What the People of the Book knew of the prophethood of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

Sayyiduna Salamah bin Salamah bin Waqsh (may Allah be pleased with him), who had the honour of taking part in the Battle of Badr, narrates: We had a Jewish neighbour among Banu Abd al-Ashhal. The narrator says: Once, before the advent of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he came out to us and stopped by the gathering of the people of Abd al-Ashhal. Sayyiduna Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: In those days I was the youngest of them all; I had a cloak on me, wrapped in which I was lying in the courtyard of my house. That Jew mentioned the resurrection, the Day of Resurrection, the reckoning, the Scale, Paradise and Hell. Then some people who were idol-worshippers and polytheists, who did not believe that anyone could be brought back to life after death, said: "Woe to you, O so-and-so! Do you think this will happen, that people will be moved after their death to an abode in which there will be Paradise or Hell, and that people will then be recompensed according to their deeds?" That Jew said: "Yes! By the One in whose name oaths are sworn, at that time a man will wish that, in exchange for the fire of Hell, he be given the largest oven that they used to heat, then that they enter it, and once they have entered it, that they remain inside that (oven), but escape that fire." The narrator says: Someone said: "Woe to you! What is the sign of this?" He replied: "A prophet who will be sent in these regions," and he pointed with his hand towards Makkah and Yemen. The people said: "What do you think, when will he appear?" He looked at me, and I was the youngest of those people, and he said: "If this boy lives out his natural lifespan, he will reach his time." Sayyiduna Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: By Allah! The nights and days kept passing until Allah Almighty sent His Prophet, and he (that Jew) was alive among us. We believed in him, and that Jew rejected him out of rebellion and envy. We said to him: "O so-and-so, woe to you! Did you not tell us something about him?" He said: "Yes! But he is not the one."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it.

In a narration he recorded, which is also reported from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wording is: "There was a Jew among Banu Abd al-Ashhal. We were present in a gathering, and he said to us: 'The time of that Prophet from Quraysh and from the Sanctuary has drawn near.' Then he turned towards that gathering and said: 'If anyone reaches his time, this young man will reach his time,' and he said this pointing towards me. Then, by the decree of Allah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, and I said: 'This Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has come.' That Jew said: 'By Allah! He is the very one.' I said: 'Then why do you not accept Islam?' He said: 'By Allah! I will not abandon Judaism.'" The narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih, except Ibn Ishaq, and he has explicitly stated that he heard it.

Sayyiduna Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Abd al-Muttalib said: I went to Yemen on one of my two yearly journeys, and I stayed with a Jewish man. A man from one of the places of worship there saw me; he asked me about my lineage, and I stated my lineage to him. He said: "Will you permit me to examine your body?" I said: "All right, as long as it is not the private parts." He opened one of my nostrils and looked, then he looked into the other, and said: "I bear witness that in one of your hands there is kingship and in the other there is prophethood, but we find that this will also be connected with Banu Zuhrah, so how can that be?" I said: "I do not know." He asked: "Do you have a companion?" I said: "What is meant by a companion?" He said: "A wife." I said: "At present I have none." He said: "When you go back, marry among Banu Zuhrah." Abd al-Muttalib came back and married Halah bint Wuhayb bin Abd Manaf bin Zuhrah, and Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) was born to him. He married his son (Abdullah) to Aminah bint Wahb, and Quraysh said: "Abdullah has competed with his father." Aminah gave birth to Abdullah's son, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) was also the foster brother of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because Thuwaybah, the slave-woman of Abu Lahab, had nursed both of them, and Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) was older than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Abdul Aziz bin Imran, and he is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Allah Almighty sent His Prophet so that he might bring a man into Paradise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered their place of worship; there were Jews there, and a Jewish man was reading the Torah to them. When they reached the place describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they stopped reading it. In a corner of that place of worship there was a sick man. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What happened? Why have you stopped?" The sick man said: "These people have now reached the place describing a prophet, so they have stopped." Then that (sick) Jewish man came; he bent on his knees, took the Torah and read it, until he read the description of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the description of his Ummah, and said: "This description is yours and that of your Ummah, so I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah." Then that man passed away, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take care of your brother (that is, arrange for his shrouding and burial)."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it; the chain of this narration contains a narrator, Ata bin al-Sa'ib, and he had suffered confusion (ikhtilat).

Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan bin Harb (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Umayyah bin Abi al-Salt was with him in Gaza, or in Iliya. When we were coming back, he said: "O Abu Sufyan! Would you like us to go a little ahead of our companions and talk together?" I said: "All right." The narrator says: We did so. He said: "O Abu Sufyan! Which of them are from the family of Utbah bin Rabi'ah?" I said: "These (all) people belong to the family of Utbah." He said: "Is he noble on both his mother's and his father's side, and does he avoid committing wrongs and forbidden deeds?" I replied: "Yes!" He said: "He is a noble, aged man." He said this: "Old age and nobility diminish him." I said to him: "You are wrong; as a man's age increases, his honour keeps increasing." He said: "O Abu Sufyan! This is something I have not heard from anyone; since I adopted Christianity I have not heard anyone say it. Do not be hasty about me; I will tell you." He said: "I found in my books mention of a prophet who would be sent in our Sanctuary. I had supposed, rather I had no doubt about it, that I would be that prophet. But when I held discussions with the people of knowledge, it turned out that he would be from Banu Abd Manaf. I examined Banu Abd Manaf and did not find anyone more suitable for this matter than Utbah bin Rabi'ah. But when you told me about his lineage, I came to know that it is not he either, because his age has passed forty years and revelation has not come down to him." Abu Sufyan says: Then a period of time passed, and then revelation came down to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I set out with some riders of Quraysh to go to Yemen for trade. I passed by Umayyah bin Abi al-Salt and said to him, by way of mocking him: "O Umayyah! The prophet you were waiting for has been sent." He said: "He is true; follow him." I said: "Why do you not follow him?" He said: "I feel ashamed before the women of the Thaqif tribe; I used to tell them that I was that prophet, and then they will see that I have become a follower of a young man from Banu Abd Manaf." Then Umayyah said: "O Abu Sufyan! It seems to me about you as though you will oppose him, and then you will be tied up the way a young goat is tied, until you are brought to him, and he will pass whatever judgement he wishes about you."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Mujashi' bin Amr, and he is da'if (weak).

Khalifah bin Abdah bin Jarwal narrates: I asked Muhammad bin Adi bin Rabi'ah: "Why did your father name you 'Muhammad' in the days of Ignorance?" He said: "I too asked my father about the thing you have asked me about, and he said: Four men of Banu Tamim, myself included, set out; I was one of them, one was Sufyan bin Mujashi' bin Darim, one was Usamah bin Malik, and one was Yazid bin Rabi'ah. We were going to Ibn Jafnah al-Ghassani in Syria. When we came to Syria, we camped by a pool around which there were trees, and nearby there was a place of worship. We said: 'If we bathe with this water, put on oil and wear fine clothes, then we will go to the person we have come for.' Meanwhile the man of that place of worship looked down at us and said: 'This language is not the language of this region.' We said: 'Yes! We are people from the tribe of Mudar.' He asked: 'From which branch of Mudar?' We said: 'From Khindif.' He said: 'A prophet will be sent among you, so hasten and take your share from him, and you will be guided, for he will be the one who seals the line of the prophets.' We said: 'What will his name be?' He replied: 'Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).' When we returned from Ibn Jafnah, a boy was born to each one of us, and each of us named his son 'Muhammad'." Al-Ala' narrates: Qays bin Asim said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Do you know who among the Arabs first knew about you, a knowledge gained even before you were sent?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "No!" He said: "Banu Tamim knew," and then he narrated the whole incident to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its chain contains narrators whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I used to dislike the way Quraysh would harm the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When I sensed that they would soon martyr the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I set out and went to a monastery. The people of that monastery went to their chief and told him about it. He said: "Arrange for his due for him, which is for three days." When three days had passed and they saw that Sayyiduna Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) had not left, they went to their chief and told him about it. He said: "Tell him: 'We arranged for the due that was rightly yours. If you were suffering from some distress, your distress has gone. If you had to reach