The early converts

The prophet naturally initiated his sacred mission right from home and then moved to the people closely associated with him. He called unto Islam whomsoever he thought would attest the truth which had come from his load. In fact, a host of people who nursed not the least seed of doubt as regards the prophet immediately responded and quite readily embraced the true faith. They are known in the Islamic literature as the early converts.Khadijah, the prophet’s spouse, the mother of believers, was the to enter the fold of Islam followed by his freed slave Zaid bin Harithah, his cousin, Ali bin Abi Talib, who had been living with him since his early childhood, and next came his intimate friend Abu Bakr As-siddiq (the truth verifier). All of those professed Islam on the very first day of the call. Abu Bakr, and from the first day he embraced Islam, proved to be an energetic & the most zealous activist. He was wealthy, obliging, mild & upright. People used to frequent his house and draw nigh to him for his knowledge, amity, pleasant company & business. He invited whomever he had confidence in to Islam & through his personal efforts a good number of people converted to Islam, such as ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi, Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi, ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, Az-Zuhri & Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah At-Tamimy. Those eight men constituted the forerunners and more specifically the vanguard of the new faith in Arabia. Among the early muslims were Bilal bin Rabah (the Abyssinian), Abu Ubaidah bin AlJarrah from Bani Hatith bin Fahr (the most trustworthy of Muslim nation), Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd Al-Asad, Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam from the tribe of Makhzum, ‘Utttthman bin Maz’oun & his two brothers Qudama & Abdullah, ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Harith bin Al-Muttalib bin ‘Abd Munaf, Sa’id bin Zaid Al-Adawi & his wife Fatimah bint Al-Aratt, ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud Al-Hadhali and many others. These were the Muslim predecessors. They belonged to various septs of Quraish. There were more than forty. The prophet used to meet & teach, the new converts the religion in privacy because the call to ISLAM was running on an individual & secret basis. Revelation accelerated and continued after the verses. The verses & pieces of Surah (chapters) revealed at this time were short ones with wonderful strong pauses & quite fascinating rhythms in full harmony with that delicate whispering setting. The central topic running trough they focused on sanctifying the soul, and deterring the Muslims from falling prey to the Hell & the Garden (paradise), leading the believers down a new course diametrically opposed to the ill practices rampant amongst their compatriots.

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