Beginnings Explained: First Signs, Paradise, Kinship

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

News reached Abdullah ibn Salam that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, had arrived in the city.

So he came to him and said,

I ask you about three things that no one knows except a prophet.

He said, "What are the first signs of the Hour?"

And what is the first food the people of Paradise will eat?

And what draws the child to his father?

And what draws him to his maternal uncles?

The Messenger of God, may blessings and peace be upon him, said:

Gabriel told me about them a short while ago.

Then Abdullah said, "That one is the enemy of the Jews from among the angels."

Then the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said:

As for the first of the signs of the Hour, it is a fire that will gather the people.

From the east to the west.

As for the first food the people of Paradise will eat.

And an extra portion of a whale's liver.

As for the doubt concerning the child.

If a man has intercourse with a woman.

If his seminal fluid came first, the resemblance was his.

And if her fluid came first, the resemblance was hers.

He said, "I bear witness that you are the Messenger of God."

Then he said, 'O Messenger of God, the Jews are a bewildered people.'

If they had known of my Islam before you asked them, they would have been astonished in your presence.

Then the Jews came.

And Abdullah entered the house.

Then the Messenger of Allah said.

Which man among you is Abdullah ibn Salam?

They said, "He was more learned than we are, and the son of someone more learned than we are, and he informed us, and the son of the one who informed us."

Then the Messenger of Allah said:

Have you considered what would happen if Abdullah were to become Muslim?

They said, "May God protect him from that."

Then Abdullah went out to them.

Then he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but God."

And I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.