somewhere, what is the reason, why do you not go on to your destination? If you are a man of trade, when will you go to your trade?'" Sayyiduna Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I was neither wanting to go anywhere, nor am I a trader, nor am I suffering from distress." They went to their chief and told him about it, and he said: "He must have some important matter; ask him what his matter is." They came to Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him, and he said: "By Allah! In the town settled by Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) I have a cousin who says that he is a prophet. His people are harming him, and I feared that they would kill him, so I left that place so that I would not be present on that occasion." They went to their chief and told him what I had said, and he said: "Bring him to me." I went to him and told him the whole story. He asked: "Do you fear that they will kill him?" I replied: "Yes!" He said: "If you saw his picture, would you recognise his likeness?" I said: "I met him a short while ago." Then he showed Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) some pictures that were covered; he kept removing the cover from in front of one picture after another and kept asking: "Do you know this one?" I would answer: "No!" Until he removed the cover from in front of one covered picture, and I said: "I have not seen anything that resembles that prophet more than this picture; his height, his build and the breadth of his shoulders are exactly the same." He asked: "Do you fear that they will martyr him?" I said: "My supposition about those people is that they will have finished with him." He said: "By Allah! They will not be able to martyr that prophet; rather, whoever wants to kill him will surely be killed, for he is a prophet and Allah Almighty will certainly make him prevail. But now your due has become binding upon us; stay here for as long as you see fit and ask for whatever you wish." Sayyiduna Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I stayed with them for a period, then I said: "Now I will go back." I came to Makkah and found that the people had forced the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to leave for Madinah. When I came, Quraysh rose and came to me and said: "Your matter has become clear to us; we have come to know your situation. So hand over to us the wealth of the children which is with you, which your father had entrusted to you." I said: "I will not do so, even if you separate my head from my body. However, give me the chance; I will go and hand over their wealth to them." The polytheists said: "Upon you is the covenant and pledge in the name of Allah that you will not eat anything of his food." Sayyiduna Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to Madinah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had already received news of this. I presented myself before him; he spoke with me, and among the things he said was: "I think you are hungry." (He said to the people:) "Bring food!" I said: "I will not eat food until I tell you; then whatever you see fit, if you tell me to, I will eat." Then Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) told him of the pledge those people had taken from him, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Fulfil the covenant and pledge in the name of Allah, and do not eat of our food, and do not drink of our drink."
Al-Tabarani recorded it from his teacher Miqdam bin Dawud, whom al-Nasa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) declared da'if (weak); Ibn Daqiq al-Id stated in the book al-Imam: He has been declared trustworthy, and this hadith is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: In the days of Ignorance I went to Syria for trade. When I drew near to Syria, a man from the People of the Book met me and said: "Is there a prophet among you?" I said: "Yes!" He said: "Would you recognise his picture when you see it?" I said: "Yes!" So he took me into a house where there were various pictures; I did not see the picture of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). While we were there like that, another man from among them came to us and said: "What are you doing?" We told him about it, so he took us to his house. As soon as I entered his house, I saw the picture of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and there was a man there who was behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (or he was holding the heel of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)). I said: "Who is this gentleman standing behind him?" He said: "After every prophet there is a prophet, but after this prophet there will be no prophet; this man is the caliph who will come after him." The narrator says: It was the picture of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its chain contains narrators whom I do not know.

