The biography of Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) and his journey through all religions until he recognized the truth.

The Shaykh : And Salman here is Salman al-Farisi, one of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who believed in him when he (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated to Madinah. He was originally from Persia. He believed in the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he migrated from Makkah to Madinah. Salman al-Farisi was a slave when he believed in the Prophet (peace be upon him); he himself was a slave. Then a long story occurred to him containing a profound lesson. That is, as we mentioned, Salman was from Persia, and his father was a man of religion; he was the one who lit the fire for the fire-worshippers in Persia. By virtue of being the son of this father who served the fire for its worshippers, he would frequent the place of the fire with his father to light and kindle it at the times designated by them. Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) willed guidance for Salman, so one day on his way, he passed by a Christian monk. He was drawn to him and listened to his speech, and his words entered his heart. In truth, although Christianity had undergone change and alteration, remnants of the original Shari'ah of Isa remained in it. Because of these true and righteous remnants, it was distinguished in its righteousness and its closeness to the hearts of sincere people more than the religion of the Magi and the polytheists. When Salman al-Farisi heard the speech and exhortations of that monk, it became clear to him that his father's religion was false. So he believed in Christianity, the religion of Isa, and disbelieved in his father's religion. From that day, the conflict began between him and his father, as is the case with every truth and falsehood in every time and place; there must be a difference between the people of truth and falsehood.
Therefore, Salman was compelled to abandon his father and his Magianism and migrate to other lands to gain knowledge of the religion he had newly adopted, namely the religion of the Christians. He came to Iraq and connected there with a man among the great rabbis of the Christians. It was that monk who had guided him to Islam, and I say "Islam" because the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam, whether it is the Islam of today, the religion of Isa, or the religion of Musa; it is all Islam, but with the condition that it be before it was affected by any deviation. So that monk who guided Salman to Islam directed him to a rabbi among the rabbis and scholars of the Christians in Iraq. He went to him and sat with him for many days, studying and learning from the religion of the Christians. Then this Christian scholar directed him to another scholar, so he moved to him. He kept moving from place to place until he was directed to a scholar among the scholars of the Christians here in Sham. He migrated to Sham and sat with him. What he discovered from this Christian scholar of Sham was completely different from what he had seen from those priests or leaders of the Christians with whom he had studied. He found in them asceticism and sincerity to their religion and their Lord, unlike this Christian scholar of Sham. It became clear to him that he was collecting money from his followers under the pretense of distributing it to the poor and needy, yet he was hoarding it in clay pots he had. He was pretending to be an ascetic, whereas he was collecting money for the poor and needy. Then Allah decreed the death of this monk or supposed worshipper, so he died. Salman revealed the truth of his matter to the people and said to them, "This man was deceiving you, and these are his assets that he left behind." They took these assets. Then he migrated. It so happened that he was informed by all these scholars of the Christians, one after another, that the time in which you are living, O Salman, is the time of the sending of the last of the prophets, namely Muhammad or Ahmad. It was reported to them in their scriptures and books that he would migrate to a land with date palms. They encouraged him to track down this town where the characteristics mentioned for the town to which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would migrate could be realized: a land with date palms, between two barren lands, meaning between two large open areas with no crops or vegetation, but only pebbles and black stones. In pursuit of this, Salman migrated from Damascus on his way to the Hijaz, searching for the place from which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would emerge or to which he would migrate. On the way, some Arab tribes enslaved him, meaning they imposed captivity and slavery upon him, although he was a free man who had never known slavery in his entire life. This tribe that enslaved him brought him to Madinah and sold him to a man there who owned date palms. This story is, in fact, an explanatory example of the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), one of many examples of the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) which says: . So this Salman was a free man who was enslaved, and shackles were placed on his hands against his will, and he was sold as a slave to a master in Madinah. What did this master do? He threw him into his field among his date palms and ordered him to work there day and night for the benefit of this master, and the matter ended there. But Allah (Mighty and Majestic) willed guidance for him. So one day, while Salman was working on a date palm, he heard his master, who was on the ground while Salman was up in the tree, talking to some of his companions about the man who had migrated to Madinah, calling to a new religion and to the worship of Allah alone. As soon as Salman heard such news, his heart yearned, and he threw himself from the date palm to the ground and said, "Is it true that he has come?" So he struck him, because he sensed from his eagerness that he seemed to love him in his absence.