First Muslim
Imam 'Ali (a) | |
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The First Muslim (Arabic: أوّل مُسلِم) refers to the first person who believed in the Prophet Muhammad (s). Being the first Muslim was considered an honor and merit. Shi'a and many Sunnis have mentioned Lady Khadija (a) as the first Muslim woman and Imam Ali (a) as the first Muslim man.
Importance
Being the first Muslim was considered an honor and merit.[1] According to sources, the Prophet (s) considered being the first Muslim as a merit for Imam Ali (a).[2] Some companions of the Prophet (s) who claimed to be the first Muslim took pride in it.[3]
Lady Khadija (a)
Historians, including al-Baladhuri[4] and Ibn Sa'd[5] in the third/ninth century, Ibn Abd al-Birr in fifth/eleventh century,[6] Ibn Khaldun in the eighth/fourteenth century[7] introduced Lady Khadija (a) the first Muslim.
Ibn Athir mentioned the order of those who believed first in Islam as following, "Khadija (a), Ali (a), Zayd b. Haritha and then Abu Bakr."[8]
Some historians mentioned Lady Khadija (a) the first woman and Imam Ali (a) the first man who believed in Islam without mentioning which was prior.[9] But, some sources have mentioned Lady Khadija (a) the first person who believed in Islam.[10]
Some historians considered the consensus of Muslims believing that Lady Khadija (a) was the first person who believed in the Prophet (s)[11] and the disagreements are about the first Muslim man.[12]
Imam Ali (a)
According to some Shi'a hadiths, the Prophet (s) described Imam Ali (a) the first Muslim, the first believer[13] and the first person who acknowledged him.[14] Al-Shaykh al-Tusi mentioned a hadith from Imam al-Rida (a) who mentioned Imam Ali (a) the first believer in the Prophet (s).[15] Khasibi, the Shi'a author of the fourth/tenth century, mentioned Imam Ali (a) the first Muslim[16] and al-Allama al-Majlisi mentioned the order of believers as following, "First, Imam Ali (a), then Khadija (a) and then Ja'far b. Abi Talib believed in the Prophet (s)."[17] Some researchers considered the consensus of Shi'a believing on the fact that Imam Ali (a) was the first Muslim man.[18]
Some Sunni historians including al-Tabari,[19] al-Dhahabi[20] and others[21] have mentioned reports suggesting that Imam Ali (a) was the first Muslim.
Other Reports
Some Sunnis have mentioned other reports based on which Abu Bakr was the first Muslim.[22]
In Imta' al-istima', al-Maqrizi considered Abu Bakr, the first Muslim who was capable to support and help the Prophet (s).[23] In al-Isaba, Ibn al-Hajar al-'Asqalani considered the first Muslims as Imam Ali (a) among children, Khadija (a) among women, Zayd b. Haritha among freed slaves and Bilal al-Habashi among slaves. He mentioned Abu Bakr the first free man who became Muslim.[24]
On the opposite, al-Tabari transmitted from Muhammad b. Sa'd that Abu Bakr accepted Islam after fifty other people.[25] Some researchers believe that some historical sources which considered Abu Bakr the first Muslim, had no historical ground and their claim was due to religious disputes among Muslims.[26]
According to some reports, Zayd b. Haritha was the first Muslim.[27]
Notes
- ↑ Murawwijī Ṭabasī, Amīr Muʾminān wa pīshtāzī dar Islām, p. 72.
- ↑ Ibn ʿUqda al-Kūfī, Faḍaʾīl Amīr al-Muʾminīn, p. 24.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, al-Maʿārif, p. 169.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 471.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 3, p. 15.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 2, p. 546.
- ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 2, p. 410.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 2, p. 131.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 23.
- ↑ Ṣāliḥī Damishqī, Subul al-hudā, vol. 2, p. 300.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol 2, p. 57.
- ↑ Ḥusaynī, Nakhustīn muʾmin wa agāhānatarīn īmān, p. 48.
- ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 2, p. 6.
- ↑ Ṣaffār, Baṣā'ir al-darajāt, vol. 1, p. 84.
- ↑ Ṭūsī,al-Amālī, p. 343.
- ↑ Khuṣaybī, al-Hidāya al-kubrā, p. 50.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 66, p. 102.
- ↑ Ḥusaynī, Nakhustīn muʾmin wa agāhānatarīn īmān, p. 48.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 310.
- ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 1, p. 128.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 1090.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 315; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 965.
- ↑ Maqrizī, Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ, vol. 1, p. 34.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥajar, al-Iṣāba, vol. 1, p. 84.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 316.
- ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Tārīkh sīyāsī-yi Islām, vol. 1, p. 235.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 470.
References
- Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Edited by Suhayl Zakār & Riyāḍ al-Ziriklī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
- Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām al-Tadmurī. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1409 AH.
- Ḥusaynī, Sayyid Karam Ḥusayn. Nakhustīn muʾmin wa agāhānatarīn īmān. Ṣirāṭ, No 10. Fall 1392 Sh.
- Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1409 AH.
- Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, 1385 AH.
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba. Edited by ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd and ʿAlī Muḥammad Muʿawwaḍ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Khaldūn, ʿAbd l-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad. Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn. Edited by Khalīl Shaḥāda. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1408 AH-1988.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. 1st edition. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1410 AH-1990.
- Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib. 1st edition. Qom: ʿAllāma, 1379 AH.
- Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
- Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allah b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif. Edited by Tharwat ʿAkkāsha. Cairo: Al-hayʾa al-Misrīyya al-'āmma li l-kitāb. 1992 CE.
- Ibn ʿUqda al-Kūfī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Faḍaʾīl Amīr al-Muʾminīn. Edited by ʿAbd al-Razzāq Muḥammad Ḥusayn Hirz al-Dīn. 1st edition. Qom: Dalīl-i Mā, 1424 AH.
- Jaʿfarīyān, Rasūl. Tārīkh sīyāsī-yi Islām; sīra-yi Rasūl-i Khudā. Qom: Intishārāt-i Dalīl-i Mā, 1380 Sh.
- Khuṣaybī, Ḥusayn b. Ḥamdān al-. al-Hidāya al-kubrā. Beirut: al-Balāgh, 1419 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Murawwijī Ṭabasī, Muḥammad Jawād. Amīr Muʾminān wa pīshtāzī dar Islām. Farhang-i Kawthar, No 75. Fall 1387 Sh.
- Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ bimā li-Nabī min al-aḥwāl wa al-amwāl wa al-ḥafda wa al-matāʾ. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Namīsī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1420 AH.
- Ṣāliḥī Damishqī, Muḥammad b. Yusuf. Subul al-hudā wa al-rashād fī sīrat khayr al-ʿibād. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1414 AH.
- Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Baṣā'ir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil-i Āl-i Muḥammad. Edited by Muḥsin Kūchabāghī. 2nd edition. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī, 1404 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Amālī. 1st edition. Qom: Dār al-Thiqāfa, 1414 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Beirut: Dar al-Turāth, 1387 AH.
- Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, n.p.