The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khawla Bint Hakim & Uthman Ibn Madhun: The Righteous Couple | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Al-Shifa bint Abdullah (ra): The Healer and Scholar | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Shurahbil Ibn Hasana (ra): The Scribe and Commander | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra): The Legendary Military General | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Amr ibn al-As (ra): His Wicked Father and “Better” Brother | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid (ra): From False Prophet to Shaheed | The Firsts
147
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Zayd ibn al-Khattab (ra): The Quiet Brother of Omar (ra) | The Firsts
Saalim Mawla Abu Hudhaifa (ra) : The Imam of the People of Quran
Before Islam, Saalim Mawla Abu Hudhaifa (ra) was a Persian slave of unknown status. However due to his love for the Qur'an, he rose to the highest rank amongst the companions.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh everyone. Welcome back to the first Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wassalamu ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So inshallah ta'ala tonight we will be talking about Salim, Mawla Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhuma. And I know that with Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum there was not much about him but it's important to situate his context. When it comes to Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum it's not that there is so much that's known about him radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. It's the position that he would attain in Islam despite all of the shackles that makes him so noble and so admirable. So it's not that his biography is huge, it's that when you look at the things that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed him with then you really can see how Islam came to liberate people to their full potential and that full potential is to be the most pleasing person to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala amongst the people despite everything. Now if you said Salman al-Farisi radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, Salman the Persian, everyone knows who you are talking about right? But if you said Salim al-Farisi, Salim the Persian, very few people would associate that with him radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. In the case of Salman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum he knew who his father was and his father was of course a chief from the Persian clans. In the case of Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum his family is completely unknown. Like Salman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum he was of Persian descent. Unlike Salman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum his history before Islam is almost completely unknown. So he was a freed slave as we've mentioned of Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and because we've already covered Abu Hudhaifa that reduces our load with Salim radiyaAllahu
ta'ala anhum and we can focus on the highlights with him. As he was a freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, Abu Hudhaifa married him to the daughter of Al-Walid ibn Utbah who was of course his brother. Now there's so much to talk about just in this part here. Remember on the other side on the day of Badr was the father of Abu Hudhaifa Utbah, Shaybah his uncle and Al-Walid his brother, his older brother. There is a woman by the name of Fatima once again, Fatima bint Al-Walid ibn Utbah. Fatima the daughter of Walid ibn Utbah and she is the niece of Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and Fatima bint Al-Walid made hijrah to Medina and was one of those who accepted Islam and had a difficult time but there is almost nothing known about her. There's something subhanAllah about the Fatimas as you can see. SubhanAllah Fatima bint Asad radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, our of course our queen Fatima bint Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and we see Fatima the mother of Abu Hudhaifa who embraced Islam and made the hijrah to Habasha. Now you see a niece of Abu Hudhaifa who is the daughter of Al-Walid who was a staunch opponent of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam as well who makes the hijrah to Medina and she was considered one of the best of those who was unmarried that made the hijrah. Put this in perspective, she's prominent, she is known for her beauty, she's known for her wealth and she could be married to anyone she wants to from the sahaba right and she is someone who by jahili standards as well especially by the standards of the day of ignorance everyone would want to be connected to that tribe to that family.
Abu Hudhaifa takes Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, Salim who is unknown in his descent, we're not even talking about the tribe in terms of the tribe being a weaker tribe, we're talking about a man who has no tribe whatsoever, who comes from a background of no wealth whatsoever and he pairs him off with his niece Fatima radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum the daughter of Al-Walid and she was getting an incredible husband in the process as well. So this was part of the way that you see the ihsan here that was shown to Salim by Abu Hudhaifa in truly bringing him in and making him feel like a son. Now there's one thing to, it's one thing to be brought in as a son to this prominent family and not to be weighed down by jahili standards. We see in another way the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam integrating him not just in a way of making him feel welcomed right but of giving him a high position in Islam by virtue of this man's love for the Quran. So when you talk about Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum other than his family and his background you cannot talk about Salim without talking about the Quran. He was considered amongst those who had the most beautiful recitation of the Quran. You loved to hear the voice of Salim. The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam loved to hear Salim recite the Quran and I'm just giving you a hint from now, look out for a narration in the Ramadan series inshaAllah ta'ala. Okay particularly about how much the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam loved to hear the voice of Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum specifically leading the Quran. All of the sahaba used to love to listen to him and when there was a request in any gathering for the Quran to be recited everyone looked at Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and said let him read the Quran. The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said take the Quran from four people. Take the Quran from four people. You know Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. We already talked about him.