Abu Sakhr al-Uqayli narrates: A Bedouin told me: I took milk to Madinah; this was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When I had finished selling it, I thought: "I should meet that gentleman and I should hear what he says." Then I came face to face with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); he was walking between Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). I followed behind them. They came to a man from among the Jews who had opened the Torah and was reading it, and he was reading it at the bedside of his son, who (the boy) was close to death. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I ask you by that Allah who sent down the Torah: do you find in your Book my description and anything about my being sent?" He gestured with his head like this: that is, no! Then his son (who was on the point of death) said: "By the One who sent down the Torah! We find in our books your description and mention of your being sent, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah." (Then that boy passed away.) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your brother from the Jews!" Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arranged for his shrouding and burial, applied perfume to him and led his funeral prayer.
Ahmad recorded it; I do not know the narrator named Abu Sakhr, and the rest of the narrators of this narration are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Miswar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A Jew passed by me while I was standing behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was performing ablution. He said: "Remove the cloth from his back." The narrator says: I began to remove the cloth from his back, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sprinkled water on my face.
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A Jurmuqani came to the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Where is that master of yours who says that he is a prophet? I will ask him, and then it will become known whether he is a prophet or not a prophet." The narrator says: Meanwhile the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came, and the Jurmuqani said: "Recite to me, or narrate to me!" So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited to him some verses of the Book of Allah, and the Jurmuqani said: "By Allah! This is the very thing that Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) brought."
Abdullah recorded it, and he says: This narration is munkar (denounced). I say: There is no one in it (an unreliable narrator) other than Ayyub bin Jabir, and even he has been declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Ahmad and others, while Yahya bin Ma'in and others called him da'if (weak).

Sa'id bin Abi Rashid narrates: In Hims I met al-Tanukhi, who had been the envoy of Heraclius to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). That gentleman was my neighbour, and he was a very old, aged man. I said: "Will you not tell me about the letter Heraclius sent to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the letter the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent to Heraclius?" He said: "Yes! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Tabuk, and he sent Sayyiduna Dihyah al-Kalbi (may Allah be pleased with him) to Heraclius. When the letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached him, he called the priests and the chiefs of Rome and had the door shut on himself and on them. Then he said: 'This man has come, whom you see (or: that gentleman has been sent about whom you have learned). He has sent me a message and invited me to three things. He has invited me to follow him in his religion, or else that we remain in our land and keep paying him a ransom, or else that we fight him. By Allah! Through the books you have been reading, you have come to know that he will take possession even of the place beneath my feet (that is, my kingdom). So either we follow his religion, or else we remain in our land and give him a ransom.' At that, all of them suddenly became enraged; they took off their caps and said: 'Are you inviting us to abandon Christianity and become the slaves of a Bedouin who has come from the Hijaz?' When Heraclius sensed that they would leave him, that their support would be spoiled and that his kingdom would be harmed, he said: 'I said this to you only so that I might know how firm you are in your religion.' Then he called a man from among the Arabs who was the ruler of the Arab Christians, and he said: 'Bring me a man who remembers speech well and knows the Arabic language, so that I may send him to that gentleman with the reply to his letter.' So that man summoned me, and Heraclius handed the reply letter to me and said: 'Take this letter of mine to that gentleman, and do not forget anything he says; in particular, remember three things about him. Observe whether he mentions anything regarding the letter he sent. And observe what happens when he reads my letter: does he mention the night? And examine his back: is there anything there that would put you in doubt?'" The narrator says: I brought his letter to Tabuk. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting among his Companions in the ihtiba' posture, and they were by some water. I asked: "Where is your master?" I was told: "He is this one." I walked up and sat down in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I held out to him the letter I had with me. He placed it in his lap and then asked: "Where are you from?" I replied: "I am from Tanukh." He asked: "Are you interested in accepting the true religion, which is the religion of your forefather Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him)?" I said: "I am the representative of a people and I follow the religion of a people; I will not turn away from it until I go back to those people." