ʿAbd Allah—reporting from a man of the household of ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam—said:

When ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam embraced Islam he was a ḥabr, a learned rabbi (1). He recounted: “I had already heard of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and had recognised his description, his name, his appearance, and the very time for which we had been waiting. I therefore kept what I knew to myself, maintaining silence, until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina. When he came he stayed among us in the quarter of Banu ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf.

A man hurried up to announce his arrival while I was working at the top of one of my date-palms, and my aunt Khālida bint al-Hārith was sitting beneath it. The moment I heard the news of the Messenger of Allah’s arrival I proclaimed “Allāhu akbar!” My aunt, hearing my cry, said, ‘Had you heard of Moses son of Imran you would not have been any more excited!’ (2) I replied, ‘Aunt, by Allah, he is indeed the brother of Moses son of Imran. He is upon the same religion and has been sent with the same message.’

She asked, ‘My nephew, is he the prophet about whom we were given glad tidings—that he would be sent at the very approach of the Hour?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She responded, ‘Then that is he indeed.’

I then went out to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and accepted Islam. After that I returned to my household, ordered them to do likewise, and they embraced Islam as well, while I concealed my Islam from the Jews.

Later I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘The Jews are a people given to slander. I would like you to take me into one of your rooms and hide me from them. Then ask them about me—what standing I have among them—before they learn of my Islam, for once they know of it they will slander and disparage me.’ He therefore lodged me in one of his rooms.

The Jews then entered, spoke with him, and put their questions to him. He asked them, ‘What sort of man is ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam among you?’ They replied, ‘He is our chief, the son of our chief; our rabbi and our scholar.’

When they had finished speaking I came out to them and said, ‘O assembly of Jews! Fear Allah and accept what He has brought to you, for by Allah you know full well that he is the Messenger of…’