There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often

(Al-Ahzab, verse 21)

Salman Farsi was a fire worshipper in his early life. His father was a rich landlord and used to send his son, little Salman, along his servant to teach him about farming. On the way, they used to  pass by a Christian who used to be nice towards the boy. Young Salman started talking to the Christian and got influenced by the Christian belief. He wanted to give up his Parsee religion but feared his family elders. So he fled the place and travelled to a Christian area and stayed with a Christian monk.

When the old monk was about to die, young Salman requested him to guide him to another senior monk so he could continue learning his new religion. He went to the new teacher, who taught him for few years before passing away, but before dying he guided him to another teacher. Thus, it went on till one day he was captured by slave traders who sold him to a Jew in Madinah. In those days, Madinah was known as Yathrib. For a long time Salman Farsee served the Jew, who was a difficult master and often gave him tasks that were strenuous.The Jew did not allow him to follow Christianity. It was in those days that there was news about  a man from Makkah who claimed Prophethood. The Jew knew about his slave’s adventures with previous religions and he feared that Salman would go and join the Prophet so he watched him closely.

Then came the day when the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Madinah and the entire city went out to welcome him. Salman narrates in his own words, “I was on a date palm picking dates and saw the entire city rushing out. “The Messenger of Allah has come.” My master did not allow me to climb down the tree. But once I noticed him being unattentive, I jumped down quickly and rushed along with the crowd to see what was happening. There I saw the Messenger of Allah for the first time. I recalled my discussions about the advent of a Prophet with my senior monks. I recalled all the signs and they matched him except one. There was supposed to be a mark of prophethood on his back. I did not get a chance to the see the bare back of the Prophet ﷺ.  Therefore I did not embrace Islam.

Finally, one day I got a chance to see the bare back of the Prophet ﷺ and I noticed the mark of the Prophethood on his back. I embraced Islam immediately. There was an uproar in the Jewish community of Madinah. They begun abusing me and tried to persuade me to stay away from Islam. One day, one of them taunted, “What kind of a prophet is this? He teaches you small things! Even how to sit when you attend the call of nature.” He was referring to the shameless manner in which the men of Arabia used to sit while attending the call of nature. The Prophet( peace be upon him), as a part of modesty taught the Muslims to sit while answering the call of nature at place where they may not be visible to others. They used to sit facing each other, defecating in front of each other, while talking. Their women used to do it without letting anyone see themselves. I responded, “Yes, he teaches us even minute things!” It was a matter of pride for us to learn every aspect of life; Apart from all acts of worship, that included teachings regarding every aspect of cleanliness, manners of eating and even manners of sleeping”  The Prophet ﷺ once announced, “ Salman is from my family” and once he said, “ By Allah who has sent me as His Prophet. If I were placed in the galaxy then Salman would have come there and embraced Islam.”