THE FIGHT AGAINST PERSECUTION
Today we are going to see how Salman as an early ex-Christian followed both Jesus and Prophet Muhammad throughout his life.
Salman was to play an important role in the struggles of the growing Muslim State. Towards the end of the fifth year after the Hijrah (The Migration), Prophet Muhammad got intelligence that a massive Quraysh army of about ten thousand strong, including a large cavalry force, had set out from Mecca in another major attempt to finish off the Muslims. They were to be joined by the Jews of Khaybar and other powerful Arab tribes like the Banu Asad and the Banu Ghatafan in a mighty alliance.
The Muslims had only a week to make preparations to defend themselves. The Prophet alerted the people, urged them to be steadfast and, as he had done before, summoned them to a consultation to discuss how to meet the grave threat. It is said that after several ideas were put forward, Salman eventually rose up and said:
"O Messenger of Allah, in Persia when we fear an attack of cavalry, we would surround ourselves with a trench, so let us dig a trench about us now."
The stunning suggestion was accepted. The course of the trench or khandaq was carefully planned with Salman advising on the width and depth. The Prophet made each section of the community responsible for a part of the trench. It was a massive undertaking. The work was strenuous and everyone, including the Prophet, dug and shifted the earth and boulders while chanting to keep their morale and spirits high. Salman being fit and strong and used to such hard labour is said to have done the work of ten men. While each section of the Muslims sought to claim Salman as its own, the Prophet was moved to say, "Salman is one of us, the people of (my) household."
The khandaq was completed in six days and not a moment too soon. The army of the Quraysh and their allies advanced and when they saw the Muslims camped outside the city, they were encouraged in their hope of putting an end to them as quickly as possible. When they drew nearer, however, they were amazed to see the broad trench that lay between them and the Muslim defenders on the other side. When Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Meccans, saw the trench, he said, "This stratagem has not been employed by the Arabs before."
In the following days, the Quraysh made several attempts to breach the trench, but they all ended in failure. A long siege followed in which the Muslims' endurance was sorely tested, while they manned the trench day and night. In the end, the Quraysh and their allies had to withdraw in disarray. The strategy of the trench, the steadfastness of the Muslims and, above all, God's help saved the city and the Muslims from annihilation.
Jesus (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was never against fighting if it is done to eliminate injustice and iniquities of the society. Most people, especially the Muslims, Christians and Jews believe that when Jesus returns to earth at the end of time he will himself defeat the forces of evil and he alone has the power granted to him by God to defeat the Anti-Christ. He will unite and gather believers together from the ends of the earth. His rule will make people return to the fundamentals of faith and Law. He will be a leader who will fight God’s war against the disbelievers, and that this war will be followed by a peaceful hegemony in which God’s Law will prevail throughout the world. This event is envisioned to be just around the corner!
SINS FALL AWAY JUST AS LEAVES FALL AWAY
Salman continued in the service of the Prophet and stayed close to him in the few eventful years that followed. A better opportunity to acquire knowledge and wisdom could not be found. In every event, in every meeting, in every journey - there was something to be learned. The Prophet, for example, was once with Salman and another person under a tree. He took a dry branch from the tree and shook it and the leaves fell. He asked Salman:
"Salman, aren't you going to ask me why I have done this?"
"Why have you done this?" inquired Salman and the Prophet replied:
"When a Muslim make Ablution and does it well, then performs the five (daily) prescribed Prayer, his sins fall away just as these leaves fall away."
And then he recited the verse of the Quran: "And establish prayer at both ends of the day and during the early watches of the night. Indeed, good deeds drive away evil deeds. This is a reminder to those who are mindful (of God)." (Chapter Hud, 11:114)
Salman practiced what he learned. It is related that he was once with a group of Muslims engaged in dhikr or the remembrance of Almighty God. The Prophet passed by and so they stopped. He asked:
"What have you been saying?"
"We are remembering Allah, O Messenger of Allah."
"Go on saying (your words of remembrance)," encouraged the Prophet, "for indeed I saw grace and mercy descending upon you and I dearly love to share this with you." Then he said:
"Praise be to Allah Who has made such people among my Ummah with whom I am commanded to find calmness and patience in myself."
Salman proved to be a keen student and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars among the Muslims after the passing of the Prophet. It is related that when the well-known companion of the Prophet, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, was on his deathbed, a man who came to visit him began to weep.
"Why do you weep?" asked Mu'adh.