Ubay ibn Ka'ab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. And Salim mawla Abi Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. So these are the four people that the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said take the Quran from them. Meaning listen to it from them and understand their interpretations. How they have familiarized themselves with the context of the revelation of those verses to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. So in Mecca they would listen to him read the Quran and his voice was known to be beautiful and his memorization was peak. And in Mecca when the sahaba would pray together in Dar al-Arqam of course if the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is there the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam leads the salah. But if the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was not present then Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum is the one who would lead all of the other sahaba in salah. So if you want to talk about Imam al-Muhajireen, the Imam of the Muhajireen in Mecca it was Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum a freed Persian slave who had absolutely no weight in the sight of people in terms of the jahili standards, in terms of the days of ignorance. And this is in Mecca. He's leading the sahaba in salah in Dar al-Arqam in Mecca. Now because he was the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum he had the protection of his tribe. So Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum was someone that people did not feel comfortable around because of who he was but at the same time they had to treat him in a certain way because he had the protection and the love of Abu Hudhaifa. So he was able to be in those circles despite the fact that he was looked down upon because he didn't have the status in terms of his lineage or in terms of his wealth or even subhanAllah in terms of his background. He was not even an Arab and still at the same time he's able to be in those circles. Of course when Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum migrated to Habasha Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum migrated with him.
And here is probably subhanAllah a distinction that you have to really appreciate about this man. He led the sahaba in Mecca. When the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam sent out the sahaba to Al Medina particularly to Quba. The Imam of the Ansar in Quba was Salim Mawla Abu Hudhaifa. So Salim was Imam Al Muhajreen Wal Ansar. By the time he was in Quba and he was appointed to lead the salah for those that migrated from Mecca and the fresh converts of Al Medina you had the likes of Umar ibn Al Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and some of the seniors of the companions present and Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum was their Imam in Quba until Imam Al Mursaleen the Imam of the Prophets arrived the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and then the Prophet Salam took his place. So he is Imam Al Muhajreen Wal Ansar subhanAllah. We of course already spoke about how he was taken as a son by Abu Hudhaifa and how the unique circumstance of At-Tabanni affected him where Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum unlike Zayd ibn Haritha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum does not go back to being Salim the son of anyone but simply becomes Salim Mawla Abu Hudhaifa. What were some of the other things they used to call him? They used to say Salim As-Saleh or Salim Min As-Saleheen because we didn't know his status so they would say Salim the righteous one or Salim is from the righteous people until they settled on Mawla Abu Hudhaifa because his relationship with Abu Hudhaifa survived everything. He participates in every battle with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam along with Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum and in every battle Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum is noted for his courage. So he is amongst those that would not flee from the battlefield radiyaAllahu ta'ala
anhum but would plunge forward and we will see this by the way in his last battle radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. Abu Hudhaifa would look for him, he would look for Abu Hudhaifa so at the end of every battle every family accounts for itself and for Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum that was just Abu Hudhaifa. Abu Hudhaifa accounting for him after every battle and he accounting for Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. And we see that as he is reciting the Quran and as he is leading with the Quran he connected that to everything that he did. He connected that to everything that he did. So anytime Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum would see a good deed in front of him or something that was needed to be done he would say woe to me a carrier of the Quran how could I not do this or if he saw a prohibition or if he saw something that was harmful and he saw other people undertake it he said woe to me I am a hafidh of Quran I am a hamil of Quran I have to hold myself to a different standard. And that is something for us to think about. Right SubhanAllah that Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum did not take memorization of the Quran and the recitation of the Quran as just something to be done in some sort of a conference or in some sort of a hall or to be a source of pride in and of itself. Instead Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum held himself to a standard with the Quran and that particularly shows in the battle of Al Yamama. When the battle of Yamama happens and Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum has fought every single battle courageously and gone forward when the battle of Yamama happens Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum insists on being on the front lines. Now what is really important to understand here is that the whole reason why Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum had ordered Zayd ibn Thabit radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum
