He informed, “The youth is my nephew Muhammad (a.

He informed, “The youth is my nephew Muhammad (a.s) ibn `Abdullah, the child is another nephew of mine, `Ali (a.s) ibn Abi-Talib and the lady is the wife of Muhammad (a.s), Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Muhammad (a.s) has advised me that this method of prayer was communicated to him by Allah!” He added: “By Allah!

I do not know if there is another person, besides these three, on the face of the earth who is a follower of this Faith.”[1] When `Afif became a Muslim later on, he used to say with great craving: “How I wish I had embraced Islam on that Day to be the third person to join the Fold.”[2] `Afif had witnessed the scene when on the land, and under the sky, there were only three persons praying to Allah and he always nursed the feeling of regret that if he had received the Guidance, he would have become the fourth person in the Faith and his name would have gone down in the roster of Muslims after `Ali (a.s) and Khadijah (a.s).

If someone else had embraced Islam in that period, his name too would have appeared in these narrations. `Abbas too mentioned only the names of these in his narration. Precedence in Islam of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) has been recognized by almost all the historians and biographers.

Therefore, Ibn Husham says: [1] Nahj al-Balāghah [2] Tabarī, Vol 2, Page 65 [3] Tabarī, Vol 2, Page 65 “Amongst men the first person to embrace Islam, to join him in his prayer and witness what all Allah sent through the Prophet (a.s) was `Ali (a.s).