"Because of the knowledge that I would have gained from you," replied the man.
"Don't cry," said Mu'adh comfortingly, "for when I die, seek knowledge from four persons: 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abdullah ibn Salam, Salman and Abu-d Darda."
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 wisdom - an ocean that does not dry up."
LIVING BY THE SCRIPTURES
Salman had a knowledge of both the Christian scriptures and the Quran in addition to his earlier knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion. Salman translated parts of the Quran into Persian during the lifetime of the Prophet. He was thus the first person to translate the Quran into a foreign language.
Salman was keen to pass on his knowledge. It is related that while he was in a mosque in Ctesiphon, about a thousand people gathered about him. He told them to sit down and started to recite from Chapter Joseph in the Quran. They began to disperse until there were just about one hundred left. He became upset and said, "It is pleasant talk you want! But when I read the Book of Allah for you, you go away!"
In carrying out the instructions of the Prophet, he remained faithful and thorough. As the commander of a Muslim army besieging a castle in Persia, he was urged by his men to plunge immediately into attack.
"O Abu 'Abdullah!" they said, "shall we not attack them?"
He replied, "Let me invite them to Islam as I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'Invite them (to Islam).'"
Salman then addressed the besieged, saying:
"I am a man from among you, a Persian. Do you see the Arabs obeying me? If you accept Islam, you will have what we have and you will be up against what we are up against. If you do not accept Islam, you can come under the protection of the Muslims on payment of the jizyah (military exemption tax)."
The Persians refused both these options and said to Salman, "We will fight you."
The Muslim forces called on Salman to attack them forthwith but he continued to invite them to Islam for three days. Only when they remained obstinate, did he give the command to attack and they conquered the fortress.
There are other examples of the wisdom and correct behaviour of Salman. It is related that he was once with a military post. Some distance away, a person began to recite the Quran from Chapter Maryam. A Jew listening to the recitation started to defame Mary and her son, Jesus. The Muslims became incensed and set upon the Jew, beating him so badly as to draw blood. The Jew went to Salman and complained, for it had become known that anyone who was wronged or unjustly treated could go to Salman. Salman went to those who had beaten the Jew and asked:
"Why did you beat up this man?"
"We were reading Chapter Maryam and he vilified Mary and her son," they replied.
Salman reprimanded the Muslims and urged them to exercise restraint and treat the protected people (ahl al-dhimmah) with honor. He quoted the Quanic verse: "Do not revile those whom they invoke instead of Allah lest they revile Allah out of spite and in ignorance." (Surah al-An'am, 6:108)
See how Salman followed the Scriptures! This event is a good lesson for all the modern-day Muslims who practice terrorism, murder innocent lives and commit suicide bombings in the name of religion!
SALMAN THE MUSLIM REMINDS US OF JESUS!
Salman became known as "Salman the Good". He was a scholar who lived a rough and ascetic life. He had one cloak that he wore and on which he slept. He would not seek the shelter of a roof but often 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 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 governor of al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon) near Baghdad, Salman received a stipend of five thousand dirhams. This he would distribute as charity. He lived from the work of his own hands. When some people came to al-Mada'in and saw him working in the palm groves making baskets, they were amazed.
"You are the amir (=king) here and your sustenance is guaranteed and you do this work!"
"I like to eat from the work of my own hands," he replied.
Once Salman was being pressed to eat a little more from the food he was served but he insisted, "This is enough for me. This is enough for me. I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, 'The one who fills his stomach the most in this world will be the hungriest in the Hereafter. O Salman, the world is but a prison for the believer and paradise for the disbeliever.'"
Salman, however, was not extreme in his asceticism. It is related that he once visited Abu-d Darda' with whom the Prophet had joined him in brotherhood. He found Abu-d Darda'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-d Darda' came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food. Salman told him to eat but Abu-d Darda' 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-d Darda' got up to pray but Salman got hold of him and said:
"O Abu-d Darda', your Lord has a right over you. Your family has 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. The Prophet supported Salman in what he had said.
Salman and Abu-d Darda' remained close friends. When apart, they often wrote to each other offering advice and support. Abu-d Darda' once wrote to Salman requesting him to make haste and return to the "holy land". Salman wrote back to him saying, "Surely the earth does not make anyone holy. It is only man's deeds which make him holy."
Salman, because of the influential household in which he grew up, might easily have continued to live a life of ease and luxury 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 35 AH, during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.
Peace be upon those who acknowledge the truth from their Lord.
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