to collect the Quran in one Mus'haf was because of the amount of Hufadh, the amount of people that would be killed in this particular battle and in dealing with the false prophet Musaylimah. So under the rule of Musaylimah, the false prophet who claimed revelation falsely, so many of the Hufadh of the Quran and not all of the companions were Hufadh of the Quran memorizing the Quran, so many of them were killed that that was the first time that it dawned upon them to really see the writing of the Quran as a necessity to its preservation. That's not to say that the Quran was not written prior, no the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam would have the Quran written. The Quran was gathered all together in the house of Hafsa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, all of it with its loose pages and loose pieces that it was written on. But there were so many people that memorized the Quran that there was never really a fear right of any sort, but the amount of Hufadh that this false prophet was killing leads to a sense of worry and a sense of concern. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen, Allah has guaranteed to us that he will preserve this wahi, that he will preserve this revelation and indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserved it through the hearts of these men before their tongues or before their pens. And so you see Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, he's on the front lines of the battle against Musaylima al-Kaddhab and he insists on going forward, insists on going forward, insists on going forward. And on that day he looked towards Zayd ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, so he was near Zayd ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. Zayd ibn al-Khattab was the brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu anhum. And Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum used to say about Zayd, he used to say he beat me on two things, he became Muslim before me and he became a shaheed before me.
SubhanAllah this son of al-Khattab, this brother of Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, like his sister Fatima bint al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, this brother of Umar radiyaAllahu anhum who is barely known in the books of history, preceded Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, not in virtue but Umar used to say he preceded me in Islam and he preceded me in shahada. He became Muslim before me and he became a martyr before me as well. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum was near Zayd ibn al-Khattab who was leading the way on that day in the battle of al-Yamama. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum sees the sahaba start to fall. One by one their necks are being struck, the spears are hitting them, the arrows are hitting them, they were greatly outnumbered by Musaylima. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum shouts out and he says, Ya ahlul qur'an zayinul qur'an bi a'malikum. Ya ahlul qur'an zayinul qur'an bi a'malikum. Oh you who carry the qur'an, oh people of qur'an, those who want to be considered amongst the people of qur'an, beautify the qur'an with your deeds. Beautify the qur'an with your deeds, meaning beautify your recitation. Now is the time to show the beauty of your recitation. SubhanAllah he takes pride in what? That we are ahlul qur'an. We have to take this idea of being hufadh seriously. If you just study the story of Salim alone by the way, the whole notion, the whole everything that surrounds how we approach hif of the qur'an in our ranks changes. So he's shouting out to all of the sahaba and particularly to those who are considered amongst the reciters of the qur'an. Ya ahlul qur'an zayinul qur'an bi a'malikum. Oh people of the qur'an, beautify the qur'an with your deeds. And as he's going forward, he then shouts out to himself. So he shouts out to everyone, specifically the people of qur'an. He then says about himself, he says bi'su haamilul qur'ani ana law hoojimal muslimoon
min qibili. He said, what a wretched bearer of the qur'an I am if the muslimoon, if the muslims are attacked from my direction. SubhanAllah, so he's blaming himself radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu as he's fighting and as he's guarding to make sure that no one comes from his side. I'm going to hold my ground. And he said, I would not consider myself to be considered amongst the people of qur'an or what a poor carrier of the qur'an I would be if the muslims are attacked from my direction. SubhanAllah, once again, if you're a hafidh or you want to be a hafidh, listen closely to the words of Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and the deep implications of what he's saying. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserve the qur'an in our hearts and in our memory and our tongues and in our deeds. Allahumma ameen. And as he's going forward further on the battle of Yamama, they say that Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was bearing the flag and his right hand was severed. And he picked up the flag with his left hand while his right hand was bleeding. And he started to recite from the qur'an. Wa ka'ayin min nabiyyin qatala ma'ahu ribbiyyuna katheer. Fama wahanu lima asabahum fee sabeelillah. Wama da'ufu wama astakano. Wallahu yuhibbu as-sabireen. How many times did a prophet fight in the way of Allah and with him fought large bands of righteous people. But they never lost heart if they met with disaster in the way of Allah. Nor did they weaken, nor did they give in. And Allah loves as-sabireen. Allah loves those who are steadfast. So this was the last word of Salim radiyaAllahu anhu or the last motto of Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was a verse of the qur'an as he was going forward. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was struck once again in the chest as he shouted that out. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was laying in the battlefield and the blood was flowing from him when they got to Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu.
