A word to some of the brothers regarding the Islam of the noble Companion, 'Amr ibn 'Abasa.

The questioner : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and the badness of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows: The best of speech is the speech of Allah, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations. Every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. Allah willed that our teacher (may Allah preserve him) be absent from this lesson due to a weakness in his voice; may Allah (Mighty and Majestic) pardon him and strengthen him. So, I will speak to you in this blessed evening, if Allah wills, about another page from the pages of the Prophetic biography, upon its owner be the best of prayers and blessings. This hadith concerns the Islam of a Companion who is almost unknown except to a few of those engaged in the science of the Sunnah and the biography, and they are few in number. He is the Companion 'Amr ibn 'Abasa, Abu Najih al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him). So, our story is about his Islam, how it was, and his news with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was calling to Islam... his new call was flowing to the people in Makkah and outside it, and they were whispering about it among themselves. Among those who heard of it in this early stage was a man from Banu Sulaym named 'Amr ibn 'Abasa, whose kunyah was Abu Najih. He received it with great eagerness and intense longing, as if he had been waiting for it with impatience and felt the need for it from the depths of his soul. He was a Bedouin with a sound fitrah (innate natural disposition), a balanced mind, and a sound perspective. He saw his people worshipping idols and sanctifying them besides Allah the Exalted, seeking refuge in them, turning to them, and calling upon them out of hope and fear. They offered sacrifices to them, and their priests, who were greedy and exploitative, controlled them. His mind did not accept these falsehoods, and his intellect did not digest these lies. How could he accept the state of his people, who, as he mentioned in a narration from him, when one of them settled in a place, would search for four stones, making the best of them a god to worship, and setting up the other three for his cooking pot... And so, when the third is completed, it is said "the third..." This is used as an example when there is a matter that requires missing items, and they are completed by the last one, it is said... The three specific stones placed under the pot to light the fire beneath it; he would make the three remaining stones for his pot, the best one for his god, and the others for his pot. Then perhaps he would find something better than the first deified stone before he departs, so he would leave it and take another! And perhaps he met some of the People of the Book in his travels, as in the previous narration, and heard from them about the imminent appearance of a Prophet who would call to Allah, and by whom Allah would straighten the crooked religion and return the people to the pure, natural religion. Indeed, what he reported to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) fell like heavy rain on thirsty land. So, he proceeded to his mount without delay, prepared it, and set out for Makkah. He wanted to meet this savior, gather with him directly, and hear from him without intermediaries, even if it cost him hardship and toil. Then we saw that in the Islam of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), and they are similar, and there is also a connection between them, as will come. And Allah the Exalted willed that he meet him at 'Ukaz, where he was staying at that time. We do not know if it was the time of the famous market season. He met him after inquiring about him and being gentle with him. I do not know the reason for this gentleness, because the polytheists were pursuing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with harm and preventing everyone who inquired about him. He began to ask him: Who are you? Who sent you? And why? And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) answered him with reassurance and confidence. So, faith entered his heart, and he immediately declared his Islam, testifying to the testimony of truth. He returned to ask: Who is with you, O Messenger of Allah, in this matter? The humble answer came: A free man and a slave. Yes, only two men: one free, Abu Bakr, his friend and beloved, and Bilal, the Ethiopian black slave. And lo, he attained the honor of precedence. Lo, he became the fourth of four who believed in the call of truth. Abu Najih asked the greatest Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) whether he ordered him to stay with him or return to his people to spread the call of Allah among them and invite them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to return to his people, because there was not much benefit expected from his staying with him, for the war against the call was declared and severe, and punishment awaited every believer and Muslim. 'Amr returned to his people, and the years passed while he received news of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Muslims. He learned of his migration (peace and blessings be upon him) to al-Madinah, so he migrated to him and gathered with him. He took advantage of a moment when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was free to ask him many questions about prayer, ablution, faith, migration, and jihad, which were on his mind and found no answer. He heard the certain answer from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so his soul was reassured by it, his heart understood it, and Abu Najih set out to convey Islam, work for it, support it, and remain steadfast upon its command until he met his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the late period of the caliphate of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). Some of the books of the Sunnah narrated this long news from his own mouth. So, I loved to convey it to you so that you may read for yourselves a page from the pages of Islam... and live with one of the early believers who attained a great honor when Allah the Exalted made it easy for him to be a quarter of Islam, as he says about himself. The meaning is: I was a quarter of Islam, meaning the fourth of four who preceded in Islam from among the men, and they are, as we mentioned, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, and Bilal.