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and recited this verse: "Indeed, you do not guide whom you wish, but Allah Almighty guides whom He wills, and He knows best those who are guided." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O man from Tanukh! I sent a letter to Chosroes and he tore it up; Allah Almighty will tear him and his rule to pieces. I sent a letter to the Negus and he tore it up; Allah Almighty will tear him and his rule to pieces. I sent a letter to your ruler and he kept it safe, so those people will continue in such a state that they will have no trouble; as long as he remains, these people will remain well." The narrator says: I thought: "One of the things my ruler had instructed me about has come out." I took an arrow from my quiver and noted this down on the leather of my sword. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) handed that letter to a man on his left. I asked: "Who is this gentleman who will read this letter for you?" The people said: "This is Mu'awiyah." In the letter my ruler had written, this was mentioned: "You invite to a Paradise whose width is that of the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing; then where is Hell?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Subhan Allah! When the day comes, where is the night?" The narrator says: I took an arrow out of my quiver and noted this down on the leather of my sword. When he had finished reading my letter, he said: "You have a right, since you are an envoy. If you had found anything with us by way of hospitality, we would have given it to you, but we ourselves are travelling." The narrator says: Then a man from among those people called out loudly: "I will give him a gift." Then he opened his saddlebag and brought a Safuri suit of clothes and placed it in my lap. I asked: "Who is the gentleman giving this suit?" I was told: "This gentleman is Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who will host this man?" A young man of the Ansar said: "I will." That Ansari stood up, and I stood up with him. When I rose from that gathering, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed me loudly and said: "O man from Tanukh! Come forward!" I came and went towards the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), until I stood in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the place where I had been sitting before. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) undid the cloth tied around his back and said: "Fulfil also what you were ordered regarding this." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) removed the cloth from his back, and at the particular place of his (peace and blessings be upon him) shoulder there was the Seal of Prophethood, which was like a large button.
Abdullah bin Ahmad and Abu Ya'la recorded it; the narrators of Abu Ya'la are thiqat (trustworthy), and the narrators of Abdullah bin Ahmad are likewise.

Sayyiduna Dihyah al-Kalbi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to Caesar with a letter. When I came to him and gave him the letter, his nephew was present with him at that time; he was of reddish complexion, blue-eyed, and the hair of his head was completely straight. When he began to read the letter, this was written in it: "This is from Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the Messenger of Allah, to Heraclius, the head of Rome." The narrator says: His nephew became enraged and said: "This will not be read today." Caesar asked him: "Why is that?" He said: "For one thing, he has begun by mentioning himself, and secondly, he has written 'the head of Rome'; he has not written 'the King of Rome'." Caesar said: "You will read it." When he had read that letter, those people got up and left him. He summoned me to him, and he summoned a bishop who was the one in charge of their affairs. He told that bishop about this and had him read the letter. The bishop said to him: "This is the very one we were waiting for, and about whom Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) gave us glad tidings." Caesar said to him: "What do you advise me in this matter?" The bishop said to him: "As for myself, I will affirm him and follow him." Caesar said to him: "But as for me, if I do that, my rule will come to an end." Then we got up and left him. Caesar sent a message to Abu Sufyan, who was there in those days. He said: "Tell me about that gentleman who has been sent in your land: who is he?" Abu Sufyan said: "He is a young man." He asked: "What is his lineage like among you?" Abu Sufyan said: "In terms of lineage he is such that no one is superior to him." Caesar said: "This is a sign of prophethood." He asked: "What is his truthfulness like?" Abu Sufyan said: "He has never told a lie." Caesar said: "This is a sign of prophethood." Then Caesar asked: "What is your view about this: if someone from among your companions leaves and goes to him, does he ever come back to you?" Abu Sufyan said: "No." Caesar said: "This is a sign of prophethood." Then he said: "What is your view about this: if any of his companions leaves and comes to you, do they go back to him?" Abu Sufyan replied: "Yes." Caesar said: "This is a sign of prophethood." Then Caesar asked: "Has it ever happened that he and his companions fought?" Abu Sufyan said that his opponents fought him; sometimes he routed his opponents and sometimes his opponents routed him. Caesar said: "This is a sign of prophethood." The narrator says: Then Caesar called me and said: "Convey this message to your master: we have recognised that you are the Prophet of Allah, but I cannot give up my rule." The narrator says: As for that bishop, his situation was this: the people used to gather to him every Sunday; he would come out to them, talk with them and give them admonition and advice. When Sunday came, this time he did not come out to them, and he remained in his place until the next Sunday came. I used to go in to him; he would talk with me and he would ask me questions and answer them. When the next Sunday came and the people were waiting for him to come out to them, he did not go out to them and offered them the excuse that he was ill. This happened a few times, so those people sent him a message: "Either you come out to us, or else we will come in to you and kill you, for ever since this Arab man came, we have felt that your state has changed." Then that bishop said to me: "Take this letter and go with it to your master; convey my greetings of peace to him and tell him that I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, that I believe in him, affirm him and follow him, but these people have objected to this of mine; so whatever situation you see, tell him about it." Then he went out to those people, and they killed him. Then Sayyiduna Dihyah (may Allah be pleased with him) came back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At that time the envoys of the governor appointed by Chosroes in San'a were present with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); they had been sent to him, and Chosroes had written a letter to the governor of San'a in which he had said: "Get control of that gentleman who has been sent in your land and who is inviting me to his religion, that either I accept his religion or pay the jizyah; otherwise I will kill you, or I will do such-and-such to you." So the governor of San'a sent fifteen men to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); Sayyiduna Dihyah (may Allah be pleased with him) found those men with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) read the letter of their master, he left them as they were for fifteen days. When fifteen days had passed, they presented themselves before him; when he saw them, he called them and said: "Go to your master (that is, the governor of San'a) and tell him that my Lord has killed his master (that is, Chosroes) tonight." They went and told that governor about this, and he said: "Work out this night, which night it was." He also said: "Tell me, how did you find him?" They said: "We have not seen any king more awe-inspiring (that is, more imposing) than him. He walks among the people and has no fear of anyone; he lives in an ordinary state and is not guarded, yet voices are not raised in his presence." Sayyiduna Dihyah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Then the news came that Chosroes had been killed that night.
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ibrahim bin Isma'il bin Yahya, and he is da'if (weak).

Alqamah bin Waqqas narrates: Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) said that an army of the Muslims was sent out and I was their commander. We camped at Alexandria, and one of the great men of the enemy said: "Send a man to me so that I may talk with him and he may talk with me." (Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) says:) I said: "No one but me will go to him." So I went out with his interpreter, until two pulpits were placed for us. He asked: "Who are you people?" I replied: "We are Arabs; we are people who live among thorns and leaves; we are people who live by the House of Allah. We were the most straitened people on the face of the earth, and our life was the hardest. We used to eat carrion and blood and raid one another; we lived in the worst way in which people can live. Until a man appeared among us who was neither the most prominent in social standing nor the wealthiest. He said: 'I am the Messenger of Allah to you.' He commanded us to do things we did not know, and he forbade us from things we used to practise and our forefathers used to practise. So we opposed him, denied him and rejected what he said. Until a people other than us came to him, and the people of that tribe said: 'We affirm you, believe in you and follow you; whoever fights you, we will fight him.' So that man went to those people, and then we went after him. We fought him, and he prevailed over us. Then he turned to the other Arabs and fought them until he prevailed over them as well. If the Arabs behind me came to know what kind of prosperous life you people are living, they would all come to you and become your partners in the prosperous life you are leading." The enemy's commander laughed and said: "Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke the truth. Messengers came to us too with teachings like those your Messenger has brought, and our elders kept acting upon those teachings, until some people came among us who began to follow their own desires and abandoned the command of the prophets. As long as you keep acting upon the command of your Prophet, whoever comes against you, you will prevail over him, and whoever confronts you, you will overcome him. But when you do the kind of things we did, abandon the command of your Prophet and act like those people acted who followed their own desires, then you will be left to yourselves, because you are not greater than us in number, nor stronger than us in might." Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I have not spoken with any man shrewder than him.
