The Companions of Prophet Muhammad

Salman Al Faris

The first companion to come under the microscope is Salman-Al-Farsi, otherwise known as Salman the Persian. As suggested by his title, Salman was born in what is now known as Iran in a city called Isfahan. At the time of Salman’s birth, the Persian empire was ruled by Chosroes, an emperor that ruled a vast kingdom and whose successors would come face to face against the marauding armies from the Arabian peninsula.

As a child, Salman was raised in a home that practiced the Zoroastrian religion. His father was a priest at the local temple and raised Salman to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers. Salman’s inquisitive attitude and great intellect, even at an early age led him to come across a group of Christians at a church. The encounter altered the course of the young Magian’s life and when he arrived back home, recalled the events to his father. He spoke of how the Christians told him about the importance of good deeds and prayer. The words of the Christian priests riled his spirits, but left his father filled with rage.

The young Salman was chained within his own home to prevent news spreading that the Zoroastrian priest’s son had turned to Christianity. Salman, resolute and undeterred broke free of his father’s shackles and proceeded to the heart of the Byzantine empire where he would be under the tutelage of Christian teachers that would imbue him with knowledge and the teachings of the great prophets of the bible.

Heart-breakingly for Salman, he discovered that the leader of the church had been siphoning funds from the charity collection. When the bishop met his end, Salman revealed the vast quantities of gold and silver he had hoarded and told the community they were responsible for appointing a more responsible head Bishop.

Salman served the church passionately and spent his time memorising scripture and living his life according to the ahle-kitab. At the time of his passing, the second Bishop told Salman to move to Mosul and become a servant of a church located in that city. Salman moved to Iraq where he continued his learning and became a more learned member of his religion.

Salman spent his time in Mosul serving the head bishop until the time of his death. At that point, Salman asked where he should go next to which the bishop responded, “Ammuriyah”, a city near Rome. Upon spending a number of years in the heart of the Roman empire, serving another church, Salman had become an expert in biblical scripture and learning the ways of the lands he had travelled. The head Bishop in Ammuriyah, on his death bed told Salman of a prophet that had been foretold in religious texts and would come to the land of palm trees and date groves.

Salman’s heart filled with fervour, to meet this prophet that would come and re-establish God’s kingdom on earth. He set upon the long journey to Medina, across the different terrains and through the empires to learn directly from the chosen messenger whose presence was foretold by holy men for centuries.

Salman sought out guides to take him to Medina. He paid a fee to a group of men from the Kalb tribe that offered to take him to Medina. The men betrayed Salman and captured him, selling him as a slaveto the Banu Quraiza, a Jewish tribe that inhabited Medina.

He was kept as a slave and made to work for his masters under the hot sun of the vast Arabian desert. Salman’s arrival to the city predated that of the Prophet, who was still being persecuted by the Quraish in Makkah. When he undertook the Hijrah in 611AD, the Prophet was joined by many of his kinsmen that were also escaping from the oppression of the Makkans.