Al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah¹ likewise transmitted this report through several chains from ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī, from Zurārah ibn Awfā, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām. Al-Tirmidhī ruled it authentic.

From the flow of the narrations it appears that he first heard of the Prophet ﷺ and saw him at the very moment of his arrival, when the Prophet halted at Qubāʾ among Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf. Earlier we cited the narration of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhayb from Anas stating that he met the Prophet when the latter stopped at the house of Abū Ayyūb after leaving Qubāʾ for the quarter of Banū al-Najjār. It seems, then, that he saw him first at Qubāʾ and met him again after the Prophet had moved to the dwellings of Banū al-Najjār. Allah knows best.

Al-Bukhārī relates, through the isnād of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz from Anas, that:

When the Prophet ﷺ arrived, ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām came to him and said, “I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah and that you have come with the truth. The Jews know that I am their chief and the son of their chief, their most learned man and the son of their most learned man. Summon them and ask them about me before they learn that I have embraced Islam; for once they know of it they will speak about me in a way that is untrue.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore sent for the Jews and they entered upon him. He said,

“O community of Jews, woe to you! Fear Allah. By Allah, besides whom there is no god, you surely know that I am the Messenger of Allah and that I have come to you with the truth, so accept Islam.”

They replied, “We do not know that”—and they said this to the Prophet ﷺ three times.

He then asked, “What sort of man is ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām among you?”

They answered, “He is our master and the son of our master, the most learned among us and the son of our most learned.”

He said, “What would you say if he were to accept Islam?”

They said, “Allah forbid! He would never embrace Islam.”

He then said, “O Ibn Salām, come out to them.”

So he came out and said, “O community of Jews, fear Allah. By Allah, besides whom there is no god, you certainly know that he is the Messenger of Allah and that he has come with the truth.”

They retorted, “You have lied!” At that, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dismissed them.

This is al-Bukhārī’s wording.³

In another version⁴: when he appeared before them and bore witness to the truth, they said, “He is the worst of us and the son of the worst of us,” and reviled him. He then said, “O Messenger of Allah, this is what I was afraid of.”

Al-Bayhaqī relates⁵: Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; al-Aṣamm informed us; Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Ṣaghānī⁶ narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Bakr⁷ narrated to us; Ḥumayd narrated to us from Anas, who said:

ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām heard of the Prophet’s ﷺ arrival while he was on his land, so he came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “I am going to ask you about three things that only a prophet can know: What is the first of the portents of the Hour?”