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The chronology of the conversion to Islam of the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad has attracted scholarly attention. It is an important topic in the seera literature (biographies of Muhammad).
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The chronology of the conversion to Islam of the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad has attracted scholarly attention. It is an important topic in the seera literature (biographies of Muhammad).
The other early companion converts heard of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's beliefs through the first converts, next converts and so on and even through the disbelieving non-Muslims, by word of mouth. It was primarily by word of mouth because oral communication was the primary means of spreading information. They heard of the open calls for the acceptance of Islam to the tribal leaders, calling to the worship of One God instead of many, critiquing their society, proposing solutions to various problems and requesting a collective reorientation of their dark-age society based on an Islamic worldview. [1] : 159–182, 327–331
The first converts to Islam at the time of Muhammad were: [1] : 153–160 [2] : 38–42
There is disagreement among Muslims about the identity of the first male convert to Islam. A few of the close relatives and friends of the Islamic prophet Muhammad were the first to believe in his divine message, including his wife, Khadija, his young cousin, Ali, his adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah, and his friend, Abu Bakr.
A number of sources, including ibn Ishaq, identify Ali, aged about ten, as the first male to embrace Islam. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Al-Tabari also includes other accounts that make the same claim about Zayd ibn Harithah or Abu Bakr. [8] That these contradictory accounts are affected by later Shia and Sunni preferences is clear, though the earliest existing records seem to place Ali before Abu Bakr. [9]
In view of his young age, the significance of Ali's Islam has been questioned by some. [10] Nevertheless, three years later, when Muhammad presented Islam to his relatives at the feast of Dhul Asheera, Ali was the only relative who offered his help to Muhammad. According to ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, Muhammad then announced Ali as his brother, trustee, and successor, a statement that was immediately downplayed as insignificant by Abu Lahab, Muhammad's uncle and a staunch polytheist. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
Similarly, the author W. Watt suggests that Abu Bakr's status after Muhammad's death might have been reflected back into the early Islamic records. [10] For instance, al-Tabari also includes the account that more than fifty men and women converted to Islam before Abu Bakr. [16]
Various Sunni sources, including Tarikh al-Tabari, often list contradictory accounts about the identity of the first male Muslim. [10] [17] Earlier sources tend to place Ali before Abu Bakr and it has been suggested that Abu Bakr's status as the first caliph might have been reflected back into the early years of Islam in order to support his succession to Muhammad. [10] [9]
Shia sources identify the young Ali as the first male Muslim. [18] [19] A number of Shia hadiths add that Ali was never a polytheist in his life and introduce this quality as a necessary requirement for succession to prophets, in line with Q2:124 and Q31:13. [20] [21] [22]
Some other early converts were:
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honorific title al-Siddiq by Muslims.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Fārūq.
The Election of Uthman refers to the appointment of Uthman ibn Affan as the third caliph by a committee assembled by the second caliph Umar in 23 AH. The committee likely consisted of six early Muslims from the Quraysh tribe, including the prophet Muhammad's son-in-law Uthman and Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib. The tie-breaker vote was given to Uthman's brother-in-law Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, who appointed the former as the next caliph after some deliberation. The choice of the wealthy Uthman is often explained as intended to guard the interests of the Quraysh elite and to follow the practices of the first two caliphs, namely, Abu Bakr and Umar. The committee has been criticized for its exclusion of other Muslims.
Usāma ibn Zayd was an early Muslim and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She is known for having married three companions of the Prophet: Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Abu Bakr and Ali.
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib was an early Islamic leader. Ali is revered by Sunni Muslims as the fourth Rightly Guided Caliphs, and as a foremost religious authority on the Qur'an and Fiqh. Shi'a Muslims consider him the First Imam appointed by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the first rightful caliph. Ali was the cousin of Muhammad, and after marriage to Fatimah he also became Muhammad's son-in-law.
Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Taymī, , was a Companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, he is mostly known for being among al-ʿashara al-mubashshara. He played an important role in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Camel, in which he died. According to Sunnis, he was given the title "The Generous" by Muhammad.
Zayd ibn Kalb, was an early Muslim, sahabah and the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He is commonly regarded as the fourth person to have accepted Islam, after Muhammad's wife Khadija, Muhammad's cousin Ali, and Muhammad's close companion Abu Bakr, Zayd was a slave in Khadija's household for several years, but Muhammad later freed and legally adopted Zayd as his own son. Zayd was afterwards married to two prominent women of Muhammad's household, including his cousin Zaynab and his mother's servant Umm Ayman.
Banū Taym was a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, hailed from the Banu Taym, as did another prominent companion of Muhammad, Talha ibn Ubaydallah.
Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a member of the Ahl al-Bayt. According to Shias, Ali was the first Imam who is believed to be the rightful successor to Muhammad, divinely appointed successors of Muhammad who are claimed by the Shias. Although Ali was regarded, during the lifetime of Muhammad, as his initial successor, it would be 25 years before he was recognized with the title of Caliph (successor). According to the status of Ali (AS) it is believed he is infallible and sinless and is one of The Fourteen Infallibles of the household of Muhammed.
The Muhajirun were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as the Hijra. The early Muslims from Medina are called the Ansar ("helpers").
Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, also known as Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār was a companion and cousin of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and an older brother of Ali.
Aisha was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers", referring to the description of Muhammad's wives in the Qur'an.
Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib was the leader of Banu Hashim, a clan of the Qurayshi tribe of Mecca in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula. He was an uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and father of Ali. After the death of his father Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, he inherited this position, and the offices of Siqaya and Rifada. He was well-respected in Mecca, despite a declining fortune.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and son of the second Caliph Umar. He was a prominent authority in hadith and law. He remained neutral during the events of the first Fitna (656–661).
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid was the first wife and considered to be the first follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadija was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, a leader of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, and a successful businesswoman in her own right.
Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams, better known by his kunyaAbu Sufyan, was a prominent opponent turned companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the father of Mu'awiya I and thus the forefather of all the Ummayid Caliphs. One of Abu Sufyan's daughters, Ramlah, was married to Muhammad, but this happened before Abu Sufyan's conversion and without his consent.
The Expedition of Usama bin Zayd was a military expedition of the early Muslim Caliphate led by Usama ibn Zayd that took place in June 632, in which Muslim forces raided Byzantine Syria. The expedition came three years after the Battle of Mu'tah.
Atiqa bint Zayd was an Islamic scholar and poet. She was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was a wife of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph. She was a poet who is notable for having married Muslim men who died as shahid.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)I (Muhammad ibn Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas) asked my father whether Abu Bakr was the first of the Muslims. He said, 'No, more than fifty people embraced Islam before Abu Bakr; but he was superior to us as a Muslim. He also writes that Umar Bin Khattab embraced Islam after forty-five men and twenty-one women. As for the foremost one in the matter of Islam and faith, it was Ali Bin Abi Talib.'
quoting al-Dhahabi: 'He (Umar) accepted Islam in the sixth year of prophecy when he was twenty-seven years old.'