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except Amr bin Alqamah, and that narrator is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Kurz bin Alqamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The delegation of the Christians of Najran presented themselves before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In that delegation were twenty-four of their leading men, and among those twenty-four were three men to whom those people referred their affairs. One of them was a man called al-Aqib, who was the commander of those people, their man of experience and the one who gave counsel; they would not depart from his opinion and his command. His name was Abdul Masih. One man was called al-Sayyid; he was their scholar and the overseer of their affairs. One man was Abu Harithah bin Alqamah, who belonged to Bakr bin Wa'il; he was their bishop, their great scholar, their leader and the overseer of their matters of study and teaching. Abu Harithah held a prominent position among them; he was thoroughly learned in the religion of those people. The kings of the Christians used to honour him and accept his word; those people had built places of worship for him, and because of his great striving in religion they had bestowed much honour and respect upon him. When these people set out from Najran to go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Harithah mounted his mule to go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At his side was his brother, whose name was Kurz bin Alqamah; he was talking with him. Meanwhile Abu Harithah's mule stumbled, and Kurz said: "May the distant one be ruined!" By this he meant the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abu Harithah said: "Rather, may you be ruined!" Kurz asked: "Why is that, O brother?" He said: "By Allah! He is the very Prophet we were waiting for." Kurz asked him: "When you know this, then what is stopping you?" He said: "What stops me is the treatment these (Christian) people have given us; these people have given us honour, they respect us, and these people will not accept that we follow him (that is, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)). If I do so, they will take from me everything that you see." His brother Kurz bin Alqamah kept this concealed in his heart. The narrator says: That is, he later accepted Islam.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Buraydah bin Sufyan, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When Allah Almighty intended to guide Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him), Zayd bin Sa'nah said: "Every one of the signs of prophethood I recognised in the face of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when I looked at him, except two things, which I would test in him: first, that his forbearance would outstrip his harshness, and second, that the more severely he was treated with rudeness, the more forbearing he would be. So I began to keep company with him, so that by mixing with him I might observe his forbearance in the face of harshness." Zayd bin Sa'nah narrates: One day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the apartments, and Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. A man riding a mount came to him; he looked like a Bedouin. He said: "O Messenger of Allah! In the territory of Banu so-and-so there are some people who are companions of mine; they have accepted Islam, they have entered Islam. I had told them that when they accepted Islam, abundant provision would come to them, but drought and hardship have engulfed them, and no rain is falling. O Messenger of Allah! I fear that just as they entered Islam out of greed, so they will leave Islam out of greed. So if you see fit to send them something with which you may help those people, that would be appropriate." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at the man at his side, I think it was Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "O Messenger of Allah, nothing at all is left." Zayd bin Sa'nah says: I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Would you be interested in making a deal with me for a specified quantity of dates from the orchard of Banu so-and-so, after a specified period, and its term will be such-and-such?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No! O Jew! I will make a deal with you for dates which will be specified, and its term will be specified, which will be such-and-such a term, but you cannot specify any particular orchard in it." I said: "All right." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concluded this deal with me. I opened my purse and gave the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) eighty mithqals of gold in exchange for specified dates under an agreement for a specified term. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave those mithqals to that man and said: "Go to those people and help them with these." Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When two or three days remained before the end of that specified term, one day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out, and with him were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and some other Companions. He offered a funeral prayer, then he went towards a wall so as to sit by it. I came to him, seized the collar of his shirt and his cloak, looked at him with harsh eyes and said to him: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Why are you not paying me my due? I know about you people, Banu Abd al-Muttalib, that you people delay and procrastinate, and I have come to know this by mixing with you people." Then I looked at Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and his eyes were boiling with rage. He looked at me and said: "O enemy of Allah! Are you saying to the Messenger of Allah what I am hearing, and doing to him what I am seeing? By the One in whose hand is my life! Were it not for the thing whose loss I am guarding against, I would have struck off your head with my sword." