Seerah: EP32 – Ali bin Abi Talib, Zayd bin Harithah & Abu Bakr (ra)

Episode 32: The Next 3 Converts: Ali bin Abi Talib, Zayd bin Harithah & Abu Bakr (ra)

Welcome to Seerah Pearls, which aims to highlight some tantalising learning points from each episode of the Seerah- Life of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

Afif the Businessman

Afif was a businessman who attended during the Hajj to do trade with Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), who was also a businessman. While they were sitting, they saw a man came out of a tent, face the Ka’ba and start praying. Then a woman came out and stood behind him and prayed. Then a boy came and stood to his right and started praying.

One narration states that Afif questioned Abbas about this religion, as it did not seem familiar. Abbas reported that this was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who believes that Allah had sent him as a Messenger and that that the treasures of the emperors of Rome and Persia would be opened for him and his followers. This was his wife Khadijah, who believes in him and follows him, and this boy was his cousin Ali ibn Abu Talib, who also believes in him. Afif later said he wished he believed that day, as he would have been the second adult to believe.

The second narration describes the prayer. The man went into ru’ku and the boy and woman went into ru’ku with him. After that he stood up and the child and woman stood up with him. Then the man fell into sujood and both of them went into sujood. Afif commented that this was really remarkable. Abbas asked if Afif knew who these people were, commenting that this was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, his nephew; the boy was Ali ibn Abu Talib and the woman was Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the man. ‘He says your Lord, the Lord of the sky, has commanded him to do what you see them doing’. Abbas commented that, ‘I swear by Allah, I do not know anyone other than these three who follows this religion today’.

It is interesting to see that at such an early stage, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) emphasised the importance of praying together as a family and that the prayer was one of the first things he taught new followers.