The scholars concur that Ibn Salām passed away in the year 43 AH.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir devoted more than ten folios to his biographical entry.

Al-Wāqidī transmitted—through Abū Maʿshar, from al-Maqburī and another narrator—that Ibn Salām’s given name had been al-Ḥuṣayn, but the Prophet ﷺ changed it to ʿAbd Allāh (1).

Yazīd ibn Hārūn and a number of others said: Ḥumayd narrated to us from Anas that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām came to the Prophet ﷺ when he first arrived in Madinah … the ḥadīth continues. In it they said, “He is our worst one, the son of our worst one …,” and similar remarks. ʿAbd Allāh commented, “Messenger of Allah, this is what I was afraid of.” (2)

Ḥammād ibn Salamah—through Thābit and Ḥumayd, from Anas—reported: When the Prophet ﷺ reached Madinah, Ibn Salām came to him and said, “I will ask you about matters that only a prophet can know. If you answer them, I will believe in you …,” the remainder of the report follows. (3)

Hawdhah related: ʿAwf narrated from al-Ḥasan who said that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām declared, “I testify that the Jews find you mentioned in the Torah.” He then sent for certain men—naming them one by one—and asked, “What do you say of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām and of his father?”

They replied, “He is our chief, the son of our chief; our scholar, the son of our scholar.”

He asked, “What if he embraces Islam—will you follow suit?”

They answered, “He will never become Muslim!”

The Prophet ﷺ summoned Ibn Salām; he came out before them and pronounced the testimony of faith. Thereupon they said, “O ʿAbd Allāh! We never feared this from you!” They then dispersed, and Allah revealed:
“Say, ‘Have you considered: if it is from Allah and you have disbelieved in it, while a witness from the Children of Israel has borne witness to something similar and believed …’” (Al-Aḥqāf 46:10).