Identity of the first male Muslim

There is disagreement among Muslims about the identity of the first male convert to Islam. A few of the close relatives and friends of the Islamic prophet Muhammad were the first to believe in his divine message, including his wife, Khadija, his young cousin, Ali, his adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah, and his friend, Abu Bakr.

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A number of sources, including ibn Ishaq, identify Ali, aged about ten, as the first male to embrace Islam.[1][2][3][4][5] Al-Tabari also includes other accounts that make the same claim about Zayd ibn Harithah or Abu Bakr.[6] That these contradictory accounts are affected by later Shia and Sunni preferences is clear, though the earliest existing records seem to place Ali before Abu Bakr.[7]

In view of his young age, the significance of Ali's Islam has been questioned by some.[8] Nevertheless, three years later, when Muhammad presented Islam to his relatives at the feast of Dhul Asheera, Ali was the only relative who offered his help to Muhammad. According to ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, Muhammad then announced Ali as his brother, trustee, and successor, a statement that was immediately downplayed as insignificant by Abu Lahab, Muhammad's uncle and a staunch polytheist.[9][10][11][12][13]

Similarly, the author W. Watt suggests that Abu Bakr's status after Muhammad's death might have been reflected back into the early Islamic records.[8] For instance, al-Tabari also includes the account that more than fifty men and women converted to Islam before Abu Bakr.[14]

Sunni and Shia views

Various Sunni sources, including Tarikh al-Tabari, often list contradictory accounts about the identity of the first male Muslim.[8][15] Earlier sources tend to place Ali before Abu Bakr and it has been suggested that Abu Bakr's status as the first caliph might have been reflected back into the early years of Islam in order to support his succession to Muhammad.[8][7]

Shia sources identify the young Ali as the first male Muslim.[16][17] A number of Shia hadiths add that Ali was never a polytheist in his life and introduce this quality as a necessary requirement for succession to prophets, in line with Q2:124 and Q31:13.[18][19][20]

See also

References
  1. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. "Ali". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  2. "Alī ibn Abu Talib". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  3. Gleave, Robert (2021). "ʿAlī B. Abī Ṭālib". In Fleet, Kate (ed.). Encyclopedia of Islam (Third ed.). Brill Reference Online.
  4. Momen, Moojan (1985). An introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780300035315.
  5. Betty, Kelen (1975). Muhammad: the messenger of God. Nashville: T. Nelson. pp. 48, 49. ISBN 9780929093123.
  6. Watt, William Montgomery (1953). Muhammad at Mecca. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 86.
  7. Gleave (2021)
  8. Watt (1953, p. 86)
  9. Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's heir: The life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. p. 34. ISBN 9780300252057.
  10. Hazleton, Lesley (2013). The first Muslim: The story of Muhammad. Atlantic Books Ltd. pp. 95–97. ISBN 9781782392316.
  11. Rubin, Uri (1995). The eye of the beholder: The life of Muhammad as viewed by the early Muslims. Princeton: Darwin Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780878501106.
  12. Irving, Washington (1868), Mahomet and his successors, vol. 8, New York: G. P. Putnam and Son, p. 71
  13. Momen (1985, p. 12)
  14. الطبري. تاريخ الرسل و الملوك vol. 2. بيروت: دار التراث. p. 316.
  15. الذهبي, شمس الدين. تاريخ الإسلام ط التوفيقية. المكتبة التوفيقية.
  16. حسینی, سید کرم حسین (2013). "نخستین مومن و آگاهانه ترین ایمان". صراط. 10: 47–74.
  17. "First Muslim". WikiShia. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  18. مكارم الشيرازي, ناصر. تفسير الأمثل vol. 1. p. 20.
  19. "(Q2:124) And when his Lord tested Abraham with certain words, and he fulfilled them, He said, 'I am making you the Imam of mankind.' Said he, 'And from among my descendants?' He said, 'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. "(Q31:13) When Luqman said to his son, as he advised him: 'O my son! Do not ascribe any partners to Allah. Polytheism is indeed a great injustice.'".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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