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When the news of the arrival of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) at Medina reached 'Abdullah ibn Salam (radhiallahu `anhu), he went to him to ask him about certain things.

He said, "I am going to ask you about three things which only a Prophet can answer:
What is the first sign of The Hour?
What is the first food which the people of Paradise will eat?
Why does a child attract the similarity to his father or to his mother?"

The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) replied, "Jibreel has just now informed me of that."

Ibn Salam said, "He (i.e. Jibreel) is the enemy of the Jews amongst the angels."

The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, "As for the first sign of the Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to the West. As for the first meal which the people of Paradise will eat, it will be the caudate (extra) lobe of the fish-liver. As for the child, if the man's discharge proceeds the woman's discharge, the child attracts the similarity to the man, and if the woman's discharge proceeds the man's, then the child attracts the similarity to the woman."

On this, 'Abdullah ibn Salam (radhiallahu `anhu) said, "I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah." He added, "O Allah's Messenger! The Jews invent such lies as make one astonished, so please ask them about me before they know about my conversion to Islam."

The Jews came, and the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, "What kind of man is 'Abdullah ibn Salam among you?" They replied, "The best of us and the son of the best of us and the most superior among us, and the son of the most superior among us."

The Prophet said, "What would you think if 'Abdullah ibn Salam should embrace Islam?" They said, "May Allah protect him from that." The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) repeated his question and they gave the same answer.

Then 'Abdullah came out to them and said, "I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah!" On this, the Jews said, "He is the most wicked among us and the son of the most wicked among us." So they degraded him. On this, he (i.e. 'Abdullah ibn Salam) said, "It is this that I was afraid of, O Messenger of Allah."

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Narrated Qais bin Ubad:

While I was sitting in the Mosque of Medina, there entered a man (Abdullah bin Salam) with signs of solemnity over his face. The people said, "He is one of the people of Paradise." He prayed two light Rakat and then left.

I followed him and said, "When you entered the Mosque, the people said, 'He is one of the people of Paradise.'"

He said, "By Allah, one ought not say what he does not know; and I will tell you why. In the lifetime of the Prophet I had a dream which I narrated to him. I saw as if I were in a garden." He then described its extension and greenery. He added: "In its center there was an iron pillar whose lower end was fixed in the earth and the upper end was in the sky, and at its upper end there was a (ring-shaped) hand-hold. I was told to climb it. I said, 'I can't.' Then a servant came to me and lifted my clothes from behind and I climbed till I reached the top (of the pillar). Then I got hold of the hand-hold, and I was told to hold it tightly, then I woke up and (the effect of) the hand-hold was in my hand. I narrated all that to the Prophet who said, 'The garden is Islam, and the hand-hold is the Most Truth-worthy Hand-Hold. So you will remain as a Muslim till you die.'"

The narrator added: "The man was 'Abdullah bin Salam."

~ Sahih Bukhari