When they got to Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and they found him in the battlefield. The first question he asked them, he said, what happened to Abu Hudhaifa? Remember after every battle your family asks about you. The brothers ask about each other and the friends ask about each other but particularly the family's account. So Salim is laying in the battlefield and the blood is flowing from him. He says, where is Abu Hudhaifa? And they said to him, laqad istushida. Abu Hudhaifa has been martyred. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu knew how badly Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu wanted to be a shaheed. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he can barely speak now. I mean you're looking at a man with his last breaths right as the blood is flowing from him. And Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu said, can you put me close to him? Can you put me close to him? SubhanAllah. He's about to die and he wants to be close to him and he knows that Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was like a father to him, a brother to him, a companion to him who embraced Islam with him. Can you put me next to him? And they said, Salim, laqad istushida fee nafsil makan. He's already right next to you. SubhanAllah. Without it even being planned, Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu fell in battle right next to Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. And Salim was dying. Abu Hudhaifa had already passed away. But because of the situation of Salim as he's looking up and the blood is flowing from him and he's breathing his last, he didn't notice how close Abu Hudhaifa was to him. Think of that scene, right? They're on the ground together, these two that embraced Islam together before Dar al-Arqam was even opened. One of them had the highest status in this life. The other one was considered a person of lowly status. But now they were both given the high status of shuhada, the high status of martyrs in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So they said to him, ya Salim, laqad istushida fee nafsil makan. He was martyred in the same place as you. Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu smiled and he died.
He was so happy that Abu Hudhaifa was next to him. That was the last thing he asked for in this world, the last request was can I be next to Abu Hudhaifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Together they entered into Islam. Together they were inseparable companions. And together they were shuhada buried next to each other, roaming the gardens of Jannah together. SubhanAllah. I'd be pleased with them both. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala join us with them and all of the righteous that preceded us. Allahumma ameen. I want to end with one thing inshaAllah ta'ala. And that is when Omar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was dying. When Omar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was dying and Omar radiyaAllahu anhu said, there are some people that I would have appointed as an ameer over you if they were still alive. He mentioned Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah and then he mentioned Salim Mawla Abu Hudhaifa. He said if Salim was still alive today, I would have made him an ameer over you. I would have appointed him to be the khalifa. This man could have been your khalifa. SubhanAllah. This man could have been your khalifa radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. And if that does not speak to the incredible new standards of Islam, I don't know what does. A Persian slave of no wealth, no background, no nothing and Omar radiyaAllahu anhu said, if that man Hamila al-Qur'an, who lived the Qur'an, who carried the Qur'an, who fought with the Qur'an, who beautified his actions with the Qur'an, who was persecuted with the Qur'an, who was killed with the Qur'an. If he was alive, I would have made him an ameer over you. I would have made him your leader. RadiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu wa radiyaAllahu anhum ajma'een. That shows you something different about the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam's ummah and how they were able to change society so quickly. And these standards that not only shifted outwardly, but shifted inwardly as well.
When they saw Salim radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, they didn't see Salim al-Farisi, Salim the Persian of no wealth or status, they saw Salim, the man of Qur'an, who led us in Mecca and led us in Madinah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be joined with him and with Abu Hudhaifa and with all of them in Jannat al-Thirdos. Allahuma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. Wasalamualikoum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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