The Firsts: The Forerunners of Islam is the series that visits trailblazers of the ummah. Those that rise to the occasion, and inspire a generation. Host Sh. Dr. Omar Suleiman dives into the stories of the giants who were the first of their kind in this world, and distinguished in the next. Listen in to revive the personalities buried in history.Let’s meet the Firsts. This series is brought to you by Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. We aim to make academic and Islamically-credible scholarship mainstream through accessible resources such as infographics, animations, podcasts, learning materials, and more. Visit www.yaqeeninstitute.org or download the Yaqeen app from the app store to continue dismantling doubts, nurturing conviction, and inspiring contribution, one truth at a time.
After the Battle of Badr, two cousins secretly conspired to kill the Prophet ﷺ. Neither of them could have predicted where this conspiracy would eventually take them.
The Quraysh abuse a man who is performing umrah. But they quickly realize the consequences, because he may have been the most powerful Muslim in the world at the time.
He was named Muhammad before Islam. He was the knight of the Messenger ﷺ. He was the guardian of Madinah. He was the caliph's investigator. Who was he?
As the Prophet ﷺ left the siege of Ta’if, a group of youth were making fun of the adhan. The Prophet ﷺ saw past their mockery and stuck to his hope of their becoming Muslim. In one of the most beauti…
Imagine having stoned the Prophet ﷺ as a child, only to realize who he was as an adult. How do you even become Muslim on that day? Were any of the children even listening to what he was saying while …
Imagine the first Muslims, but amongst the Jinn. Who were the first converts amongst them, and how did that happen? When did Allah send them? And what was the connection of the Jinn Muslims to the re…
So often confused for Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (ra), this prolific narrator of hadith escaped Ta’if in such a unique way that he was named after this incident. After this lecture, you will never read his n…
He came to Islam after a severely checkered past, but never let his flaws stop him from assuming his place in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. He used his strength and sense of movement to monitor the …
As the Prophet ﷺ lay battered and beaten in the garden after Ta’if, Allah sent him this one special slave who would be the only known human convert on the worst day of the Prophet ﷺ’s life.
The Prophet ﷺ spent some of his earliest years with his foster mother Halima al-Sa’diyya (ra), and never forgot the love she nurtured him with. What was it like to find her again in his final years o…
The only enemy of the Prophet ﷺ mentioned by name in the Quran, yet his own children became Muslim and would read about their father’s punishment. The incredible story of the believing children of th…
If you saw him in Madinah, you would be taken aback by how he was honored by the Prophet ﷺ and the companions like no other human being, and if you heard him speak then you would know he was special.…
The nephew of Khadijah (ra) and a core figure in the decade prior to the Prophet ﷺ receiving revelation. He held out on Islam because of his worldly focus, yet eventually embraced Islam and a new foc…
For two decades he was a chief antagonist of the Prophet ﷺ, only to be forgiven and given a position of leadership for the sake of the greater cause.
He was the son of the Pharoah of this Ummah who fought the Prophet ﷺ and his companions even up until the opening of Makkah. But through a journey of many twists and turns, came back to the Prophet ﷺ…
He was the first cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, and his brother in that he was nursed by the same woman. He was one of the closest and most beloved people to him. When Islam came, he turned his back on the…
Before understanding Amr ibn al-As (ra), you need to know about his father who was a staunch opponent of the Prophet ﷺ, and his brother Hisham (ra) who was a companion long before him, with a legenda…
From his moments of opposing the Prophet ﷺ in practically every battle of Islam, and his seeking to remove the one place of refuge for the Muslims in Abyssinia, Amr (ra) doesn’t just turn a corner an…
After he became Muslim, he immediately became perhaps the greatest factor in the spread of Islam throughout the world. Learn about his military genius, his legacy and contributions, and his unexpecte…