Umar: The Man Satan Feared
Tradition and stubbornness tied his hands. Five years passed before these ties were broken. The sun rose and set hundreds of times during five years. He slept and awoke hundreds of times. But his hands were always bound.  His being able to easily move his hands and arms fooled him. The acts of pulling his sword, putting a water jug on his head and brandishing his spear did not allow him to see th...

Ummu Salama: Our Mother Who Ran
First she ran to Arkam's house with her husband Abu Salama; she had heard about the Prophet (pbuh)'s call to Islam. Later she went to Abyssinia with her husband because she was called to migrate. Just as she was getting accustomed to this land where Zainab had been born, she went to Mecca because of a new invitation... But Mecca was on fire, and the Prophet was pointing to Medina. This time she w...

Abu Hurairah: From Servant of the Sun to Servant of Allah
  In history Abu Hurairah is known by his sobriquets. He is one of those people whose nicknames come to mind before their real names. He had two given names, used at different times: “Servant of the Sun” and “Servant of Allah”. In the Age of Ignorance his given name was Abd Al-Shams, Servant of the Sun  while his nickname was Abu Hurairah, Father of Cats.  The Holy Prophet continued calling him b...

Salman al-Farsi: From Fire to Divine Light
Mabih was born in a house where they believed the fire to be holy and grand. The fire, however, got smaller as he grew up. Although the father tried to carve a god out of fire for his son, the son had already put it out; he was, in fact, burning with a yearning to find the truth. Mabih did not sacrifice reason to tradition. All throughout his journey that started in the Jay district of Isfahan an...

Desert Raider to Desert Rain: Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
Abu Dharr was among the desert raiders. A hulky, tall, thick haired, dark skinned man... The nightmare of the caravans. An intimidating, unwavering man. A Bedouin who knows the desert like the back of his hand. He belongs to a tribe that continues their ambush and waylaying even during the sacred months. Ghifar is the name of the tribe. Abu Dharr, also known as Jundab ibn Junada of Ghifar, has a ...

Fatima: A Prophet's Daughter who found Consolation in Death
  The sun called its near-by stars to come a little closer. Then it opened the arms of its cloak and embraced them tenderly. It sounds strange, but the sun system's most brilliant stars gathered under cover. Their lips froze from excitement. Their breath took on one shape after another under the pounding of their hearts. They had never been this close to the source from which they took their ligh...

Abdullah ibn Rawaha: A Poet Yearning for Heaven
  Those who were silent with reverence when poets spoke were faced for the first time with words more powerful than poetry with the verses being revealed to the Last Prophet, and they did not know what to do. While they were grasping and submitting to the fact that they were facing divine speech that could open their hearts to the Truth, those who resisted the truth now used a word to deride the ...

Ka’b ibn Malik: The Poet Punished with Silence
He wanders with words in his quiver. He is a poet; he starts a fire with his arrows. He draws his bow when people say, "Tell!" He draws his bow in such a way that the arrow sets fire to the wings of the condors before it is shot. He seals his quiver when people say, "Hush!" He seals it in such a way that he sprinkles fire onto the oppressors and sprinkles water onto the oppressed ones. He is an o...

Aisha: Lover of the Beloved
It is the most unforgettable race in history, yet there are no spectators. Of the two racers, the younger one draws a line on the ground; the starting line. They are going to begin running from that point. The older one ties his shirt around his belly. A strange contest; he will not become upset if he loses. He looks at his rival with love and proposes a race. Can you imagine it? He is the man w...

Abu al-Darda: A Tradesman who Feared Accounts
There was a bi-polar world in Medina before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) came: Profit and Loss. Cavalryman Abu'd- Derda raced back and forth between these two poles on his mental horse. He knew that trade was a job of keeping accounts, and he would think a thousand times before taking a step. When the Prophet was met with tambourines, he was a step behind everyone. Everyone became Muslim, but Abu'd De...

Abu Bakr: Being Friends with the Prophet
All arrows were pointing towards Medina. A sign had been given, and preparations for the journey had begun. Those who would come on this journey that would change the flow of history and the calendar were taking their places in turn. The pressure in Mecca had increased so much that it was not even possible to open a window and take a breath of air. The one nicknamed "Very sincere" and "Very loya...

Uthman: The Beloved Martyr
  One day we will no longer have the right to choose which path to follow; until that time there are many who came before us who act as examples for which path to choose, for how to act in this life. One of these was Uthman, a man who was married to two of Prophet Muhammad's daughters. First the Prophet gave his daughter Ruqiyya to him, and then after her death his daughter Ummu Khultum became Ut...