The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 177
VI - Commencement of Prophethood 177 the companions who were present at the time, as well as himself wept bitterly. Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra loved Bilāl to the extent that when he died, Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra said, “This day a chieftain of the Muslims has passed away”. These were the words of the king of that time for a poor Abyssinian slave. Then was ‘ Āmir bin Fuhairah ra whom Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra freed from slavery and employed as an attendant. Then there was Khabbāb bin Al-Arat who was a freed slave and in those days worked in Madīnah as a blacksmith. Then there was Abū Dharr ra who belonged to the Ghifār tribe. When he heard of the Holy Prophet’s sa claim he sent his brother to Makkah for the purpose of investigation. Thus, his brother came to Makkah and briefed Abū Dharr after his return, but he was not satisfied. For this reason, he later came to Makkah himself and became Muslim after meeting the Holy Prophet sa. An elaborate account of his acceptance of Islām is written in Bukhārī and is quite interesting. 1 Abū Dharr was very devout and a man of ascetic disposition. He believed that the collection of wealth is worthy of condemnation under all circumstances. At times, he would fall into a dispute with other companions over this belief. 2 These are some of the people who accepted Islām in its first three to four years. Among them, the wives and children of those who were married generally accepted Islām as well. Thus, in addition to Ḥaḍrat Khadījah ra , historians have particularly named Asmā’ bint Abī Bakr ra and Faṭimah bint Khaṭṭāb ra , the wife of Sa‘īd bin Zaid among the early Muslim women. In addition to these, Ummi Faḍl, the wife of ‘ Abbās bin ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib was also among the pioneer Muslims but it is strange that until this time, ‘Abbās himself had not accepted Islām. In any case, the outcome of the three to four year laborious endeavour of the Holy Prophet sa was merely these few souls. However, among these ancient pioneers, with the exception of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , there were none who possessed particular influence and honour among the Quraish. Some were slaves and most of the others were poor and weak. Some, however, were related to upper class families of the Quraish, but even among them, most were youngsters and thus, were not in a position to cast an influence in their tribes. Others who were aged had no influence due to their poverty or other reasons. For this reason, it was a common thought among the Quraish that only young and weak people had accepted Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). Therefore, after many years, when Heraclius, the King 1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābul-Manāqib, Bābu Qiṣṣati Islāmi Abī Dharr ra , Ḥadīth No. 3522 2 * Al- Iṣābatu fī Tamīziṣ-Ṣaḥābah, Volume 7, p. 108 Abū Dharr Al-Ghifārī * Usdul-Ghābah, Volume 5, p. 101, Abū Dharr Al-Ghifārī, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut (2003)