979 — Abū Ubayd Allah Alī ibn al-Husayn ibn Harb al-Qādī also informed us, saying: Abū al-Ashath Ahmad ibn al-Miqdām narrated to us; Wahb ibn Jarīr narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to me, saying: I heard Muhammad ibn Ishāq say: Sālih ibn ⦗1454⦘ Ibrāhīm narrated to me, from Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf, from Mahmūd ibn Labīd, from Salamah ibn Salāmah ibn Waqsh, who said:
“There was a Jewish man living among our households. One morning, in the forenoon, he came out to us and sat with the Banū Abd al-Ashhal in their assembly. At the time, I was a young boy lying on a cloak of mine in my family’s courtyard. The Jew began speaking about resurrection, the Last Day, Paradise, and the Fire. The people were idolaters who did not believe there would be any life after death, so they said, ‘Woe to you, so-and-so! Do you truly believe that this will happen—that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will resurrect His servants after their deaths, once they have become dust and bones; and that there is another abode besides this one, in which they will be requited as their deeds deserve and then end up in Paradise or the Fire?’
“He replied, ‘Yes, by Him in whose hand is my soul! By Allah, I would gladly accept, as my share of that Fire if it meant escaping it, that an oven be kindled for me in your dwelling, that I then be placed inside it, ⦗1455⦘ and that it be sealed shut over me.’
“They asked him, ‘What is the sign of this?’
“He replied, ‘A prophet who will now be sent. His time is already upon you, and he will come forth from this land’—and he pointed toward Mecca.
“They asked, ‘When will that time come?’
“He replied, ‘If this boy lives out his full lifespan, he will live to see him.’
“Salamah said: Not many nights and days passed before Allah sent His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while the Jew was still alive among us. We believed in the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and affirmed his truthfulness, whereas the Jew disbelieved in him and denied him. We would say to him, ‘Woe to you, so-and-so! What became of what you used to tell us?’ Out of hostility and envy, he would reply, ‘He is not the one.’”
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy upon him—said: Most of the Jews disbelieved, and only a few of them believed in the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—such as Abd Allah ibn Salām and, after him, Kaʿb al-Ahbār.