208 — Abū Ubayd Alī ibn al-Husayn ibn Harb al-Qādī informed us. He said: Hasan al-Zafarānī narrated to us. He said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us. He said: Al-Awwām ibn Hawshab informed us, from Muhārib ibn Dithār, from Ibn Umar, who said:

While the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was seated in the mosque, a man approached whose garments were intensely white and whose hair was intensely black. No trace of travel could be seen upon him, yet no one knew him. He came to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sat before him, and rested his knees against his knees.

He said, “O Muhammad, tell me about Islam.”

The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—replied, “It is to testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to perform the prescribed prayer, give the obligatory zakat, fast Ramadan, perform pilgrimage to the House if you are able to find a way to it, and perform the ritual bath after major impurity.”

He said, “You have spoken the truth.” They were amazed that he would question him and then affirm that he had spoken the truth.

He then said, “Tell me about faith.”

He replied, “It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, the Last Day, Paradise and the Fire, resurrection and reckoning, and divine decree ⦗575⦘—its good and its evil, its sweetness and its bitterness.”

He said, “You have spoken the truth.” They were amazed that he would question him and then affirm that he had spoken the truth.

He then said, “Tell me about the Hour.”

He replied, “The one questioned about it knows no more than the questioner.”

He said, “You have spoken the truth,” and then departed.

Sometime afterward, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to Umar, “O Umar, do you know who that man was?”

I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”

He said, “That was Gabriel. He came to teach you the matters of your religion. Never before had he come to me in any form without my recognizing him in it—except in this form.”