Mukhtasar Bukhari

Sayyiduna Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We used to live by a spring which was a thoroughfare for the people, and riders would pass by us. We would ask those riders about the condition of the people and about this person (who claimed prophethood). The people would reply: He says that Allah has sent me as a Messenger and revelation comes to me, or Allah has revealed such and such revelation to me. So I (Amr bin Salamah) would memorize this revelation, that is, the Qur’anic verses, as if someone had fixed them in my chest. The Arabs were waiting for the conquest of Makkah to become Muslims and used to say: Leave Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his people (i.e., the Quraysh). If Muhammad (peace be upon him) prevails over them, then he is a true Prophet. Then, when Makkah was conquered, every tribe hastened to embrace Islam, and my father outstripped his people in accepting Islam. When my father returned as a Muslim, he said to his people: By Allah! I have come to you from the true Prophet. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time, and such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time, and when the time for prayer comes, let one of you give the adhan, and the one among you who knows the most Qur’an should lead the prayer.” The people of the tribe considered and found no one who knew more Qur’an than me, because I had memorized much from meeting the riders. So they made me their imam, even though I was six or seven years old, and I was only wrapped in a single sheet. When I prostrated, it would shrink (i.e., my private parts would become uncovered). A woman of the tribe said: Why do you not cover your reciter’s private parts from us? So they bought cloth and made a shirt for me. I was never as happy with anything as I was with that shirt.