me. So he kept me at home, a veritable
prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept.
I
became devoted to the Magian religion so much so that I
attained the position of custodian of the fire which we
worshipped. My duty was to see that the flames of the fire
remained burning and that it did not go out for a single
hour, day or night.
My
father had a vast estate which yielded an abundant supply
of crops. He himself looked after the estate and the
harvest. One day he was very busy with his duties as
dihqan in the village and he said to me:
"My
son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate
now. Go and look after matters there for me today."
On
my way to the estate, I passed a Christian church and the
voices at prayer attracted my attention. I did not know
anything about Christianity or about the followers of any
other religion throughout the time my father kept me in
the house away from people. When I heard the voices of the
Christians I entered the church to see what they were
doing.
I
was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to
their religion. "By God," I said, "this is
better than ours. I shall not leave them until the sun
sets."
I
asked and was told that the Christian religion originated
in AshSham (Greater Syria). I did not go to my father's
estate that day and at night, I returned home. My father
met me and asked what I had done. I told him about my
meeting with the Christians and how I was impressed by
their religion. He was dismayed and said:
"My
son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion
and the religion of your forefathers is better."
"No,
their religion is better than ours," I insisted.
My
father became upset and afraid that I would leave our
religion. So he kept me locked up in the house and put a
chain on my feet. I managed however to send a message to
the Christians asking them to inform me of any caravan
going to Syria. Before long they got in touch with me and
told me that a caravan was headed for Syria. I managed to
unfetter myself and in disguise accompanied the caravan to
Syria. There, I asked who was the leading person in the
Christian religion and was directed to the bishop of the
church. I went up to him and said:
"I
want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself
to your service, learn from you and pray with you."
The
bishop agreed and I entered the church in his service. I
soon found out, however, that the man was corrupt. He
would order his followers to give money in chanty while
holding out the promise of blessings to them. When they
gave anything to spend in the way oRGod however, he would
hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor or
needy. In this way he amassed a vast quantity of gold.
When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury
him, I told them of his corrupt practices and, at their
request, showed them where he kept their donations. When
they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they
said.
"By
God, we shall not bury him." They nailed him on a
cross and threw stones at him.
I
continued in the service of the person who replaced him.
The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter
and engaged in worship day and night. I was greatly
devoted to him and spent a long time in his company.
(After
his death, Salman attached himself to various Christian
religious figures, in Mosul, Nisibis and elsewhere. The
last one had told him about the appearance of a Prophet in
the land of the Arabs who would have a reputation for
strict honesty, one who would accept a gift but would
never consume charity (sadaqah) for himself. Salman
continues his story.)
A
group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through
Ammuriyah and I asked them to take me with them to the
land of the Arabs in return for whatever money I had. They
agreed and I paid them. When we reached Wadi al-Qura (a
place between Madinah and Syria), they broke their
agreement and sold me to a Jew. I worked as a servant for
him but eventually he sold me to a nephew of his belonging
to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah. This nephew took me with
him to Yathrib, the city of palm groves, which is how th e
Christian at Ammuriyah had described it.
At
that time the Prophet was inviting his people in Makkah to
Islam but I did not hear anything about him then because
of the harsh duties which slavery imposed upon me.
When
the Prophet reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Makkah,
I was in fact at the top of a palm tree belonging to my
master doing some work. My master was sitting under the
tree. A nephew of his came up and said:
"May
God declare war on the Aws and the Khazraj (the two main
Arab tribes of Yathrib). By God, they are now gathering at
Quba to meet a man who has today come from Makkah and who
claims he is a Prophet." I felt hot flushes as soon
as I heard these words and I began to shiver so violently
that I was afraid that I might fall on my master. I
quickly got down from the tree and spoke to my master's
nephew. "What did you say? Repeat the news for
me."
My
mastcr was very angry and gave me a terrible blow.
"What does this matter to you? Go back to what you
were doing," he shouted.
That
evening, I took some dates that I had gathered and went to
the place where the Prophet had alighted. I went up to him
and said:
"I
have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have
companions with you who are strangers and are in need.
Here is something from me as sadaqah. I see that you are
more deserving of it than others."
The
Prophet ordered his companions to eat but he himself did
not eat of it.
I
gathered some more dates and when the Prophet left Quba
for Madinah I went to him and said: "I noticed that
you did not eat of the sadaqah I gave. This however is a
gift for you." Of this gift of dates, both he and his
companions ate.
The
strict honesty of the Prophet was one of the
characteristics that led Salman to believe in him and
accept Islam.
Salman
was released from slavery by the Prophet who paid his
Jewish slave-owner a stipulated price and who himself
planted an agreed number of date palms to secure his
manumission. After accepting Islam, Salman would say when
asked whose son he was:
"I
am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of
Adam."
Salman
was to play an important role in the struggles of the
growing Muslim state. At the battle of Khandaq, he proved
to be an innovator in military strategy. He suggested
digging a ditch or khandaq around Madinah to keep the
Quraysh army at bay. When Abu Sufyan, the leader of the
Makkans, saw the ditch, he said, "This strategem has
not been employed by the Arabs before."
Salman
became known as "Salman the Good". He was a
scholar who lived a rough and ascetic life. He had one
cloak which he wore and on which he slept. He would not
seek the shelter of a roof but stayed under a tree or
against a wall. A man once said to him: "Shall I not
build you a house in which to live?" "I have no
need of a house," he replied.
The
man persisted and said, "I know the type of house
that would suit you." "Describe it to me,"
said Salman.
"I
shall build you a house which if you stand up in it, its
roof will hurt your head and if you stretch your legs the
wall will hurt them."
Later,
as a govenor of al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) near Baghdad,
Salman received a stipend of five thousand dirhams. This
he would distribute as sadaqah. He lived from the work of
his own hands. When some people came to Mada'in and saw
him working in the palm groves, they said, "You are
the amir here and your sustenance is guaranteed and you do
this work!"
"I
like to eat from the work of my own hands," he
replied. Salman however was not extreme in his asceticism.
It is related that he once visited Abu ad-Dardaa with whom
the Prophet had joined him in brotherhood. He found Abu
adDardaa's wife in a miserable state and he asked,
"What is the matter with you."
"Your
brother has no need of anything in this world*" she
replied.
When
Abu ad-Dardaa came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food.
Salman told him to eat but Abu adDardaa said, "I am
fasting."
"I
swear to you that I shall not eat until you eat
also."
Salman
spent the night there as well. During the night, Abu
ad-Dardaa got up but Salman got hold of him and said:
"O
Abu ad-Dardaa, your Lord has a right over you. Your family
have a right over you and your body has a right over you.
Give to each its due."
In
the morning, they prayed together and then went out to
meet the Prophet, peace be upon him. The Prophet supported
Salman in what he had said.
As
a scholar, Salman was noted for his vast knowledge and
wisdom. Ali said of him that he was like Luqman the Wise.
And Ka'b al-Ahbar said: "Salman is stuffed with
knowledge and wisdomÑan ocean that does not dry
up." Salman had a knowledge of both the Christian
scriptures and the Qur'an in addition to his earlier
knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion. Salman in fact
translated parts of the Qur'an into Persian during the
life-time of the Prophet. He was thus the first person to
translate the Qur'an into a foreign language.
Salman,
because of the influential household in which he grew up,
might easily have been a major figure in the sprawling
Persian Empire of his time. His search for truth however
led him, even before the Prophet had appeared, to renounce
a comfortable and affluent life and even to suffer the
indignities of slavery. According to the most reliable
account, he died in the year thirty five after the hijrah,
during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.
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