Betrayed and Sold Into Slavery

Salmān said: I was trying to find a way to reach the land of the Arabs — it is far away — until I met some merchants from the tribe of Kalb. I asked them to carry me with them, and I would pay them all the money that I had: my cows and my sheep are yours, just take me to the land of the Arabs. The sacrifice was striking: Salmān had worked very hard to build up the small business and accumulate this wealth, and now he was willing to give it up just to be taken, to be transported, to the land of the Nabī. The story of Salmān al-Fārisī is an amazing story of someone searching for al-ḥaqīqah, the truth. They agreed, and they carried Salmān with them. When they reached Arabia, at a place called Wādī al-Qurā, these merchants ended up betraying Salmān, and they sold him as a slave to a Jewish man. Now, if you get stuck into slavery, that is it — you are stuck in there, and nobody will believe you when you say that you are a free man. So they claimed that he was a slave, and they ended up selling him. So now Salmān al-Fārisī was stuck in bondage.

They sold him to this Jewish man. This Jewish man took him to Wādī al-Qurā. Salmān said: when I saw Wādī al-Qurā, I thought this might be the place that was described to me, because Wādī al-Qurā has some palm trees, so he was content to stay there. He said: then a cousin of my owner from Banū Qurayẓah, a Jew from Banū Qurayẓah, visited my master, and he purchased me. So Salmān was sold from this man in Wādī al-Qurā to a Jew from Banū Qurayẓah — and where do Banū Qurayẓah live? In Madīnah. Salmān said: I was carried from Wādī al-Qurā to Madīnah, and he said, in the name of Allah, as soon as I saw Madīnah, I knew this was the place — this is it. Because Madīnah is very rich with palm groves, it has a lot of palm trees, and it is located between two rocky tracts, al-Ḥarrah al-sharqiyyah and al-Ḥarrah al-gharbiyyah. These are two rocky tracts of volcanic rock, scorched, very dark, and by the way, this was the natural protection of Madīnah. In the Battle of the Trench, did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) make a trench all over Madīnah? No — he dug the trench on one side only, because on two sides Madīnah was protected by this rocky tract. These are not mountains; they are very sharp rocks filling the plain, and this is volcanic rock, and it is very difficult for an army to move through it. So these are two natural barriers. And then from the south, Madīnah is protected by trees, palm trees — that is where all of the palm groves are. So Madīnah can be attacked from the north; that is the direction the attack could be made from, and that is where the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) dug the trench.