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kept looking at me with calm and gentleness, and he said: "O Umar! He and I were more in need of something other than this, which is that you should tell me to pay in a good manner and tell him to collect in a good manner. O Umar! Take him, give him his due, and give him twenty sa' of dates extra, which will be in compensation for the threat you made to him." Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) took me with him, paid me my due and gave me a further twenty sa' of dates. I said: "O Umar! What is this extra payment for?" He told me: "The Messenger of Allah has ordered me to give you an extra payment in place of the threat I made to you." Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Umar! Do you know me?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No! Who are you?" I said: "I am Zayd bin Sa'nah." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "The one who is the great scholar of the Jews?" I said: "Yes! The great scholar of the Jews." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Why did you treat the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) like that, and why did you say the kind of thing you said?" I said: "O Umar! I had recognised every one of the signs of prophethood in the face of the Messenger of Allah when I saw him, but two things remained which I wanted to investigate in him: that his forbearance would outstrip his harshness, and that the more severely he was treated with rudeness, the greater his forbearance would be. Now I have tested both these things. I make you my witness, O Umar, and say that I am pleased with Allah Almighty as Lord, with Islam as religion and with Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as Prophet. And I also make you a witness that half of my wealth is charity for the Ummah of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Make it for some portion of them; you will not have enough capacity for (all of) them." I said: "Or else for some portion of them." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) came back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and His Messenger." So Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) believed in the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), accepted Islam at his blessed hand and took part with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in many battles. Then he was martyred on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk, facing the enemy without turning his back. May Allah Almighty have mercy on Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Ibn Majah has recorded a part of this narration.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I belonged to the well-to-do people of Persia. The narrator says: After that he mentioned the whole narration, further on in which are these words: "Passing through various regions, I came to some people who were Bedouins. They enslaved me and sold me, until a woman bought me. I heard those people mentioning the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and in those days livelihood was hard to come by. One day I said to my mistress: 'Give me a day off.' She said: 'All right.' I went, gathered firewood, sold it, prepared food with it, brought it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'What is this?' I said: 'This is charity (sadaqah).' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions: 'You eat.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself did not eat it, and I thought: 'This is one of his particular signs.' Then as long a time passed as Allah willed. Then I said to my mistress: 'Give me a day off.' She said: 'All right.' I went, gathered firewood, sold it for a higher price, prepared food with it and brought it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated among his Companions; I placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He asked: 'What is this?' I said: 'This is a gift.' Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his blessed hand into it and said to his Companions: 'Eat, taking the name of Allah.' I stood behind him; he moved his cloak aside and the Seal of Prophethood became visible. I said: 'I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'For what reason?' So I told him about that man. I said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah! Will that man who told me this enter Paradise?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'None but a Muslim soul will enter Paradise.' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah! He had told me that you are a prophet; so will he be in Paradise?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'None but a Muslim will enter Paradise.'"
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I set out in search of religion, and I reached some monks, the remnants of the People of the Book. Allah Almighty has said: "They recognise that Prophet just as they recognise their own sons." The monks used to say that the time for the sending of that Prophet had come, who would appear in the land of the Arabs; he had particular signs, one of which was the Seal of Prophethood, which would be like a large mole between his two shoulders. So I came to the land of the Arabs, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appeared. I saw all the things they had described, and I also saw the Seal of Prophethood, so I bore witness that there is no god but Allah and that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. After this the narrator mentioned the whole hadith.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The remaining hadiths of Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) will come later in the chapter on his virtues.