It was likewise transmitted by ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, by ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and it is also related from al-Shaʿbī, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Qatādah, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, ʿAṭiyyah al-ʿAwfī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, and others.
The Prophet ﷺ continued thereafter to visit the mosque and pray in it; he would come to Qubāʾ every Saturday, sometimes mounted and sometimes on foot.
A ḥadīth states: “One prayer in the Mosque of Qubāʾ is like an ʿumrah.”(1)
Another report relates that Gabriel—peace be upon him—directed the Prophet ﷺ to the spot of the qiblah for the Mosque of Qubāʾ. This mosque, then, was the first to be built in Islam in Madinah—indeed, the first mosque established for the public in this religion. We exclude from this statement the small place of worship that al-Ṣiddīq [Abū Bakr] built in Makkah at the gate of his house for his own devotions, for that was private and not meant for the people at large. Allah knows best.
As noted earlier among the glad tidings, Salmān al-Fārsī embraced Islam in this manner: when he heard of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ arrival in Madinah, he went to him at Qubāʾ carrying something, which he set before him and said, “This is charity.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ refrained from eating it but ordered his Companions to eat. On another occasion he brought something else, placed it before the Prophet, and said, “This is a gift.” The Prophet ate from it and ordered his Companions to eat as well. The full report has been cited previously.(2)
Section: The Conversion of ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām—may Allah be pleased with him
Imām Aḥmad recorded(3): Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; ʿAwf narrated to us, from Zurārah, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām, who said:
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah, the people rushed to him and I was among them. When I looked closely at his face, I knew it was not the face of a liar. The first words I heard him say were:
“Spread peace, feed the people, and pray at night while others sleep; you will enter Paradise in peace.”(4)