The
Early Converts
by Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
The Prophet [pbuh] naturally initiated his sacred mission
right from home and then moved to the people closely associated
with him. He called unto Islam whomsoever he thought would
attest the truth which had come from his Lord. In fact,
a host of people who nursed not the least seed of doubt
as regards the Prophet [pbuh], immediately responded and
quite readily embraced the true faith. They are known
in the Islamic literature as the early converts.
Khadijah, the Prophet’s spouse, the mother of believers,
was the first to enter the fold of Islam followed by his
freed slave Zaid bin Harithah, his cousin, ‘Ali
bin Abi Talib, who had been living with him since his
early childhood, and next came his intimate friend Abu
Bakr As-Siddiq (Abu Bakr the truth verifier). All of those
professed Islam on the very first day of the call. [Rahmat-ul-lil'alameen
1/50] Abu Bakr, and from the first day he embraced Islam,
proved to be an energetic and most zealous activist. He
was wealthy, obliging, mild and upright. People used to
frequent his house and draw nigh to him for his knowledge,
amity, pleasant company and business. He invited whomever
he had confidence in to Islam and through his personal
efforts a good number of people converted to Islam, such
as ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi, Az-Zubair
bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi, ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf,
Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas, Az-Zuhri and Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah
At-Tamimy. Those eight men constituted the forerunners
and more specifically the vanguard of the new faith in
Arabia. Among the early Muslim were Bilal bin Rabah (the
Abyssinian), Abu ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah from Bani
Harith bin Fahr (the most trustworthy of the Muslim Nation),
Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd Al-Asad, Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam
from the tribe of Makhzum, ‘Uthman bin Maz‘oun
and his two brothers Qudama and ‘Abdullah, ‘Ubaidah
bin Al-Harith bin Al-Muttalib bin ‘Abd Munaf, Sa‘id
bin Zaid Al-‘Adawi and his wife Fatimah - daughter
of Al-Khattab (the sister of ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab),
Khabbab bin Al-Aratt, ‘Abdullâh bin Mas‘ud
Al-Hadhali and many others. These were the Muslim predecessors.
They belonged to various septs of Quraish. Ibn Hisham,
a biographer, counted them to be more than forty. [Ibn
Hisham 1/245-262]
Ibn Ishaq said: "Then people entered the fold of
Islam in hosts, men or women and the new faith could no
longer be kept secret." [Ibn Hisham 1/262]
The Prophet [pbuh] used to meet and teach, the new converts,
the religion in privacy because the call to Islam was
still running on an individual and secret basis. Revelation
accelerated and continued after the first verses of "O
you wrapped in garments." The verses and pieces of
Sûrah (chapters) revealed at this time were short
ones with wonderful strong pauses and quite fascinating
rhythms in full harmony with that delicate whispering
setting. The central topic running through them focused
on sanctifying the soul, and deterring the Muslims from
falling prey to the deceptive glamour of life. The early
verses used as well to give a highly accurate account
of the Hell and the Garden (Paradise), leading the believers
down a new course diametrically opposed to the ill practices
rampant amongst their compatriots.
