We had a Jewish neighbor among the Banu Abd al-Ashhal. Shortly before the Prophet ﷺ was sent, he came out of his house one day and stopped at the gathering of Banu Abd al-Ashhal.Salama said, "I was the youngest person present that day, lying on a cloak in the courtyard of my family's home."He spoke about the resurrection, the Day of Judgment, the reckoning, the scales, paradise, and hellfire. He was saying this to people who were polytheists, idol worshippers, who did not believe that any resurrection would occur after death.They said to him, "Woe to you! Do you really think this will happen, that people will be raised after their death to a place containing paradise and hellfire, where they will be rewarded for their deeds?"He answered, "Yes, by the One I swear by, a man would gladly accept being shut inside the largest furnace in the world, heated until it was burning fierce, in exchange for being saved from his share of that fire the next day."They said, "Woe to you! What is the sign of this?"He replied, "A prophet who will be sent from the direction of these lands," and he pointed with his hand toward Mecca and Yemen.They asked, "When do you expect him?"He looked at me, the youngest among them, and said, "If this boy lives out his natural life, he will see him."Salama said, "By Allah, day and night had not passed for long before Allah Most High sent His Messenger ﷺ, while that man was still alive among us. We believed in him, but he disbelieved out of envy and spite."We said to him, "Woe to you! Are you not the one who told us what you told us about him?"He said, "Yes, but he is not the one."
حدثنا يعقوب قال حدثني أبي عن ابن إسحاق قال حدثني صالح بن إبراهيم بن عبد الرحمن بن عوف عن محمود بن لبيد أخي بني عبد الأشهل
كان لنا جار من يهود في بني عبد الأشهل قال فخرج علينا يوما من بيته قبل مبعث النبي ﷺ بيسير فوقف على مجلس عبد الأشهل قال سلمة وأنا يومئذ أحدث من فيه سنا علي بردة مضطجعا فيها بفناء أهلي فذكر البعث والقيامة والحساب والميزان والجنة والنار فقال ذلك لقوم أهل شرك أصحاب أوثان لا يرون أن بعثا كائن بعد الموت فقالوا له ويحك يا فلان ترى هذا كائنا إن الناس يبعثون بعد موتهم إلى دار فيها جنة ونار يجزون فيها بأعمالهم قال نعم والذي يحلف به لود أن له بحظه من تلك النار أعظم تنور في الدنيا يحمونه ثم يدخلونه إياه فيطبق به عليه وأن ينجو من تلك النار غدا قالوا له ويحك وما آية ذلك قال نبي يبعث من نحو هذه البلاد وأشار بيده نحو مكة واليمن قالوا ومتى تراه قال فنظر إلي وأنا من أحدثهم سنا فقال إن يستنفد هذا الغلام عمره يدركه قال سلمة فوالله ما ذهب الليل والنهار حتى بعث الله تعالى رسوله ﷺ وهو حي بين أظهرنا فآمنا به وكفر به بغيا وحسدا فقلنا ويلك يا فلان ألست بالذي قلت لنا فيه ما قلت قال بلى وليس به