ever come back? My dearest wish would then have come true. I am reminded of him by the sun when it rises; and his memory comes back to me when the sun goes down. When the wind blows, I am also reminded of him. Long is my sorrow, little is my hope.”
Reciting such poetry at gatherings and bazaars was the surest method for news to travel in Arabia at that time. Travellers memorized such poetry as they heard it, and probably chanted it as they travelled. When they encamped somewhere, reciting that poetry would be the means through which the news was transmitted. It was not surprising, therefore, that in his new dwelling place in Makkah, Zayd should hear his father’s poetry. He replied to his message, reciting several lines of poetry in which he mentioned that he was living in Makkah. Before long, his father got wind of this and resolved to travel with his brother, looking for Zayd in Makkah.
It was some time before Muhammad’s prophethood when Ḥārithah and Kaʿb, sons of Sharāḥīl, arrived in Makkah to learn that Ḥārithah’s son, Zayd, was in Muhammad’s household. Therefore, they went to him and made this passionate appeal: “You are the grandson of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the old master of this city; you are the son of the great master of his people. You and your people are neighbours of God in this blessed city. Your reputation has been established for a long while that you feed the hungry and help those who are in need. We have come to you on account of our son, your slave, to request you to be benevolent and to agree to sell him to us.” Muhammad replied: “What would you say if I made you a better offer?” They asked: “What sort of proposal?” He said: “I will call Zayd and give him a choice. If he chooses to go with you, that will be it. But if he chooses to stay with me, then, by God, I would not disappoint someone who chooses me.” They said: “Your proposal is more than fair.”
Muhammad called Zayd and asked him: “Who are these two?” Zayd said: “This man is my father, Ḥārithah ibn Sharāḥīl, and this is my uncle, Kaʿb ibn Sharāḥīl.” Muhammad said: “I am giving you the choice: if you wish, you may go with them, or if you wish, you may stay with me.” Zayd unhesitatingly said: “I will stay with you.” This came as a shock to the two men. His father said: “Zayd, do you prefer to remain a slave to rejoining your parents, your home and your tribe?” Zayd replied: “I have seen certain things with this man and I will never leave him to go anywhere.”
At this point Muhammad took Zayd by his hand and together they went to where the people of the Quraysh used to meet near the Kaʿbah where Muhammad declared: “Bear witness that this chap is my son: he inherits me and I inherit him.” That was the formal method of adoption practised in Arabia. Zayd’s father was pleased by this outcome of his mission, because he was sure that Zayd would come to no harm in the company of Muhammad. From that day, Zayd used to be known as Zayd ibn Muhammad. People continued to call him by this name for many years, until adoption was totally forbidden some years after the Prophet’s settlement in Madinah. It was then that God ordered Muslims to call their adopted children by their own parents’ names. Adoption was totally forbidden. Zayd then reverted to his name, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah.3
It was some time before prophethood that Zayd realized that there was something special about Muhammad. He loved him, and his feelings were reciprocated by Muhammad before and after he became a Prophet. Two or three years after Zayd’s death, the Prophet mentioned him and said that “he was one of the people I loved most”. Over the years, Zayd learnt enough of Muhammad’s integrity and kindness to prompt him to accept his message and believe in him without hesitation.
The Early Believers
Thus the first Muslim family came into existence. There was a man and his wife, a ten-year-old child and an adult servant, all believing in the new message which proclaimed the eternal truth of God’s oneness.
The first person to become a Muslim outside the Prophet’s immediate family was his close friend Abū Bakr. It is well known that Abū Bakr was not his real name. A person is rarely called Abū—when he is born. He gains this title after his first son is born, because the word ‘Abū’ means ‘father of’. However, the title Abū Bakr has become so well known that his real name is not known for certain. Some reports suggest that he was called ʿAtīq; some say that he was called ʿAbd al-Kaʿbah. One report suggests that his mother had several children before him, none of whom lived long. She pledged that should she have another son, she would call him ʿAbd al-Kaʿbah and would make of him a servant of the Kaʿbah. When the boy reached a certain age he came to be known as ʿAtīq, as if he was freed from death by that pledge of his mother. The Prophet, however, changed his name to ʿAbdullāh because no Muslim could be called servant of anyone or anything other than God.4
When the Prophet spoke to his childhood friend about Islam, Abū Bakr did not hesitate for a moment: he accepted Islam immediately. The very close friendship between the two men was enough to make Abū Bakr realize that Muhammad said nothing but the truth. There is also a report which suggests that one reason why he accepted Islam without hesitation was that a short while earlier he saw in his dream that the moon descended over Makkah and was split into small pieces, with each piece going into a different home. Then it was reassembled as a moon in his lap. He mentioned his dream to some people who followed Christianity or Judaism and they interpreted the dream to him, saying that he would follow the Prophet who was soon to appear. He would be the happiest of people for following him. Therefore, when the Prophet called on him to become a Muslim, he had no hesitation.5
How authentic this report is one cannot tell. There was, however, a better reason for Abū Bakr not to hesitate before accepting Islam. Abū Bakr was one of the most distinguished authorities in Arabia on the tracing of people’s lineage. He knew how every person descended in his tribe. This was a branch of study which was of great importance to the Arabs. In their tribal society, everyone took pride in his lineage. There was a strict hierarchy which distinguished clans and tribes from one another. To maintain their relative positions, this study of lineage was very important. A person well versed in it was a sort of historian. He knew not only the lineage but also the history of the people of each clan and tribe. He knew the weak points in everyone’s history. Later, when the Quraysh launched a determined campaign of abusive poetry against the Prophet and Islam, Muslim poets, particularly Ḥassān ibn Thābit, were quick to respond. The Prophet told Hassān to go to Abū Bakr in order to learn about the weaknesses and shortcomings of every clan of the Quraysh.6
His knowledge and his long-standing friendship with Muhammad gave Abū Bakr an insight into his character. He knew that Muhammad was always truthful. There was no reason why he should not be telling the truth now that he was speaking of a relationship with God, the Lord and the Creator. To Abū Bakr, the most logical thing was that Muhammad was telling the truth. Therefore, as Muhammad called on him to accept a message which he stressed would bring him, the Arabs and all mankind happiness, his attitude was one of immediate acceptance.
Abū Bakr realized that it was not enough that he himself should become a Muslim. Since God had sent a new message and a messenger to convey it to mankind, it was necessary that people should hear of it and learn that God wanted them to believe in this message. Therefore, he started to speak to some people whom he knew well. Abū Bakr was very well respected in his community. He was a merchant, well known for his kindly and gentle character. People loved to come to him and listen to him talking about the history of Arabian tribes and Arabs in general. Moreover, he was very kind to everybody. Hence, people of all ages came to see him and frequented his home. It was therefore easy for him to select some of the most intelligent and promising of the young people who came to him, to explain to them the message of Islam and to call on them to believe in God and His Messenger.
Abū Bakr realized that a new faith needs advocates. As a new believer, he set out to speak to people whom he trusted to be intelligent and judicious and explained to them the essence of the new message of Islam. Soon some of them responded favourably. The first one to become a Muslim as a result of Abū Bakr’s efforts was ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, who belonged to the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh.
