Slavery to Allah Alone
Salman
continued to tell his story to ibn 'Abbaas:
He still belonged to his master. He missed two
battles fought against the pagans of Arabia. The Prophet e said to him,
“Make a contract [with your master] for your freedom, O Salman.” Salman obeyed
and made a contract [with his master] for his freedom. He reached an agreement
with his master in which he would pay him forty ounces of gold and would plant
and successfully raise three hundred new palm trees. The Prophet e said to his companions, “Help
your brother.”
They helped him with the trees and gathered for him
the specified quantity. The Prophet e ordered Salman to
dig the proper holes to plant the saplings, and then he e planted each one with his own
hands. Salman said, “By Him in Whose hands is my soul [i.e., Allah], not a single
tree died.” Salman gave the trees to his master. The Prophet e gave Salman a piece of gold
that was the size of a chicken egg and said, “Take this, O Salman, and pay
[i.e., your master] what you owe.” Salman said, “How much is this in regards to
how much I owe!” The Prophet e said, “Take it!
Allah will [make it] equal to what you owe.”[1] I took it and I weighed a part of it and it was forty ounces. Salman
gave the gold to his master. He fulfilled the agreement and he was released.
From then on, Salman became a close companion of
the Prophet e.
One
of the great companions of the Prophet e by the name of Abu Hurairah reported, “We were sitting in the
company of Allah’s Messenger e when Surah al-Jumu'ah [Surah 62] was revealed. He recited these
words,
“And [He (Allah) has sent him (Muhammad) also to] other (Muslims) who have not joined them (but they
will come).”
[Surah
al-Jumu'ah (62):3]
A
person amongst them said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! Who are those who have not
joined us?’ But Allah’s Messenger e made no reply. Salman al-Farisee was
amongst us. The Messenger of Allah e placed his hand on Salman and then said, ‘By the One in Whose Hands
is my soul, even if faith were near Ath-Thurayyaa' (Plaeiades, the seven
stars), men from amongst these [i.e. Salman’s folk] would surely attain it.’ ”
[Sunan at-Tirmidhi]
But They will Come!
Many
in this world are like Salman, searching for the truth about the True and Only
One God. This story of Salman is similar to stories of people in our own time. The search of some people took them
from one church to another, from church to Buddhism or Passiveness, from
Judaism to ‘Neutrality’, from religion
to meditations to mental abuse. I have met and heard about some who shifted
from one idea to another, but were too ‘afraid’ of even wanting to know
something about Islam! When they met some Muslims, however, they opened their
minds. The story of Salman is that of a long search. You could make your search
for truth shorter by benefiting from his.
References
1) Qissat Islam Salman: Arabic Text By
Hussein al-'Uwaishah.
2)
The Table on Page 21 from the book, Muhammad in the Bible after correcting the issue about the
‘death’ of Jesus, u. The fact
is that Jesus did not die. Allah saved him from crucifixion and he ascended to
heaven. His death will occur before the Day of Judgment and after
his return to earth. While on earth, Jesus e will rule by the Book of Allah, the
Qur'aan, and by the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon both of them.
